14 | DECEMBER 5 • 2019
Views
Editor’
s note: Michigan
Congressman Andy Levin com-
posed a letter Nov. 19 to Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo expressing
the disagreement regarding the
U.S. stance that West Bank Jewish
settlements are no longer illegal.
More than 100 Democrats signed
the letter, including Michigan
representatives Rashida Tlaib,
Debbie Dingell, Brenda Lawrence
and Dan Kildee.
W
e write to express
our strong disagree-
ment with the State
Department’
s decision to reverse
decades of bipartisan U.S. poli-
cy on Israeli settlements in the
occupied West Bank by repudi-
ating the 1978 State Department
legal opinion that civilian settle-
ments in the occupied territories
are “inconsistent with interna-
tional law.
”
This announcement, follow-
ing the administration’
s decision
to move the U.S. embassy to
Jerusalem outside of a nego-
tiated agreement; its closure
of the Palestinian mission in
Washington, D.C., and U.S. con-
sulate in Jerusalem; and its halt-
ing of aid Congress appropriated
to the West Bank and Gaza, has
discredited the United States as
an honest broker between Israel
and the Palestinian Authority,
severely damaged prospects for
peace, and endangered the secu-
rity of America, Israel and the
Palestinian people.
U.S. administrations from
both parties have followed the
1978 guidance because settle-
ment expansion into the occu-
pied West Bank makes a contig-
uous Palestinian state inviable,
jeopardizing Israel’
s future as a
secure, democratic homeland
for the Jewish people. The State
Department’
s unilateral reversal
on the status of settlements,
without any clear legal justifica-
tion, therefore, has offered a tacit
endorsement of settlements,
their expansion and associat-
ed demolitions of Palestinian
homes.
In addition, one day after the
Department’
s decision, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
moved to advance a bill to annex
the Jordan Valley. As annexation
and the United States’
approval
thereof would destroy prospects
for a two-state solution and lead
to a more entrenched and pos-
sibly deadlier conflict, this deci-
sion erodes the security of both
Israel and the United States.
This State Department
decision blatantly disregards
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, which affirms that
any occupying power shall not
“deport or transfer parts of its
own civilian population into
the territory it occupies.
” In
ignoring international law, this
administration has undermined
America’
s moral standing and
sent a dangerous message to
those who do not share our val-
ues: human rights and interna-
tional law, which have governed
the international order and pro-
tected U.S. troops and civilians
since 1949, no longer apply.
If the U.S. unilaterally aban-
dons international and human
rights law, we can only expect
a more chaotic and brutal 21st
century for Americans and
our allies, including the Israeli
people.
Given these serious impli-
cations, we strongly urge you
to reverse this policy decision
immediately.
letter to congress
100 Congresspeople Say
Reverse Settlement Decision
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