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ARCHIVES OF ALL PSC RESPONSE NETWORK ALERTS

The Palestine Solidarity Committee maintains a Response Network that provides participants with action alerts
on prominent issues regarding the occupation. With this network mechanism,
we offer an opportunity for friends of Palestinian human rights
to practice internet activism by responding to alerts that we send to all who sign up.

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--PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--

Action Requested: Please thank the Seattle Times for the op-ed by Bruce Ramsey that was published on Wednesday, September 2.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009786997_bruce02.html

AG Rob McKenna's letter about Israel's response to Gaza ignores broader issues
The article is inserted in full at the end of this alert.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Thursday, September 3
--Still helpful: Monday, September 7

Context: In late March Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna, together with nine other state Attorneys General, signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defending Israel's recent 22-day-long assault on Gaza. The letter, a prime example of amoral political opportunism, contained a variety of factual and legal errors. It also ignored the entire context for the conflict around Gaza: the fact that the Israeli regime has perpetrated an appalling, two-year siege upon the territory, clamping down on all entrance and exit of goods and people, causing widespread malnutrition and desperation among the Palestinians, and regularly perpetrating acts of violence against them. In so doing, Israel has broken international laws governing the behavior of an occupying force. The letter Rob McKenna signed ignores all of this.

McKenna has not acknowledged that he made a mistake in signing the letter; in fact, after meeting with a group of concerned citizens in July, he compounded the offense by repeating the simple-minded assertion that "the Israelis have the right to defend themselves."

Recently, Seattle Times columnist Bruce Ramsey met with McKenna, and Ramsey's September 2 op-ed is the fruit of that meeting. We encourage you to write The Times and thank them for printing the op-ed. Bruce Ramsey has shed light on the ill-considered position that McKenna promotes, and Ramsey's stance needs to be supported.

For our original alert on the AG letter to Clinton, see
http://www.palestineinformation.org/alerts_archives.htm#McKenna

For a rebuttal letter to AG Rob McKenna signed by prominent legal experts, see http://www.palestineinformation.org/Bisharat_AG_letter

Letters of up to 200 words can be sent to opinion@seattletimes.com. Please include your name, phone number, and address for confirmation by the newspaper.

For guidelines on how to write a letter to the editor, go to
http://www.palestineinformation.org/Take%20Action.htm and click on "Letter-Writing Guidelines."

Talking Points:

1. Thank Bruce Ramsey for taking a critical stance on Attorney General Rob McKenna's co-signing of the letter to Clinton, and thank the Seattle Times for printing Ramsey's op-ed.
2. On the pretext of halting weapons movement into Gaza, Israel has severely restricted the supply of essential goods into the territory, creating massive deprivation amounting to a humanitarian emergency. In the last two years only approximately twenty percent of Gaza's food, medicinal, and energy needs have been supplied.
3. The truce established between Israel and Gaza in the summer of 2008 was effective in reducing the number of rockets shot from Gaza almost to zero. Israel could have maintained the calm, but instead, it broke the truce in November, culminating in its massive assault on Gaza last December.
4. Israel had other choices. If Israel's goal were truly to remove threat of rockets, opening Gaza's border to free movement -- as pointed out by Israeli experts themselves -- would have "ensured quiet for a generation." (See article from The Guardian (UK) quoting the Israeli press: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfjj4rpq_208cj46frhm)
5. Israel cannot make peace with the Palestinians by killing hundreds of civilians, and there is no justification for Israel's massive violation of international laws.
6. While we understand that our local officials may have reasonable cause to express themselves regarding international issues, there is no excuse for the offhand, ill-considered measure that McKenna took in signing such an objectionable letter. If he purports to represent his constituency, he must consult with us before such an action.
7. Such a letter only encourages the Israeli regime to continue to treat the Palestinians in a brutal manner.
8. "Self-defense" and "security" work in both directions at once. For the Israelis to live in security, they must take an interest in the security of the Palestinians. The only way to do so is to negotiate for peace with the Palestinian leaders -- including Hamas.
9. The January assault on Gaza was not only an election gambit -- it was another atrocity in a long-term Israeli campaign for complete intimidation and domination of the Palestinians.
10. Mr. McKenna should indeed think about his political future.

*

Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
Please bcc your letter to us at alerts@palestineinformation.org

*

Full text of article:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009786997_bruce02.html
AG Rob McKenna's letter about Israel's response to Gaza ignores broader issues

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna signed a letter defending Israel's 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza. The letter does so on narrow grounds without considering wider arguments that favor the Gazans.

By Bruce Ramsey
Seattle Times editorial columnist

Attorney General Rob McKenna cosigned a letter defending Israel's 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza

Attorney General Rob McKenna cosigned a letter defending Israel's 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza

Last winter, Israel shelled Gaza, rolled in the tanks, shot it up and left much of it in ruins. Some 1,400 Gazans and 13 Israelis died, a ratio of 100-to-1.

Israel was defending itself, or so it said. To persuade the new Obama administration of that, a letter was circulated among U.S. state attorneys general who had visited Israel, some as guests of the America-Israel Friendship League. The letter is addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It begins:

"The undersigned Attorneys General write to convey our strong support for the State of Israel's actions in Gaza." The letter deems it unfair to compare the dead on each side the way I just did. It says Israel was not bound to be "proportionate" in its response to Gazan rocket attacks. "Israel's acts were justified and, in our view, met the international legal standards required of a modern state."

Signing the letter were four Democrats and six Republicans, including Washington's Rob McKenna.

This is a remarkable thing. The chief legal officers of Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington — state governments, with no authority over foreign affairs — were lobbying the U.S. secretary of state on behalf of a foreign power.

I asked our attorney general about the propriety of that. "We're elected officials," McKenna said. "All the attorneys general have constituencies for which Israel is important."

They do — and on both sides. Some friends of Gaza heard about the letter and went to see McKenna in July. One was Craig Corrie, whose daughter Rachel was killed in Gaza in 2003 by an Israeli soldier. Corrie told me he objected to a state official who had supported "increased violence in the Middle East."

That is what the letter does. McKenna focused on what it says. "The letter was narrowly crafted around whether Israel has a right to self-defense," he said.

I asked him whether 1,400 deaths were not excessive in response to rocket fire that had killed no one by the time the Israelis responded.

"You have to wait until enough of your people die so that it's roughly equal to the number of people you're going to kill?" he asked. "Nobody operates on that principle."

Indeed not. But under the rules of war, surely the other side had just cause as well. After the people of Gaza had elected the Hamas government, Israel had blockaded Gaza for a year and a half, by land and sea. The Gazans could export nothing, and could not make a living in the world. Israel had reduced them to living on handouts, and only a ration of those.

A blockade of such a small place — less than twice the area of Seattle — can be more lethal to civilians than rockets. It is also an act of war. But there is nothing in the letter about any of this.

Nor was there any mention that Israel's centrist Kadima Party government was facing an election Feb. 10 and was afraid of losing to the rightist Likud Party. The Gaza incursion was part of an election campaign. (Likud was elected anyway.)

McKenna said the letter came across his desk and he turned it around in 24 hours. He is a lawyer, and he responded like one.

But in this state he is Mr. Republican, his party's brightest and most successful standard-bearer. Someday he will run for U.S. Senate, where his foreign-policy views count. He should be careful about what he signs.

Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com

Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
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PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED

YOUR STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL SIGNED A LETTER TO SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON SUPPORTING ISRAELI WAR CRIMES IN GAZA.

Contents of this alert:
Link to rebuttal letter by legal experts
The letter from the Attorneys General to Secretary Clinton
Talking points
Contact information for the ten Attorneys General

On March 31^st, Attorneys General from ten states sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton expressing support of the State of Israel's actions in Gaza and condemning Hamas. The letter offered an interpretation of the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship that is distorted beyond recognition.

In the letter to Secretary Clinton, all mention of the occupation and attendant human rights violations against Palestinian civilians are omitted. The letter condemns Hamas's actions while completely exonerating Israel of any war crimes -- even justifying a disproportionate military response. The letter rationalizes Israel's recent offensive against the incarcerated population of the Gaza Strip by citing "continuous...attacks on Israel's civilians..." without mentioning the eighteen-month siege of Gaza or that Hamas observed last year's truce with Israel until Israel violated it.

Click here to read a June 9th, 2009 letter composed by George Bisharat of the University of California Hastings College of Law, and signed by ten international lawyers and legal scholars. This letter, addressed to the ten Attorneys General, is a systematic and thorough refutation of both the facts and the legal analysis in the Attorneys General's letter to Secretary Clinton. The Bisharat rebuttal letter states, “We find numerous factual and legal errors in the letter, and write to share our analysis of the letter with you and to ask you to publicly repudiate its claims."

The Attorneys General will be receiving this letter in the mail very shortly.
We urge you activists in the states of the ten signers of the letter to Clinton to contact your respective Attorney General:
Call or email to express your objection of the letter to Secretary Clinton (Refer to the rebuttal letter for talking points – or scroll down for summarized talking points)
Insist that your Attorney General read the rebuttal letter drafted by expert legal academics and practitioners
Request a meeting with your Attorney General – take a copy of the rebuttal letter and present it to him. Contact us at info@palestineinformation.org for a copy addressed to your Attorney General
Demand that you Attorney General remove his signature and repudiate the contents of the letter to Secretary Clinton.

For more information or support in contacting and making appointments with your state attorney general email info@palestineinformation.org

Full names and contact information of the attorneys general follows the letter.

LETTER FROM THE TEN ATTORNEYS GENERAL

A Communication From The Chief Legal Officers From The States Of Colorado * Florida * Kentucky * Louisiana * Michigan * Nebraska * Ohio* Rhode Island *Utah * Washington

March 30, 2009

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
United States Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C 20002

Dear Madam Secretary:

The undersigned Attorneys General write to convey our strong support for the State of Israel's actions in Gaza. The State of Israel's actions; are taken in furtherance of its right to self-defense provided under Article 51 of the United Nation Charter that provides that "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual...'self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations..."

Since June 2005, when Hamas militarily expelled the Palestinian Authority from Gaza in a coup d'etat, Hamas has launched more than 6,300 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians, killing and wounding 730, while disrupting the lives of hundreds or thousands of citizens. [Wall Street Journal December 29, 2008.] With the increased range of its recent rockets, more than 500,000 people in Israel have been included within their reach, with rocket attacks targeting not only Sderot, but also Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be'er Sheva.

While Hamas is an acknowledged terrorist regime - recognized as such by Israel, the United States, and the European Union - it acts under the cover of a "sovereign state."

Hamas War Crimes in Violation of Article 48 of the Geneva Convention

By intentionally targeting 6,300 rockets against Israel's civilian population, Hamas is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a war crime in that it has violated Article 48 of Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Convention of 1949 which provides that "...the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations: only against military objectives.

In addition to its war crimes committed against the Israeli civilian population, Hamas has also committed atrocities against the Palestinian civilian population under its control in Gaza by using these civilians as shields for its criminal conduct. As recently noted by the Wall Street Journal, "...Hamas deliberately locates its security forces in residential neighborhoods. This is intended to both deter Israel from attacking in the first place as well as turn world opinion against the Jewish state when it does attack."

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but Hamas, instead of establishing a flourishing, independent Palestinian State, has used this occasion to cause a civil war with the Palestinian Authority, leading to a coup d'etat in 2007 - a1l to the detriment of the Palestinian civilian population living in Gaza.

Conclusion

Hamas's continuous rocket and mortar attacks on Israel's civilian population are a casus bellum. As in all wars, the appropriate response is not a "proportionate one," but one measured to bring an end to the acts of war. The United States did not bomb Tokyo Harbor and the Japanese fleet as a response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Seventh Fleet. It declared war on Japan. To Israel's credit, it launched a limited and directed action against the source of Hamas's military acts white allowing the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

It is an essential element in the common law that intent is a crucial element in the commission of all acts. Hamas's intentional acts of launching rockets at civilians were in no way comparable to Israel's acts in directing its response to the source of Hamas's military attacks that unintentionally caused harm to Palestinian civilians; Israel's acts were justified and, in our view, met the international legal standards required of a modern state.

Since 1988, many attorneys general have been members of delegations visiting Israel through the America-Israel Friendship League, an educational organization that organizes a lega1 exchange program in conjunction with the government of Israel and NAAG. Those of us who have been fortunate to embark on one or more of these missions have had memorable experiences, meeting with top Israeli officials to address issues of mutual concern, such as anti-terrorism initiatives, cyber crime, civil rights, criminal law, crimes against women, and youth crime, as well as encountering the people of this magnificent land, from the Golan Heights to Nazareth and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

We are firmly supportive of your current efforts, Madam Secretary, and the work of all in the Obama administration involved in maintaining the cease-fire and sustaining a lasting peace in the region while upholding our nation's strong and enduring bonds to the State of Israel. In furtherance of NAAG's goals to "increase citizen understanding and law enforcement's role to ensure both protection of individual rights and compliance with the law," we did feel compelled to express our condemnation of Hamas' acts in Gaza and our support for the State of Israel.

Sincerely,

(Signed by the Attorneys General of the ten states listed above)

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TALKING POINTS
1. We do not advocate rockets being fired upon Israeli civilians from Gaza. The root cause of the conflict between Israel and Hamas is not rockets fired from Gaza, but the occupation and the continuing siege. Israel's ongoing complete control of Gaza's air, land, and sea borders, as well as its severe restriction of the exit and entrance of goods and people, legally constitute the continued occupation of Gaza even after Israel's 2005 "disengagement." Given this, Israel's occupation never ended, and the Gazans have not had sovereignty over their own society. The Attorneys General's letter faults Hamas for not establishing a "flourishing, independent Palestinian State," but Israel's continued control over the territory has prevented any possibility of doing so. Gaza has remained occupied by Israel ever since 1967.

2. Israel committed war crimes in its recent, massive attack on Gaza. Crucial here is the fact that because Gaza is one of the most crowded locations on earth -- and with all borders locked down -- during Israel's widespread bombing of the territory there was no way for civilians to escape from the assault. In repeating the questionable assertion that Hamas used civilians as "human shields" (for which no proof has been submitted) the Attorneys General's letter omits the fact that Israeli forces did, in fact, intentionally target Palestinian civilians on a vast scale. Of the more than 1400 Palestinians killed and over 5,000 wounded in the offensive, the vast majority were non-combatants.

Targeting of civilians in wartime is a growing trend, from Sri Lanka to Afghanistan. The Attorneys General's letter supports this trend.

For background on Israeli behavior during the offensive,
see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/world/middleeast/10gaza.html?hp
and http://www.nlginternational.org/com/main.php?cid=11

3. Israel's invasion of Gaza only served to exacerbate the conflict. Relieving the intense material pressure on the Gazan population is the prerequisite for a peaceful resolution. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/07/ST2009010702803.html
also "Israel's incursion into Gaza replays well-worn blueprint"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/04/israel-gaza-invasion-troops-hamas
..."If Israel's goal were to remove the threat of rockets from the residents of southern Israel, opening the border crossings would have ensured such quiet for a generation."

4. Israeli and international human rights organizations are calling for more independent investigations into Israeli war crimes. Israeli soldiers who returned from operations in Gaza have spoken out about war crimes that they witnessed and/or were ordered to commit. Inform the Attorney General of the illegal use of white phosphorous; the targeting of medical and media professionals; and the bombing of hospitals, mosques, schools, residential buildings, and UN facilities. Investigations of Israeli actions are underway; the Attorneys General have signed a statement without concern for the results of such investigations and in contradiction of evidence that is already available.

5. The recent Israeli offensive was one extremely violent event in a long-term siege of Gaza. The assault followed a siege that has lasted for two years with no real respite. The siege has resulted in drastic shortages of practically every daily necessity. This deprivation has led to extreme suffering - including malnutrition - among the vast majority of Palestinian civilians. Since the middle of 2007 Israel has restricted entrance to Gaza of ever more desperately-needed medical supplies, while preventing journalists and medical workers from entering the territory. Humanitarian relief and materials for reconstruction of the territory have also been withheld since the offensive. (see http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/ and http://www.indypendent.org/2009/04/16/land-of-ghosts/) As before the offensive, Gazans are experiencing regular and widespread electricity and water cutoffs; offshore fishing has been restricted and subject to violent attack; fuel reductions have resulted in inability to treat sewage; and delivery of food, school, and medical supplies are arbitrarily and regularly prevented. Certainly, such policies cannot encourage peaceful developments.

6. There is an inherent problem in state public officials using their offices to engage in foreign policy when they do not consult with their constituency beforehand. We are concerned that our representatives promote peace and justice rather than advocating militarism and denying war crimes. We call on our public servants to become more educated about complicated issues such as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands before weighing in on them. Finally, it is a good idea for officials such as the Attorney General to engage us, the citizens, and give us an opportunity to weigh in on the issues involved, before trying to influence US foreign policy.

7. In signing this letter, the Attorneys General have spoken for the most belligerent and militaristic supporters of a disastrous, failed policy of support for Israel. Request that these Attorneys General insist on an independent investigation of what happened in Gaza on both sides.

