Monsey, NY - Embargo On Mail To Israel, Lebanon Lifted

Monsey, NY - Rep. Eliot Engel is demanding that regional postal officials lift what he called a ridiculous embargo on outgoing letters and packages headed to Israel and Lebanon.

Matthew Thomas, supervisor of customer service in the Monsey post office on Melnick Drive, said that his office turned away people with Israel-bound mail on after receiving an e-mail from the U.S. Postal Service's Westchester district office the day before announcing the embargo.

Engel, who represents parts of Rockland, Westchester and the Bronx, said that, as far as he knows, nowhere else in the country are such restrictions being imposed. The postal service's policy on the issue shouldn't differ from district to district, he said.

Also, as a federal agency, the postal service should have consulted with him and other members of Congress before deciding on an embargo, Engel said."We were blindsided by it," he said. "They did not consult with anybody."

Engel said he would be calling postal officials today about the issue and, if necessary, would take his concerns to the U.S. Postmaster General in Washington, D.C. "I think this is a capricious and arbitrary ruling and not something I'm willing to let stand," he said.

U/D: 07/25/06 08:21
The U.S. Postal Service authorities said that the error that caused a temporary embargo to be placed on mail to Israel and Lebanon was the result of a misinterpreted e-mail by an employee from the agency's regional office.

Pat McGovern, a spokeswoman for the U.S Postal Service, said someone in the agency's West-chester district office erroneously sent out an e-mail after reading one that said the Beirut International Airport had closed after being badly bombed and that post offices in northern Israel had shut down after a state of emergency had been declared. "The person made the assumption that we couldn't go there," McGovern said. "The person should not have done so. We apologize for any confusion made through this message."

McGovern said that mail for Israel was being forwarded there and mail for Lebanon is being forwarded through Damascus, Syria.