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Few Speak Out for Palestinians in US Congress
WASHINGTON - Many voices around the world speak up for the Palestinians, but few in the U.S. Congress.
Lawmakers in Washington routinely pass nonbinding resolutions
supporting Israel during Middle East crises. The Senate on Thursday
backed Israel's battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and
the House of Representatives followed on Friday.
Even U.S.
lawmakers who express sympathy for the Palestinians hesitate to call
themselves pro-Palestinian and they voice strong support for the
security of Israel as well, hewing to decades of close U.S.-Israeli
ties.
"When these events occur, there's almost a knee-jerk
reaction of Congress that endorses 1,000 percent what Israel is doing,"
said Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat and Lebanese-American who
has voted against some of the measures and did so again on Friday.
"Israel is our ally. ... It always has been, with which I perfectly
agree. But I don't believe in allowing that to blind us to what is in
our best interests, or giving knee-jerk approval to anything Israel
does. We don't do that with any other ally," he told Reuters.
Washington has been Israel's closest ally since 1948, when President
Harry Truman made the United States the first country to recognize the
new Jewish state.
Harry Reid, who leads the Democratic majority
in the Senate, gave voice to the depth of the relationship when he said
on Thursday, "Our resolution reflects the will of the State of Israel
and the will of the American people."
The Senate measure
offered "unwavering commitment" to Israel. It recognized "its right to
act in self-defense to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism"
and urged a ceasefire that would keep Hamas from firing rockets at
Israel.
That closely tracked Republican President George W.
Bush's comments on the crisis, said Ric Stoll, professor of political
science at Rice University, who questioned whether it helped U.S.
diplomats trying to broker a ceasefire.
LANDSLIDE VOTES
"You don't have to say Hamas are nice folks," Stoll said. "(But) how do
you convince supporters of the Palestinians to pressure Hamas to go for
a ceasefire, if your statements look like you are tilting heavily
towards Israel?"
The House on Friday passed a resolution
"recognizing Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza"
by 390-5. The measure noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza "is
becoming more acute" but did not rebuke Israel.
The House has passed similar measures in recent years by landslides.
In 2006, the House voted 410-8 to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah for
"unprovoked and reprehensible armed attacks against Israel" and
supported Israel's incursion into Lebanon.
In 2004, the vote
was 407-9 to support a statement by Bush that it was "unrealistic" to
expect Israel to return completely to pre-1967 borders. In 2003, it was
399-5 to support Israel's forceful response to Palestinian attacks as
justified.
The few opponents of the measures often include
lawmakers of Arab-American descent or from Arab-American communities,
and mavericks such as Democrat Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Republican
Ron Paul of Texas.
Kucinich, who sought the Democratic
presidential nomination last year, charged that the United States was
ignoring the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza while facilitating
Israel's actions with arms deals worth billions.
Washington
"sniffs at the slaughter of innocents in Gaza," he said. "U.S. tax
dollars, U.S. jets and U.S. helicopters provided to Israel are enabling
the slaughter in Gaza."
James Zogby, president of the Arab
American Institute, said the Israeli lobby is often seen as the force
behind pro-Israel votes, but he thinks it is not that simple.
Some Americans "don't have a clue" about the Palestinians' history, he said.
Lawmakers also take foreign policy cues from the president, Zogby said,
so some change could lie ahead with President-elect Barack Obama, who
has said little about the crisis so far.
Editing by Eric Walsh
- Posted in
128 Comments so far
Show AllDennis Kucinich, Ron Paul and Nick Rahall and those very few other brave souls are diamonds in the rough.
I find it so terrifying that Kucinich is one of the few voices of reason in our government on the Gaza issue, impeachment, and on the reckless 700 billion bailout. How is it that so few take his entirely rational side? This must be read as a symptom of the state of our government. Reid's statement that the resolution supports the will of the American people is a joke...I don't remember voting on US support for Israel during the last election. I also wrote to Bloomberg chiding him for claiming to represent New Yorkers in that support on his last trip to Israel, just assuming that all of his constituents, many no doubt who are Palestinians or who sympathize with Palestinians, take his position. Government has become more than arrogant in its assumptions concerning the will of the people...in its wishful thinking that the people agree with its neo-con positions.