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE TEN ATTORNEYS GENERAL

Jon Bruning - Nebraska
Office of the Attorney General
2115 State Capitol
Lincoln, NE 68509
Main Office: (402) 471-2682
Main Office (FAX): (402) 471-3297
Email: nedoj@nebraska.gov

Buddy Caldwell - Louisiana
Administrative Services Division
1885 N. Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
P.O Box 94005
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone: 225-326-6705
Fax: 225-326-6793
e-mail: AdminInfo@ag.state.la.us

Jack Conway-Kentucky
Office of the Attorney General
Capitol Suite 118
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-3449
Email: attorney.general@ag.ky.gov

Richard Cordray-Ohio
State Office Tower
30 E. Broad Street, 17th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-3428
(614) 466-4320
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/

Mike Cox – Michigan
G. Mennen Williams Building, 7th Floor
525 W. Ottawa St.
P.O. Box 30212
Lansing, MI 48909
(517) 373-1110
(877) 765-8388
Fax (517) 373-3042
Email: miag@michigan.gov

Patrick C. Lynch - Rhode Island
150 South Main Street
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 274-4400
Email: mbotelho@riag.ri.gov

Bill McCollum - Florida
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Switchboard: 850-414-3300
Citizens Services: 850-414-3990
Florida Toll Free: 1-866-966-7226
***FAX is Best way to communicate 850 410-1630
for generic complaints, use webpage
http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Attorney_General

Rob McKenna - Washington
Main Office:
1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100
rob.mckenna@atg.wa.gov

Mark Shurtleff – Utah
General Office Numbers: (801) 366-0260, (801) 538-9600, (801) 366-0300
E-Mail: uag@utah.gov
Please leave your name, phone number or address so you can be contacted.
FAX: (801) 538-1121
Utah State Capitol Office Mailing Address
Office of the Attorney General
PO Box 142320
SLC UT 84114-2320

John Suthers- Colorado
Attorney General
1525 Sherman St.
7th floor
Denver, CO 80203
(303)866-4500
FAX: (303)866-5691
attorney.general@state.co.us
*
When writing the Attorney General of your state, please express your thoughts in a courteous manner.

This alert has been drafted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee -- Seattle, together with members of the Save Gaza Campaign (of the Pacific Northwest).

For information about Palestine Solidarity Committee -- Seattle, see www.palestineinformation.org

If you e-mail a response to any of the Attorneys General, please bcc to alerts@palestineinformation.org, so that we can monitor the response to this alert.

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PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED

Please e-mail Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and express your protest at the letter to Secretary of State Clinton, which he signed. This letter signed by the Attorneys General of ten states, reproduced in full below, expresses support of the State of Israel's actions in Gaza and condemns Hamas. It offers an interpretation of the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship that is distorted beyond recognition.

If you are receiving this letter in another state whose Attorney General signed the letter, please address a letter of protest to that official (Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Utah).

Apologies for multiple postings.

BACKGROUND:

The letter from the ten Attorneys General, dated March 30, 2009, came to public attention late last week via a news article published by the press agency JTA. That article is also inserted at the bottom of this alert.

Parts of the letter read like an Israeli tourist office advertisement for a valiant but beleaguered state. All mention of the occupation and attendant human rights violations against Palestinian civilians is omitted. Turning facts on their head in a breathtaking manner, the letter condemns Hamas's actions while completely exonerating Israel of any war crimes -- even justifying a disproportionate military response. The letter rationalizes Israel's recent offensive against the incarcerated population of the Gaza Strip by citing "continuous...attacks on Israel's civilians..." without mentioning that Hamas observed last year's truce with Israel until Israel violated it. The tone of the letter is such that it could have been drafted by someone significantly more militant than any mainstream supporter of Israeli policies.

The letter notes the Attorneys Generals' concern for "individual rights" and "compliance with the law" while ignoring the fact that through its occupation of Palestinian lands and ongoing siege of Gaza, Israel violates the rights to security and other basic human rights of millions of Palestinians on a daily basis. Violating international laws governing the behavior of an occupying power, Israel continues to deprive Palestinians of freedom of movement, the right to return to their homes, and the right to a livelihood. Under international law an occupying power has the obligation to ensure the security of the occupied population (see reference below), and Israel has done quite the opposite.

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Monday, May 11

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
as soon as possible and ongoing as needed in order to keep a continuous focus on this issue.

TALKING POINTS:

1. We do not advocate or support rockets being fired upon Israeli civilians from Gaza, nor any similar action. However, the root cause of the conflict between Israel and Hamas is not rockets fired from Gaza, but the occupation and the continuing siege of Gaza. Israel's ongoing complete control of Gaza's air, land, and sea borders, as well as its control and severe restriction of the exit and entrance of goods and people, legally constitute the continued occupation of Gaza even after Israel's 2005 "disengagement." Given this, Israel's occupation never ended, and the Gazans have not had sovereignty over their own society. The Attorneys General's letter faults Hamas for not establishing a "flourishing, independent Palestinian State," but Israel's continued control over the territory has prevented any possibility of doing so. Gaza has remained occupied by Israel ever since 1967.

2. Israel committed war crimes in its recent, massive attack on Gaza. Crucial here is the fact that because Gaza is one of the most crowded locations on earth -- and with all borders locked down -- during Israel's widespread bombing of the territory there was no way for civilians to escape from the assault. In repeating the questionable assertion that Hamas used civilians as "human shields," The Attorneys General's letter omits that Israeli forces did, in fact, intentionally target Palestinian civilians on a vast scale. Of the more than 1400 Palestinians killed and over 5,000 wounded in the offensive, the vast majority were non-combatants.

Targeting of civilians in wartime is a growing trend, from Sri Lanka to Afghanistan. The Attorneys General's letter supports this trend.

For background on Israeli behavior during the offensive, see
See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/world/middleeast/10gaza.html?hp
and
http://www.nlginternational.org/com/main.php?cid=11

3. Israel's invasion of Gaza was not militarily necessary and it was not a solution to the conflict; rather, it only served to exacerbate it. Relieving the intense material pressure on the Gazan population would have been, and still is, the prerequisite for a peaceful resolution. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/07/ST2009010702803.html
also "Israel's incursion into Gaza replays well-worn blueprint"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/04/israel-gaza-invasion-troops-hamas
..."If Israel's goal were to remove the threat of rockets from the residents of southern Israel, opening the border crossings would have ensured such quiet for a generation."

4. Israeli and international human rights organizations are calling for and have conducted independent investigation into Israeli war crimes. Israeli soldiers who returned from operations in Gaza have spoken out about war crimes that they witnessed and/or were ordered to commit. Inform the Attorney General of the illegal use of white phosphorous; the targeting of medical and media professionals; and the bombing of hospitals, mosques, schools, residential buildings, and UN facilities. Investigations of Israeli actions are underway. The Attorneys General have signed a statement without concern for the results of such investigations and in contradiction of evidence that is already available.

References: for useful background information on the definition of an occupation and the rights of the occupied population, see the following Red Cross web page: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/634KFC. The 1907 Hague Convention and the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention extensively define these rights and the obligations of the occupier; for information on the Geneva Convention, see http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm.

For background on soldiers' testimony about Israeli war crimes committed in Gaza, see
http://www.btselem.org/English/Testimonies/Index.asp?TF=29&image.x=18&image.y=11
and
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel -- several links on the website to testimonies and medical findings:
http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=24&catid=51&pcat=51&lang=ENG (scroll towards bottom of page for Gaza attack testimonies)

Amnesty International calls for cessation of US aid to Israel pending war crimes investigation:
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8545/
and
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkg78E2TUtVYt4xO4XaIkzkaUDrg

For information on the UN's accusations against Israel, see "UN blames Israel for Gaza attacks": http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/05/200955143232389149.html

5. The recent Israeli offensive was one extremely violent event in a long-term siege of Gaza. The assault followed a siege of Gaza that has lasted for two years with no real respite. The siege has resulted in drastic shortages of practically every daily necessity. This deprivation has led to extreme suffering - including malnutrition - among the vast majority of Palestinian civilians. Since the middle of 2007 Israel has restricted entrance to Gaza of ever more desperately-needed medical supplies, while preventing journalists and medical workers from entering the territory. Humanitarian relief and materials for reconstruction of the territory have also been withheld since the offensive. (see http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/ and http://www.indypendent.org/2009/04/16/land-of-ghosts/) As before the offensive, Gazans are experiencing regular and widespread electricity and water cutoffs; offshore fishing has been restricted and subject to violent attack; fuel reductions have resulted in inability to treat sewage; and delivery of food, school, and medical supplies are arbitrarily and regularly prevented. Certainly, such policies cannot encourage peaceful developments.

6. There is an inherent problem in state public officials using their offices to engage in foreign policy, purporting to represent the views of the citizens, trying to influence national foreign policy and doing so without engaging citizens (and in fact, without citizens’ knowledge) and without an opportunity for us to weigh in on the issues involved.

7. In signing this letter, the Attorneys General have spoken for the most belligerent and militaristic supporters of a disastrous, failed policy of support for Israel. Request that Rob McKenna publish an apology for signing a letter of support for gross violations of international law.

E-mail your letter to: rob.mckenna@atg.wa.gov
Send a regular letter to
Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna
1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100

*

Reminders:

--Please write even if you only have time for a brief note.

--Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."

--Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.

--Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers.

--Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our monitoring records.

Thank you!

* ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

A Communication From The Chief Legal Officers From The States Of Colorado * Florida * Kentucky * Louisiana * Michigan * Nebraska * Ohio* Rhode Island *Utah * Washington

March 30, 2009

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of Slate
United Slates Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C 20002

Dear Madam Secretary:

The undersigned Attorneys General write to convey our strong support for the State of Israel's actions in Gaza. The State of Israel's actions; are taken in furtherance of its right to self-defense provided under Article 51 of the United Nation Charter that provides that "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual...'self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations..."

Since June 2005, when Hamas militarily expelled the Palestinian Authority from Gaza in a coup d'etat, Hamas has launched more than 6,300 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians, kitting and wounding 730, while disrupting the lives of hundreds or thousands of citizens. [Wall Street Journal December 29, 2008.] With the increased range of its recent rockets, more than 500,000 people in Israel have been included within their reach, with rocket attacks targeting not only Sderot, but also Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be'er Sheva.

While Hamas is an acknowledged terrorist regime - recognized as such by Israel, the United States, and the European Union - it acts under the cover of a "sovereign state."

Hamas War Crimes in Violation of Article 48 of the Geneva Convention

By intentionally targeting 6,300 rockets against Israel's civilian population, Hamas is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a war crime in that it has violated Article 48 of Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Convention of 1949 which provides that "...the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations: only against military objectives.

In addition to its war crimes committed against the Israeli civilian population, Hamas has also committed atrocities against the Palestinian civilian population under its control in Gaza by using these civilians as shields for its criminal conduct. As recently noted by the Wall Street Journal, "...Hamas deliberately locates its security forces in residential neighborhoods. This is intended to both deter Israel from attacking in the first place as well as turn world opinion against the Jewish state when it does attack."

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but Hamas, instead of establishing a flourishing, independent Palestinian State, has used this occasion to cause a civil war with the Palestinian Authority, leading to a coup d'etat in 2007 - a1l to the detriment of the Palestinian civilian population living in Gaza.

Conclusion

Hamas's continuous rocket and mortar attacks on Israel's civilian population are a casus bellum. As in all wars, the appropriate response is not a "proportionate one," but one measured to bring an end to the acts of war. The United States did not bomb Tokyo Harbor and the Japanese fleet as a response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Seventh Fleet. It declared war on Japan To Israel's credit, it launched a limited and directed action against the source of Hamas's military acts white allowing the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

It is an essential element in the common law that intent is a crucial element in the commission of all acts. Hamas's intentional acts of launching rockets at civilians were in no way comparable to Israel's acts in directing its response to the source of Hamas's military attacks that unintentionally caused harm to Palestinian civilians, Israel's acts were justified and, in our view, met the international legal standards required of a modern state.

Since 1988, many attorneys general have been members of delegations visiting Israel through the America-Israel Friendship League, an educational organization that organizes a lega1 exchange program in conjunction with the government of Israel and NAAG. Those of us who have been fortunate to embark on one or more of these missions have had memorable experiences, meeting with top Israeli officials to address issues of mutual concern, such as anti-terrorism initiatives, cyber crime, civil rights, criminal law, crimes against women, and youth crime, as well as encountering the people of this magnificent land, from the Golan Heights to Nazareth and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

We are firmly supportive of your current efforts, Madam Secretary, and the work of all in the Obama administration involved in maintaining the cease-fire and sustaining a lasting peace in the region while upholding our nation's strong and enduring bonds to the State of Israel. In furtherance of NAAG's goals to "increase citizen understanding and law enforcement's role to ensure both protection of individual rights and compliance with the law," we did feel compelled to express our condemnation of Hamas' acts in Gaza and our support for the State of Israel.

Sincerely,

(Signed by the Attorneys General of the ten states listed above, including Rob McKenna, Washington State)

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Washington Atty. Gen. Rob McKenna is One of Ten State AG's to Defend Israel's Military Action in Gaza

10 attorneys general defend Israel

May 6, 2009

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Attorneys general from 10 states defended Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip, in a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The letter, sent last month, also condemned Hamas for what it called "war crimes" for its bomb attacks on civilian targets in southern Israel.

The attorneys general wrote that "By intentionally targeting 6,300 rockets against Israel's civilian population, Hamas is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a war crime in that it has violated … the Geneva Convention of 1949." The letter notes that the Geneva Convention provides that parties in a conflict must distinguish between civilians and combatants, and civilian and military objectives, and "direct their operations only against military objectives."

"In addition to its war crimes committed against the Israeli civilian population, Hamas has also committed atrocities against the Palestinian civilian population under its control in Gaza by using these civilians as shields for its criminal conduct," the letter continued.

The officials concluded that "Hamas' continuous rocket and mortar attacks on Israel's civilian population are a casus bellum. As in all wars, the appropriate response is not a 'proportionate one,' but one measured to bring about an end to the acts of war."

The America-Israel Friendship League said in a statement that it welcomed the letter by the attorneys general, calling it "a strong rejoinder to those who have castigated Israel over its role in Gaza and used it in an attempt to delegitimize the Jewish State."

Several of the attorneys general have visited Israel through an educational exchange program conducted by the league, which offers American officials the chance to become familiar with Israel's legal framework, security issues and commitment to the rule of law.

The 10 attorneys general represent the states of Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington.

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--PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--

Action Requested: Please thank the Seattle Times for publishing an op-ed by Professor George Bisharat on Thursday, February 05.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008708504_opinb05bisharat.html
Guest columnist
Hold Israel accountable for Gaza

The article is inserted in full at the end of this alert.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Friday, February 6
--Still helpful: Monday, February 9

Context: George Bisharat's op-ed in yesterday's Seattle Times provides compelling evidence that Israel violated international law during its vicious offensive against Gaza, which killed over 1400 people (including at least 400 children), wounded approximately 6,000, and displaced tens of thousands. On the heels of these atrocities, it is imperative that we work to put an end to Israel's impunity.

Professor Bisharat's powerful argument is sure to enrage those who defend Israeli war crimes. Please write the Seattle Times today in support of the op-ed.

Letters of up to 200 words can be sent to opinion@seattletimes.com. Please include your name, phone number, and address for confirmation by the newspaper.

For guidelines on how to write a letter to the editor, go to
http://www.palestineinformation.org/Take%20Action.htm and click on "Letter-Writing Guidelines."

Talking Points:

1. Thank the Seattle Times.
2. Reinforce the idea that sanctioning Israel for its crimes makes the whole world safer.
3. Impunity for Israel must come to an end.
4. If our government will not cease its blind support for Israel, we must help our leaders concentrate -- and send a message to Israel -- by initiating boycotts and divestment campaigns.

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Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
Please bcc your letter to us at alerts@palestineinformation.org

*

Full text of article:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008708504_opinb05bisharat.html
Guest columnist
Hold Israel accountable for Gaza

Israel's Gaza invasion provides evidence of at least seven serious violations of international law, notes George E. Bisharat, a University of California Hastings law professor. If Israel will not be held accountable in international venues, the "court of last resort" might be international civil society, whose tools for nonviolent enforcement include boycotts, divestment and sanctions.

By George E. Bisharat
Special to The Times

"THE boss has lost it," many Israeli military and political officials, and people on the street, were reportedly joking after their army's recent devastation of the Gaza Strip. As Israeli journalist Uri Avnery observed, the jest means that: " ... in order to deter our enemies, we must behave like madmen, go on the rampage, kill and destroy mercilessly."

In fact, the "boss has lost it" is an unselfconscious admission of policies that violate international law, and could at some point be used against Israeli leaders in a criminal prosecution.

Evidence suggests that Israel may have committed at least seven serious offenses during its Gaza invasion: launching a war of aggression (because Israel itself triggered the breakdown of a six-month truce, and therefore did not have a valid claim of self-defense); deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure; deliberate killings of civilians; collective punishment; illegal use of weapons, including white phosphorous; preventing care to the wounded; and disproportionate use of force.

These constitute grave breaches of customary and conventional international law, and some amount to war crimes. Hamas' indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians were also war crimes, but did not justify Israel's violations.

What is the likelihood that Israel leaders faced with allegations of war crimes will ever be investigated and brought to justice?

Israel has not accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, formed in 2002 to try crimes against humanity and other serious international crimes, and thus its nationals cannot be prosecuted there. Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, deals only with states — and Palestinians do not have a state.

Normally, the United Nations Security Council could establish a special international criminal tribunal, as it did following genocide in Rwanda and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. But any effort to investigate allegations of Israeli war crimes faces the certainty of a U.S. veto. Since 1970, the United States has vetoed resolutions censuring Israel 41 times.

About a dozen nations worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Spain and Belgium, have laws bestowing "universal jurisdiction" over genocide, war crimes, torture and other similar offenses. These states try cases irrespective of the nationalities of the parties or the location of the alleged offenses when they are grave enough to be considered crimes against all humanity. They offer another potential venue for the prosecution of suspected Israeli war criminals.

Yet when Belgium permitted litigation against former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and others for their roles in the 1982 massacres of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, the U.S. brought withering pressure, threatening to move NATO headquarters from Brussels if the case were not shut down. It was halted, shortly thereafter, by Belgian parliamentary legislation.

