Over the past few years, the matter of Palestine has weighed heavy upon my conscience. For the record, I wish to offer my personal stances on matters dealing with the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people, and their homeland.

The Right to Sovereignty

The Palestinian people are entitled to the right to an independent country (“nation-state”), unmolested or subservient to any outside interest, be they a sovereign power or a social or economic invention. Simply put: the Palestinian people have an absolute right to a homeland of their choosing in their own land.

The Right to Reparations

There is no doubt that the economic plight of the Palestinian people today is a product of the United Nations failure to provide a meaningful and enforceable solution to the people of Palestine. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the world (including the state of Israel) to provide a meaningful and just financial remedy (meaning reparations) to the people of Palestine.

The Right for Redress

The Palestinian people today should have the sovereign freedom to seek legal redress as needed for their plight at the International Court of Justice.

The Right to Political Freedom, Human Dignity & Civil Rights

There can be no doubt that the rights of Palestinians as endowed by their Creator have been infringed upon, violated and disrespected as a routine practice by an occupying power (Israel). A widespread and pervasive system of discrimination exists in Palestine today, and cannot be tolerated any longer. The civil, human and political rights of Palestinians as underscored in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must be restored, honored, and those guilty of their violation be brought into account.

Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions

The Palestinian people today are under a military occupation that simply is not in line with the intention of either the Oslo Accords, or the political aspirations of the Palestinian people. Given that it is clearly wrong for any innocent life to be lost, the only moral objection afforded the Palestinian people today as they watch their homes seized, and ever-growing illegal encroachment by an occupying power is to use the methods my fore-bearers used in South Asia to secure their freedom from British Bondage: non-violence. Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) is a movement to achieve said ends. BDS seeks to only impact Israeli products so long as the brutal and illegal occupation of Palestine continues. Regardless of any endorsement or non-endorsement of BDS, it is the inviolable right of the American people under our Constitution’s First Amendment to allow individuals and associations to boycott, divest or organize to call and enact sanctions. Efforts to bar BDS under law are simply unconstitutional.

In other words, wherever I stand, I stand with Palestine.