Why is it that Kucinich and Paul are our only steadfast champions of a rational foreign policy? Never has a government been so dominated by another country's lobbyists.
George Washington said it best in his farewell address to the young nation in 1796. Amazing how prescient the following passage is:
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.
Now we know why they got no debate invites or any questions when they did.
But I could be wrong !
There are far worse cases of agression in the world, China's rape of Tibet being example 1. Darfur, Chechenya, Zimbabwe are right behind. Of course JEWS are not the oppressors in these places, so right thinking progressives do not really care.
And the Tibetans did not cheer on 9-11...
Troll Alert! An a particularly silly if not annoying one.
Anyways -- such an odious and specious argument. Israel is using some of the most advanced American-made weaponry to pummel a largely defenseless captive people. And it is Israel that draws all this attention to itself by having such an influence on Western governments. Why would all the senators and most of congress decided to vote on such an ugly resolution?
Americans should have a particular interest in Israel's aggression because Israel is a client state of the US. Hence, Americans are morally responsible for its actions. China is not a US client. Nor is Russia. Our voices and votes do not oppress Tibetans or Chechens, nor can our voices or votes have any measurable impact on those situations, since they do not get a say in the offending governments' activities. Not so with Israel.
Once we stop slaughtering people, we can appropriately turn our attention to other people's behavior.
Good points, and a more convincing response than mine.
It can be said that we also have no control over how the Palestinians respond the the Israeli oppression that we all support through our government. While Hamas' use of wildly inaccurate rockets that knowingly hit civilian targets is worthy of condemnation, the facts are that it is our own actions that are leading them to resort to these tactics to begin with. So we are in no moral position to condemn them until we get the huge log out of our own eye, as Jesus said.
---USAn---
The client state argument is bogus. Beware of people who make that argument. When will the left get it that's its AIPAC and the lobby behind congress's policies in the region.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/01/09/us-stance-on-gaza-at-un-rankles-aipac/
The Nation Magazine has an excellent article on aipac and I have reposted a quote from it here.......
"The Bush Administration is bad enough in tolerating measures they would not accept anywhere else but Israel," says Henry Siegman, the former head of the American Jewish Congress and a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But the Congress, if anything, is urging the Administration on and criticizing them even at their most accommodating. When it comes to the Israeli-Arab conflict, the terms of debate are so influenced by organized Jewish groups, like AIPAC, that to be critical of Israel is to deny oneself the ability to succeed in American politics." http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/aipacs_hold
Americans need to wake up before its too late!
But to reply to Liberty's specific points:
China's oppression of Tibetan freedoms is certainly to be condemned and was condemned, but they are not dropping bombs on anyone.
The situation in Darfur has also been condemned by all, but the crisis there has also often been exaggerated by groups that almost always seem to be Jewish, for some reason.
Russia's Chechnya invasion and the destruction of Grozny - that was something comparable to what Israel is doing up to and including the west largely supporting it. It was vile. But it is also no longer happening.
Mugabe is a corrupt politician/de facto dictator and it is regrettable that white farmers lost their land without due process and at least some compensation, but he hasn't dropped a single bomb on anyone.
The is nothing currently going on in the world on the scale as the Israeli blockade, then sacking of Gaza. And the western support of it can only be compared to some kind of crazy alternate universe where, the US and the UK fully supported and helped arm Hitler as he marauded his way to Poland. It is doubly vile and must be loudly condemned by all people wit a conscience.
---USAn---
Your comment about China not dropping bombs on anyone is interesting. What caused the destruction in Lhasa, did the buildings spontaneously combust and fall down???
>>And the Tibetans did not cheer on 9-11...
No, 5 Israelis set up cameras across the Hudson river and cheered the event as it unfolded.
So what was your point?
Oh so you admit that they (the Israelis) do oppress the Palestinians. Well I see you're coming around. Better late than never I guess. (with sarcasm)
Are American dollars and American muscle propping up the governments of Russia, China and Zimbabwe? No? then GFY.