Thus, perhaps the "court of last resort" is that of international civil society, whose tools for nonviolent enforcement include boycotts, divestment and sanctions. That route, once so effective in helping to end apartheid in Africa, offers a powerful model for those seeking justice in Israel/Palestine today. Israel is both sensitive to Western opinion and dependent on trade and would likely respond to ostracism.

Ending Israel's impunity should be a priority for us all. Palestinians clearly bear the brunt of Israel's violence. Israelis face a future of endemic conflict in a region that will never bow to pure might. We Americans suffer by acting as Israel's principal enabler and accomplice, isolating ourselves from much of the world and multiplying our enemies. International law — which protects the powerful and weak alike — is diminished when one nation tramples basic legal principles without consequence.

Two years ago, I was contacted by the sister of a U.N. peacekeeper who had been killed along with three colleagues in a July 2006 Israeli artillery strike on their observer post in Lebanon. She sought my guidance in pushing for accountability for her innocent brother's death. Israel never acknowledged any culpability, and the woman's quest continues.

We have kept in touch. Before the latest cease-fire in Gaza, she poignantly remarked: "I'm watching with growing horror and can't help wonder: What if accountability had been practiced in prior years?"

The answer should be clear. It is time, now, to act.
George Bisharat is a professor at University of California Hastings College of the Law and writes frequently on law and politics in the Middle East. He is speaking at both the University of Washington's School of Law and Department of Political Science today.

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   PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--

With this alert we present three important actions that you can take. If you only have time for one of these, do one action; if you have more time, please do as many as you can:

1. Send a message of support and thanks to Robert Jamieson for his good article on conditions in Gaza from Thursday, January 29^th in the Seattle P.I..

2. Thank Congress members Brian Baird and Jim McDermott for signing a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Urge other Congress members to do the same.

3. Send an urgently-needed message of support and thanks to Bob Simon and Robert Anderson for their excellent January 25^th segment of 60 Minutes, covering Israeli apartheid.

Time by which actions should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, February 2, 2009
--Still helpful: Thursday, February 5

DETAILS ON THESE THREE ACTIONS:

I. COMMEND ROBERT JAMIESON FOR HIS ARTICLE OF JANUARY 29^TH

Please read "Survivor of Gaza carnage cries out for peace," by Robert Jamieson, at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/397862_robert29x.html

Jamieson describes the atrocities in Gaza in a straightforward manner as he conveys the story of a survivor who used to live in Seattle. The P.I. needs to be informed that readers appreciate it when a journalist tells the truth about the situation.
.
Send your letter to the editor to editpage@seattlepi.com
For guidelines on how to write a letter to the editor go to http://www.palestineinformation.org/Take%20Action.htm and click on "Letter-Writing Guidelines"
Please bcc your letter to us at alerts@palestineinformation.org

II. URGE YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER TO SIGN LETTER TO CLINTON

Both Congressman Baird and Congressman McDermott have signed on to an excellent letter sent to Secretary of State Clinton that quite comprehensively addresses the many concerns about aid and commodities getting into Gaza. The letter is inserted below, followed by a list of signers. Baird and McDermott constituents should send an e-mail to personally thank their Congressman for signing on to this letter. To date, Baird and McDermott are the only two to sign on from Washington State. They joined more than sixty other House members who signed.

If your representative did not sign this letter please send an email expressing your disappointment that this opportunity was missed.

To determine who represents you in the U.S. Congress, go to http://www.congress.org/ and enter your zip code in the "My Elected Officials" sidebar on the left and send your email from there, or go to your representative’s website and click on the “Contact me” header.

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The text of the letter to Secretary Clinton follows:

Dear Secretary Clinton:

First, we would like to congratulate you on being sworn in as our nation’s 67th Secretary of State. We are very hopeful that this new era in American foreign policy upon which we embark can advance the cause of peace in the Middle East and beyond.

As strong supporters of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, we are writing to express our deep concern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and to request immediate action by the United States to address this crisis. With the ceasefire now in effect, it is critical that the United States play a leading role in alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza and we respectfully urge your assistance in this task.

As you know, the situation on the ground is dire. The flow of humanitarian goods into the Gaza Strip is limited to food and medicine. Yet there exists a real need to allow for the importation of construction materials and fuel, which require the opening of crossings into Gaza. For example, only the Karni Crossing has the capacity for transporting large cargo, such as cement, but it remains closed.

In addition, in order to rebuild civilian infrastructure in Gaza the international community is going to have to make significant monetary contributions. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) estimates financial needs of nearly $350 million just to rebuild their own infrastructure and continue providing essential services to the Palestinians in Gaza.

We also remain especially concerned about the desperate condition of medical services in Gaza. Although Israel has begun to allow limited medical supplies into Gaza, the need far outweighs the availability while hospitals remain understaffed and ill-supplied. One of the most crucial steps that needs to be taken is for Israel to allow critically ill patients to be transported out of Gaza and into Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, where they may receive necessary medical care. We therefore urge you to express this concern directly to Israeli government officials.

In addition to the several thousand individuals who were physically injured during the recent military operations, we can expect to see a dramatic increase in the number of individuals suffering from psychological trauma. In order to help the population to begin rebuilding, we will need to further ensure that funds are used to provide adequate mental health services in Gaza.

Failure to address this humanitarian emergency has the potential to produce a crisis of even more unspeakable proportions. We therefore respectfully request that the State Department release emergency funds to UNRWA for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance. We believe the State Department can make funds available through accounts such as Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA) and urge you to facilitate the transfer of funds as soon as possible.

We look forward to maintaining a productive and ongoing dialogue with the State Department and the Obama Administration regarding the United States response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Toward that end we respectfully request that you or your staff share with us prior to Congress recessing on February 13, 2009, the actions taken to date and the strategy you will pursue to address the humanitarian crisis.

Finally, we know that addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a whole is a top priority of the Obama Administration and we applaud President Obama and you for your early and public commitment to meet this challenge. We also believe that the naming of former Senator George Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle East is commendable. We believe the security interests of both Israel and the United States will be greatly enhanced by the establishment of a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and that United States involvement is indispensable in achieving that goal.   We stand ready to work with you as the Administration furthers these efforts.

Full List of Signatories to the Letter:
David Price, Lois Capps, Keith Ellison, Sam Farr, Maurice D. Hinchey, Barbara Lee, Jim Moran, Earl Blumenauer, Lloyd Doggett, James P. Mcgovern, Gwen Moore, Jim Mcdermott, Raúl M. Grijalva, Pete Stark, Michael E. Capuano, Peter Welch, Dennis J. Kucinich, Donald M. Payne, Lynn C. Woolsey, John D. Dingell, Maxine Waters, Diane E. Watson, André Carson, Donna F. Edwards, John Lewis, Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Glenn C. Nye, Henry C. Johnson, Joe Sestak, Bob Filner, Stephen F. Lynch, John F. Tierney, Rush D. Holt, Betty Mccollum, George Miller, Nick J. Rahall, Yvette D. Clarke, William D. Delahunt, Loretta Sanchez, Rosa L. Delauro, Mike Thompson, Brian Baird, Peter A. Defazio, Christopher Murphy, Mary Jo Kilroy, Thomas Perriello, John Conyers Jr., Neil Abercrombie, Gerald E. Connolly, Earl Pomeroy, Anna G. Eshoo, Jackie Speier, Michael M. Honda, John A. Yarmuth, Bruce Braley, Tammy Baldwin, James L. Oberstar, Eric J.J. Massa, Michael H. Michaud, Marcy Kaptur, Bill Pascrell, Jr, Daniel B. Maffei, Danny K. Davis

III. THANK CBS 60 MINUTES FOR EXPOSING ISRAELI APARTHEID

On Sunday, January 25, CBS 60 Minutes aired a remarkable segment exposing Israel's apartheid against Palestinians. The piece is by Senior CBS Foreign Correspondent Bob Simon and produced by Robert G, Anderson.

This is an urgent action because CBS has been receiving a deluge of critical comments from supporters of Israeli policies.

TAKE ACTION:
1. Watch the video: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1811

2. Send a thank you note to 60 Minutes, Bob Simon and Robert Anderson. Go to http://action.gazajustice.org/t/4436/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=905 to fill out a simple form letter.

3. Invite your friends to watch the video and send a thank you note.

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PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO WANT TO ACT
TWO ACTIONS INCLUDED:

ACTION 1:

The Senate just unanimously voted on a resolution that essentially pats Israel on the back for "defending itself" from Hamas, and the House will likely follow their lead tomorrow (Friday).

Please contact your delegates to the US House of Representatives to urge them to use their power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane assault on the civilians of Gaza. Ask them to vote "NO" on any resolution that fails to call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and for unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into Gaza. There are several biased resolutions on the table, most of which applaud Israel for being a strong ally in the "Global War on Terror;" falsely blame Hamas for breaking the cease-fire; fail to recognize the legitimacy of Palestinian elections; and say nothing about Israel's responsibility for the killing and injuring of Palestinians. Tell your representatives that Israel's imposition of collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza is unacceptable.

This action must take place immediately Friday January 9th, because it is very likely that the House of Representatives will take the same action tomorrow that the Senate, who approved a similar resolution, took today.

For talking points go to: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1780.

We've heard from sources in Congressional offices that as few as 20 phone calls from each district can help dampen Representatives' blind support of Israel's assault.

This action alert is in partnership with CodePink, Peace Action, United for Peace and Justice, Progressive Democrats of America, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and other national groups to make our voices heard in the House - Your call will make a difference - call 202.224.3121 now.

Please telephone your representatives, and if you are not able to do that, e-mail them with a strong message in the subject line, such as, "No on blind support to Israel." If you don't know who represents you in Congress, then you can find out at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home
(enter your zip code in the upper right corner of the website). Once you know who represents you call 202.224.3121 and the operator will connect you to your Representative.

If you are Jewish, please let your representatives know that you are a Jew who opposes Israel's attack on Gaza. If you belong to a Jewish community organization, arrange to contact your representatives in the name of that organization.

After asking your Representative to vote NO on these resolutions, we also encourage you to call your Senators at 202.224.3121 and register your displeasure with their abhorrent unanimous vote to blame Gazans for Israel's siege and assault.

Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.

ACTION 2:
PROTEST OFFENSIVE HORSEY CARTOON

The Seattle P.I. today published a very offensive cartoon by David Horsey -- see: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/. In this cartoon a mother is saying to a caricaturized "militant," "Young man, when will you learn? If you hit somebody bigger than you, he'll hit back!"

The cartoon at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/ reinforces and perpetuates the notion that the Palestinians are entirely to blame for their predicament, because of a "childish" and senseless inclination to use violence. It is not our intention to justify the use of violence on the part of any group; however, this cartoon glosses over the fact that the vastly greater part of the violence has been perpetrated by the Israeli forces upon an imprisoned civilian population.

Please write the P.I. at editpage@seattlepi.com and, in 250 words or less, express your objection to this offensive cartoon. (See guidelines for letters to the editor below). Point out that the Palestinians in Gaza are involved in a legitimate struggle for their rights; that they have effectively been under siege for over three years; that it is the Israelis who have perpetuated the belligerence by refusing to negotiate with Hamas; and that David Horsey is not funny.

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PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED

Please contact your Congress members and/or Senators to urge them to use their power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane assault on the civilians of Gaza.

CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES: MASSACRES OF CIVILIANS IN GAZA MUST STOP

We are sending you this alert to ask you to take action with regard to the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Israel has intensified its ongoing blockade and punitive campaign against the population of Gaza by cutting off fuel supplies, Now the bombing and invasion of the territory have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. Israel's treatment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment on the scale of a crime against humanity.

In light of the last twelve days of Israel's appalling attacks on Gaza, we are sending out this second alert to ask you specifically to contact your Senators and members of Congress. The 111^th Congressional session has just begun, and there are moves underway to pass statements that will support continuation of Israel's military action. In recent conversations with Congressional aides, it has been pointed out to us that our representatives have primarily been hearing from supporters of Israel's policies. Calls from people opposing the massacre of Gaza are just trickling in -- let's change that!

ACTION:

Please telephone your Congress member and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and demand that they exert pressure on the government of Israel to bring an immediate halt to the invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israel must not only withdraw its armed forces completely from Gaza and stop the bombing; it must also open Gaza's borders completely for delivery of desperately-needed food, medicine, fuel, and all daily necessities. Doctors and journalists must also be allowed entrance to Gaza. Let your representatives know that you want US aid to Israel cut off until the assault on Gaza is discontinued and until the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian lands is ended. If you speak with an aide to Representative Jim McDermott -- who knows what is right but is too hesitant to take appropriate action -- urge him to launch a Congressional resolution that condemns Israel's war crimes.

If you are Jewish, please let your representatives know that you are a Jew who opposes Israel's attack on Gaza. If you belong to a Jewish community organization, arrange to contact your representatives in the name of that organization.

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Wednesday, January 7

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Monday, January 13

BACKGROUND:

A six-month truce between Israel and the Hamas-led government of Gaza expired on December 19^th, 2008. For almost five months of that period, hostilities were significantly reduced. However, violence broke out well before the official end of the truce. The Israeli attacked Gaza on November 4^th, killing a half-dozen Palestinians. From there, the truce deteriorated.

At the same time, Israel heightened an existing blockade on deliveries to Gaza, compounding what was already a growing humanitarian emergency. Food, medicine, and fuel were already in short supply from the beginning of the blockade (imposed in 2007); soon hospitals were working without anesthetics; banks were shutting down; and most Gazans were unemployed.

Then on Saturday, December 27^th, Israeli jets began a thorough bombing of Gaza, destroying most police stations immediately, and striking many other civilian targets as well. We note here that police are civilians, and their stations are by necessity located in civilian areas. Hundreds of people were killed that weekend, at least half of them civilians. A week later the ground assault began, on Saturday, January 3^rd.

To date well over six hundred Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded. The violence has reached calamitous proportions. The Israeli government has not restrained itself from bombing schools, mosques, dormitories, apartment buildings and single-family residences, as well as shops and government offices. There is no square meter of space in Gaza that is a safe place for civilians to take refuge.

Israel has claimed that there is "no humanitarian emergency" in Gaza. The United Nations yesterday contradicted this claim, stating that at least one fourth of Gazan casualties are civilians. However, this figure only includes women and children. Certainly many of the men who have been killed are civilians as well.

In the last couple of days the Israelis have bombed several UN-run schools being used as shelters, killing at least forty civilians. Army spokespersons' claimed that the shelters were being used by Hamas fighters; given UN assertions to the contrary, these claims were simply not believable.
(See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians)

It is clear that the Israeli bombardment and invasion was planned well in advance. Israel apparently never intended for the truce to lead to peace, because it did not work to ease restrictions on Gaza but intensified them, and it shunned the possibility of negotiating with Gaza's elected leaders.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

At this point it is more effective to telephone your representatives than to e-mail them. Please call Congress members and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, objecting to the Israeli bombardment and assault on Gaza, Appeal to them and to your Congress members to censure Israel for the cruelty and hopelessness that it is wreaking upon the Gazan population. See talking points below.

Contact information:

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/

E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

Senator Murray
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238
E-mail: www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Senator Cantwell
Telephone: 202-224-3441
Fax: 202-228-0514
Email: www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html

TALKING POINTS:

--Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza are resulting in massive loss of life, injuries, and traumatization of the entire civilian population. Call on your representatives to promote legislation that demands an immediate end to the assault; the opening of Gaza's borders to delivery of emergency aid including food, fuel, and medicines; and unrestricted entry to medical caregivers and journalists.

--The standard Israeli rationale for its violence is that Israel is only protecting the security of its citizens. In fact, it is constantly putting its own citizens in danger by savagely attacking an imprisoned people. Tell your representatives that the Palestinians need security just as much as the Israelis, and that the only way to enhance security is for Israel to initiate negotiations with the Palestinians' leaders. The present massacres of the Gazan population will not lead to peace, but only to continued and intensified bloodshed on both sides.

-- Israel is openly ignoring the distinction between civilians and combatants. The collective punishment against the population of Gaza is a violation of international law, amounting to a crime against humanity.

--Most wars are fought for political reasons and are ultimately resolved through political means; only negotiations will bring the present one to an end. The unprecedented number of civilian victims in this case will make a resolution more difficult to attain. (For a knowledgeable comment on this factor, listen to the NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99071510 -- "Civilian Casualties Factor into War Decisions."

--The United States, principle sponsor of Israeli policies, must not sit idly as this humanitarian crisis unfolds. F16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters, naval gunships, and missiles paid for by our tax money are being used to slaughter Palestinian civilians. In addition, Israel's government has long been able to count on the United States consistently vetoing any UN Security Council resolution that is critical of Israel's policies. Our government has both the responsibility and the leverage to put an end to the carnage.

--Call on your representatives to seek more balanced information about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. They are ill-informed; their sources are one-sided, and they thus cannot make good decisions. Suggest that your elected officials hold informative meetings with such people such as Diana Buttu, Michael Tarazi, Ali Abunimah, Jimmy Carter, Jeff Halper, and Phyllis Bennis, who are respected experts on the Palestinian experience and can provide crucial alternative analysis.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.

For more information on current developments in Gaza, check the following links:

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights: http://www.pchrgaza.org/

The Electronic Intifada: www.electronicintifada.net

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation: www.endtheoccupation.org

Search for Congressional Bill summaries and status: http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/111search.html

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Daily Situation Report on Gaza: http://www.ochaopt.org/

Gaza Hospital Overwhelmed by Dead, Wounded: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/world/story/453496.html

CNN: How Israel Broke the Gaza Truce
http://crm.cair.com/site/R?i=hp8yMDNcgy4wxTZaKHOn1A

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PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED

Please contact your Congress members and/or Senators to urge them to use their power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane assault on the people of Gaza.

