Baltimore Yearly Meeting	301/774-7663
of the Religious Society of Friends	800/962-4766
17100 Quaker Lane	Fax: 301/774-7087
Sandy Spring, Maryland 20860-1296	bym@bym-rsf.org
	http://www.bym-rsf.org

9 July 2006

Dear Mr. President:

Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends represents Meetings (congregations) in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. We write to you regarding the urgent humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people and its impact on progress to the goal of security and a just peace for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

As Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), we oppose all forms of violence—whether it is suicide bombings, targeted assassinations, or the harassment of an occupation. We further seek to remedy the causes of violence. Palestinians are suffering severe economic deprivation every day as a result of the cut-off of U.S. and EU assistance, and Israel’s withholding of taxes owed the Palestinian Authority. Assistance from Arab states has been stymied by U.S. pressure on Arab financial institutions. Funds are desperately needed to pay the salaries of some 150,000 government employees, teachers, policemen, and health care providers. With families averaging 7 people in number, the sanctions directly affect approximately 1 million men, women and children, and indirectly those businesses that depend on their trade. The PA administers the public school system, many hospitals and health clinics, and provides grants to humanitarian non-governmental organizations. The World Bank report of May 7 states that if the current sanctions continue the “Palestine Authority is unlikely to provide basic services or maintain law and order.” It cites prospects of an “impending famine” and prospects of the dissolution of the PA. We question the morality and the effectiveness of punishing all of the Palestinian people in an attempt to alter the political position of Hamas. In addition to the tragic suffering already experienced and the impending worsening of the situation, the indiscriminate financial and commercial sanctions undermine progress towards a just settlement. The crumbling civic infrastructure damages all Palestinians.

Nothing will destroy a people’s motivation for a peaceful settlement more effectively than a growing realization that there is nothing more to lose. We believe that the reopening of commercial channels and continuing aid to the Palestinian Authority is essential for the well-being of the Palestinian people. This is critical for maintaining civil order and essential services and a political entity capable and willing to negotiate a settlement.

In the immediate crisis we maintain our perspective on the goals and processes of a viable settlement. We commend and strongly support your call for a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict, and we share your vision of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state living in peace with its neighbor Israel.

Reinforcing our earlier statement, as members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) we oppose actions and conditions that produce violence as well as open violence itself. We respectfully request that you give these thoughts serious consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Cronin
Clerk, Interim Meeting, Baltimore Yearly Meeting
cc: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Senators and Representatives in the BYM geographic area