Rep. Barbara Lee Makes Statements on Gaza Crisis, Continues to Press Secretary Rice to make sure humanitarian gets through.
Now we need her to call for an end to US military aid to Israel

  Sign the petition! see below and then the link to the signable petition on the left or go here.

^New See the Commentary in the "Berkeley Daily Planet".  Barbara Lee: Not Another Dime for Israeli Occupation (link to newspaper version and footnoted commentary)

While most of congress has been either been either actively supporting or merely silent regarding Israel's actions in Gaza that is causing so much suffering of civilians, one Congressional leader has expressed her concerns for the people of Gaza.  At the urging of local peace groups, she has sent a letter to Secretary of State Condi Rice, below is an excerpt with a link to the full letter. 

"...the United States must be careful of its international reputation, which will be further harmed if it appears to be complicit in the withholding of essential humanitarian aid---in the broadest sense of the term--to the 1.48 million Gazans who are caught in the middle of the conflict. The laws of war, conflict, humanitarianism, international human rights and diplomacy demand that innocent human beings cannot and must not be used as pawns to advance political goals."  Barbara Lee in Letter to Rice, January 10, 2008  Full letter here

Further, Representative Lee also pressed Secretary of State Rice in hearings in the House  (See this video)

When Barbara Lee held a Town Hall meeting on March 15th, and was there publicly challenged to commit to withholding military aid to Israel.  Her answer was that she supports the invigoration of the "peace process",  but did not specifically answer the question if she supported more military aid or not. We do want a more specific answer. In the meantime, Sign the petition read it below, and then go the left side bar here and add your name. Especially in you live in Barbara Lee's congressional district.

Below is the text of the statement we will ask people to sign, then will hand to Barbara Lee or send to us.  You can also sign the petition (see side bar!)

Barbara Lee, Speak for Us to End the Occupation of Palestine!

 We are grateful for your leadership Barbara Lee, as you oppose US militarism, and your dedicated opposition to US empire-building that comes at the expense of peacemaking. You alone in the House of Representatives spoke for sanity when others were willing to cede all war-making powers to President Bush. You have spoken for restoring democracy for Haiti when few were willing to do so. You have never wavered in your opposition to the US war and occupation of Iraq.  

We are proud to support you in this work. We now are asking you to do more, because the times we live in require that we all do more. We ask you to take leadership in opposing US funding of Israel’s illegal, immoral occupation of Palestine. We believe you are up to the challenge.  

Just this week we heard you speak directly with Secretary of State Rice on the State Department’s role in ensuring that Israel allows the passage of humanitarian goods into the Gaza Strip during the hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee. Humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip are deplorable and no human being should have to live under such deprivation. Your ongoing advocacy for the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip is much appreciated.

 Now we need you to take the next logical step. Israel’s ongoing military occupation of the Gaza Strip and the illegal acts of collective punishment and deadly attacks to which it subjects the civilians of the Gaza Strip are sustained by US military aid. Israel is committing these human rights abuses with US weapons in direct violation of the US Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts. 

President Bush has requested $2.55 billion in military aid for Israel for the next year, a proposed 9% increase in actual spending from 2007. This is the first proposed installment of a ten-year plan to increase US military aid to Israel by 25%, totaling $30 billion over the next decade. Enough!  

Will you instead commit to ending US support for Israel’s illegal occupation, and support the cut-off of military aid to Israel as it continues its flagrant human rights abuses?  

We know that US taxpayer’s money would be better spent building homes in West Oakland, not sent to the Israeli military that destroys homes of Palestinians in the West Bank.  (Over 18,000 Palestinian homes have been destroyed by Israel since 1967).  We know these funds would be better used planting hope around the world, not uprooting Olive Trees in Palestine. (Over one million olive trees have been uprooted and destroyed by Israel since its creation in 1948, almost half of those trees during the past 7 years.)  We know that these funds would be better used helping people keep their homes here, not used to build illegal Israeli settlements that make the prospect of peace all the more remote, increasing the deadly and tragic spiral of violence.   

Congresswoman Lee, Speak for Us.  No More Aid for Occupation.