Embassy decision has negative effects

PHOTOGRAPHER: Letters to the Editor

The Trump administration’s hasty and thoughtless proposal to move the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has already had negative repercussions. It has emboldened the Likud Party to push for annexation of West Bank territories, making a two-state solution even more implausible.

The description of Israel as an apartheid state, while offensive to many, is becoming more accurate. And Congress, by not pushing back against the administration’s actions is complicit in making a bad situation worse. Instead of casting votes that limit the free speech of U.S. citizens who support the boycott divestment sanctions movement, Congress must focus on urging our ally Israel to behave in a manner that truly will bring statehood and justice to Palestinians.

I urge you to educate yourself about the injustices that a 50-year occupation of the West Bank have brought about, and to acknowledge that there are both fanatics and reasonable people on both sides of the Green Line. Before blindly supporting Israeli policy — a policy designed only to annex and repress — I suggest you read the book, “Kingdom of Olives and Ash” to get a sense of the oppression that residents of the West Bank face on a daily basis.

Gary Grill

Canaan