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Democrats Push through Yet Another Anti-Palestinian Resolution
Though outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has insisted that there just isn't enough time for the lame duck Democratic-controlled Congress to consider much of the progressive legislation on the docket prior to the Republican takeover early next month, she and other Democratic leaders did find time last Wednesday to pass a resolution condemning efforts by Palestinian moderates to seek recognitionof a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The Oslo accords were signed in 1993 with the vision of Israel's eventual withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. This was an enormous compromise on the Palestinian side, given that such a state would leave them with only 22% of their historic homeland, the rest of which became the state of Israel in 1948. Right-wing Israeli politician Benyamin Netanyahu, then in opposition, denounced the agreement and promised to derail it. As prime minister in the late 1990s and again since his coming to office again in last year's election, he has been doing his best to accomplish this by colonizing large swathes of the West Bank with illegal settlements for Israeli Jews which he insists must be annexed into an expanded Israel. The moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, by contrast, has been working toward the implementation of the Oslo Accords, offering strict security guarantees for Israel in return for an end to the occupation.
Nevertheless, the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives has insisted that it is the Palestinians, not the Israelis, who are responsible for the breakdown in the peace talks. Recognizing that talks are pointless while Israel's colonization drive continues and noting the Obama administration's ongoing refusal to exercise its extensive leverage to force Israel to stop building new settlements, the Palestinians have understandably refused to return to direct negotiations until Israel suspends its colonization drive, which has been condemned as illegal by the UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice, and virtually the entire international community. However, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), whom the Democrats put in charge of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East , insisted during last Wednesday's debate, that "Israel has shown time and again that it is ready" to make peace and that Palestinians' objections to Israelis colonizing their land were "overwrought."
To help put pressure on Israel and the United States to move the peace process forward, the Palestine Authority has been soliciting international recognition of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the past couple of weeks, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Norway have done just that. This is what prompted the House resolution, introduced by House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), who serves as the House Democrats' chief foreign policy spokesman.
The Democratic leadership in the House has long argued that Israel's attacks on civilian population centers in Gaza Strip and elsewhere are legitimate self-defense and that it is the Palestinians, not the Israelis, who are making peace impossible. Pelosi, for example, insists that the conflict is about "the fundamental right of Israel to exist" and that it is "absolute nonsense" to claim it has anything do to with the Israeli occupation. One would think, then, that this Palestinian effort to achieve recognition for a state which explicitly defines the borders as exclusively those occupied by Israel in the June 1967 war and not any part of Israel itself would be welcomed. But, to the Democrats, Palestinians asking for even just 22% of Palestine is too much. Rising in support of last Wednesday's resolution, Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY) called it "preposterous" that a Palestinian state should be created based on the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 242, which from Presidents Lyndon Johnson through George H.W. Bush had been recognized as the basis of Middle East peace, which called for Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories in return for security guarantees. Similarly, Rep. Berman threatened the Palestine Authority by saying, "If they persist in pursuing a unilateralist path . . . there will be consequences."
Congress has correctly condemned violence by extremist Palestinian extremist groups like Hamas, yet when the Palestine Authority tries to advance their freedom through nonviolent means, such as these diplomatic initiatives, the Democrats are just as quick to condemn them as well. Indeed, earlier in their careers, Berman, Ackerman, Engel, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders were on record opposing any kind of Palestinian statehood, changing their view reluctantly only years later. However, they insist that whatever kind of Palestinian "state" may emerge can only be on what the Israeli occupiers are willing to allow them to have, even if all that is left is a series of small non-contiguous cantons surrounded by annexed Israeli settlement blocs. Taking any initiative to advance their independence separate from what the rightist Israeli government can agree to, according to the Democratic leadership, is completely unacceptable.
One can only think of how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," noted that the greatest obstacle to the advance the cause of justice is one who "paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom."
