AIPAC Wants Bush to decide on Iran Attack, not Congress. New
Push to remove restrictions on Iran attack in bill crafted by Democratic
leadership.
In a bill supported by House Leader Nancy Pelosi, there
are restrictions placed on any future plans to attack Iran. It
simply requires President Bush to come to congress for authorization.
Not good enough for aipac. They want that provision removed.
At a time when the overwhelming majority do NOT trust President Bush with
decisions of war and peace, (not to mention the not incidental provision
in the Constitution that says only Congress may declare war), will
congress again (!) abdicate its responsibility to President Bush?
See
more.
Israel Lobby Attempt
to Muzzle Desmond Tutu
backfires big
time. Israel Lobby forced to do damage control.
War Lobbies unite in push for $200 MILLION campaign for war against Iran.
Read about "Freedom
Watch".
The
extreme Christian Right & AIPAC. A dangerous symbiosis.
More
Israel Lobby working to promote
military confrontation with Iran, part of AIPAC'S spy scandal.
See Article "Enforced
orthodoxies and Iran" by Glenn Greenwald, author of the Best-Selling
book,
How Would A Patriot Act?
How Does AIPAC & the Israel Lobby promote US aggression in the Middle
East? Mazin Qumsiyeh (author- Sharing the Land of Canaan, Human
Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle) shares his views.
See "Israeli lobbies and the upcoming war on Iran"
Israel Lobby Works Overtime to promote
U.S. support for Israel's War against Lebanon/Gaza.
House/Senate resolutions
back Israeli aggression
U.S. speeds delivery of weapons to
Israel. AIPAC delivers.
AIPAC Congratulates Itself on the
Slaughter in Lebanon
Pro-war rallies organized.
Updates on Israel/Palestine issues
before Congress.
HR 4681 "Palestinian
Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006"
Bill to "help" Palestinian Christians may be introduced.
Calls for sanctions against all Palestinians. Palestinians were not
consulted on bill.
Policy Speeches to AIPAC from U.S. political leaders
Dick Cheney
Nancy Pelosi
Case Study, Israel Lobby at work--
Support for Joe Lieberman, War supporter
John Bolton. A loss for AIPAC, but its not
as if they didn't try.
Working Overtime in
Support of War
From
St. Louis Jewish Light "American Jewish groups support strikes"
Excerpts, followed by report from San Francisco Bay Area.
PHILADELPHIA — The American Jewish community [Please
note: How this article defines this community and many Jews define the
community may not be the same, as many are organizing in opposition to
Israeli aggression] is mobilizing on several fronts to assert
Israel's right to defend itself in the face of increasingly bold Arab
attacks.
As Hezbollah rockets rained down on northern Israel and
the Israel Defense Forces launched fresh attacks in Lebanon, American
Jewish organizations were stressing the complicity of both Iran and Syria
in the escalation.
They were also urging world leaders to condemn the
offensives, praising President Bush for his quick statement of support for
Israeli actions, and pointing out that the attacks — both from the Gaza
Strip in the South and Lebanon in the North — were emanating from areas
Israel has already evacuated.
Within hours of Wednesday's news that the Lebanese
militia Hezbollah had killed eight Israeli troops along the northern
border and kidnapped two more, a flurry of news releases from American
Jewish organizations went out almost simultaneously in support of Israel.
Jewish leaders had consulted privately in recent weeks
over how to respond to Israel's military actions in Gaza following the
late June abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and the killing of two other
soldiers near the Gaza Strip border.
But with Hezbollah's brazen action across the Lebanese
border, Jewish groups sprung into action.
"It's important to show solidarity, so that our elected
officials see that across the board, American Jews are standing with
Israel," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference
of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. "Overall, I'm
finding that there is a unanimity in support of Israel." [ See this
website for
a more rational perspective]
Immediately, groups began reaching out to international
contacts to shore up support for a tough Israeli response. By Thursday
morning, the second event this month calling for the release of kidnapped
soldiers and asserting Israel's right to self-defense had been scheduled
for the streets of midtown Manhattan, this one on July 17.
"We are in a full-court diplomatic press," said
David Harris, executive director of the
American Jewish Committee. "The entire agency has been mobilized,
there have already been individual telephone conversations and
face-to-face meetings with several presidents, a couple of foreign
ministers and a number of ambassadors" stationed both in the United States
and abroad.
"The reaction to those conversations has ranged from
very supportive and understanding to moderately so," Harris added.
......
The
Anti-Defamation League has taken out four ads to run this weekend in
the International Herald Tribune, targeted at European leaders attending
the G8 conference.
Europe is "the soft underbelly of support for Israel to
do what it needs to do," said the ADL's national director, Abraham Foxman.
