|
|
March 15, 2002/Nisan2, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 26
Open letter to Crown Prince
ANDREW A. BUERGER
Baltimore Jewish Times
Dear Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud:
Thank you for stepping forward and offering a peace plan to stop the horrendous cycle of violence in the Middle East. We certainly need more leaders stepping up with solutions.
I have been meaning to write you since I read the excerpts from your recent New York Times interview, to applaud your efforts to aid your "oppressed" Palestinian brethren. It's very sad to see those poor children being subjected to violence and poverty. And I encourage you to continue to challenge President George W. Bush.
In the interview, you expressed concern that Bush wasn't doing enough to help the Palestinians, your fellow Muslim Arabs. I wanted to drop you a line to suggest ways to help them. After all, my people have some experience in this area.
You probably read that Jews, too, were in refugee camps after World War II, and we got very little help from governments around the world. Diaspora Jews donated millions of dollars to help resettle them in safe countries, and thousands of volunteers worked tirelessly for years to get the Jews out of danger. This was before our people had a homeland. We placed Jews in Argentina, Canada and the United States. We didn't rest until they were out of harm's way.
More recently, we raised millions of dollars from our own people, and used incredible organizational skill to get Jews from threatening places like Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union and to move them to Israel and the United States.
I don't know much about your finances, but you might be able to tap money from your oil revenue to rescue some of the people you say you're concerned about. I've seen some of your palaces on TV; they look pretty nice. Maybe you could use one of them to house 1,000 Palestinian children, just as countless of families took in Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.
With all due respect, Crown Prince, why haven't you done more to help your people? Blaming the United States and Israel just won't work. At an Arab nation summit, you and your colleagues pledged $1 billion for Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. You never delivered it because of fears of corruption. That was probably wise.
But if you're concerned about their well-being, perhaps you should take the Palestinians out of harm's way. When things calm down, I'm sure the United States and Israel would sit down with their leaders - as they've been trying to do - to create a Palestinian homeland. It would be great, too, if you could talk to your colleagues in Jordan, which is mostly Palestinian, to help out.
You are offering a peace plan now. Where have you been for the last 18 months, as Israel was offering so much land and getting so little support? Is it because you are suddenly in hot water after Sept. 11 that you finally step forward?
If you want to help your people, I suggest your remind them that Islamic law prohibits murder. I respectfully suggest that you seriously become part of the solution, not another fake olive branch. After all, action, not words, is how the Jews got to where they are today.
Buerger is the publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times. Reprinted with permission from the Baltimore Jewish Times. Contact him at abuerger@alteryourview.com.
|