Recognizing that most ordinary Democrats oppose the Israeli occupation and would likely put pressure on their representatives to vote against the resolution, Berman and Pelosi put the vote on last Wednesday's agenda before the text was even made available to other House members. This made it impossible to have any hearings, give any time for constituents to express their opposition, or even allow the Obama administration to offer an opinion. Also fearing opposition from Democratic House members who might be concerned at rousing the anger of their liberal constituents, Berman and Pelosi refused to have roll call vote and instead brought it up under a procedure known as "suspension of the rules," a procedure normally used for non-controversial measure like honoring a recently-deceased eminent figure. Doing it this way not only limits debate and makes it impossible to attach amendments, it allows a resolution to pass by a non-recorded voice vote and to automatically be recorded as "unanimous." Only ten representatives were on the floor when the resolution was passed by "unanimous consent."
This kind of cynical maneuvering by the Democratic Party leadership is unfortunately quite typical of how they have handled resolutions dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during their four years in the majority. It raises the question as to whether the Republicans can do any worse.
Unfortunately, the answer is probably yes. While a growing minority of Democratic House members are finally listening to their liberal constituents' concerns about U.S. backing for Israeli occupation, colonization and repression, the Republicans - outside of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and a few others of a more libertarian orientation - are solidly aligned with the rightist Israeli government. We can only expect more such resolutions in the coming Congress.
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54 Comments so far
Show Allthe foreign policy-related commitees in the house and the senate are completely dominated by the zionist jews (berman, ackerman, feinstein, lieberman, etc.) and their shills.
can someone post the list of the reps who voted NO to the resolution?
If only ten members were present on the Hourse floor when it was brought up, and it was brought up in such a way that it was recorded as unanimous, no one voted yes or no to the resolution.
is there a list of the ten?
There is no end to the vicious Israeli crimes that our Congress supports so wholeheartedly.
Every day, Israel kills Palestinians and demolishes Palestinian homes, and we in the U.S. finance these crimes. Israel is experiencing economic good times, yet thanks to AIPAC's control of our government, we continue absurdly generous handouts to Israel while we lose our jobs and healthcare.
Just a recent example of the ethnic cleansing we are financing, and the deliberate cruelty of the Israelis (shooting the boy's puppy after they bulldozed his home):
12/16/2010 http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=342478
LOD, Israel (Ma'an) -- The 67 members of the extended Abu Eid family assessed the remains of their six concrete homes on Wednesday, two days after police in Lod demolished them amidst sheets of rain and blustery winds.
The six buildings were among more than 100 in the city under immediate demolition orders, following a fall Knesset decision to destroy an estimated 4,000 illegal housing structures in a plan said to cost millions of shekels.
A dozen other homes have been bulldozed in previous years, sparking periodic protests by hundreds of Arab residents. Yousef Asfour, coordinator with Amnesty International’s Israel branch, said an earlier incident in October saw two homes in the same neighborhood of the mixed Jewish-Arab city bulldozed.
The most high-profile demolition to date was Monday's demolition of the entire Abu Eid family compound.
Most of the extended family members said they were home at around 8 a.m. when an estimated 500 police officers in tactical gear stormed the courtyard of the compound, broke through doors and quickly turned the men, women and children out into the season's worst storm without shoes or jackets. Police made no arrests.
Eleven-year-old Odei was home alone with his 12-year-old sister when police broke through his door. “They pointed rifles at me and said ‘don’t move,’” he related. Once outside, he said, "I was wet and cold. They were like gangsters,” he added of the young police in face-concealing riot gear.
All that remained after the five-hour bulldozing operation was chewed-up grey concrete, bent fans, broken air-conditioners and furniture beneath rubble. A paddock containing goats was partially broken and nearly half of what the family said was 100 animals went missing.
Family members said they were not allowed to rescue of their possessions and watched as refrigerators were destroyed and food was thrown to the floor. Five allege that they were shoved or kicked, including Shareen, 27, who is three months pregnant and had re-entered her home to try to assist her mother.
Sinam, a mother of seven, claims that officers took gold jewelry she had in safekeeping to use as dowry for her two engaged daughters. A ring with precious stones was returned, she said, but a gold chain remains missing.
Thirteen-year-old Noor claims he watched as a soldier threw his puppy – tied up and barking – and then shoot it in the stomach. “I came over and it was dying,” he said quietly as other boys noted his tears that morning.