ISRAEL BOMBS GAZA, KILLING OVER 300; ATTACKS CONTINUE, GROUND ASSAULT THREATENED

We are sending you this alert to ask you urgently to take action with regard to the current Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip. On Saturday morning, December 27^th, over eighty Israeli warplanes and helicopter gunships dropped at least one hundred tons of bombs throughout Gaza. Israel targeted all Gazan police stations, but also many residential areas. Latest reports as of Sunday morning state that over three hundred Palestinians were killed, and at least a thousand wounded. Of those killed, almost half were civilians.

An Israeli military spokesman announced that the bombardment was "only a beginning." The already severely-taxed Gazan infrastructure is being destroyed, leaving the territory without power and water, and crippling medical facilities.

Palestinians are appealing to the conscience of the world to intervene and call upon our elected officials to condemn the Israeli atrocities.

The United States Administration has expressed support for Israel's attack. President-elect Obama, vacationing in Hawaii, was unavailable for comment.

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Sunday, December 28, 2008

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
As soon as possible, and ongoing

ACTION:

Due to the brutality of the current attacks and the particularly atrocious scene now unfolding in Gaza, in this alert we are listing more than one possible action for you to take, including contacting elected representatives and other government officials: writing your local media; and participating in upcoming protests in your region (or organizing your own local protest). Talking points, as well as tips on writing letters to the editor, are found below this action section. We urge you to take at least one of these actions as soon as possible:

1. CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

--Contact your Congress member and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and let them know that you deplore Israel's current assault on Gaza. Urge them to draft a resolution censuring Israel's actions and calling on the Israeli government to end all attacks on civilians and to lift the siege of Gaza, allowing in all needed fuel, food, and medical provisions.
Find contact info for your members of Congress below.

--Contact the White House to protest the attack and demand an immediate cease-fire, as well as an end to US aid to Israel until Israel withdraws completely from the Occupied Territories.
Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to comments@whitehouse.gov.

--Register your protest at the State Department by calling 202-647-6575, or send an email to <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZrRIlakqCAcJIej2TCH%2BXgLGSk1kKskM>)

--Sign the US Campaign to End the Occupation's open letter to President-Elect Obama calling for a new U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine by going to this address: <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HcM8nrbijj%2Bqdkj8hF7w%2BPEoRqTwY3k7>.

2. WRITE YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS

Write to the letters to the editor section at the Seattle P.I. or the Seattle Times (or your local newspaper), expressing your opposition to the Israeli attacks.
The PI address for letters is editpage@seattlepi.com
The Seattle Times address is opinion@seattletimes.com

Talking points and guidelines for letter-writing are found below.

3. PARTICIPATE IN UPCOMING PROTEST EVENTS OR ORGANIZE YOUR OWN

-- EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION TO PROTEST THE ISRAELI WAR CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE IN GAZA
Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 4:00PM
US Federal Building ( 915 2nd Ave, Seattle 98104)

--PROTEST ATTACKS ON GAZA AT WESTLAKE PARK IN SEATTLE
Saturday, January 3^rd, 2009 -- 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.

--TACOMA PROTEST
Demonstrate to protest the Dec. 27 massacre in Gaza -- please bring signs, flashlights, and candles
Organized by People for Peace, Justice, and Healing
Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 5:00 p.m.
Federal Courthouse, 1717 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, WA 98402

BACKGROUND:

Since Israel removed settlers and army troops from Gaza in September of 2005, it has progressively tightened the screws on Gaza's residents to previously unimagined levels. Especially after Hamas won elections in early 2006, and took complete control of Gaza in mid-2007, Israel has clamped down on entry, exit, and supply to Gaza, to unprecedented levels. Fuel shortages and a recent, complete blockade of the territory have resulted in extremely low supplies of food, medicine, water, electrical power, and all other basic necessities of life. Hospitals in Gaza have been working without half of the crucial medicines necessary to cure disease and sustain life. Dozens of people with curable ailments have died because they were prevented from leaving Gaza for urgent treatment.

A six-month truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas government kept down the level of violence between the two entities, but Israel's siege on Gaza was otherwise intensified. The truce began to break down before it expired last week, as militants fired home-made rockets from Gaza into Israel, and the Israeli army undertook sporadic bombings of the territory. In the past weeks Tzipi Livni, foreign minister of Israel and candidate for prime minister in upcoming (February) elections, announced that an Israeli attack on Gaza was "only a matter of time."

The attack has commenced, and the atrocities we have witnessed in the first days threaten to escalate into a full-scale land assault. Through this action, Israeli leaders presume to solve several problems. First, a clearly aggressive military action portrays Livni as a "strong leader" and presumably gives her an advantage in her now-lagging campaign against rival Binyamin Netanyahu. Second, belligerencies force the present and future US Administrations to affirm their support for Israel. And probably most important of all, Israel's motive seems to be the complete destruction and replacement of the Hamas leadership in Gaza. The next few days will clarify Israel's motives. Meanwhile, we must try to influence the outcome. by pressuring our government to take measures to stop the killing and to arrange serious peace negotiations.

TALKING POINTS:

--Before Israel's attacks on Gaza, the ongoing siege resulted in life-threatening shortages of food and medicine, as well as a cutoff in crucial power supplies. This is unconscionable treatment of a civilian population, and it is not reasonable to expect a pacifist response.

--No matter how much destruction Israel wreaks upon Gaza, this will not lead to peace in the region, but only an escalation of violence. The United States must pressure Israel to initiate sincere negotiations with all Palestinian leaders, including Hamas, immediately.

--Israel has attempted to destroy the Gazan police department, which only makes sense if the goal is to take over the territory or, at the very least, create complete chaos in Gaza. The Gazan police were not firing rockets into Israel, but were maintaining order in Gaza.

-- The laws and conventions of warfare make a distinction between a civilian population and armed forces -- a distinction which Israel is openly ignoring. The collective punishment against the entire population of Gaza is a violation of international law (including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949), amounting to a crime against humanity.

--The United States, principle sponsor of Israeli policies, must not sit idly as this violence unfolds. The Israeli army would not be able to carry out such attacks if it were not continuously supplied by the US with weapons and parts for its F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters. The US Administration must cease all aid to Israel until it discontinues the attacks and withdraws entirely from the Occupied Territories.

For more background information:

--US Campaign to End the Occupation: www.endtheoccupation.org
(includes additional action links)

-- http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/israel-planning-military-assault-on-gaza-strip-20081225.html

--B'Tselem, Israeli human rights organization
http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp

Electronic Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10053.shtml

Israeli Coalition Against Housing Demolition (ICAHD): http://www.icahd.org/eng/

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How to contact Congressional Representatives:

The most effective ways to get in touch with Congress and Senators are listed in order:
1. fax
2. telephone calls
3. e-mail letters

Contact information:

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/

E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

Senator Murray
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Telephone: (202) 224-2621
E-mail: www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Senator Cantwell
Fax: 202-228-0514
Telephone: 202-224-3441
E-mail: www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html

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Things to keep in mind when sending letters to the editor:

1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.

2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.

3) Begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....

4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."

5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.

6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.

7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

Note: If you contact your representatives, please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.

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--PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--

Please write the Seattle P.I. about Sunday's op-eds by David Brumer and Johann Hari, inserted below. Presumably inspired by the upcoming 60^th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, Brumer has written yet another exaggeration of Israel's innocence and victimization. Loaded with stereotypes and falsehoods, this column paints a picture of Israel as a "vibrant democracy" apparently demonized, unfathomably, by deranged "progressives" and fundamentalists who wish for the destruction of the state. Standard Brumer fare.

In the same issue, the P.I. reprinted an editorial from the Independent by Johann Hari. This column provides a partial response to Brumer, in that it mentions the 60-year displacement of the Palestinians, and it describes the environmental racism practiced against them by Israeli settlers.

Our response could further any or all of the following goals:
1. bring up the "rest of the story:" Israel's creation involved a catastrophe for the Palestinians that is still being imposed to this day (see details in talking points below).
2. Suggest that the P.I. give the ubiquitous Brumer a rest and find an Israeli patriot who can avoid such malicious and fanciful writing.
3. Note with appreciation that the P.I. tried to answer Brumer's article with an opposing point of view, but how about giving the Palestinians a chance to speak for themselves?

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, May 5
--Still helpful: Thursday, May 8

Articles:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361594_israel04.htm l
"An incontrovertible right to exist"
By David Brumer
and
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361593_hari04.html
"Israel built over the ruins of its crimes against Palestine"
By Johann Hari
The full texts of the articles are inserted at the end of this e-mail.

Context:
In this 60^th anniversary year of the Nakba (Arabic for "catastrophe"), when over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced and hundreds of their villages were destroyed, opponents of human rights for Palestinians are particularly on the offensive, urging the general public to celebrate the establishment of an idealized Jewish state, while burying the rest of the history that has happened in historic Palestine over the past century. There were Palestinians. Most of them were displaced, their lives uprooted. The Palestinians have resisted this crime, and the crimes continue, as does the Palestinians' resistance. This year, we turn a corner in educating the public about this history. Heretofore we have mainly concentrated on the now 40-year occupation of Palestinian territories, but we have resolved to put that occupation in the context of the larger dispossession of the entire Palestinian society. For Americans to understand why there is a conflict in Palestine and Israel, they must have information that goes back before 1967.

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Talking points for letter writing:

Your letter can be very brief; it is the response to the editorials that counts. Below are some points that could be expressed.

--Express objection to the P.I.'s giving space to Brumer's tired, overblown, racist comments. Express appreciation for Hari's reprinted article. Request air time for Palestinians.

--Brumer's framing of his argument centers on the alleged questioned existence of Israel. For most of us concerned with the conflict, the central issue is the ongoing, flagrant violation of Palestinian human rights. Re-frame the discussion this way. Put differently, Brumer's grandiose worrying about Israel's right to exist is a version of the security argument. But it leaves out the question of Palestinian security!

--On the issue of Palestinian security, let's remember:
-that in 1948 over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their ancestral land, which they had continually inhabited for many centuries, and around 500 of their villages were destroyed at that time.
-That several hundred thousand more Palestinians were displaced in 1967, and the rest of Palestine, that is, the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, were then occupied at that time.
-that the Palestinians within Israel have been treated as (at best) second-class citizens ever since 1948, and those in the Territories have been living under a harsh, brutal military dictatorship for the last fifty years.
-that Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are routinely denied their rights to worship, livelihood, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and that they are subject to random arrest, torture, jailing without trial, confiscation of their land, and uprooting of their orchards. The "separation barrier" separates from their land and from Jerusalem, their holy city (for Palestinian Muslims and Christians) as well as that of the Jews.
-that Palestinians within Israel are denied equal opportunity, education, and livelihood on a par with Jewish Israelis.

--These and many other offenses to Palestinian security are the root of Israeli insecurity. Brumer finds the "delegitimization" of Israel baffling. He should take a look at these ways that Israel ruins its own legitimacy.

--Reinforce Hari's comments that show that Israel is not in fact the idyllic land, the vibrant democracy falsely portrayed by Brumer. As Hari writes, the history of 1948 needs to be "excavated," indeed. Part of that process will addressing the refugee problem. As part of the condition for Israel's membership in the United Nations, it signed on to UN Resolution 194, which acknowledged the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

--In burying the true history of 1948, Brumer also ignores the fact that the establishment of settlements on Palestinian lands continues to this day, in the West Bank. Cementing territorial dominance through settlements, besides being prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, is an outmoded way of conquering people and land, and it does not work.

--Although Brumer doesn't recognize occupation, he touts the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a commendable move. He notes the removal of 8,000 "Israeli citizens" from that territory, but doesn't explain what they were doing on someone else's land. Furthermore, the ongoing Israeli control of Gaza's borders, air, and resources leave Israel under the onus of occupation law. Most objectionably, Brumer does not recognize the continuing torment imposed on Gaza by the complete shutoff of fuel in, and commerce out. This has reached such drastic proportions that UNRWA (UN Relief Works Agency) last week suspended relief operations in Gaza due to lack of fuel for deliveries. Starvation is threatening Gaza.

--Brumer mentions suicide bombing, but not the targeted assassinations, regular army incursions, and bombing of Gaza that leave its population helpless and desperate. Apologists for Israel's behavior usually point to the rockets fired on Sderot as the cause of all this, but is Gaza really the place to look for Gandhian resistance? Meanwhile, last month Hamas offered yet another truce to the Israeli government, one that was once again ignored.

--Brumer cites partition plans as if they were the most reasonable "compromise" imaginable. From the Palestinian side, these plans have always meant theft of their homeland.

--Brumer writes of gay and women's rights in Israel, but where are the Palestinians in that commendable scenario? For the Palestinians, Israel is not a democracy. Their representatives in the Knesset are routinely marginalized; to fill out parliamentary coalitions, the most extreme religious and pro-expulsion Zionist parties are chosen in their stead. Palestinian villages remain sidelined, deprived of public services, roads, new schools, and utilities. Palestinians within Israel, in the most developed country in the Middle East, suffer from Third World diseases, lacking the health care that Brumer touts.

--Brumer also claims that Israel boasts of religious freedom, but if that is so, then why did Israeli soldiers beat Arab Christians in Bethlehem on Easter, violently preventing them from worshipping in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher?

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Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

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Reminders:

1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.

2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.

3) Begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....

4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."

5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.

6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.

7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.

Thank you!

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Full text of articles:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361594_israel04.html
An incontrovertible right to exist

By DAVID BRUMER
GUEST COLUMNIST

The creation of Israel, the modern flowering of an ancient people, was one of the few redeeming acts in a century of atrocity and shame. Yet, as the Jewish state celebrates its 60th birthday, a chorus of defamers sees the modern incarnation of the Jewish people in their homeland as a historic injustice. For some in academia, the media and even the United Nations, Israel's very "Right to Exist" is considered a subject for legitimate debate. It's ironic, too, since few nations can claim the kind of historic legitimacy and connection to a place as can the Jewish people.

For more than 3,000 years, Jews have been spiritually as well as corporeally bonded to the land of Israel. In 1921, Winston Churchill proclaimed, "It is manifestly right that the Jews, who are scattered all over the world, should have a national center and a national home. And where else could that be but in this land of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated?" For French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the recreation of a sovereign Jewish state "is the most significant event of the 20th century." He described Israel's re-establishment as "the 20th century's miracle" and noted that "defending its existence is an international duty."

So why, 60 years later, or 3,060 years, if you will, is Israel living under such a barrage of existential threats? Why does Israel still have to prove itself worthy of being included in the family of nations? Why indeed is Israel singled out as the one nation on Earth whose very existence is questioned? Cynthia Ozick bristles at the "the scandal of calling into question a living nation's existence ... The Big Lie that demonizes Israel and contaminates the viler estuaries of what is nowadays dubbed 'the international community' ... ."

Yet among "progressive" intellectuals, especially in Europe, it is axiomatic that Israel is not merely "not doing enough to for peace in the Middle East," but is responsible for Islamist "outrage" against the West; that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains at the core of the Arab world's grievances, and, if only this conflict could be solved, peace would ensue. Leaving aside the illogical nature of this proposition (al-Qaida and other radical Islamists have as much a gripe against Christian nations whom they see as usurping their place in history), it is hard to find a country that has striven more for peaceful co-existence with its neighbors than Israel. No nation has taken more demonstrable risks for peace. Israel proved its intention to live in harmony with its neighbors when it enacted peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. Israel has shown its willingness to make painful sacrifices in the name of peace, withdrawing from all of Gaza in 2005 while evacuating more than 8,000 Israeli citizens from their homes.

Israel has said yes to virtually every partition plan put forth in modern times while the Palestinians have said no, starting with the Peel Commission in 1937, which would have given the Palestinians nearly 80 percent of the land between the "River and the Sea." In 1947, the Palestinians again rejected statehood on 45 percent of the land, while Israel agreed to the remaining 55 percent divided into three cantons (60 percent of which is desert). Finally, in 2000 Israel offered the Palestinians more than 96 percent of contiguous West Bank land and all of Gaza in the hopes that the century-old conflict could end. The Palestinian response to that offer was the Second Intifada, more aptly understood by Israelis as a Terror War unleashed against the Jewish State.

Yet Israel continues to be viewed as the obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Israel, which at 60 continues to be a vibrant, secular democracy. Israel, which is accused of human rights violations and even apartheid, remains an oddity in the Middle East where gays participate openly in military service; all women have the right to vote, with 17 of them serving in the 120-member Knesset (Parliament). Another12 members are Arab-Israelis, with three parties representing the Arab segment of the population. And all Israeli citizens, Christians, Muslims and Jews, enjoy freedom of speech, the press and unfettered religious expression, as well as access to education, modern health care and the professions.

Of course, Israel is far from perfect, and legitimate criticisms launched against specific conditions and policies are expected and welcomed. It is the demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish state that is as baffling as it is malevolent. Israel, which has produced more Nobel laureates per capita than anywhere else in the world, a nation of highly educated and motivated people, producing cutting-edge technologies in medicine, science and business; and all this in the face of ongoing threats -- and actualities -- of war, and the unwillingness of too many of its neighbors to accept Israel's very right to exist as a Jewish nation. The world might better applaud the miracle of Israel's rebirth in its deliberately tiny ancestral land as a model of decency, tolerance and intellectual vibrancy, for these are the true criteria of legitimacy, and focus its urge to deligitimize on societies that celebrate (and wish to spread around the world) the values of suicide-bombing, uncompromising intolerance, and irrationality.

David Brumer is a media analyst, writer and consultant on Middle Eastern affairs. He is on the advisory board of StandWithUs Northwest and is a member of Israel Bonds Speakers Bureau. Visit his blog, BRUMSPEAK, at brumspeak.blogspot.com

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361593_hari04.html
Israel built over the ruins of its crimes against Palestine

By JOHANN HARI
GUEST COLUMNIST

When you hit your 60th birthday, most of you will guzzle a glass of champagne and wonder if you have become everything you dreamed of in your youth. Soon, the state of Israel is going to have that hangover.

