Email to The President

Dear President Obama,

I listened to your Cairo speech and as an American Israeli born in the US and raised in Israel I have some things to say. I appreciate your desire to unite the world and bring peace. I voted for you in the hopes that you would bring a much needed new order and am overall pleased with most of what you have done so far. I don't disagree with your desire to close the gap between Christians and Muslims. I have some Muslim friends who are wonderful caring people. I have met many Muslims whom I have liked and admired including Palestinians.

I also have some concerns. You grew up in Indonesia surrounded by tolerant Muslims. I have a friend who grew up in Malaysia surrounded by tolerant Muslims. I am well aware that there are many tolerant Muslims around the world. Unfortunately there are also many intolerant Muslims around the world and they really are a threat. I was living in Israel in the 1990's. I was there when the Oslo agreement was signed and I was there when Rabin was assassinated. I was also there during one of the worst bloodbaths in the history of Israel went on. Every time Rabin made a concession the level of terror rose. The suicide attacks started after the Oslo agreement. How can you make peace with people who try to kill you every time you make a concession?

The settlements are not the problem. I know the people in the settlements and some of them are fanatics but none of them are murderers. They believe that what they are doing is protecting Israel. How can you tell these people that stopping the settlements will bring peace after what happened in Gaza?

Israel wants peace. But Israel will not sacrifice her ability to defend herself. If you truly want peace you need to find a way to ensure Israels safety. When the surrounding Arab countries turn their back on terror and bloodshed and recognize the right of Israel to exist there will be peace. Israel will make any necessary concessions for real peace. But after all the broken promises that only led to more bloodshed Israel needs real reassurances that it is a real lasting peace.

I don't know if you will read this but I felt a need to try and reach out and say something. I love both my countries and want to see both of them succeed. This will never happen as long as there are terrorists like Hamas and Al Quaida. These people are funded by oil money. We need to invest more in clean renewable energy so we can stop the funding of these groups. When this happens there will be peace. Thank you for your time.