Lod’s police chief and mayor declined multiple requests for comment...."
The article goes on to describe Israel's policy of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, with further recent examples.
I have learned to be suspicious of news items that provoke a visceral response.
These votes pass with such a Stalinist majority, there's no need to keep track of those few deluded souls who refused to get on with the program:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hr111-1765
Perhaps a "mechanical device" from another era needs to be introduced to stop the applause from Congress for Israeli actions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXGh_sbPUk0
leave stalin out of it, willya?
It is time to get away from the old Parties that have no interest in keeping America Free, and keeping us out of Wars that have no good purpose, we need to leave them all behind, and join the NEW PARTY of "NoLabels" this is a New Party that is not Red or Blue..Left or Right. they are Americans in the middle without political corruption, and no interest in killing ,torturing, stealing all our money...none of that, check them out...nolabels.org really check them out. I joined, and am glad I did. It's nice to NOT belong to a group full of lies and tricks.
The "No Labels" party is a JOKE! See Frank Rich's NYT article today (Sun), he sums up the nonsense succinctly.
is a party stands for nothing, why stand at all?
Democratic Party, 1793-2010, RIP.
I hope for the day the Arab countries put an end to the abomination that is Israel. That is as likely as us freeing ourselves from the stupid, callous bastards running this country.
Having said that, what is it with reporting the influence of Hamas in the following way: "Congress has correctly condemned violence by extremist Palestinian extremist groups like Hamas..." Correctly condemned? Extremest group like Hamas? Well let's all roast marshmallows and sing Kumbaya.
I say amen, Tori, amen.
Israel has no more of a 'fundamental right to exist' than does fascist Italy or the Mafia's right to establish Chicago as their own country. People have a right to exist; nations or regimes do not -- especially on someone else's land. That's the first assumption and point of propaganda which must be deconstructed and refuted.
One country of Palestine, or Israel-Palestine, or 'Holy Land', or call it whatever, where all people -- Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists, whatever -- have equal rights as part of a democratic , self-determistic, society is a very acceptable solution (and much like what existed there before the invasion and occupation by the zionists).
The idea of a Jewish democracy is an oxymoron -- theocracy is by definition not democratic, and Israeli theocratic and racist right wing is about as far from democratic as one can find.
Tori, Lingum and bluepilgrim; While I don't approve of Israel's policies of occupation and settlers in West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem any more than you do, I disagree with the three of you about Israel's right to exist. They, too, are a sovereign country with as much right to exist as any other country on the globe, and to compare it with fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, or wherever, imho, is am extremely poor anology.
The United States acted very cowardly and cravenly by not forcing Israel to adopt solutions leading to an independent, sovereign Palestinian nation-state alongside Israel in West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Once and for all, the Obama Administration should clamp down on Israel to comply with International law, stop their ugly treatment of Palestinian civilians, and, once and for all make it clear to Israel that if they do not comply, they will be subject to sanctions. Then they should act on their principles.
As I said, nations do not have a right to exist. They are abstract entities, not natural, living beings -- they have no right to exist, much as corporations have no right to exist.
Israel's treatment of Palestinians is not 'ugly' but slow and deliberate ethnic cleansing or genocide: that is the goal and deliberate policy of the zionists.
The land which Israel occupies is stolen, the result of theft, extortion and murder, and they have shown repreatedly and constantly, for over 60 years, that Israel does not respect law or human rights: it is a gangster nation, a rogue nation, which refuses to abide by either international law or even it's own laws.
This is not to say that all Israelis are like this, but that IS the character of the Israeli state. As such, there is no moral reason for the world to support it's existence, especially at the expense of the people who suffered the nakba and had their land, and many lives, taken from them. The analogy with fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, the mafia, or any such group of gangsters is very appropriate, for they all act in much the same way, with the same lack of morality and law, and for the same motivations. This is what the facts show.