Hardly subtle. It was reported throughout the media.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/fiveisraelis.html
Arabs have interminable petrodollars controlled by a few families. In a few Arab countries, the people are well off and complacent. In others, they are ready to revolt against their kings for allowing Israel and the US to kill their brethren. If and when that happens, Israel and America will be faced with a unified Middle East with lots of the latest weaponry and huge sums of money to buy more.
Violence begets violence.
the problem with the citizenry of the ME is that they are ruled by western puppets that is very much dependent on the west for their stay in power. And if the citizenry rise to protest, they will be labeled AQ ( a convenient label since 9/11) depose them and be done with it. And who support this crackdown? The good old CIA. And the Mossad too. There will be a blowback. And a very severe one.
Bring America Back !!!! Amazing !! True Genocide brings but 1 CD respondent !
==We presently know, of the over 800 dead Palestinians, over 200 are children!
****It follows that since the USA did the same exact thing to Iraq, there can
be no reproach to Israel for its' slaughter of Gazans . At least not from
officialdom of US, and it shares the same Guilt.
****But in the wider, more balanced, World Court of Opinion and in the UN,
the inhumane Zionist killings are but a continuation of Mid East history.
But for the US Veto vote in the UN, Israel would be censured, admonished,
and warned of expulsion as state sponsored terrorists.
****Israel would've been censured 18 months ago for it's prolonged attack
in Lebanon, where it once again earned it's reputation as the 'Butchers of
Beirut' !!!! Specifically, Sabra and Saltillo.
****The tail wags the dog in the Mid East and Israel obviously calls all the
shots, at will. The Zionists pull the puppet strings of the US Senate and
Congress as demonstrated by the preponderant votes discussed in this article.
****Biblically speaking, Israel the Nation shall reap the whirlwind of it's
state sponsored inflictions of death to humanity. Question being whether they
will pull the USA down to hell right along with them!
But then, the Zionists don't believe in the Bible anyway, do they ?????
Let us thank Cindy McKinney, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul for their
Voices on behalf of humanity. The rest of official Washington, DC just
can't seem to say NO to the continuation of it's Culture of Corruption !!
(SEE ALSO, "THEY DARE TO SPEAK OUT"..PAUL FINDLEY, 1985)
(AND VISIT WWW.MUJCA.COM )
"In 2004, the vote was 407-9 to support a statement by Bush that it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to return completely to pre-1967 borders."
This is the first time I've heard of that one. Well that pretty much ended any hope of peace over there. It also pretty much endorses the robbery of territory by violence and sacred and moral principle of might-makes-right.
I guess means that if I can arm myself with powerful enough weapons, I can claim my next door neighbor's homes as my own and make them pay me rent for life. All perfectly fine under the moral principles adhered to by all but 9 members of the US congress.
---USAn---
And more....
The House has passed similar measures in recent years by landslides.
In 2006, the House voted 410-8 to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah for "unprovoked and reprehensible armed attacks against Israel" and supported Israel's incursion into Lebanon.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054234.html
(Yes, printed in Ha'aretz)
Well all you have to do is the read the Israeli press which is far more open then ours to see what is really happening..........
AIPAC praises Senate support of Israel
Jan. 8, 2009
Elana Kirsh , THE JERUSALEM POST
AIPAC on Thursday praised a bipartisan US Senate resolution which expressed support for Israel in its fight against terrorism.
The resolution, which was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, “conveys America’s unequivocal and steadfast support for Israel’s right to self-defense,” according to a statement from the pro-Israel lobby group.
Reid was quoted in the statement as telling the Senate floor that the legislative body would “strengthen our historic bond with the State of Israel by reaffirming Israel’s inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”
FYI
H.Con.Res. 460, passed on June 23, 2004, by a vote of 407-9, 3 Present, “strongly endorsed principles articulated by President Bush in his April 14, 2004 letter to
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon.” S.Res. 393, passed on June 24, by a vote of 95-3, similarly endorsed those principles.
http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA477081
Who were the five who had the courage to vote "nay" this time?
“We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.”
--David Ben-Gurion
Kucinich, Paul, Maxine Waters, Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Gwen Moore (D-WI).
