The Media Line Interview: Congressman Keith Ellison on Promoting Peace from Capitol Hill

The Media Line recently interviewed Congressman Keith Ellison (representing Minnesota's 5th District). Below are a few excerpts from the interview:

United States Congressman Keith Ellison was recently referred to by President Obama in his Cairo speech as the nation's first Muslim representative to swear the oath of office on Thomas Jefferson's Quran. Representing Minnesota's 5th District, Mr. Ellison has made the Middle East a priority, traveling to the region on a number of occasions since entering Congress in 2007.

Rep. Ellison:

The reality is that the story of the Jewish people in Israel is the story of overcoming major obstacles, particularly around World War II and the Holocaust, and then coming to a homeland and having trouble there. At the same time, the Palestinians were in the area and they regard that as their homeland, too, and so it would be easy if you could say one side is wrong or one side is right.

The people who are living in Tel Aviv want to be able to get on a bus safely, and get to where they're going without worrying about any sort of bomb blast. And what are the people worrying about in the Palestinian areas? They want to be able to make sure their children have a bright future, a good education, and can actually realize their dreams.

Washington does have this very strong mannequin element to it; you're either for or against: yes or no. That does not lend itself to American national security nor does it lend itself to the benefit of people who are in the Holy Land - whether they be Israeli or Palestinian. We've got to break this framing of "you're either on this side or on that side"; we've got to be on both sides. We've got to say that we are for a two-state solution in which Israel can live in peace and security and Palestinians can have a state of their own where they can grow and prosper.

In the Congress, if you say, "I'm pro-Israel," then there are a number of people who will support you for that. And if you say I'm pro-Palestinian, there's a smaller group, but there still are those people who say "I want to support you being that way."  But if you say, "I'm for peace and resolution of the conflict, and for the United States to be engaged for the benefit of the both people including the United States," then that constituency is almost non-existent. There is this sort of mannequin need to say you're for this or you're for that; I think we've got to evolve out of this and I think President Obama is going to help us do that.

No American politician, no member of Congress today can stand up and say "Let's have unrestrained dialog with Hamas and not have to defend that position to the degree that that politician would not scarcely be able to talk about anything else at all. So I'm not going to get up here and tell you yes, let's have unrestricted dialog with Hamas. But I will point out a few things. One, is that it's fairly well-known that Israel talks with Hamas through Egypt and maybe directly. That's suspected but it's not known. But it's known that they talk through Egypt as a conduit. We also know that Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, and to act like they're not there all might not help us get to the goal we all want which is to have a fair, final resolution of the conflict.

We shouldn't be cynical and believe that it can't be solved; it can be. You know, we've got George Mitchell there; we've made a number of important policy statements there. I think that Israeli leaders are looking at the progress the Palestinian security forces have made in the West Bank and are gaining greater comfort there due to the Palestinian security forces success. They have indicated in meetings that I've been in that they are ready to move away from occupation. And those Palestinian security forces continue to build their capacity to maintain law and order. So I think that we need to continue to train Palestinian forces. We need to train them in human rights and professionalism and in terms of counterterrorism. And we need to keep on being patient and moving forward. Once you can get the Israeli public confident that Qassams will not begin to come flying out of the West Bank, you will find a public willing to make concessions on the other side.

I encourage Obama to continue to work with General Keith Dayton and to continue to press for final status negotiations so that we can get a Palestinian state established and then we can help it to strengthen itself; to build its economic and cultural, social viability; and make sure there's peace there. I think it's important to show the Palestinian people that peace pays; that working with the international community is the right way to go; and that peace has its benefits. But we can't ask the Palestinian people to wait forever. They can't be expected to live under expanding settlements, illegal outposts and over 600 checkpoints and be told, "You're going to get yours one of these days, but not now." People can't tolerate that; they can't live under those conditions. All it does is seed people who turn to desperate measures; extremist measures, and it's important to bear that in mind. When you do not leave room for Palestinian moderate impulses to be expressed, it essentially empowers people who will turn to extremism.

I'm optimistic that the Israeli public will continue to say, Look, we want security and we're ready for peace as long as we feel we're not giving up our security. I'm optimistic that the Palestinian people want to resolve this conflict; are looking forward for better days for their kids. I'm optimistic that people like Salam Faya'd are bringing greater credibility and confidence to the P.A. because of excellent management skills. And I'm confident that the people who lead Hamas are going to see that the best way to go is the peace route.