EDIT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_exist
"1791 Thomas Paine Rights of Man "The fact therefore must be that the individuals themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a contract with each other to produce a government: and this is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to exist."[20]"
Yes -- the right of existence of the US as a nation, as currently formed, should also be questioned, considering not only it's formatin but it's imperial policies throughout it's history. If people do not have the right to murder and steal from other people then neither should the abstract conglomerate called nations -- under the guise of 'national security', which is morally no better than the mafia arguing it should be allowed to murder for 'gang security'. Law, of course, is very mutable in any particular regime: all that the Nazis did was legal by the laws of Nazi Germany.
What is needed is general agreement among the people of the world that humans have 'inalienable rights' (have we heard that phrase before?!), and that law should based on that instead of power, and provisions made to make those laws enforcable. This system could be called 'civilization'. The alternative is not pleasant, nor even necessarily survivable for the species at this point.
There are any number of nations and/or regimes which have not survived, such as fascist Italy, Napoleanic France, the Pol Pot regime, the Roamn empire, etc. Countries may have remained and been changed, rebuilt, or reconfigured, but those regimes are gone.
Is 'regime change' so unspeakable? Apparently not, by US foreign policy -- nor by the words of the founding fathers:
"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government"
One can hardly say that Israel derived it's powers from the consent of the Palestinians who had lived in that land for centuries. Nor can it be said of the Native Indians regarding the formation of the US.
If we are going to live by sound principles instead of just invoking when convenient for nefarious purposes then they must be held to at all times for all peoples.
I stand by what I've said, bluepilgrim.
"Suspension of the rules" procedure; how draconian and utterly fascist! Why are the different states not up in arms about this? Anything put out by the congress might as well be law because that is what it looks like to the world. 10 people make policy in a house of 435; what kind of bullshit is that? Tony
VP; Ah, the politburo! Tony
Wait a minute!! I live in California and I am not happy about living in the United States of America. I want to live in the Republic of California. I think if a state may join the union; we must also have the right to get out. California would not be bankrupt if we could keep our federal tax funds to pay for our domestic programs instead of endless wars, welfare for the wealthy and generous gifts to Israel to fund their apartheid state.
If I am upset about living in the United States of America, I sure don't want to be a member of the United States of Israel---but that is what is going on. The Congress of the United States has voted that we stand firm with ISRAEL OVER ALL.
All this by a vote of ten people. Some democracy, huh?
It should be kept in mind that "Berman, Ackerman, Engel, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders" are wholly dependant on corporate funding for their political careers. Therefore it is never a surprise that these people will support the status quo in demonizing Palestinians and swearing allegiance at every turn for the State of Israel regardless of any peaceful overtures or crimes committed by either group.
The "no-labels" party is not to be taken seriously. Immediately by stating that it is neither right nor left wing is to state that it has no political ideology. It also plays into the mainstream fallacy that the Democrats represent the left and that the Republicans represent the right. Both parties are extreme right wing parties and neither party represents the public interest.
To end corruption in government, a party must begin by stating the obvious, which is to go after the culprits responsible for the mess we're in, namely the players responsible for the corporitization of the political process. If any party truly represents the public interest, then that party must avow to take on the private interests that undermine democracy at every turn. Of course any such party or candidate that promises to do so, will be immediately marginalized or ignored by the mainstream media as well as by both corporate parties.
Good point by Bluepilgrim who wrote "The idea of a Jewish democracy is an oxymoron". It should be pointed out though that Jews believe that Judaism is more than just a religion, but a race as well in which every Jew is the descendant of Abraham. I seldom met a hardcore Jewish supporter of Israel who didn't believe that Jews are a 'Chosen People' and superior to their semetic brethren. This racist outlook is even more disturbing considering that the entire "tribe" were almost completely wiped out 65 years earlier on account of being labelled an "inferior race".
Unfortunately most countries today still support a state religion and/or the notion of racial superiority. Even in our most economically advanced countries, race and religion shape national agendas. For example Japanese and Koreans constantly reinforce the importance of keeping their 'race pure' as reflected in their immigration policies.
In theory at least, the United States was suppose to be the exception to this rule (slavery aside) in which race and religion were not part of the political process or vision for our country. Thanks to a very undemocratic process though, we are hardly a shinning example of this principle anymore.