But these people are only 'mavericks' and are not to be taken seriously. They certainly do not represent anybody who matters.
I weep for this country.
Congressmen seldom have personal opinions, preferring instead to repeat memes that ensure re-election, whether accomplished through majority vote or donations. Could it be then that the majority of voting Americans condone Israel, and condemn the Palestinians?
This could mean that we Progressives are a lonely voice in the wilderness.
Two Speak Out for Palestinians in US Congress - the other Judeo-Quislings backed genocide.
LONDON (AFP) – Angry demonstrators hurled missiles at riot police outside the Israeli embassy in London on Saturday as a protest against the Jewish state's offensive in the Gaza Strip turned ugly.
I should expect the world's rage will be shown to U.S. embassies as well. Heckuva job.
Humbaba's opinion
Occupied America
We basically don't have a congress. We have a US Military Junta, established during the Dallas Coup of 1963, who is now using Israel to debut new Super Weapon technologies in the field. We're putting on a Super Weapon Side Show aimed at sending an ominous message to Russia, China, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran.
"Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian war surgery specialist working in Gaza, told The Times that he had seen injuries believed to have resulted from Israel's use of a new "dense inert metal explosive" that caused "extreme explosions". He said: "Those inside the perimeter of this weapon's power zone will be torn completely apart." the Times Online/UK
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein
Well, I know of five weapons with which WWIII is currently being fought- WHITE PHOSPHOROUS, DENSE METAL SUPER WEAPONS, NUCLEAR STICK UP, MISSILE DEFENSE, AND PROPAGANDA!!!!!
Shame on Congress!! Shame, shame, shame!
The elections of '06 & '08 were largely a repudiation of war as a solution to terrorist acts. War is terrorism!
rumiluv:yes. yes. yes.
So why, pray tell, does the Congress we elected still support war and warring nations?
Follow the money...and the lobbies.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
The American public is not into research; they do not like indepth reports, no digging for information, timely or historical. No wonder they don't know much about the Palestinians. MSM force feeds us the "official" story over and over in easy to digest sound bites with "shocking" footage not appropriate for the younger audience. God help the "younger audience" living in Gaza that witnesses these horrendous events first hand up close and personal! Even with the willful ignorance of the American Public, I submit that Harry Reid is out of touch when he states that the Senate vote reflects the will of the American people. I hope there is a day of reckoning when their consciences will fill them with regret for ever supporting these actions. The few members of congress who voted nay are probably to only ones who vote their consciences and not the will of the lobbyists. These few consistantly vote this way. Where are the rest of the "Progressives" we laud so much here at Common Dreams?
One might say most Americans are like mushrooms -- kept in the dark and fed only horsesh_t. Except most of these human mushrooms CHOSE to be mushrooms!
The American public is not into research and neither is the American press qualified or prepared to practise good investigative journalism.
Just reflect on their complicity with the Iraqi invasion - a feckless lot they are.
Many journalists are perfectly capable and most likely want to do investigative journalism, many are bright people afterall. However, they are paid by the owners of those newspapers not to print the truth. That is how they earn their keep. Most journalists know towing the line will keep the roof over their heads.
Many journalists are perfectly capable and most likely want to do investigative journalism, many are bright people afterall. However, they are paid by the owners of those newspapers not to print the truth. That is how they earn their keep. Most journalists know towing the line will keep the roof over their heads.
Nicely put DCBeltway.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1963 & 1968- Dallas and Los Angeles Coup d'État by the US Military Industrial Junta completed, according to modern examination of old evidence
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.", Albert Einstein. (Ed note: WHITE PHOSPHOROUS, DENSE METAL SUPER WEAPONS, NUCLEAR STICK UP, MISSILE DEFENSE, AND PROPAGANDA!!!!!)
Dennis, Ron and Nick....tread softly, watch your back, protect your family and for God's sake, stay off planes....PLEASE! And thank you from the bottom of my heart for your courage...
A common sign at the various protest marches over the last few years has been:
"US Congress - Another Israeli occupied territory" 'Nough said.
