Dear Ms. Albright,
We Palestinian and Israeli women have a vision of peace based on mutual respect for the rights of both peoples to fulfill their national aspirations. This involves recognizing the rights of each to a state with territorial contiguity, secure borders, and full sovereignty.
The Israeli government treats the peace process as a zero sum game in which the occupied territories are perceived in terms of security zones and buffers. This government is derailing the peace process with its policies to expand settlements, maintain a closure, demolish homes, hold political detainees without trial, confiscate identity cards, bar Palestinian access to Jerusalem, and refuse safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. These policies violate human and political rights, undermine the Palestinian economic, social and cultural fabric, and effectively maintain Israeli sovereignty over another people.
We appeal to the leaders of the United States and Europe to help enforce the peace process that is already in place; and we call upon Israeli and Palestinian political leaders to shape a peace agreement that will provide a framework for the development of genuinely peaceful relations between the two nations and ensure the security of both. This cannot be achieved without two states for two peoples, and the city of Jerusalem serving as two capitals for these two states.
Ms. Albright, we are aware of your tireless efforts for peace in the Middle East, and we appreciate them deeply. In parallel, we would like to make you aware of the tireless efforts that we are making on the grassroots level on behalf of peace. Without devoted commitment on both levels, and on the part of our national leaders, our peoples will continue to pay the price in blood, and peace will remain an elusive dream.
The Jerusalem Link