"The U.S. is there — Europe is not. Europe is wavering. Europe is talking
out of all sides of its mouth. They say the soldiers should be released,
but Israel is overreacting."
Foxman said he had just approved another ad to run in
an American paper, thanking Bush for his support. On Thursday, Bush said
Israel had the right to defend itself, blaming Hezbollah for the violence
and calling for Syria to be held accountable for supporting the Lebanese
militia.
Several other prominent Jewish groups issued statements
in support of Israel, including Hadassah and the Jewish Council for Public
Affairs.
Some of the Jewish groups' talking points were echoed
on Thursday in a Washington program that included speakers from the U.S.
House of Representatives and Israel's ambassador to the United States,
Daniel Ayalon.
"The reason we see now this deterioration is because of
a premeditated attack or strategy that, unfortunately, is being concocted
in Damascus and in Tehran," Ayalon said at a Israel Project-sponsored
forum at the National Press Club. .....
AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, said it is focusing its
efforts on Washington's halls of power.
"The U.S. government is galvanized in support of
Israel and AIPAC is working with both Congress and the administration to
express and affirm their support for Israel's right to defend itself
against these unprovoked acts of aggression," said spokeswoman Jennifer
Cannata.
- - - - - -
U.S. Speeds
Delivery of deadly Weapons to Israel.
From New York Times, July 22, 2006 Excerpts
U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the
Israelis
WASHINGTON, July 21 — The Bush administration is
rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested
the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign
against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials said Friday.
The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel
was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration
[no known dissent within Congress, either, which is the point, AIPAC
makes sure of this], the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to
anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the
United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way
that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.
The munitions that the United States is sending to
Israel are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale package approved last
year that Israel is able to draw on as needed, the officials said.
But Israel’s request for expedited delivery of the satellite and
laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers,
and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in
Lebanon to strike. .....
Israel’s need for precision munitions is driven in
part by its strategy in Lebanon, which includes destroying hardened
underground bunkers where Hezbollah leaders are said to have taken
refuge, as well as missile sites and other targets that would be hard to
hit without laser and satellite-guided bombs.
Pentagon and military officials declined to describe
in detail the size and contents of the shipment to Israel, and they
would not say whether the munitions were being shipped by cargo aircraft
or some other means. But an arms-sale package approved last year
provides authority for Israel to purchase from the United States as many
as 100 GBU-28’s, which are 5,000-pound laser-guided bombs intended to
destroy concrete bunkers. The package also provides for selling
satellite-guided munitions.
An announcement in 2005 that Israel was eligible to
buy the “bunker buster” weapons described the GBU-28 as “a special
weapon that was developed for penetrating hardened command centers
located deep underground.” The document added, “The Israeli Air Force
will use these GBU-28’s on their F-15 aircraft.”
American officials said that once a weapons
purchase is approved, it is up to the buyer nation to set up a
timetable. But one American official said normal procedures usually do
not include rushing deliveries within days of a request. That was done
because Israel is a close ally in the midst of hostilities, the official
said.
Although Israel had some precision guided bombs in
its stockpile when the campaign in Lebanon began, the Israelis may not
have taken delivery of all the weapons they were entitled to under the
2005 sale.
Israel said its air force had dropped 23 tons of
explosives Wednesday night alone in Beirut, in an effort to penetrate
what was believed to be a bunker used by senior Hezbollah officials.
A senior Israeli official said Friday that the
attacks to date had degraded Hezbollah’s military strength by roughly
half, but that the campaign could go on for two more weeks or longer.
“We will stay heavily with the air campaign,” he said. “There’s no time
limit. We will end when we achieve our goals.”
The Bush administration announced Thursday a
military equipment sale to Saudi Arabia, worth more than $6 billion, a
move that may in part have been aimed at deflecting inevitable Arab
government anger at the decision to supply Israel with munitions in the
event that effort became public. [Saudi Arabia will do nothing,
diplomatically, or certainly not with military action, to protect the
people of Lebanon or Gaza from the slaughter that is being produced by
Israeli weapons given to them by the United States.]
U.S. Senate and House pass pro-war
resolutions in support of Israel.
On July 18th, the U.S. Senate passed without dissent
S.RES.534, that gave unequivocal support for Israel's actions, described
as "self-defense" its blatant disregard for international and humanitarian
law.
The House only did only a little better, passing a similar
resolution, H. Res. 921, with 8 Congresspeople voting NO and some voting "Present".
See here for roll call.
Representative Barbara Lee had the wisdom not to vote
for the House resolution (she voted present), and as a result AIPAC
demanded an emergency meeting with her on Monday, July 24th. It is
unlikely this changed her views. See her
statement
[PDF file] regarding this House Vote.