In solidarity, Walter
I just read in the Irish (Dublin) press that Rice was poised to vote for the UN resolution but was stopped by a call from the white House.
I voted for Dennis Kucinich in the 2008 Dem. primary in NYS, just before he exited. Sigh. Right now, I am one very very upset older Jewish woman.
Having just heard/read that Israel threatens escalation in Gaza, I ask, "Who will stop an out of control/yet deliberate military inhumanities?". The US government can but won't. The US government can and won't stop its out of control/yet deliberate military inhumanities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The US should borrow one of those F-16s we gave the Israelis money to buy and drop some leaflets over Israel saying, "Stop the genocide or we won't give you #6 billion a year anymore."
Reid had some nerve saying the American people went along with his lopsided resolution. Isn't it time for he and Pelosi to head off into the sunset? What good are they doing the American peoople? Two jerks.
To be replaced by who? This is American foreign policy as usual.Where in the world has a US client state ever been guilty of committing atrocities,they're carrying out orders for which they will be rewarded.Check the historical record.Hussein gassed the Kurds ,US aid increased dramatically .There are way to many examples to list here the pattern is so pervasive it should be a recognized mathematical equation by now.The Israeli government dosnt give a damn about its citizenry (does any)they get paid to do a job. Do you suppose that if Israel were not so strategically located (slap in the middle of the world energy source) that it would have been the leading recipient of US foreign aid for the 35 years.This beautiful country home to so much shared history has been turned into the world biggest off-shore military base not for its own protection but to insure those resources stay in hands that cater to OUR interests.These policy's are not intended to help people,policy is made for profit if people get hurt well thats just the price of doing business.Business is what maters to leaders not people .You cant expect the fox to have the well being of the chickens at heart, you can however it seems to me ,take stock in the comfort that most people in the world are sick to death of their respective foxes,hope we can build on it.Peace.
I called (my) senator Bernie Sanders office to see how he voted on the backing Israel in the Gaza invasion resolution. The senatorial aid stated since the Senate did not have an open roll call vote that they did not know how Bernie voted. How about that? Want to guess how Bernie voted?
If Bernie was present in the Senate for the voice vote he voted aye because the vote was unanimous according to reports.
Israel will never withdraw all Jewish settlements from the West Bank because that will trigger a civil war in Israel of unpredictable outcome. At the very least it will make the withdrawal of Jewish settlements from Gaza look like child's play.It is even possible that an Israeli analog to Spain's Franco will become the dictator of Israel. The past illustrates Israel's tactics. Allow "talks" to reach a point of or near agreement, then trigger a war which will stop all talks for another year. New elections help also. The Western world, especially our country which refused European Jews enhanced and swift entry as refugees from Hitler Germany in the 1930's, is still smarting too much from the Holocaust to do anything about this ruse.
topaz
yes,a common dream....maybe,just maybe Obama will be able to adress this tragic,ongoing conflict by taking a new ,bold,fresh look at the present situation,open talks,and in time find a lasting solution ,together with the world community..i am a dreamer..but remember,the best hard dreamed dreams can become the best reality.
I'm glad you are a dreamer, but Obama already has taken a "a new, bold, fresh look at the present situation" and still supports Israel.
But this doesn't mean he will approach the peace process in the same way as Bush. He is allowing low-level contact with Hamas. That, in and of itself, is a "a new, bold, fresh look at the present situation".
Obama simply understands that the desire for peace must be balanced against Israel's need for security. Also, let's not ignore that our inextricable relationship to the Middle East makes Israel an important regional ally in the War on Terror.
"Obama already has taken a "a new, bold, fresh look at the present situation" and still supports Israel."
You call that "bold and fresh" ? It's called the same old bribery and cowardice dude. AIPAC pretty much has him and Congress right where they want them.
The silver lining in all of these is giving a drunk a few feet of rope and letting him to hang himself. The United States' unconditional support has allowed the Israelis to show their true hand and put an end to playing the victim's role after the Holocaust. Now they are playing Nazi's role. Let them play it as much as they can. Nothing stays the same forever. Even the Nazis came to an end. Sooner or later the wind will blow the other way. Hope it will be sooner than later.