She will look in the mirror and think -- I have a sore back, rickety knees and a gun at my waist, but I'm still standing. Yet somewhere, she will know she is suppressing an old secret she has to face. I would love to be able to crash the birthday party with words of reassurance. Israel has given us great novelists such as Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, great filmmakers such as Joseph Cedar, great scientific research into Alzheimer's, and great dissident journalists such as Amira Hass, Tom Segev and Gideon Levy to expose her own crimes.

She has provided the one lonely spot in the Middle East where gay people are not hounded and hanged, and where women can approach equality.

But I can't do it. Whenever I try to mouth these words, a remembered smell fills my nostrils. Across the occupied West Bank, raw untreated sewage is pumped every day out of the Jewish settlements, along large metal pipes, straight onto Palestinian land. From there, it can enter the groundwater and the reservoirs and become a poison.

This is no freak: A 2004 report by Friends of the Earth found that only 6 percent of Israeli settlements adequately treat their sewage.

Meanwhile, in order to punish the population of Gaza for voting "the wrong way," the Israeli army is not allowing past the checkpoints any replacements for the pipes and cement needed to keep the sewage system working. The result? Vast stagnant pools of waste are being held within fragile dykes across the strip, and rotting. Last March, one burst, drowning a 9-month-old baby and his grandmother in a tsunami of human waste. The Center on Housing Rights warns one heavy rainfall could send 1.5m cubic meters of feces flowing all over Gaza, causing "a humanitarian and environmental disaster of epic proportions."

So how did it come to this? How did a Jewish state founded 60 years ago with a promise to be "a light unto the nations" end up flinging its filth at a cowering Palestinian population?

The beginnings of an answer lie in the secret Israel has known, and suppressed, all these years. Even now, can we describe what happened 60 years ago honestly and unhysterically? The Jews who arrived in Palestine throughout the 20th century did not come because they were cruel people who wanted to snuffle out Arabs to persecute. They came because they were running for their lives from a genocidal European anti-Semitism that was soon to slaughter 6 million of their sisters and their sons.

They convinced themselves Palestine was "a land without people for a people without land." I desperately wish this dream had been true. You can see traces of what might have been in Tel Aviv, a city that really was built on empty sand dunes. But most of Palestine was not empty. It was already inhabited by people who loved the land, and saw it as theirs. They were completely innocent of the long, hellish crimes against the Jews.

When it became clear those Palestinians would not welcome becoming a minority in somebody else's country, darker plans were drawn up. Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, wrote in 1937: "The Arabs will have to go, but one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as a war."

So, for when the moment arrived, he helped draw up Plan Dalit. It was -- as Israeli historian Ilan Pappe puts it -- "a detailed description of the methods to be used to forcibly evict the people: large-scale intimidation; and laying siege to and bombarding population centers." In 1948, before the Arab armies invaded, this began to be implemented: About 800,000 people were ethnically cleansed, and Israel was built on the ruins. The people who ask angrily why the Palestinians keep longing for their old land should imagine an English version of this story. How would we react if the 30 million stateless, persecuted Kurds in the world sent armies and settlers into England to seize everything below Leeds, and swiftly established a free Kurdistan from which we were expelled? If we are not going to be endlessly banging our heads against history, the Middle East needs to excavate 1948, and seek a solution. Any peace deal -- even one where Israel dismantled the wall and agreed to return to the 1967 borders -- tends to crumple on this issue. The Israelis say: If we let all 3 million come back, we will be outnumbered by Palestinians even within the 1967 borders, so Israel would be voted out of existence. But the Palestinians reply: If we don't have an acknowledgement of our right under international law to the land our grandfathers fled, how can we move on?

It seemed like an intractable problem -- until, two years ago, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted the first study of the Palestinian Diaspora's desires. They found that only 10 percent -- around 300,000 people -- want to return to Israel proper. Israel can accept that many (and compensate the rest) without even enduring much pain. But there has always been a strain of Israeli society that preferred violently setting its own borders, on its own terms, to talk and compromise. Last weekend, the elected Hamas government offered a six-month truce that could have led to talks. The Israeli government responded within hours by blowing up a senior Hamas leader and killing a 14-year-old girl.

Perhaps Hamas' proposals are a con; perhaps all the Arab states are lying too when they offer Israel full recognition in exchange for a rollback to the 1967 borders; but isn't it a good idea to find out? Israel needs to ask what kind of country she wants to be in the next 60 years.
Johann Hari is a columnist for The Independent in Britain.

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PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED

Please contact members of Congress to urge them not to approve a planned budget of $2.55 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel.

ACTION REQUESTED:

Go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/t/2439/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23113 to express your opposition to the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel. The U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation has posted an action alert at this address, allowing us to send a letter of protest to the appropriate members of Congress.

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Tuesday, March 4th

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Ongoing Campaign

BACKGROUND:

In August 2007, the United States and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase military aid to Israel by 25%, totaling $30 billion by Fiscal Year 2018. Then, last month President Bush sent his Fiscal Year 2009 budget request to Congress, which includes $2.55 billion in military aid for Israel, the first installment of the proposed increase under this ten-year agreement.

This budget request is now under deliberation in subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs are considering the request, and will then pass a modified budget to the full Appropriations Committees. At that time we will alert you again; Washington State does not have representatives on the Subcommittees, but Congressman Norm Dicks and Senator Patty Murray are on the Appropriations Committees. For now, own representatives are not directly concerned with this matter, but we can still contact the subcommittees. The easiest way to do so is to click on the U.S. Campaign form.

When the budget will be sent to the Appropriations Committees is not yet known. Last year the process took a few months, with the budget going up to the main committee in June. We will keep you posted.

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Information for this alert has been taken from the following sources, which you can consult as background material:

http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1541
and
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=208

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MORE CONTEXT:

--The Israeli army, using weapons purchased through Foreign Military Financing, has bombarded Gaza daily for the last week, killing over 115 people (including well over 50 on Sunday alone); around one third of them were children. This is not the way we want our tax money to be used.

--Israel uses weapons purchased through Foreign Military Financing to enforce its illegal 40- year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip and to commit human rights violations against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and against civilians in Lebanon.

-- Israel’s ongoing use of U.S. weapons to enforce an illegal military occupation and to commit human rights abuses places it in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (requiring recipient governments to use weapons from the U.S. only for legitimate self-defense purposes) and the Foreign Assistance Act (prohibiting military aid from being used for human rights violations).

-- There is a growing number of people in the United States who disapprove of our tax dollars being spent to enable Israel to enforce its illegal military occupation and to commit human rights abuses.

--The Israeli siege and occupation of Palestinians—and the humanitarian crises they are causing—are enforced with U.S. weapons, making U.S. taxpayers accessories to Israel’s crimes.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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GAZA UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE, SIEGE

Please contact your Congress members and/or Senators to urge them to use their power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane pressure on the civilians of Gaza.

We are sending you this alert to ask you to take action with regard to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In recent weeks Israel has intensified its ongoing punitive campaign and blockade against the population of Gaza by cutting off fuel supplies, and by daily bombing of the territory, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians. The cutoffs have created a dire situation, with severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essentials. With Gaza's only power plant in danger of being shut off, hospitals are working in the dark and without crucial supplies, forced to decide whose life to save, and whose to sacrifice. Israel's treatment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment on the scale of a crime against humanity.

ACTION:

Contact your Congress member and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and let them know that you deplore the current policy of Israel towards Gaza. Urge them to draft a resolution censuring Israel's actions and calling on the Israeli government to end all attacks on civilians and to lift the siege of Gaza, allowing in all needed fuel, food, and medical provisions.

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Tuesday, January 22

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Monday, January 28

BACKGROUND:

Residents in Gaza are facing the closure of Gaza's only power plant as Israel continues a shutdown of its border crossings. The plant shut down one of its two turbines on Sunday because of a fuel shortage following Israel's sealing of Gaza's borders and shutoff of fuel supplies.

In the past couple of months Israel has sealed its border with Gaza, blocking all air, land, and sea entries. It has cut off the flow of almost all supplies, including medications, in a bid to turn Gazans against Hamas. Hundreds of seriously ill people face death due to the lack of medical treatment and Israel’s refusal to let them travel to Egypt or Israel to receive proper care. Even the importation of water filters, vital for purifying the water drawn from Gazan wells, has been prevented.

Meanwhile, in just the past week over 40 people have been killed by Israeli bombing raids, with dozens more wounded, including women and children. In that time, Israel has launched daily operations against Gaza. In only one day last week, nineteen people were killed. More than 120 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in air strikes since Israelis and Palestinians formally relaunched a peace process in late November.

The Israeli government has drastically reduced its supply of fuel and energy, increasing the already desperate humanitarian crisis. Gaza now has only 35 percent of the power that its 1.5 million citizens need. With most areas already suffering power cuts for up to eight hours a day, Gazans are now faced with living entirely without electricity.

At the beginning of this week, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross said Gaza hospitals still had medications, "but it won't last for more than two or three days." Now, Gazans must also contend with the possibility of already scarce food supplies being cut off. The UN relief agency UNRWA said that the agency could be forced to suspend food distribution to 860,000 people because of the shortage of fuel and plastic bags.

On Monday Israel agreed to allow diesel fuel and medicine into Gaza on a one-time basis, momentarily easing the blockade. The shift came after the Israeli prime minister had said Gaza's residents can "walk, without gas for their cars." However, this token move will not appreciably resolve the crisis; the Israeli government will do no more than the minimum, without significant pressure from the United States.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Please write letters to your Congress members and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, objecting to the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza, and to Israel's policy of withholding fuel and goods needed for survival. Appeal to your representatives to censure Israel for the cruelty and hopelessness that it is wreaking upon the Gazan population. See talking points below.

The most effective ways to get in touch with Congress and Senators are listed in order:
1. fax
2. telephone calls
3. e-mail letters

Contact information:

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/

E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

Senator Murray
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Phone: (202) 224-2621
E-mail: www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Senator Cantwell
Fax: 202-228-0514
Telephone: 202-224-3441
Email: www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html

TALKING POINTS:

--Israel's siege against Gaza is resulting in life-threatening shortages of food and medicine, as well as a cutoff in crucial power supplies. This is unconscionable treatment of a civilian population.

--The United States, principle sponsor of Israeli policies, must not sit idly as this humanitarian crisis unfolds.

-- The laws and conventions of warfare make a distinction between a civilian population and armed forces -- a distinction which Israel is openly ignoring. The collective punishment against the entire population of Gaza is a violation of international law, amounting to a crime against humanity.

--Forcing the people of Gaza to die in darkened hospitals, to drink polluted water because of lack of electricity to power water pumps, and to starve slowly, will in no way help the people of Sderot, where Gazan fighters are firing their small and ineffective rockets. Direct negotiations with Hamas must be initiated.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.

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Information for this alert has been taken from the following sources, which you can consult as background material:

1. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__196
"Economic Warfare in Gaza" by Yossi Wolfson
Challenge Magazine
Jan-Feb 2008

2. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/880/re02.htm
"Green light for atrocities"
Saleh Al-Naami

3. http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1491
"Bush in Jerusalem: Rhetoric Trumps Substance"

4. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ECA56EC5-ED9B-4878-B386-3C4A132940EE.htm
Sunday, January 20, 2008 11:08 Mecca Time, 8:08 Gmt
"Gazans facing power shutdown"

5. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9242.shtml
"Role of the Media Where does it end?"
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada
21 January 2008

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Action Requested: Please write a response to an op-ed that was published in the Seattle Times on Wednesday, November 28.

Editorial
"Mideast peace talks: the triumph of hope"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004039253_annaed28.html

The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Thursday, November 29
--Still helpful: Friday, November 30

Context: After a seven-year period without peace negotiations, representatives of the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority (PA) met Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland, to start a new round of talks. With the support of President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a statement outlining a plan to hold regular discussions starting in December, with the hope of achieving a peace agreement by the end of next year.

To put this event in perspective, several factors have to be held in mind:

· The Israeli army (IDF) occupies the Palestinian territory of the West Bank and holds Gaza under a brutal siege;

· the Palestinian leadership is bitterly divided between Hamas and Fatah, with the democratically-elected representatives of Hamas excluded from the present negotiations;

· and the United States unconditionally supports the Israeli government with billions per year in financial aid, regardless of that government's human rights violations.

Given these factors, Israel is in a position to play elements of the Palestinian leadership against each other, and ignore the Palestinians' legitimate demands for an end to the occupation and for sovereignty. Israel is capitalizing on its advantages by making unreasonable demands on a population that has already given up too much.

In this context the lead negotiators produced a very bland, unpromising statement. The new round of negotiations is to be based on the resurrected Road Map plan of 2002, whose program involves an end to Palestinian resistance and an end to Israeli settlement expansion. As constructed at that time, this is a failed plan with built-in dead ends. (more on this below)

The Seattle Times responded with an equally bland, empty, and thereby misleading editorial. There is much that's being left out of the picture; let's bring some reality into this discussion.

Talking Points:

1. With the full backing of the United States, Israel has controlled events leading up to the present negotiations in such a way that the Palestinians have precious little hope of good representation. It is a particularly objectionable point that Hamas, the winner of the most recent Palestinian election (in early 2006), is excluded from the negotiations. By cooperating with the Israeli/U.S. scheme to exclude Hamas, President Abbas has given up his legitimacy as negotiator on behalf of all Palestinians. Representatives of Hamas must be brought into the process.

2. The demand upon the Palestinians to "recognize Israel" is constantly repeated -- including by the Seattle Times Op-ed -- as a condition for progress in negotiations. This ignores the fact that PLO chairman Yasser Arafat formally accepted the legitimacy of Israel in 1988, and that the Palestinians again recognized Israel as part of the 1993 Oslo agreement. How about Israel recognizing the Palestinians' right to statehood?

3. More recently this absurdity has been taken to a new extreme with Prime Minister Olmert demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a "Jewish state." With the Palestinian and non-Jewish portion of the Israeli population surpassing twenty percent, it is hardly appropriate to expect Palestinian negotiators to trade away their people's right to equal citizenship.

4. The Op-ed notes that the representatives must "sell" whatever agreements they achieve back home. The United States can provide the Israeli government with some leverage to persuade its constituency by promising -- or even beginning -- to withhold some part of its massive aid to Israel if the IDF fails to give relief to the Palestinians under siege and occupation. Our government must participate in this process with more than photo-ops, since it holds the true leverage needed to break the impasse.

5. The Road Map failed because the Israelis interpreted its own obligation to freeze settlements as conditioned on a Palestinian end to resistance, to be enforced by the Palestinian Authority. Thus, the Israeli government was not going to freeze settlements until the PA managed to accomplish full repression against its own population, effectively sub-contracting the security functions of the occupation -- that is, the occupied defending the occupiers. This was never going to be able to happen; therefore the occupiers had a built-in, permanent excuse to keep expanding.

Furthermore, the newly-started negotiations process leaves out the Middle East Quartet (Russia, the EU, the U.N., and the US) as participants. All these factors combine to utterly disempower the Palestinians and place the center of all decision-making squarely with the Israelis.

6. We should call upon the Israeli government urgently to agree to take the serious steps that would be part of real negotiations, starting with lifting the siege on Gaza. This includes terminating the devastating limitations on fuel to Gaza, and allowing free movement in and out of the territory.

7. The Seattle Times op-ed should be commended for bringing up that most taboo of subjects, refugee return. Effective negotiations will have to address this issue and recognize the rights of the Palestinian refugees (of 1948 and 1967) to return to their homes, a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many United Nations resolutions (starting with UN resolution 194).

8.. Several other concessions by the Israeli government will be crucial to make these negotiations anything other than a complete waste of time. The following list, taken from a recent open letter from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to the negotiating parties, may be helpful in phrasing your letter to the Times.

excerpted from the WILPF open letter, which calls for the following:

Full Israeli withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since 4 June 1967 including withdrawal from the Golan Heights and the Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon, in implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, reaffirmed by the Madrid Conference of 1991, and all other relevant UN resolutions;
The promised freeze on settlement construction to be immediately followed by dismantlement of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the environs of Jerusalem;
Israel's acceptance of an independent sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital;
A just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with U.N. General Assembly resolution 194 adopted on 11 December 1949, which guarantees the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes, and for compensation to be paid for the property of those which, under the principles of international law should be compensated by Israel, the responsible government;
Lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip and open passage to enable all Palestinian citizens to move in and out, and between Gaza and the West Bank to enable access to commerce, work, medical treatment, and education;
Freedom of movement for the Palestinian people, by removing all the checkpoints and closures within the West Bank, and Jerusalem respecting the geographical and political integrity of Palestine;
The announced release of some 400 political prisoners prior to the conference to be immediately followed by the unconditional release of all Palestinian political prisoners of conscience, in particular child prisoners;
Removal of the Wall erected illegally on Palestinian land and all such further construction, which the ICJ Advisory Opinion states Israel is obliged to do and should make reparation for all damage caused by it;
Equitable sharing of the water sources among all countries in the region;
Negotiation of a zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction in the region;
Discontinuation of the supply of weaponry to any state in the region, instead, human and economic resources should be used for construction of a just and viable peace and through the reconstruction of war-devastated areas;

Full participation of women in conflict prevention, resolution, negotiation and democracy building and a gender perspective in protection, repatriation and post-conflict reconstruction.

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Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
*

Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!

*

Full text of the article:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004039253_annaed28.html

Editorial
Mideast peace talks: the triumph of hope

As diplomats convene in Annapolis, Md., for a Middle East peace conference, the expectations bring to mind a Samuel Johnson quote about "the triumph of hope over experience."

He was talking about second marriages, but optimism is triumphant as the Bush administration makes its first sustained effort to broker a regional accord. President Bush had scorned and avoided the intense involvement of President Clinton in earlier, unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a sustainable peace agreement.

