December 1st, 2011

Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Fourth District) spoke at Congregation Sinai on Nov. 6. She had recently traveled to Israel and the Arab world, and she discussed her experiences and observations with about 100 people.

Rep. Gwen Moore

Her trip to Israel Aug. 7-15 was sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She also was one of five members of the House of Representatives who participated in a visit to Arab countries Sept. 24-Oct. 3 as a delegate from the House Democracy Partnership.

The Congregation Sinai event was co-sponsored by AIPAC’s Midwest office, the synagogue, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.

AIPAC does not allow press coverage of its events, but the JCRC arranged for Moore to speak briefly with Chronicle editor Leon Cohen afterward. Selected and edited excerpts of that conversation follow:

What do you think you learned from the trip that you may not have known before or that changed your thinking about things?

I’ve been to Israel three other times before this last trip, and this trip in particular was more [about] the geographical complexities and challenges facing a peace agreement. We looked at the so-called “narrow waist” of Israel, looked at the rocket ranges of Hezbollah fire, talked a little bit about the complexities of sharing resources like water… Just the complications of the West Bank and Gaza being separated, the complexities of land swaps that would ensure the security of Israel, and it was a whole different level of respect and appreciation for the difficulty in not simply just drawing some sort of line saying “this is Israel” and “this is Palestine.”

And did that change your thinking about how you’d want to approach this and how the U.S. should help?

I think it just is incumbent upon us to have a negotiated settlement. I think that I already came to the conclusion that simply declaring a Palestinian state was not the path, but negotiations were absolutely imperative, because there are major issues like Jerusalem, but there are also other issues, painful issues [like] which settlements can or cannot be swapped out in the West Bank, what the water arrangements will be. I was reinforced in my belief that it was extremely important to negotiate settlement as opposed to just some mere declaration.

But what can the U.S. do? It looks like [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas is not open to negotiations, but is doing unilateral stuff in the United Nations and UNESCO…?

I think what we have seen is that he has gone to the U.N., but he has rejected violence as a path. He is not taking the path of intifada. Also, Abbas stepped back from requesting memberships in other U.N. organizations after he saw what happened with UNESCO.

[Editor’s note: On Oct. 31, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization voted to accept the P.A. as a full member. The vote activated legislation adopted in the 1980s that prohibits U.S. funding to U.N. agencies that recognize a state of Palestine before a peace deal with Israel is finalized. U.S. annual dues to UNESCO comprises more than 20 percent of the agency’s about $364 million budget.]

What message would you want to give to first the Jewish community about what you saw in Israel, and what would you want to tell the general public of Wisconsin and your district?

My message is the same for the general public as the Jewish community; I don’t have two different messages...

Things will not remain the same [in the Middle East]… Not only was there an Arab spring based on a sense of oppression by totalitarian dictators, but even in Israel, we saw the tent cities, people rallying similar to [the Occupy Wall Street movement] here about the economic conditions that were there. This region is changing very quickly. The status quo will not remain the same. The need for peace agreements is really upon us.

What kinds questions did the audience ask you here [at Congregation Sinai]?

Very, very tough, tough, tough questions, about Iran, numbers of questions about Iran, numbers of questions about the Arab spring and the implications for it. Syria, what do I project will be happening in Syria. I didn’t have my crystal ball with me. Sanctions on Iran. New governments under Islamic fundamentalists. They asked some pretty tough questions; it felt like a seminar.

Did they challenge any of your votes?

I volunteered to talk about some of the votes that I’ve taken. For example, I didn’t vote for any of the House-sponsored bills on Iran sanctions that were unilateral sanctions. We’ve had sanctions for the last 15 years on Iran that haven’t gone anywhere.

But I did vote on the final passage of Iran sanctions that were multilateral, and they’ve been working. We’ve seen Russia divest from refining Iranian oil; Switzerland, Turkey, Kuwait, we have actually seen those sanctions working.

So yes I haven’t voted for every single resolution that has had really nothing except to ignite a flame of hatred between people, in my opinion. But I’ve voted for things that were really substantive…

I think that I want to be an honest broker, which I think the United States ought to be, an honest broker, because we are desperately seen as part of the equation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And if we aren’t seen as an honest broker, I think we’ll lose a lot of ability to actually help bring about a solution.

To what extent do you think Israel, the Middle East, foreign policy will be issues in your coming reelection campaign?

I can tell you that ten years ago I sued the Wisconsin delegation to get this part of the district. So I really look forward to representing the Jewish community in Wisconsin and in the Milwaukee area.

I welcome discussion of Israel because I think Israel is important. You’ve got this tiny little nation the size of New Jersey in the midst of a very volatile region, and it matters, it matters a lot. It’s a big deal in the world, what happens with Israel. 

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