Anti-Israeli Lobby and 54 Democrats Who Support It (6 from Mass)

Anti-Israeli lobby is raising its ugly head. Rep. Keith Ellison, whom Power Line Blog, calls first CAIR congressman, organized 54 Democrats (no Republicans) to write a letter to President Obama urging him to pressure Israel into lifting blockade of Gaza. The letter ignores murderous and terrorist character of Hamas that is ruling Gaza, ignores the plight of Gilead Shalit, and, while hypocritically urging Israel not to submit Gaza population to collective punishment, de facto does not mind submitting to collective punishment our friends in Sderot. Six democrats from Massachusetts signed the letter:

Massachusetts
Michael Capuano: 202-225-5111
William Delahunt: 202-225-3111
Jim McGovern: 202-225-6101
John Tierney: 202-225-8020
John Olver: 202-225-5335
Stephen Lynch: 202-225-8273

Here is a good assessment of the merits of this shameful letter in Power Line Blog:

Rep. Keith Ellison has written a letter to President Obama urging him to use diplomatic pressure to end Israel's blockade of Gaza. 50 members of the House have signed the letter, including Ellison's fellow Minnesotans Betty McCollum and James Oberstar.

The letter pays lip service to the security needs of Southern Israel, which had been subject to repeated attacks from Gaza -- attacks which, to my knowledge, never prompted Ellison or his fellow leftists to write letters.

Ellison and his colleagues state:

We also sympathize deeply with the people of southern Israel who have suffered from abhorrent rocket and mortar attacks. We recognize that the Israeli government has imposed restrictions on Gaza out of a legitimate and keenly felt fear of continued terrorist action by Hamas and other militant groups. This concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip. Truly, fulfilling the needs of civilians in Israel and Gaza are mutually reinforcing goals.

The first part of this passage is disingenuous and the last sentence is nonsense. The blockade is intended to prevent weapons and advanced electronic equipment from coming into Gaza. Israel permits humanitarian aid and medical supplies to enter. As Leo Rennert of the American Thinker points out:

Israel sends about 100 truckloads daily into Gaza, carrying food, medicines and other basic necessities. Plus it provides sufficient diesel fuel to meet Gaza's needs. Plus it has admitted hundreds of injured and sick Gazans into Israel where they receive the same dedicated, advanced medical care that Haitians receive in Israel's field hospital at Port-au-Prince.

In other words, Israel is striking a balance between its security concerns (which even Ellison says are legitimate) and the basic needs of Gazans. Ellison and the others also purport to strike that balance, but they fail to explain how Israel's security concerns would be met in the absence of the blockade.

The best they can do is to assert that "lifting these restrictions will give civilians in Gaza a tangible sense that diplomacy can be an effective tool for bettering their conditions." But there is no reason to believe that a "tangible sense that diplomacy can help Gazans better their conditions" will protect Southern Israel from attack. If Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza did not dissuade such attacks, Israel has no sound basis to believe that lifting the blockade will do the trick. [link]

Tom Gross, a journalist and international affairs commentator, specializing in the Middle East documented on his site how Israeli withdrawal from Gaza promoted "peace".

Jewish children at a greenhouse in the Gadid settlement the week before the handover. The Jewish settlers in Gaza had built some of the most state-of-the-art agricultural facilities in the world, exporting flowers, fruit and vegetables to Europe and elsewhere, and employing thousands of Palestinians, Israelis, and others.

Wealthy Jewish philanthropists in the U.S. (as well as a couple of prominent non-Jewish ones such as Bill Gates) bought the Gush Katif hothouses for $14 million and donated them to the Palestinian Authority. The hothouses had taken years to build, but as PA police looked on, Palestinian mobs ransacked them within hours of the Israeli exit. They stripped them of their glass, wiring, computer and electronic equipment and irrigation pipes and timers, destroying a vital source of employment for Gaza Palestinians in the process.

Hamas gunmen carrying rocket propelled grenade launchers march near the Israeli settlement of Neve Dekalim, as Israeli troops prepare to evacuate the final Jews from Gaza.

Palestinians, some holding the green Islamic flags of Hamas,
climb on the roof of the now demolished Netzarim synagogue. [link]

Is it kind of peace that Rep. Keith Ellison wants for Israel? Would Michael Capuano accepts this kind of peace for Somerville? Would Steven Lynch take it for Boston?
Shame on you, gentlemen.

posted by: jrtelegraph

Comments

[Liz Berney, Esq.]

Hi. I am running for Congress in New York's 5th Congressional District, and strongly support Israel's right to defend herself from the Gaza rocket attacks, which continue to this day. Although my opponent did not sign the "Gaza 54" letter, in Congressional hearings he criticized Israel for having roadblocks, falsely accused Israelis of perpetrating "pogroms" and initiated letters to fund the Palestinians. Please get in touch if you can help my campaign. LizBerneyforCongress@gmail.com.

[Eli]

Members of Congress

Arizona
Raul Grijalva

California
Lois Capps
Sam Farr
Bob Filner
Barbara Lee
Loretta Sanchez
Pete Stark
Michael Honda
Lynn Woolsey
Jackie Speier
Diane Watson
George Miller

Connecticut
Jim Himes

Indiana
Andre Carson

Iowa
Bruce Braley

Kentucky
John Yarmuth

Maryland
Elijah Cummings
Donna Edwards

Massachusetts
Michael Capuano
William Delahunt
Jim McGovern
John Tierney
John Olver
Stephen Lynch

Michigan
John Conyers
John Dingell
Carolyn Kilpatrick

Minnesota
Keith Ellison
Betty McCollum
James Oberstar

New Jersey
Donald Payne
Rush Holt
Bill Pascrell

New York
Yvette Clarke
Maurice Hinchey
Paul Tonko
Eric Massa

North Carolina
David Price

Ohio
Mary Jo Kilroy
Marcy Kaptur

Oregon
Earl Blumenauer
Peter DeFazio

Pennsylvania
Chaka Fattah
Joe Sestak

Vermont
Peter Welch

Virginia
Jim Moran

Washington
Jim McDermott
Adam Smith
Jay Inslee
Brian Baird

West Virginia
Nick Rahall

Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin
Gwen Moore

Virginia
Glenn Nye

[Marty Lamb]

Please be aware that you can send a strong message to these 54 with your checkbook and your vote. Many of them are being challenged in November 2010. I am running against Jim McGovern, who's anti-Israel record is amongst the worst. I am a pro-Israel candidate. I have family from the former Soviet Union who live in Sderot. I am particularly sensitive to the plight of those living in the communities near Gaza. The United States must stand strong in its support of Israel, our only ally in the region and the only democracy in the region. Israel's right as a sovereign nation to defend herself must never be compromised. There is NO moral equivalency between Israel's protection of her people and the Palestinian's use of human sheilds and targeting of civilians.
Marty
Candidate for Congress, MA 3rd District
www.MartyForCongress.com

[jrtelegraph]

Hi Daniel,

N.J. reps who signed are:

New Jersey
Donald Payne: 202-225-3436
Rush Holt: 202-202-225-5801
Bill Pascrell: 202-225-5751

[Daniel]

Good reporting,
Does N.J. reps. signed it and who? Just to know to vote them out of office.
Daniel