So...having the USA and Israel wiped off the planet is your solution to the problems?
Sorry, readbetweenthe_lines, but I don't buy that.
What countries on Heaven's green and gold earth were NOT founded by the displacement of the original people from given lands?
What countries are anything but lines drawn on a map by elites as part of an elaborate game played between them?
It's one hell of a thing when "progressives" in the Congress support this rogue nation in an unending fraud. Many politicians may feel a filial relationship with Israel, recalling the Holocaust and Zionist dream. But this form of sentimentality has led to murderous results. As well as to our own country becoming complicit in an ethnic cleansing. The crime may be ignored today, and allowed to proceed. But history will surely judge us.
Even though he lives in the Bay Area, where he has many friends, Professor Zunes is a brave man. And should be congratulated for attempting to tell the world the truth.
The vile influence of AIPAC over Congress has to be overcome somehow - unfortunately their ability to influence the election of any member of Congress will make this very difficult.
Having the US broker a fair middle east peace deal is kind of like having Bernie Madoff broker your stock portfolio.
Democrats once again pledge their allegiance to Israel through this resolution. This seems to be a requirement every few months.
Being religious doesn't say much:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3995877,00.html
~Rabbis' 'racist ruling' slammed
Ban on selling homes to non-Jews under fire. Ruling gravely twists Torah, says rabbi
Kobi Nahshoni Published: 12.08.10, 07:53
Religious figures and politicians are slamming a statement banning the selling or leasing of assets to non-Jews, endorsed by some 50 municipal rabbis Tuesday.~
and see
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/08/israeli-rabbis-houses-arabs-judaism
~Israeli rabbis' racist decree strikes at the soul of JudaismTelling Jews not to rent houses to Arabs is religious fascism. So far, the state has failed to intervene~
and
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/12/support-grows-for-israeli-rabbis-racist-letter.html
~Support grows for Israeli rabbis’ racist letter
by Seham on December 9, 2010~
There are both religious and non-religious people involved in this current growth of racism, super-nationalism, and anti-democratic laws and ideas. Religion doesn't have that much to do with it, one way or the other, although it's used as an excuse. Some of the religious Jews simply say their morality is reserved only for the treatment of Jews -- or even one particular type of Jew (their own type).
Zionism is the central evil here, and you don't have to be Jewish to be a zionist -- Biden proudly declared he is a zionist.
Never Again! Never Again! Never Again!
The world watches as the genocide of the Palestinians continue.
10 million Palestinians originally when Israel decided to declare itself a nation and just keep on grabbing land and destroying homes and villages and shooting anyone who was/is in the way.
3 million Palestinians now in what is called Israel.
I have read so much about the leadership of Israel, and most ... not all ... but most, were and are liars and their conduct and intentions are as Evil as Adolph Hitler's and his Gang of genocidal thugs, except these people made a deal with Hitler and were allowed to leave Germany or left from other countries of their temporary allegiance.
I have come to despise my own U.S. government as it exists today, and I equally despise the government of Israel.
They are both CRIMINAL governments governed by despicable people without any basic decency or honor or humaneness. They are IMMORAL, not AMORAL, and are guilty of High Crimes Against Humanity. They are TERRORISTS, no matter how many poses they strike as Statesmen/Stateswomen
Never Again! Never Again! Never Again!
Truly, if there is one thing we know, it is that WORDS ARE CHEAP.
All I am left with from the times of my childhood, when I believed that NEVER AGAIN was important and NEVER AGAIN meant NEVER AGAIN, is the deep grief and deep mourning for all the lives ... the children especially ... those who have died or those who still live but have experienced and still experience the filthy horrors perpetrated by hypocrites and liars and thieves and thugs.
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Here is the link to the US House Resolution 1765 that this article addresses:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1765:./list/bss/d111HE.lst:@@@P
Henry Waxman and Anthony Weiner, two of the standard bearers of zionist liberalism.
barney frank, barbara boxer, and jane harmann are missing in the list.
these zionist psychopaths take turns, so as to be able to claim later "i voted for this and against that and blah blah blah.