Sept 12, '09 - Letter back to Rob McKenna with key question

Bert Sacks

6550 Greenwood Ave N, #11

Seattle, WA 98103

September 12, 20098

The Honorable Rob McKenna

Washington State Attorney General

1125 Washington Street SE

Olympia, WA 98501-2283

Dear Attorney General McKenna:

Thank you for your letter of August 31, 2009 to all of us who met with you on July 15^th to voice our concerns regarding your sign-on to the NAAG letter regarding Israel.

In that letter to us you wrote, “I share your concern for the innocent people of Gaza – the women, children and others harmed during the military action and by the restrictions on supplies that were put in place to prevent the movement of weapons.”

I am writing to ask you: What is the basis for your belief that the restrictions on supplies to the people of Gaza had anything to do with preventing the movement of weapons?

Of course we are speaking of restrictions on supplies at the Israeli border to Gaza (not the Egyptian border). In the two articles from the Israeli press I supplied you – and in the many pages of material your office received from the Israeli Consul General – I am not aware of any reference at all to a concern to stop the smuggling of weapons from Israel.

Additionally, data from the IDF itself shows that during Israel’s military incursion into Gaza, 577 shipments of food were allowed to cross from Israel into Gaza. Yet during the ceasefire with Gaza (referred to as the “period of the lull”), Israel allowed an average of 92 shipments of food into Gaza. If there was a concern about movement of weapons with food, how could six times more food be allowed to cross to Gaza during the fighting?

If I am mistaken in my understanding, I welcome more information – just as you were open to hearing from us. I thank you again for your willingness to engage in this exchange of information and concerns. And I await your prompt reply to my question.

Sincerely,

Bert Sacks

Reference: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfjj4rpq_206c4g42khm is a link to the IDF data I mentioned. I supplied this to you during our July meeting and in a previous letter.