Dennis Kucinich has introduced an alternative
resolution, supported by Barbara Lee, that calls for an immediate
cease-fire.
H. Con. Res. 450 currently has 23 co-sponsors.
Pro-War Rallies organized
The San Francisco Bay Area also witnessed organized
rallies by the Israel Lobby, and this was duplicated in cities across the
country. See this
story. That rally was organized by the Jewish Community
Relations Council.
"Palestinian
Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006" July 7th update.
Stop HR 4681 Anti-Palestinian bill currently in
Congress.
Most of the information below is from the
U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
website.
"Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006"
UPDATE: This bill passed the House of
Representatives by a vote of 361-37. For a list of those who
voted NO and abstained from this extremist legislation, go to
here. Includes excerpts on some opposition statements from
Congresspeople.
A similar passed the Senate (by a voice vote).
Because there are differences between the two bills, a conference
committee will work out differences and put together a final bill, to
again be voted on by both chambers. How some groups worked for small
changes to the bill can be seen
here
(this article is friendly to the legislation, but still offers some
insights as to the bills developments). According to this article,
AIPAC is not very concerned about the precise language of the final bill,
and is more concerned about its quick passage, which seems all but
certain.
Of the several
anti-Palestinian resolutions introduced by Members of Congress in the
aftermath of the legislative election, the most far-reaching is H.R.4681,
the
Palestinian
Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006,
introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) on February 1.
Click here to get your organization involved in opposing this
resolution.
The central
provision of this resolution would prohibit the United States from
providing direct assistance to the PA unless the President certifies that
it has fulfilled a long list of subjective and ambiguous conditions.
Current law already prohibits the United States from providing direct
assistance to the PA unless the President signs a national security
waiver, and in fact the United States provides no direct assistance to the
PA.
However, this
resolution goes far beyond reiterating the current US ban on direct
assistance to the PA; it also calls for many troubling provisions that
would punish and isolate the Palestinian people for exercising their right
to vote, including:
*
Restricting humanitarian aid. Through its military occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel has de-developed the Palestinian
economy by destroying infrastructure and agricultural lands; by inhibiting
the development of internal trade through walls, checkpoints, roadblocks,
closures, and curfews; and by preventing external trade through border
closings. US humanitarian assistance, overseen by USAID and implemented
by certified non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), is not only essential
to preventing the complete collapse of the Palestinian economy under these
difficult conditions imposed by Israel; it is also morally necessary since
the United States supports these Israeli policies through $3 billion of
direct military and economic assistance every year. Even though it
contains a waiver for certain humanitarian aid categories, this resolution
threatens US assistance to NGO’s in Palestinian territories by putting it
in the same category as aid to the PA.
*
Designating Palestinian territory as a “terrorist sanctuary”.
Under the terms of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of
2004, this designation would trigger restrictions on US exports to
Palestinian territories, effectively gutting the free trade agreement
between the United States and the West Bank and Gaza Strip and further
crippling the Palestinian economy.
*
Prohibiting official Palestinian diplomacy or representation in the United
States. Restricting Palestinian diplomacy in the United States
would be counter-productive to efforts to promote dialogue and a just
peace, further eroding the claim of the United States to be an “honest
broker”. This resolution would deny visas to PA
representatives; restrict the movement of Palestinian diplomats at the UN;
and shut down the PLO information office in Washington.
*
Targeting the UN for supporting Palestinian human rights. The
Palestinians have been denied their human rights through Israeli
dispossession and military occupation. The United Nations has voted by
overwhelming majorities to create bodies like the Committee on the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to advocate for the
realization of unmet Palestinian human rights. This resolution seeks to
defund these bodies by calling on the United States to withhold UN dues in
proportion to the percentage of the UN budget that funds these bodies.
* Denying
Palestinians the ability to receive assistance through international
financial institutions. The World Bank has been working with the
PA to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip since Israel’s unilateral
“disengagement” from it in 2005. Funds are needed urgently to rebuild
thousands of homes that Israel destroyed there. The reconstruction of the
Gaza Strip could be in jeopardy if this bill is passed. It contains a
provision instructing the United States, which has a controlling vote at
the World Bank, to vote against such funding.
The United States
says that it is committed to promoting democracy. If that is indeed the
case, it is inappropriate for Members of Congress to advance legislation
that would punish and isolate people through draconian economic and
diplomatic measures when the result of an election is not to the liking of
the United States.
