An Open Letter to Mrs. Clinton, United States Secretary of State

Dear Mrs. Clinton,

Remember this? “It is 3 am…there is a phone at the White House and it’s ringing…” Only in my case it was 2 AM in Israel when my phone rang. It was only 8 PM here in the States, as I am here on business. However it was 2 AM when my twenty-one year old daughter called me from Jerusalem, scared, unable to sleep—and it is your fault, and the fault of your boss (ironically the fellow you made the commercial about—highlighting his inexperience. Now he is your boss. How funny is that?).

Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in East Jerusalem

Why am I blaming you? “Have you heard about the riots in Jerusalem?” she asked me. I told her I had. I prayed with her and she went to sleep.

However she never would have been concerned about the riots had you not emboldened the radical element in the Palestinian community by publicly upbraiding the Prime Minister of Israel last Friday. For forty three minutes you vented against our best friend in the Middle East, while gleeful Palestinians prepared for riots.

Let’s get the facts straight. This was not the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, this was the natural growth of apartments in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem. East Jerusalem has been part of Israel ever since the Jordanians attacked Israel in 1967. Oh…and 3,000 years before that.

No US President until now (including your Husband) expected Israel to give up Jerusalem. Are you going to give half of Washington back to the British?

And Mrs. Clinton how can you in good conscience chastise Netanyahu, while being silent about the Palestinian Authority?

“At the same time as rebuking Israel, neither the White House nor State Department had anything to say about the fact that the U.S.-financed Palestinian Authority, led by “moderate” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, renamed a central public square in Ramallah on Thursday in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, the woman who in 1978 helped carry out the deadliest single terrorist attack in Israel’s history.” (Tom Gross, National Post, Palestinian Authority honours terrorist; White House mute, March 16th, 2010)

I thought you endorsed Obama’s new anti-Bush diplomatic strategy. You know, a new America, a new President—one who makes speeches in Egypt telling the world how tolerant we are. One who goes out of his way to make sure our enemies don’t mistake our confidence for arrogance. Too bad we don’t have a policy like that for our friends.

“President Obama repeatedly insists that American foreign policy be conducted with modesty and humility. Above all, there will be no more ‘dictating’ to other countries. We should ‘forge partnerships as opposed to simply dictating solutions,’ he told the G-20 summit. In Middle East negotiations, he told al-Arabiya, America will henceforth ‘start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating.’

“An admirable sentiment. It applies to everyone — Iran, Russia, Cuba, Syria, even Venezuela. Except Israel. Israel is ordered to freeze all settlement activity.” (Charles Krauthamer, The Washingtonpost, the Settlements Myth, June 5th, 2009)

So as not to take up anymore of your busy time (I am sure you have phone calls to make), let me just ask you one question. How does it feel knowing that your lambasting of our best friend in the Middle East, if not the world, has led to the “worst violence in several years” (IPS, Mel Frykber, IPS, ‘Day of Rage’ Engulfs Palestine) in Israel.

While there have been no reported deaths, there have been more than 100 Palestinians wounded as well as several Israeli soldiers and police. Not to mention, terrified Israelis, like my daughter, worried that buses could start blowing up again and restaurants could be engulfed in flames killing dozens, even as her cousin was, Daniel Cantor Wultz, during Passover in 2006 several years ago in Tel Aviv when a suicide bomber blew himself up killing over a dozen innocent people. Way to go Mrs. Clinton.

Palestinians have been quoted as saying this is just the beginning—it will last for weeks and months. Is this part of your boss’s strategy for peace? If so, you were right about his inexperience!

The question Mrs. Clinton is not who is answering the phone at 3 AM or even who is calling at that hour, but if the blood on your hands will keep you up at 3 AM?