Success at Annapolis might be a timetable for more talks that carry through the end of the current administration. Credit would accrue for any eventual success, but there would be no obvious fingerprints on failure.

More than 40 countries and international organizations have rallied to provide a chorus of support. But the talks always boil down to the elemental components across the table from one another.

Are Israel's neighbors ready to acknowledge its right to exist? Not live in peace, but exist. Is Israel any more willing to literally give ground in the name of ending bloodshed? Another basic decision is Israel accepting the right of return for Palestinians displaced from their homes.

Borders. Settlements. Refugees. The key words have not changed, but the players have.

All the good work one wishes to come from such a conference has to be explained and sold back home. As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert talks peace on Chesapeake Bay, he is under criminal investigation for his financial dealings. The Palestinians are not unified enough to order a sandwich. Saudi Arabia was dragged into making an appearance.

Failure and disappointment are so predictable that trying is respected. Everyone is eager to applaud progress. There is also simple curiosity to discover who risked the most in a serious effort.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

===============================================================================================

Action Requested: Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your appreciation of Friday's op-ed (10-19-07) by Edward Mast, inserted below. The op-ed is in part a rebuttal to the offensive October 9^th op-ed by David Brumer, which painted a strangely idyllic picture of Israel, omitting the story of the Palestinians. Mast's op-ed is also an important essay in its own right, pointing out the invisibility of the Palestinians on the world stage, and it was appropriate for the P.I. to print it. We need to affirm their behavior.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, October 22
--Still helpful: Wednesday, October 24

Opinion
Palestinians' lives invisible to Israelis
By Edward Mast, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/336015_insivible19.html
Friday October 19, 2007

The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.

Context: The mainstream press in this country, under the guise of "objective" reporting, overwhelmingly prints information that is partial to Israeli policies. Carefully documented studies* have shown that a disproportionate amount of attention is paid to Israeli suffering, while leaving most of the story of the Palestinians out of the picture. Consequently, Israel comes off as a victim, and American readers remain hardly aware that there is such a thing as a military occupation. We grant that Israelis are under pressure and feel like victims, but the story is quite incomplete without a background on the "invisible" Palestinians. Edward Mast's essay is one step in filling out this picture.

*(for example, see Media Analysis in the "If Americans Knew" site: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/)

*

Talking points for letter writing:

Your letter can be very brief; it is the acknowledgment of the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below are a few points that could be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.

-- The P.I. did a good thing in printing Edward Mast's op-ed.

-- Edward Mast left out one "invisible" fact that's very important to us in the United States: the U.S. government is the most generous sponsor of Israeli policies (and by extension, the occupation), funding the Israeli government with between $3 billion and $6 billion in aid every year. As U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to pressure our government to discontinue this aid until the occupation is lifted.

--For that matter, it's also worthwhile to remember a few other points not mentioned by Mast, that highlight the injustice of the occupation:
        In 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled that the route of the Separation Wall, annexing large amounts of Palestinian to Israel, is illegal;
        Israeli settlers in the West Bank commit daily violence against Palestinian civilians;
        The U.S., Israel, and the European Union are conducting an ongoing embargo against Palestinians, strangling their economy.

-- The Israeli government undermines Israel's own security by confiscating more and more land for illegal settlements, and targeting more Palestinian civilians. These actions only foment increased Palestinian anger and resistance. Given this syndrome, it seems surprising, actually, that the vast majority of Palestinians resist the occupation through non-violent means -- another "invisible" fact.

-- Mr. Mast recommended that David Brumer travel to the other side of the wall to witness the conditions under which the Palestinians live. That is good advice. But for those who are unable to do so, it is helpful to visit the web sites of some human rights organizations (including Israeli groups) that tell the story in great detail, including describing the targeting of non-combatants by the Israeli military. Here are a few:

B'tselem                                                                       http://www.btselem.org/
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions         http://www.icahd.org/
Rabbis for Human Rights                                           http://rhr.israel.net/
Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem                  http://www.arij.org/
Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON)     http://www.pengon.org/

*

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

*

Reminders:

1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.

2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.

3) Begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....

4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."

5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.

6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.

7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.

Thank you!

*

Full text of article:

October 19, 2007
Palestinians' lives invisible to Israelis
By Edward Mast, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/336015_insivible19.html

On a visit to Tel Aviv last month, I asked some Israeli friends what people in Israel were saying about the Palestinian situation. Not much, they told me. Israelis are more concerned about the corruption charges against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, coming on the heels of corruption charges against previous governments. Palestinians and their issues, my friends told me, are becoming more and more invisible to the Israeli people.

Palestinian lives are kept invisible in David Brumer's Oct. 10 guest column, "Despite concerns, Israel a vibrant country." Also invisible are Israel's military occupation and the ongoing takeover of Palestinian land. If Brumer had traveled to the other side of the wall, as I did, he could have witnessed the many ways that the Israeli occupation crushes people with poverty, violence and injustice.

Before visiting Tel Aviv, I spent two weeks working with a theater in the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank. During that short time, the Israeli army killed at least 15 Palestinians in the occupied territories; several killed were children. For Palestinians, these are regular occurrences. Over the past seven years, the Israeli army has killed more than 4,000 Palestinians. The majority of these, even according to Israeli statistics, have been unarmed civilians. Many thousands more have been wounded or kidnapped. The severe underreporting of Palestinian casualties in the U.S. and Israel can leave the impression that Palestinian lives have less value.

While I was there, Brian Avery came from the United States to testify in Jerusalem against the Israeli army. Avery is a peace activist who was shot in the face by the Israeli army in 2003. At first the Israeli army denied that the shooting took place, but has been forced to launch an investigation now that Avery is bringing a suit.

In Ramallah, I learned that, though there is plenty of water near the city, the several hundred thousand residents had spent the summer with running water available only three or four days each week. That sort of fact tends to be invisible to Israelis, along with the reasons.

Ramallah is near the cluster of West Bank aquifers, which are the main sources of water for both the West Bank and Israel, but 80 percent of the West Bank's water goes to Israel and Israeli settlements. For decades, Israel has used its military occupation of the West Bank to build an illegal network of settlements around the water sources. Palestinians have been beaten, killed and driven away to make space for these settlements, and Israel has built a continuous wall, not on the border of Israel but inside Palestinian territory, which effectively annexes the settlements and water resources into Israel.

Israelis are told the wall is for their security. Palestinians call it the annexation wall, and it is difficult for them to believe Israel can be a partner for peace while the Israeli government continues taking Palestinian land for settlements, building the wall to annex them and maintaining the system of checkpoints that paralyze movement and life in the West Bank.

With some colleagues, I spent one day traveling from Ramallah to Jerusalem. The eight-mile trip took 2 1/2 hours. In Ramallah, the wall is 25 feet high, and the Israeli checkpoint is like an airport security station. We lined up for more than half an hour with Palestinians at a remote-controlled 8-foot turnstile where people had to crowd like cattle and wait for a green light to get as many through as possible before the light turned red.

Once past X-ray security and more turnstiles, we boarded shared taxis for what should have been a short ride to Jerusalem. However, the Israeli military had set up an additional temporary "flying checkpoint" some 1,640 feet down the road, forcing several lanes of traffic down to a single lane for stopping and searching. That took almost an hour.

Business in Ramallah is at a standstill. Poverty is everywhere; jobs are not to be found. The people at the checkpoint said to us, "Take pictures. Tell people what is happening here."

Some Israelis, such as my Tel Aviv friends, no longer accept the excuse that the virtual imprisonment and killing of Palestinians are justified by the need for security.

The Israeli government has recently confiscated more Palestinian land near Jerusalem to build a segregated road, literally underground, for Palestinians. Israeli settlers will be able to commute back and forth from the territories without having so much as to see a Palestinian. Invisibility here is no accident.

Edward Mast is a Seattle playwright who volunteers with the Palestine Information Project.

===============================================================================================
Action Requested: Please write a letter to the Seattle P.I. challenging some of the statements in an objectionable guest opinion column by David Brumer, printed Wednesday, October 10.

" Despite concerns, Israel a vibrant country "
By David Brumer, Guest columnist, Seattle P.I.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/334828_brumerisrael10.html

The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Friday, October 12
--Still helpful: Monday, October 15

Context:

David Brumer has published an op-ed validating Israel's imprisonment of the entire Palestinian population and celebrating apartheid Israel's "vibrancy." He achieves this without recognition of the fact that Israel's wealth is based on illegally expropriated Palestinian land and resources. Meanwhile, his ode to the Israeli "zest for life" denies the fact of ongoing Israeli assault on Palestinian civilians, resulting in thousands dead and tens of thousands injured over the last seven years -- including many children, women, and elderly people. Brumer depicts the Separation Wall as a benign, necessary defense, ignoring the fact that its true purpose, becoming clearer every day, is to create a geographical fragmentation of the Palestinian population, and annex a significant amount of valuable Palestinian land to Israel.

Brumer is concerned with security -- but only for Israelis. But the Israeli government must realize that the Palestinians need security as well. The only way that Israel can protect its own population is to allow the Palestinians full freedom of movement, access to their farmlands, and the right to go to work and school -- all of which have been curtailed by forty years of occupation, culminating in the construction of the Wall.

Talking Points:

1. Brumer's depiction of Israel as a small, vulnerable country covers up the fact that the Palestinians are subject to an incomparably greater, ongoing assault on their physical well-being by the Israeli occupying army in the West Bank and by regular, murderous bombings and incursions into the Gaza Strip. The first step for Israel, if it wishes to ensure its own security, is to withdraw its aggressive, violent forces from the Occupied Territories.

2. The creation of Israel in 1948 took place on 78% of Palestinian ancestral land, and the June war of 1967 put the rest of Palestine under occupation. Since then Israeli settlements, especially in the West Bank, have taken over successively greater areas of Palestinian land, leaving the Palestinians crammed into more and more cramped spaces, separated -- especially with the creation of the "Security Wall" -- from their farmland and from each other. The Wall, rather than providing security to Israel, establishes the de facto annexation of valuable West Bank land and vital aquifers to Israel.

3. The Wall is an oppressive barrier, whether constructed of concrete or fencing. Close to 90% of the Wall is located well inside the internationally-recognized border between Israel and the West Bank, penning the human population of Palestine into Israeli-made ghettos, separating them from their livelihood, and creating enclaves out of the population centers. Meanwhile, Israel's military regime suppresses the development of civil society in Palestine. Rather than preventing terrorism, such a set-up guarantees that some Palestinians will continue to respond violently.

4. In a sop to Palestinian rights, Brumer mentions Israeli Supreme Court decisions against placement of the Wall near certain Palestinian villages. However, he omits the fact that the Court validates the Wall overall, legitimizing the confiscation of thousands of square kilometers of Palestinian land.

5. While Israeli society celebrates its successes in scientific research and fine wine -- and arms exporting -- let us note that Palestinian society would have similar successes, if it were not under lock and key.

6. Nowhere does Brumer address The toll of the almost 60-year displacement of the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine. Upon the creation of Israel, around 800,000 Palestinians were exiled, and over 400 of their villages were destroyed. During Israel's 40-year occupation of the rest of Palestine, approximately 12,000 homes were demolished. This is the story of the invisible Palestinians behind the Barrier.

*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*

Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!

*

Full text of article:

"Despite concerns, Israel a vibrant country"
By David Brumer, Guest Columnist

Having just spent the past three weeks in Israel, I'm happy to report that, rumors to the contrary, Israel is alive and well and thriving.

Israel is a country about the size of New Jersey. Space is at a premium, and so is security for this small expanse of land. That was brought home to me during a three-hour "Intellicopter Tour" around the country, provided by The Israel Project, an international non-profit that educates the media and the public about Israel.

We took off from Herzilya airport, on the Mediterranean coast just north of Tel Aviv. Flying east, we were at the edge of the West Bank within minutes, hovering over Tulkarm and Qalqilya. Unknown to most Westerners is the fact that at this latitude, Israel's waist is at its most narrow, spanning just nine miles (several miles less than the distance from the University of Washington to Microsoft in Redmond).

The coastal plain, where 80 percent of Israelis live, is literally minutes by foot from the West Bank. From the skies, it is much easier to understand why Israel started construction of its Security Barrier in 2002, a year that saw 450 Israeli deaths attributable to terrorism. Often referred to as the Wall, more than 95 percent of the 800-kilometer barrier, when completed, will actually be constructed of chain-link fence.

In Qalqilya, the barrier is in fact a concrete wall. This is because Qalqilya sits on a hill above Highway 6, a major north-south artery for Israelis, and until the construction of the wall there, Israeli motorists were vulnerable to Palestinian snipers. The majority of the concrete portion of the barrier is in Jerusalem, where a fence would be impractical in such a densely populated locale, given that the fence requires a buffer zone on either side for motion detection and army patrols. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the barrier has been enormously successful in stopping terrorism and saving lives. In areas where the security barrier is completed, attacks are down 90 percent.

Flying southwest from Jerusalem, we touched down in Sderot, a development town in the south, only a few kilometers away from the Gazan border. Sderot has borne the brunt of the Qassam missile attacks, with more than 2,000 landing after Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005. Although unsophisticated and inaccurate, the Qassams are a very effective weapon of terrorism for the precise reason of their unpredictability. And when on target, they are deadly weapons. The newer Qassams have a range of up to 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), putting the Ashkelon Power Plant in their sights. To date, Israel has not come up with an adequate response, in part, because to strike back at the launching sites would endanger Palestinian civilian lives, something Israel is loath to do.

I came away from the helicopter tour with a renewed appreciation for the security dilemmas Israel faces, especially with the radical Islamists of Hamas now holding the full reins of power in Gaza, and vying for control of the West Bank. To see with one's own eyes the very real security risks that this tiny country faces (not to mention the threats on the northern borders from Hezbollah and Syria, compounded by Iran's long-range missile capabilities and nuclear ambitions) gives one pause.

Israel must balance her citizenry's security needs with ordinary Palestinians' human rights. And Israel's Supreme Court has on several occasions overruled military dictates, for example when the security barrier has been deemed encroaching on Palestinian villages.

Despite those concerns, Israel remains a vibrant, prosperous society. Construction is booming, the high-tech sector is burgeoning and people are out at parks, beaches, cafes and cultural centers.

From the magnificent Baha'i Gardens in Haifa (home to the holiest shrine in the Baha'i faith) to the Druze village of Daliat al-Carmel to the streets of Rehovot (home of the world-class Weizmann Institute for Scientific Research), Israelis of all ethnicities and amazingly diverse backgrounds are dancing, studying, dining and doing it all with a great zest for life.

It is said that great wines are produced from vines that are most stressed and must dig deep into the Earth's surface in search of nourishment. The few grapes those vines produce make the finest of wines. And so it is with Israel, a people who must dig deeply within their greatest resource -- themselves -- to meet the prodigious challenges that this amazing land presents, and in so doing create the modern miracle that is Israel.

David Brumer is a geriatric social worker and psychotherapist. Visit his blog, BRUMSPEAK, at brumspeak.blogspot.com, for more in-depth dispatches from Israel, September 2007.

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ALERT: Please write a response to one or both op-eds that were published in the Seattle Times on Friday, June 8.

Short listing of news items:

1. The Six Day War | Survivor bears the wounds of conflict and occupation
By Ibtisam Barakat
2. The Six Day War | Extremists stand in the way of a peaceful resolution
By Moshe Dunie
Both articles are inserted in full at the end of this alert.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Monday, June 11
--Still helpful: Wednesday, June 13

Context: Today, June 10, 2007, marks the fortieth anniversary of the end of the "Six-day War" and the beginning of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories known as the West Bank and Gaza. The mainstream press has marked this occasion with a variety of editorials, two of which just appeared in The Seattle Times. In recent weeks we have sent out more than the usual number of media alerts, but we feel that it is important for editors to hear from us at this time. This is especially important, in this case, as none of our recent alerts have been directed to The Times, the newspaper with the largest readership in this region and which publishes relatively little on this issue.

One of the op-eds is by a Palestinian woman who grew up under the occupation, and describes in a straightforward way some of the living conditions she experienced in her everyday life -- conditions that no one should have to endure, and that are clearly prohibited by international law.

The other op-ed is by the president of the Greater Seattle American Jewish Committee, Moshe Dunie. His op-ed, in offense to all reason, promotes confusion about the occupation and about the possibilities for a resolution to the conflict. It is an attempt to justify and tone down the offenses of Israel's military dictatorship over the Palestinians. Mr. Dunie's column is another one of those tracts that is so full of distortions that it is difficult to know where to start responding. One possible answer would be, "Mr. Dunie, it's the occupation."

Talking Points:

I. Ibtisam Barakat's article: Thank The Times for printing this article. If you comment, you might mention that Ms. Barakat's writing does not even touch on the more atrocious aspects of the occupation, such as the demolition of thousands of Palestinian dwellings; routine Israeli torture of prisoners; extra-judicial killings of targeted individuals; destruction or confiscation of thousands of hectares of Palestinian farmland and orchards; long-term closure and extended curfew imposed upon towns, cities, and villages; and the violation of Palestinian civilians' dignity at every turn. The occupation, which expands towards the ultimate ghettoization of the Palestinian population centers, is supported by Americans' tax money to the amount of $3 to $6 billion every year.

II. Moshe Dunie's article -- pick one or a few of Mr. Dunie's falsehoods to address:

1. Overall, the message of this op-ed is that the Palestinians and other Arabs are guilty for the ongoing conflict; Israel is innocent and only desires peace; and Israel is frustrated in all its well-meaning attempts to achieve a resolution. Through repetition of standard myths that have been thoroughly refuted, Mr. Dunie attempts to blame the victim and exonerate the perpetrator of the occupation.

