Amnesty vs. AIPAC: Senate to Consider AIPAC Resolution Endorsing War in Gaza

The Senate could consider as early as today a resolution promoted by AIPAC intended to effectively endorse the continuation of the Israeli military assault in Gaza. (You can find the text of the draft resolution on AIPAC's web page.)

In particular, the resolution does not call for an "immediate ceasefire," but for a "durable and sustainable ceasefire," which is the Bush Administration's code for continuing the war - the excuse the Administration has given for why the war must go on. Nor does the resolution call for ending the blockade on Gaza, even though the blockade is also an act of war.

Call your Senators now. Urge them to insist that any resolution passed by the Senate call for an immediate ceasefire and for lifting the blockade on Gaza.

Last Friday, Amnesty International USA sent an "urgent" letter to Secretary of State Rice, calling on her to end the Bush Administration's "lopsided response" to the ongoing Israeli military attacks on Gaza that have reportedly killed more than 600 Palestinians, including some 200 children. "Amnesty International USA is particularly dismayed at the lopsided response by the U.S. government to the recent violence and its lackadaisical efforts to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the letter said. Amnesty urged the Bush Administration to "go beyond rhetoric and exert concrete pressure on both parties to immediately cease unlawful attacks."

Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate, at the urging of AIPAC, is poised to embrace the Bush Administration's "lopsided" and "lackadaisical" response.

Call your Senators now, and urge them to insist that any resolution passed by the Senate call for an immediate ceasefire and lifting the blockade on Gaza. If you don't want to call, you can also write.

UPDATE:
US Senate supports Israel's Gaza incursion

Update 2:

and the House passed a similar resolution Friday (see CQ, "House Adopts Measure Backing Israel on 'Durable' Gaza Truce"; the roll call is here. Members of Congress still need to hear from folks advocating for an immediate ceasefire and lifting the blockade on Gaza. You can use this alert to call the House and Senate and report your result. You can also write to them here. Thank you for taking action.

Comments

[netshalom]

Thanks a lot for this article. Dennis Kucinich is planning to introduce a resolution in the House calling for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid to Gaza. You can call your reps to ask them to support it and your senators to ask them to introduce a similar bill. For more info:

http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1785

[nomoredead]

Thank you.

[skialethia]

If you google Israeli apartheid, you will get over 500,000 hits. Even Israelis themselves are admitting that Israel is becoming an apartheid state. When you look at the facts, it already IS an apartheid state: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_Israeli_apartheid

So, my question is: why is this country dumping billions of dollars into promoting,enabling and protecting an apartheid state?

The U.N. is also tacitly endorsing apartheid.

Eventually the criminal leaves his calling card, and in this case that card has one word written on it: APARTHEID.

STOP FUNDING AN APARTHEID STATE!

[GJMejay]

Israel's behavior has often been the target of great controversy. The fact that Israel is a strong U.S. ally in the middle-east region is a compelling reason to support them. For the pleasure of this relationship the U.S. sends Israel great sums of money every year. With U.S. help Israel has developed one of the world's most advanced military and are quite capable of protecting their territory. With additional assurances by way of standing backup support from the U.S. in case of an invasion, Israel faces no overwhelming threat. If Israel were to take a more aggressive posture in the region, say settling in areas outside their territory, taking new territory or simply controlling the territory of others, we might ask ourselves what it is that we are helping to protect. At a minimum, the U.S. should not support a military regime bent on controlling the region. If the U.S. provides support and assurances to support such a regime under all circumstances, then we may well be the cause of their overzealous ambitions. In fact, those ambitions might be far less aggressive in nature had they to think more and act more on their own volition.

[SiberianRat]

It seems Israel has decided to be in a permanent state of war--the state it has been in since its founding. There is a LOT of corrupt political financing between Israel (via AIPAC and others) and the US; moreover, many government officials have dual citizenship. Israel is in violation of UN resolutions as well as international and humanitarian law. In addition, they're an undeclared, unmonitored nuclear power. This must all change, and until it does, we should not send another penny to them. Please call senators now and tell them this--we must stand up for justice!

[GJMejay]

I will admit that the complex history of U.S. and Israeli policies have been a mystery to me. Since Israel's inception there has been a tangled web of controversy and boat loads of money provided to ensure the survival of that state.

I'm concerned now more than ever that the U.S. is over-spending on Israel. The question need not be whether Israel has a right to exist, instead whether it has a duty to do so under its own volition. Whether the existence of a state is more or less about rights of the state to exist or rather more about its duties in how it manages its interrelations and affairs.

[SiberianRat]

I called (again)--thanks!

[chaos4700]

So did I -- thanks for the heads up in the other threads!