Jewish Americans Want Politicians to Work for Peace in Israel/Palestine

"The world rests on three things: on justice, on truth, and on peace. And all three are one, for where there is justice, there is also truth, and there is peace."

-Talmud, Ta'anit, 4:2

Cynthia McKinney paid a price for speaking the truth. As a Representative of the United States Congress, she had the conviction and courage to state what so many of her colleagues think privately but are hesitant to say publicly: Israel's 37-year-old military occupation of the Palestinian people in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem is wrong and that ending this occupation is a prerequisite for there to be peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Like the rabbis of the Talmud, Ms. McKinney understands that the strands which bind together peace and justice are inseparable. Israelis cannot expect to live in peace and security while their government is engaged in a land grab and degrading military occupation that denies their neighbors, the Palestinians, their individual human rights and their collective right of self-determination.

Ms. McKinney's willingness in Congress to question Israel's military occupation of the Palestinians earned her the ire of some Jewish American organizations. These institutions demonized Ms. McKinney both before and during her 2002 Democratic primary race and political action committees aligned with them pumped substantial funds into the election campaign of her challenger, Denise Majette. Flush with funds and the support of Republicans who "crossed over" and voted for her in the Georgia primary to punish Ms. McKinney for her critical analysis of the Bush Administration's "war on terror", Ms. Majette won her primary election and one of Congress' most important voices was stilled temporarily. However, Ms. McKinney is undaunted by this defeat and is seeking to reclaim her seat in the House of Representatives in 2004.