For background on the relevant history, there are many sources available on the internet. One of them is the history section in our own web site at www.palestineinformation.org. Click on "History of the conflict" and see "1967 Six Day War."

2. One of Mr. Dunie's lapses in logic is the statement that the "Arab world" rejected the UN's 1947 decision to create two states. In fact, in the context of the times, it could hardly be expected that Palestinians would have consented to the creation of a state encompassing well over half of their historic territory, while the Jewish and Zionist settler population -- mostly recently arrived -- only amounted to less than a third of the overall population of Palestine. What's more, the UN decision (SC Resolution 181) was taken without the participation of those who were to be displaced. It is simply not rational to expect that any population would peacefully consent to such manipulation from outside.

3. Mr. Dunie writes, " In 1967, Arab nations sought once again to destroy Israel..." One of the most widespread myths about 1967 and the beginning of the occupation is that Egypt was about to attack Israel. However, this has been debunked, and even Israeli leaders admitted that the country was not seriously threatened by Egypt's military presence on the Sinai border. Israel's "pre-emptive" attack on Egypt was not necessary -- unless the aim of Israel's action was to pave the way for expansion of its territory.

On this history, here are a couple of honest reappraisals by Israeli leaders, after the fact:

"I do not believe that Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent into Sinai on May 14 would not have been enough to unleash an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it." --Yitzhak Rabin, Chief of Staff (later Prime Minister)

"In June 1967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him--Menachem Begin, Israeli Cabinet Minister (later Prime Minister)

4. Mr. Dunie represents the Israeli government as having "sought a land-for peace agreement." In fact, Israel started constructing settlements in the West Bank and Gaza immediately after the war, and this expansion has never stopped. The settlement of Israelis in the Occupied Territories, illegal under the IV Geneva Conventions that address occupation, is not a route to peace; rather, it exposes the real aim of the Israeli government: to retain control of the Territories forever, and to marginalize the Palestinian population.

5. Mr. Dunie asserts in several places that Hamas "does not even recognize Israel's right to exist and perpetrates violence." On the first count, in recent years Hamas has called many times for a long-term cease-fire, and even implemented its own, unilateral ceasefire for a year and a half. And just last week, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, speaking for Hamas, reiterated his movement's acceptance of a two-state solution to the conflict. (See "1967: Our Rights have to be Recognized" posted June 07, 2007 By Ismail Haniyeh http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=13809&CategoryId=5)

6. Mr. Dunie refers to the Palestinian Authority's rejection of Israel's "offer...to give up more than 95 per cent" of the Territories in 2000. This event has been more misrepresented than most in the history of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Ehud Barak did not make a "generous offer" to the Palestinians, but demanded that they accept a resolution involving cut-up portions of land within the West Bank, separated by international borders and Israeli-only bypass highways. The Barak proposal would have retained all the major Israeli settlements in the West Bank as part of Israel, creating a non-viable state composed of islands of territory, separated from the commercial, political, and spiritual capitol of Jerusalem. And the actual percentage of land that would have come under control of a Palestinian government was much less than 95% (for more information on this issue see our web site: click on "Position Statements", then "Barak's offer..." For the same reason that Palestinians rejected UN SCR 181, it is not imaginable that they would have accepted Barak's ungenerous demands.

7 Mr. Dunie's mention of the Saudi peace initiative (introduced a few years ago and revived recently) in a positive light is rather quirky, as it proposes that all Arab countries recognize Israel in return for Israel's complete evacuation from the Occupied Territories. Mr. Dunie (like his government) shows no inclination to support such a move anywhere else in his rhetoric.

8. It is worth noting Mr. Dunie's propaganda style; he makes several statements exploiting sympathy for the tiny, afflicted state of Israel:
--"...and tried to destroy the new tiny Jewish nation formed after the Holocaust."
--"... Israel, a minuscule nation the size of New Jersey, achieved an astonishing victory."

Condescension is another tactic:
--"The Palestinian population has suffered, too, ignored by the Arab nations prior to 1967, under Israeli rule for the past 40 years, let down by PLO and Hamas leadership."

Truth-stretching bordering on fantasy is another:
--"Israeli leaders Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert have recognized the Palestinians' right to a state as part of a two-state solution..."
Sharon and Olmert's "recognition" could only be characterized as such if a gulag of Palestinian ghettos surrounded by high walls could be called a state.

9. We suggest responding to Mr. Dunie's exploitation of the memory of the Holocaust. Many Jews, including survivors and their descendants, oppose Israel's attempted subjugation of the Palestinians. Mr. Dunie's propagandistic use of his parents' ordeal is one of the more objectionable items in his catalogue of manipulation, all of which sheds serious doubt on his purported desire for peace.

*
Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com

*

Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!

*

Full text of both articles:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003738907_sixdaywarz08.html

The Six Day War | Survivor bears the wounds of conflict and occupation
By Ibtisam Barakat
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

On June 5, 1967, when the Six Day War between Israel and Arab countries broke out, I was 3 years old.

I was separated from my family that night because I could not put my shoes on quickly enough. I found my family the next day, but my sense of safety in the world had been shattered.

I continued to put on my shoes every evening for many years after that because living under occupation, I was always worried that the war might start suddenly again.

Despite 40 years of media coverage about the Israeli occupation, many Americans seem not to know the story of the Palestinians or what the occupation means. Because misinformation about the humanity of others often fuels war, one of the ways we can heal is to share stories about our experiences. Here is my story:

I am a Palestinian who lived 20 years of my life under occupation.

As a teenager living in Ramallah in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I endured oppression as a normal way of life. I felt that I had no right to live. The very existence of the Palestinians was often spoken about by Israeli media as a problem — an obstacle to peace.

Israeli soldiers often arrested Palestinian men between ages 15 and 35. No one knew where they were taken to or when they would return home. Israeli soldiers sometimes broke into homes between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., searching for suspects.

Curfews were imposed with no warning — for days, sometimes weeks. One could go outside for two hours every three days, maybe.

Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchanges were made in the ratio of one dead or living Israeli for hundreds of living Palestinians. The underlying message about the worth of a Palestinian in such an equation was devastating.

And the harsh circumstances of life under occupation have been getting more extreme. Now, a wall twice the height of the former Berlin Wall cuts Palestinians from their orchards, relatives, workplaces and schools.

In Beit Iksa, my mother's village, the wall means that students who finish middle school cannot go to secondary school because it is in a neighboring village on the other side of the wall.

Palestinians also wait for hours at the endless checkpoints, and many people are turned back. People suffering from emergencies, diabetes, cancer or heart disease cannot get timely medical care, if at all.

I came to the United States in 1986 and found Palestinian viewpoints mostly absent from the mainstream conversation. Palestinians are talked about often, but are not necessarily talked with.

The United States influences both Israelis and Palestinians. To be an ally of freedom and security in the world, the U.S. government needs to support a just approach that ends violent oppression.

Occupation cannot lead to peace and safety for either Israelis or Palestinians. There is a strong link between human rights and genuine peace. And this peace is within our reach.

Guarding the freedom and dignity of everyone like we guard our own not only creates peace but also preserves our humanity.

I dream that some day soon, no more children experience war. No more children grow up under occupation. No more children have to put on their shoes every evening to heal an indelible wound.

Ibtisam Barakat is the author of "Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007). The writer wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine.

2007, Ibtisam Barakat

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003738909_sixdaywar08.html?syndication=rss
The Six Day War | Extremists stand in the way of a peaceful resolution
By Moshe Dunie
Special to The Times

Born in Israel, a son of an Auschwitz survivor, I always yearned for peace. What is so troubling on this 40th anniversary of the Six Day War is how volatile and violent the Middle East continues to be, how extremists continue to prevent peaceful coexistence.

The conflict's history reveals the challenges. The Arab world categorically rejected the United Nations' 1947 decision to create two states, one Jewish, the other Palestinian, and tried to destroy the new tiny Jewish nation formed after the Holocaust. Sixty years of conflict and suffering could have been avoided had the Arab nations accepted the U.N. Partition plan.

In 1967, Arab nations sought once again to destroy Israel. On May 27, Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser stated "our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel." After the failure of persistent international diplomatic efforts, facing massive deployment of Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian troops, Israel, a minuscule nation the size of New Jersey, achieved an astonishing victory.

Prior to the '67 war, Israel wasn't in possession of any "occupied territories." Jordan annexed the West Bank, while Egypt controlled Gaza, and there was no attempt to create a Palestinian state!

After the war, Israel sought a land-for-peace agreement with its neighbors. However, the Arab League, in September 1967, responded by declaring: no recognition, no negotiations and no peace with Israel.

Forty years later, moderate Arab leaders have emerged, but extremists continue to dominate through aggression, and opportunities for achieving a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace continue to be squandered.

In 2000, the Palestinian Authority rejected Israel's offer, backed by the U.S., to give up more than 95 percent of the Gaza and West Bank territories, and to establish a Palestinian state on those lands. Instead of negotiating, Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat launched the violent "intifada" with frequent suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians.

The Palestinian population has suffered, too, ignored by the Arab nations prior to 1967, under Israeli rule for the past 40 years, let down by PLO and Hamas leadership.

Two years ago, Israel removed all its settlers and military from Gaza and transferred control to the Palestinian Authority. The resulting brutal Palestinian-on-Palestinian violence in Gaza and the firing of rockets into Israel from Gaza have been depressing hopes for peace. A growing number of Israelis consider holding the occupied territories bad for a democratic Jewish state, but Hamas does not even recognize Israel's right to exist and perpetrates violence.

With Iran threatening to wipe Israel off the map, sponsoring Palestinian terror groups and inching closer to producing a nuclear weapon, a climate of hostility hangs over the Middle East. Hezbollah's rocket war on Israel last summer and Hamas's ongoing stockpiling of rockets in Gaza indicate violent escalation.

However, it is important to recognize significant positive changes in the past 40 years.

Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein signed landmark peace treaties with Israel. For peace, Israel withdrew in 1979 from Sinai with its strategic oil fields.

Israeli leaders Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert have recognized the Palestinians' right to a state as part of a two-state solution. Moderate Palestinians have expressed support of Israel's right to exist.

The recent Arab League endorsement of a Saudi peace initiative was well-received by Israel's prime minister. As the Palestinians' Hamas leadership refuses to even recognize Israel, moderate Arab leaders, who share Israel's concerns over the Iranian threat, may be the catalysts for peace.

While Syria's continued support of Palestinian terrorist groups and Hezbollah raises doubts about the seriousness of its recent offer for peace negotiations with Israel, Israel is checking through a third party the prospects for peace with Syria.

With Iran and Hamas in control, the prospects for peace are not bright, and, yet, recognizing the painful cost to all of the continued deterioration, it is vital to pursue every opportunity for peace.

Moshe Dunie is president of the Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

===============================================================================================

ALERT: Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your appreciation of Monday's op-ed by Huwaida Arraf and Neta Golan, inserted below. Huwaida and Neta's op-ed is a rebuttal to the objectionable May 22^nd op-ed by Jack Greenberg, which crossed the line into racist hate mail and revealed a deplorable lapse in judgment on the part of the PI's opinion editors.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Wednesday, June 6
--Still helpful: Sunday, June 10

Opinion
Column a replay of tired lies
By Huwaida Arraf and Neta Golan, Guest Columnists
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/318435_greenbergrebut05.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Monday, June 4, 2007

The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.

Context:

The Seattle Repertory Theater's presentation of the play "My Name is Rachel Corrie" earlier this spring prompted a series of opinion columns in the PI -- some dreadful, some decent -- and accompanying letters to the editor. The story of our native daughter is clearly one that sparks very strong feelings in this region.

Most recently, as you are aware, the PI chose to print a rock-bottom rant by Jack Greenberg. The response to this article was among the strongest we've seen in letters to the editor. While editors initially insisted that the Greenberg piece was to be the end of this thread, in the face of this response they backed off and published Huwaida and Neta's column.

This op-ed responds to Greenberg's piece in an articulate way, pointing out the truth about Rachel Corrie's work and goals; the nature of ISM; and the disgusting nature of Greenberg's essay.

Without beating this issue into the ground, it would still be good to write and thank the PI for publishing this rebuttal, and to reinforce a point or two. It would also be useful to note the broader context of the occupation which, as of this week, has lasted forty years.

*

Talking points for letter writing:

Your letter can be very brief; it is the acknowledgment of the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below are a few points that could be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.

-- The P.I. did a good thing in printing Huwaida Arraf's and Neta Golan's op-ed.

-- Greenberg's article spread disinformation about the work of Rachel Corrie and the ISM, and smeared all Muslims. This is no way to promote a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

-- The crucial fact about the conflict is the occupation. This week marks the 40^th anniversary of a situation of constant, escalating oppression and disenfranchisement of the Palestinian population. On this anniversary, it is time to intensify our push for a halt to this ongoing violation.

--The occupation more and more resembles apartheid -- even outstripping the former South African system. The Palestinian economy has ground to a halt. Freedom of movement is prohibited; homes and farmland are demolished; innocent Palestinians are arrested and mistreated by the thousands; and a "separation barrier" has been erected annexing vast portions of Palestinian land to Israel.

-- The United States government is the most generous sponsor of these atrocities, funding the Israeli government with between $3 billion and $6 billion in aid every year. As U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to pressure our government to discontinue this aid until the occupation is lifted.

-- The Israeli army, euphemistically named the Israeli Defense Force, calls itself the "most moral army" in the world, citing a fictional ethic of "purity of arms." The presiding myth is that this army does not attack civilians -- or when it does, it is an "accident" and a "tragedy." The killing of the civilian Rachel Corrie stands out because Rachel is one of a few foreign civilians attacked, but her case, along with the those of thousands of less-publicized, Palestinian civilian victims, starkly illustrates the falsehood of that myth.

*

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

*

Reminders:

1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.

2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.

3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....

4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."

5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.

6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.

7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.

Thank you!

*

Full text of article:

Monday, June 4, 2007
"Column a replay of tired lies"
By Huwaida Arraf and Neta Golan, Guest Columnists

It is sad that J.L. Greenberg recycles discredited propaganda to defame the memory of Rachel Corrie and the ongoing, important work of the International Solidarity Movement ("Corrie ignored Muslim atrocities," May 23). It is shocking that he does so on behalf of the larger Seattle Jewish Committee.

Greenberg repeats tired lies that the ISM is a "Muslim organization" affiliated with the PLO and Hamas, focused on the "annihilation of the Jews" and unconcerned with other conflicts and repression around the world. The ISM is a non-violent resistance movement founded on the principles of Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It is not a religious movement and, in fact, a significant number of ISM volunteers are Jewish and Christian. Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, Pagans, Confucians and many other religions have also been represented in the movement. The ISM is totally funded by private donations from civil society around the world. It receives no money from Palestinian political parties or organizations. The ISM is focused on ending Israeli occupation and oppression, a precondition for fair negotiations to end this conflict and secure peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

The ISM rejects all forms of racism absolutely, including anti-Semitism.

Greenberg takes specific aim at Corrie's memory. Again, he repeats ridiculous claims -- that Corrie was "supporting terrorists," uninterested in protecting Israelis from Palestinian attacks (and thus a de facto anti-Semite) and preventing the destruction of weapons-smuggling tunnels. In the series of e-mails Corrie sent home while in Palestine, she discussed in eloquent prose the anguish she felt about the violence she was witnessing. Corrie instinctively humanized all people involved in the conflict, Palestinian and Israeli. Seattle P-I readers are well aware that the house Corrie was trying to protect when she was killed was the home of a pharmacist and his family. As the Israeli army was eventually forced to concede, there was no weapons-smuggling tunnel under the house. Had the Israeli soldiers present that day listened to what the non-violent ISM volunteers were telling them, that there were no tunnels, no terrorists, no violence at that house, Corrie would be alive today. Her death was no "tragic accident" as Greenberg wants us to believe. It was the predictable outcome of Israeli occupation, Israel's wholesale policy of house demolition, and the kind of demonization of Palestinians and Muslims that Greenberg engages in.

Greenberg also attacks Mairead Corrigan Maguire, the Irish Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who was recently wounded by the Israeli army at a non-violent demonstration in Bil'in village in the West Bank. Maguire was participating in the weekly nonviolent protests in Bil'in against the construction of Israel 's apartheid wall and the expansion of an illegal settlement onto the village's farmland. Greenberg, extraordinarily, labels Maguire a "Jew hater" without a single bit of evidence.

Greenberg's essay overflows with distortions bordering on, if not crossing unabashedly into, racism and Islamophobia. He labels all Palestinians, whether Muslim or Christian, as "Muslims" and calls Bil'in's weekly protests "Muslim demonstrations" though they have no religious character and feature participants of all religions. Greenberg's laughable claim that Israeli military attacks on non-violent protesters are justified because "guns, grenades or sticks of dynamite might be under the flowing robes" of male and female Palestinian protesters also plays on ugly stereotypes of Palestinians and Muslims.

To achieve real, lasting and just peace for Palestinians and Israelis, extreme voices such as Greenberg's, which demonize and undermine all those standing for human rights and non-violent change in Israel and Palestine, must be rejected. On the contrary, the non-violent resistance represented by Rachel Corrie in Rafah, and the joint Palestinian, Israeli and international protests in Bil'in are examples deserving respect, praise and support.

Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American living in Washington D.C., and Neta Golan, an Israeli living in Ramallah, Palestine, are co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement.

(c) 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

===============================================================================================

ALERT: Please write a letter to the Seattle P.I. protesting a particularly racist and offensive
guest opinion column by J.L.Greenberg, printed Tuesday, May 22.

