WASHINGTON, 3 April — Congressman John Dingall, Democrat-Michigan, is vehement in his concern of the killings and destruction in the occupied territories, and says the US needs to intervene. Rep. Dingall told Arab News yesterday that without US intervention, the entire region could be drawn into the escalating conflict.
“What is all the bloodshed accomplishing? The butcher’s bill now stands at 1,400 and counting. Why? Israeli military attacks do nothing to improve security, and suicide attacks do not further the cause of the Palestinian people. The vicious cycle of violence that consumes this troubled land must be broken or we will all suffer the consequences,” said Rep. Dingall.
“The administration must vigorously intervene to end this bloodshed, or else this conflict will grow worse, more lives will be lost, and it will become much more likely that war will engulf the region. Today’s events jeopardize the stability of the all countries in the Middle East, and in fact the world. They also harm the interests of the United States,” said Rep. Dingall.
“I would hope that the Israeli government realizes that military strikes and actions to further humiliate the Palestinian Authority and people will not bring and end to violence. They only increase the appeal of extremists, which will result in many more Palestinian and Israeli deaths. There is no justification for killing innocent civilians. Recent attacks on innocent Israeli civilians by Palestinian extremists are truly evil and wrong. They serve no purpose.
“I fail to comprehend what would compel a young man or woman to surrender their life in an immoral, misguided effort to kill innocent people.”
Rep. Dingall wants both sides to sit down and talk: “Dialogue must continue. All parties know that there will eventually be a peace based on United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
“Israel will get security and the opportunity to forge economic, political, and cultural ties to its neighbors; Palestinians will get an independent state. Israeli and Palestinian citizens alike will all have the opportunity to live normal lives. Further violence, whether Israelis or Palestinians initiate it, is futile. Let us all pray that peace will prevail,” he said.
