 NOVEMBER 14 • 2019 | 15

Jews in the D

Harsh 
Words

Andy Levin 
criticizes Israel 
in tweet during 
West Bank trip.

D

uring his trip to 
the West Bank last 
week, Michigan 
Congressman Andy 
Levin expressed criticism 
toward Israel’
s treatment of 
Palestinians residing in the 
village of Susya.
The Times of Israel reported 
that Levin was unhappy that 
Palestinians in Susya have 
been denied water access and 
that Israel has demolished 
Palestinians buildings in the 
village.
“Yesterday, I traveled to the 
southern West Bank, including 
the Palestinian village of Susya, 
which the Israeli government 
has destroyed twice and 
currently denies access to 
water,
” Levin tweeted. “Yet 
we watched the government 
utility, right before our eyes, 
lay in pipes right across the 
village’
s land to deliver tap 
water to an illegal Israeli 
outpost nearby.
” He did not 
name the outpost.
Levin expressed anger 
about the current treatment 
of the Palestinians in Susya, 
while also acknowledging the 
resilience of the Palestinian 
community.
Levin told the Jewish News 
as he was preparing to leave 
Israel, “
As I prepare to fly 
home from Israel, I am clearer 
than ever that a two-state 
solution is the only way to 

provide a secure, democratic 
future for our Jewish 
homeland alongside a state for 
our Palestinian neighbors. 
“We met with everyone 
from Orthodox Jewish settlers 
to U.S. Ambassador Friedman 
to Palestinian and Israeli 
negotiators to diplomats from 
many countries to Israeli and 
Palestinian business leaders. 
We laid a wreath at Yad 
Vashem, which was especially 
moving. We dug into issues 
faced by Israeli residents near 
Gaza, seeing the shells of 
rockets that had fallen on their 
town, as well as Palestinian 
residents of the occupied 
territories, who lack access to 
water and basic services. We 
got detailed briefings from 
the Israel Defense Forces, 
the founder of the model 
Palestinian city of Rawabi and 
many others.
“Through it all, my 
conviction grew that we 
can we can help Israelis and 
Palestinians achieve a two-
state solution and open a new 
era of peace and prosperity. 
In the end, we met with two 
women, an Israeli general and 
Palestinian lawyer, who have 
both worked on negotiations 
between the sides at the 
highest level for decades. Their 
message was clear: This is not 
a pipe dream, but the only 
practical way forward.
” 

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER 

TWITTER