That is why the
following organizations—the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
the American Friends Service Committee, the Council for the National
Interest, Global Exchange, Jewish Voice for Peace, Middle East Children’s
Alliance, Partners for Peace, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action Wisconsin,
Progressive Democrats of America, Tikkun, and the US Campaign to End the
Israeli Occupation—are joining together in a coordinated national campaign
to oppose H.R.4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006.
Bill to "help" Palestinian
Christians takes shape in Congress.
The proposed bill seems to come from the philosophy
of "we need to destroy the community in order to save it" variety.
Doublethinking Palestine (excerpt)
Zachary Wales, The Electronic Intifada, 6 July
2006
The latest violent incursions into the Gaza Strip have
brought a new wave of introspection on the raison d'etre of Israel's
occupation and its cynical method of warfare, which exploits humanitarian
and infrastructural channels as fiercely as it uses missiles and bombs.
But these actions are reminiscent of another perversity that weighs on
Palestinians and is perhaps of no less relevance: doublethink.
One example occurred three weeks ago, when U.S. Congressmen Michael McCaul
(R-Tex.) and Joseph Crowley (D-NY) solicited a bill concerning the
"persecution" of Palestine's Christian communities. The initiative
attempts to intervene in Palestinian-Israeli politics by presuming that
the Palestinian Christian minority in the West Bank and Gaza is
"systematically" oppressed by the Muslim majority -- and that punitive
sanctions should apply. It is founded on the sweeping assumption that
because Muslims outnumber Christians in the Palestinian territories, and
because the Muslim fundamentalist Hamas party now dominates the
Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Christians are necessarily
under threat. The Congressmen conflate tyranny with Islam, and imply that
this is the only possible source of injustice in the Middle East.
A mere scratching at the surface reveals that these notions are baseless
and mis-educated. They curiously imagine drastic societal divisions that
do not exist.
The face-value defects of this proposed bill are numerous. For one, the
Congressmen's aides reportedly admit that the proposal was largely derived
from consultations with a senior advisor to Israel's right wing, former
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Israeli academic Justus
Weiner, who dedicated a significant portion of his career to the character
assassination of Columbia University's Edward Said, a Palestinian
Christian by birth. Moreover, "the systematic destruction" (the
Congressmen's words) of Palestine's Christian communities at the hands of
the Palestinian Authority is a falsehood as it stands. The vast majority
of Christian organizations in the Bethlehem District, home to the largest
number of Christians in the West Bank or Gaza, have attested to this
through public statements.
See more of
article
UPDATE: This bill is on hold. This
is due to the loud protest from actual Palestinian Christians. See
here.
Policy Speeches Before AIPAC by U.S. leaders
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks to AIPAC May 2006.
While President Bush's popularity is at lowest levels of any sitting
President in the last 50 years, his scowling partner-in-crime has plunged
to levels of unpopularity rarely seen for a public figure. Cheney's
approval rating has been recorded to be below 20%. So where does
Dick Cheney go to get public approval? The AIPAC policy conference,
where the audience interrupted his militaristic speech no less than 50
times with applause.
His speech is generally a reiteration of the Bush-Cheney worldview, that
US and Israeli actions are good, those that oppose it are evil, and if
they cannot be pacified, must be opposed militarily. Then pretends
that the results are looking rosy.
Read the speech for yourself.
In 2001, Mrs. Pelosi told a
pro-Israeli conference that the real issue surrounding the
Palestinian/Israeli problem is not the occupation, but Israel's right to
exist. She added that the occupation argument is "nonsense". For
her, military occupation, sustained for nearly 4 decades, is not a
problem.
In this 2005 speech, she states her
unequivocal support for Israeli policies of dispossession and oppression
of Palestinians, under the guise of "security". Clearly, we
can expect no call to even-handedness in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict from Nancy Pelosi, not without a strong citizen movement to
demand such a change.
Case Study- The Israel Lobby at Work.
Supporting Joe Lieberman, Supporting War.
Joe Lieberman has been called Bush's favorite Democrat, and for good
reason. Few other people in the US Senate, of any party, has shown as much devotion
to the Bush agenda in the Middle East than Joe Lieberman.
For that, Joe Lieberman has found this devotion to Bush's war policies
don't go over well with Connecticut Democratic voters. They will be
running a candidate, Ned Lamont, against him in a primary in August.
So what are Israel lobbyists to do? AIPAC does not send money to
candidates. There are other groups that will do that, however.
Groups like the pro-Israel New York-based "Hudson Valley Political Action
Committee" and "Norpac" a New Jersey-based political action committee that
supports pro-Israel candidates. This is where politicians like Joe
can turn to for support.
See story in Jewish Weekly
Forward.
Stop AIPAC! PO BOX 11311
· Berkeley CA · 94712