"Corrie ignored Muslim atrocities"
By J.L. Greenberg, Guest columnist, Seattle P.I.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/316739_corrierebut23.html

The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Thursday, May 24
--Still helpful: Monday, May 28

Context:

The recent theater production "My Name is Rachel Corrie" at the Seattle Repertory Theater, showcasing the words of the International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation (ISM) volunteer from Olympia who was killed in Gaza in 2003. This play prompted a vigorous discussion in the mainstream press. The P.I.'s role in this discussion was relatively commendable, since the newspaper printed a some fairly reasonable columns and letters to the editor. However, Mr. Greenberg's essay, full of false and racist statements, is the most offensive opinion piece we have monitored in some years. We feel compelled, and hope you will feel the same, to take a moment from our hectic lives to rebuke Mr. Greenberg and the P.I. for reaching this low point in the discussion.

Talking Points:

1. Overall, the Greenberg article is so stuffed with lies and insults that it is hard to know where to start. However, the outstanding offense is probably the constant use of "Muslim" as if this word denoted a vicious worldwide conspiracy to destroy all that is decent. This is the cardinal mystification that Greenberg wishes us to assimilate. In fact, the conflict has very little to do with religion. It is about land and sovereignty -- the Israeli government has them; the Palestinians do not. In any case, this is not a conflict between "Jews" and "Muslims," but between the Israeli government and Palestinians, many of whom are Christians. And there are many Jews, both in Israel, the United States, and the rest of the world, who do not support Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory and oppression of the Palestinian population.

2. Another principle untruth is Greenberg's characterization of the ISM and Rachel Corrie's motives. To call the ISM a "Muslim organization" is absurd; it was founded and is led by Palestinians and international volunteers (including a Jewish Israeli, an American Jew, and a Palestinian-American) whose agenda, to put it simply, is human rights. This is the work of the ISM, and Rachel Corrie was in Gaza to witness the freedom struggle of the Palestinians and to stand by them in resisting the occupation. This is an occupation that has corralled the Palestinian population into ever-shrinking spaces, depriving them of their land, livelihood, and dignity, in a 40-year assault on an entire civilian population.

3. Here are a few facts, contrary to the ranting of Mr. Greenberg: Rachel Corrie died attempting to obstruct the demolition of a house inhabited by a Palestinian pharmacist and his family. It was NOT just a "tragic accident," in Mr. Greenberg's condescending words, but a murder. And the Palestinian pharmacist and his house, as the Israeli army eventually conceded, had nothing to do with tunnels for smuggling.

4. Greenberg repeats the standard tall tale that "the wall can be taken down" -- but the actual purpose of the "separation barrier," sometimes known as the "apartheid wall," is to annex large amounts of Palestinian territory to Israel, permanently leaving the denser Palestinian population centers in walled-off ghettoes.

5. Mordechai Vanunu, rather than being Israel's "worst convicted spy traitor," ranks among the most honorable of that country's citizens. In tipping off the world to Israel's possession of hundreds of nuclear weapons, he helped to show Israel for the aggressive power it is, demystifying Israel's stance as a perennial victim. Also, he did not reveal defense secrets, but merely disclosed the fact that Israel has nuclear weapons.

6. Greenberg calls Ramallah "Arafat's terror center," but Yasser Arafat and his Fatah heirs to the Palestinian Authority are the closest collaborators with the Israeli government to be found among the Palestinians. Just in the last week Israel and the United States have nearly succeeded in hiring those Palestinians to kill their fellow Palestinians.

7. The ISM espouses conflict resolution and practices non-violent direct action. International volunteers put themselves in harm's way to prevent violence, not to defend terrorism. This is an honored tradition in American history, and we doubt that Rachel Corrie would have been prosecuted in this country for her activities. None of the hundreds of other American ISM volunteers has been prosecuted.

8. Bil'in, contrary to Greenberg's characterization, has been a center of ongoing non-violent demonstrations against the separation wall for over two years. In that time the Israeli government has confiscated and annexed over 60% of the land belonging to Bil'in farmers. The Israeli army has responded to their peaceful protests with exaggerated violence of its own, injuring many civilians -- including Palestinians, internationals, and Israelis who support the protests.

9. If you are Jewish, please emphasize that Greenberg does not speak for you. For that matter, is there really such an organization as the "Seattle Jewish Committee?" This is a new name, and we were not able to find evidence of this organization's existence elsewhere.

10. If you agree that this is a particularly low-grade, defamatory essay, it would be appropriate to extend your criticism to the P.I., for sinking to Greenberg's level. It is understandable that the newspaper wants to air "the other side," but the P.I. has insulted its own dignity and damaged its own standards by giving Greenberg a podium.

*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*

Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!

*

Full text of article:

"Corrie ignored Muslim atrocities"
By J.L. Greenberg, Guest columnist, Seattle P.I.

Rachel Corrie may personify the idealism of P-I editorial columnist Joe Copeland but most Northwesterners outside The Evergreen State College respect the U.S. law that Hamas is a terrorist organization and that those who support it go to jail ("Corrie personified Northwest idealism," April 29). If Corrie had not come home in a box, she would have been prosecuted.

The International Solidarity Movement that Corrie supported is a one-agenda Muslim organization that was founded to energize the PLO and Hamas in their annihilation of the Jews. It has no concern for alleviating the conditions of any afflicted or destitute people or for rescuing the poor and the needy anywhere in the world. Its sole obsession is to destroy Israel, and it gains its naïve recruits from left-wing colleges such as Evergreen by steady doses of propaganda, deceit and duplicity. It even trains its young agents on how to answer the questions asked by the Israeli immigration and passbook authorities so as to avoid being denied admission to Israel.

However Copeland wants to spin it, the facts are irrefutable that Corrie did not go to Israel to stop any violence. She did not concern herself about all the other Rachels murdered by the terrorists she was supporting and protecting. She never tried to stand in front of any Muslim rocket or grenade launchers to stop their daily shelling of the nearby Jewish town of Sderot. She never went to Bethlehem or Nazareth, the very cradles of Christian civilization, to stop the Muslim persecutions and restrictions against the resident Christians there.

Instead, she entered a closed Israeli military zone, in which at that time already 93 tunnels had been discovered that were used solely for the smuggling of arms to Hamas, arms used to kill Jews. Israel's counterterrorism effort was to collapse along the Egyptian border those houses that allowed the tunnels with their flow of military equipment to come up into them for distribution from there. She attempted to prevent Israel from cutting off Hamas' arms supply flow.

Corrie's death was a tragic accident in an area where she had no business being. She got in the way of a bulldozer. But the deaths of all the innocent Jewish Rachels and other Jewish civilians in hotels, at religious functions, bus stops, schools, pizzerias, on buses, on highways, were outright Muslim murders, which didn't bother Corrie. She simply chose to ignore Muslim atrocities.

Regarding Mairead Corrigan Maguire being Copeland's paragon of truth and peace because of her Nobel Award, such an award was also given to Yasser Arafat, the No. 1 killer of Jews since Hitler. Maguire has long been a Jew hater and Israel basher. She writes for the magazine CounterPunch, which claims that 9/11 was a Jewish conspiracy, and she has been a promoter of Israel's worst convicted spy traitor, Mordechai Vanunu. She was active in the Muslim demonstrations on Fridays coming out of Ramallah, Arafat's terror center, by Bili'm, in which the anarchists create violent situations by throwing rocks at the Israel Defense Forces guarding the wall construction against Muslim vandalism there. Those walls and fences have been very effective in funneling traffic to specific check points so people can be searched for contraband, thus preventing and reducing the number of terrorist acts. When the terrorism stops, the wall and fences can be taken down, but in the meantime they save Jewish lives.

Considering that the IDF only recently had captured a cache of arms in Arafat's former Ramallah headquarters, and that they are unable to determine whether any guns, grenades or sticks of dynamite might be under the flowing robes of the women (or men dressed as women) approaching in the demonstrations, the restraint the IDF showed in using only tear gas and rubber bullets on the mob after refusing orders to disperse is quite remarkable.
J.L. Greenberg of Seattle wrote this essay on behalf of the Seattle Jewish Committee.

ALERT: Please thank Seattle Times for editorial column by Bruce Ramsey, describing the play "My Name is Rachel Corrie" in sympathetic terms.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, April 5
--Still Helpful: Tuesday, April 10

Short listing of news item:

Bruce Ramsey/Times editorial columnist
"Putting an American face on Palestinian aspirations"
Editorials & Opinion Wednesday, April 4, 2007
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=rams04&date=20070404&query=bruce+ramsey

The full text of the article is included at the end of this email.

Why we are asking you to write: Most often, we will ask you to write critiques of misleading media pieces. This is an unusual opportunity, because the Times has printed an op-ed that is sympathetic to the story of Rachel Corrie. We wish to encourage future writing that does not deny or obscure the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Additionally, the Times will receive many letters castigating the columnist and the paper for having taken this step. Your letters will help demonstrate that the Times has a constituency of readers who are interested in hearing the whole truth about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We are aware that we have posted somewhat more alerts lately than is customary, and we hope that we are not taxing your patience or overloading your inbox. It happens that the issue of Rachel Corrie is very charged in this region and throughout the country. The event of the play about Rachel has prompted an outpouring of expression about the nature of the Israeli government and its actions; much of that expression, at least in the Pacific Northwest, has been very positive. We feel it is imperative to continue to do our best to uphold that record.

For background on the life of Rachel Corrie, see " Rachel Corrie: Myths and Facts" at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/RCFdocs/Rachel_Corrie_FAQ.pdf

Talking points for letter writing:

Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.

--Why this is a good column: In his write-up of the Seattle Repertory Theater's production "My Name is Rachel Corrie," Bruce Ramsey has aptly described the play as providing a counterbalancing view to that of such pro-Israeli propaganda films as Exodus. Mr. Ramsey reinforces the point that the mainstream American media overwhelmingly present a positive image of Israel and its government's policies; Rachel Corrie's story is one that helps show the missing pieces, revealing that there is another side to the story. Many people reflexively assume that anyone who criticizes Israel, or for that matter anyone targeted by the Israeli military, is on the wrong side. Bruce Ramsey's column openly recognizes that Rachel Corrie's death was not an accident, as her presence was fully known to the driver of the bulldozer. Making this point begins to reveal the outrageous nature of the behavior of Israel's demolishing forces, which consistently act without regard for civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, there are some points Mr. Ramsey left out and which you can add:

--Israel is occupying Palestinian land! This is a crucial point which needs to be included in any analysis of the conflict. Because of lopsided media coverage, many Americans fail to realize this truth. The Israeli government has implemented a military dictatorship over Gaza and the West Bank since June 1967, almost forty years.

--In this period, the Israeli army has demolished thousands of homes; killed and injured tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians; arrested many more without charge and imprisoned them without due process, often employing torture; cut Palestine into small pieces and turned these enclaves into compact ghettoes encircled by Israeli-only highways and a wall more than 20 feet high; and settled Palestinian land with hundreds of thousands of illegal settlers. This is the occupation, and Rachel Corrie went to the Occupied Territories, first and foremost, to witness and protest this injustice.

--Demolition: The Israeli army, in its forty-year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank has demolished close to 12,000 homes. Just in the past few years, during the second Intifada, in Gaza alone the army has demolished several thousand homes. These demolitions have been carried out, above all, to clear land for use exclusively by Israeli settlers; for purposes of border control; and to punish Palestinians who are legitimately resisting the occupation. These are the reasons Israel bulldozes Palestinian homes. The house Rachel Corrie was trying to defend had nothing to do with a smuggling tunnel.

--Seattle should be proud of the positive reception it has afforded "My Name is Rachel Corrie." The play has not fared as well elsewhere, due to intimidation by pro-Israel advocates. The play's showing was canceled in New York and had to be moved to another theater. And word has just come out that the play was canceled in Miami, even though support for the play was running about 85 per cent.

Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com

Thank you!
===

Full text of article:

Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist
"Putting an American face on Palestinian aspirations"

My first reaction to the death of Rachel Corrie was to sigh at the damfoolishness of a 23-year-old from Olympia who would place her body in the way of the Israeli army. On March 16, 2003, in Rafah, Palestine, an Israeli soldier drove his bulldozer over her and crushed her.

I think of the Chinese man who blocked the column of tanks in Beijing on June 4, 1989. That man created an image and vanished, never leaving his face. Rachel left her face.

In "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," now playing at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, actress Marya Sea Kaminski brings Rachel to life in a 90-minute monologue extracted solely from Rachel's diary and e-mails. Here is The Evergreen State College idealist, who declares, "I am building the world myself and putting new hats on everybody."

The 9/11 attacks have provided a focus to her fervor. She is drawn to the Palestinians. She imbibes Arabic. Feeling that she must join in, she goes to Gaza to witness the Israeli occupation.

Making use of her "international white person privilege" — an asset she feels she shouldn't possess but does — she joins a campaign to block the bulldozing of Palestinian homes, which is how the Israelis searched for smuggling tunnels.

Still, Rachel says, "I worry we are not really effective. I still don't feel particularly at risk." The protesters take more risks — and the soldiers grow more steely. Toward the end, she says, "I am really scared and questioning my belief in the fundamental goodness of human nature."

Her father, an actuary — Rachel denounces his "neoliberal job" — says in an e-mail he is proud of her but wishes her home. He knows the military. He served in Vietnam with the First Air Cavalry. He senses that this is not going to come out well.
She has dreams of dying. "I can't die. I can't die," she insists. But she does.

I spoke to her father, Craig Corrie. He said where Rachel was killed there had been two bulldozers (49-metric-ton Caterpillar D9s) and two soldiers in each one, plus an armored personnel carrier. There were six or seven protesters — and unlike the man in Beijing, the protesters in Gaza intended to stop the army permanently.

For a while, the bulldozer drivers would stop at the protesters and yell at them. Then they were called away. After they came back, they didn't stop, and within five minutes Rachel was run down.

Apologists say it was an accident. Perhaps the driver's intention was to force Rachel to jump aside, and it was an accident that her legs got caught in the advancing pile of dirt.

The not stopping was no accident. Certainly, the Corries do not speak of accidents. Not once when I heard them did they say their daughter had "left us" or "passed away" or "died." Always they say she was killed.

It was her death, and her expressive writing, that made Rachel Corrie an international figure. A British paper, the Guardian, asked to see Rachel's writing and published it. A Guardian editor, along with actor Alan Rickman (the terrorist in "Die Hard") made a play of it. It has been performed in London and New York only, and to much controversy. The play is doing so well at the Rep that it has been held over until May 6.

Of course the play does not tell both sides. Neither did the 1960 movie "Exodus," which I saw as a kid. It told the Israeli side only, and in Paul Newman, put an American face on that side. For years, it was the only side Americans could see.

The Palestinian side never had an American face. Now it does. It is a female face, an unthreatening face. Rachel's face.

One wonders whether Rachel would think it was all worth it. Her mother, Cindy Corrie, says Rachel's story may open Americans to hearing the Palestinians' side, which would be a good thing. Still, she says, "Sometimes you want to reclaim your child for yourself."

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ALERT: Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your appreciation of Wednesday's op-ed by Steve Niva, inserted below.
Professor Niva's op-ed is a rebuttal to the offensive March 18^th op-ed by David Brumer, which defamed Rachel Corrie and gave a distorted picture
of the situation in Gaza.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, March 28
--Still helpful: Sunday, April 1

Opinion
Wednesday March 27, 2007
Israel's Apologists Distort the Truth
By Steve Niva, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/309199_corrierebut28.html
The Seattle P.I., Wednesday, March 27, 2007

The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.

Context:

The Seattle Repertory Theater is enjoying a very successful run of the one-woman play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie." Given that the story of Rachel Corrie is one of opposition to Israel's military subjugation of the Palestinians, David Brumer, who apparently supports the occupation, wrote an op-ed full of misinformation. In the present op-ed, Steve Niva refutes Brumer's misrepresentations of Corrie and exposes the crucial background to the story: that there is an occupation going on.

In response to Brumer's smear, we put out an appeal to our response network for letters to the editor, and received the best ever response to an action alert. Understandably, we find much more occasion to criticize the mainstream media's portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (including the media's choice of writers) than we find opportunities to praise. But now, upon publishing Niva's article, the P.I. deserves to receive positive reinforcement from us. We can be sure that those who wish to condemn the Seattle Repertory Theater's choice of material, insult the memory of Rachel Corrie, and deny the reality of the occupation will be responding to Professor Niva's op-ed -- they are very organized. So it is important that we continue to make the editorial staff of the P.I. aware that there is a community of supporters of peace and justice in the Middle East, who feel strongly about the way the issue is portrayed in the media.

For more clarification on the life of Rachel Corrie, see " Rachel Corrie: Myths and Facts" at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/RCFdocs/Rachel_Corrie_FAQ.pdf

Talking points for letter writing:

Your letter can be very brief; it is the acknowledgment of the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below are a few points that could be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.

-- The P.I. did a good thing in printing Professor Niva's op-ed.

-- Spreading disinformation about the work of Rachel Corrie is no way to promote a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

-- The crucial fact about the conflict is the occupation, nearing its 40^th anniversary on June 10^th. In this occupation a situation more and more resembling apartheid -- even outstripping it -- has developed. The Palestinian economy has ground to a halt. Freedom of movement is prohibited; homes and farmland are demolished; innocent Palestinians are arrested and mistreated by the thousands; and a "separation barrier" has been erected annexing vast portions of Palestinian land to Israel.

-- The United States government is the most generous sponsor of these atrocities, funding the Israeli government with between $3 billion and $6 billion in aid every year. As U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to pressure our government to discontinue this aid until the occupation is lifted.

-- The Israeli army, euphemistically named the Israeli Defense Force, calls itself the "most moral army" in the world, citing a fictional ethic of "purity of arms." The presiding myth is that this army does not attack civilians -- or when it does, it is an "accident" and a "tragedy." The killing of the civilian Rachel Corrie stands out because Rachel is one of a few foreign civilians attacked, but her case, along with the those of thousands of less-publicized, Palestinian civilian victims, starkly illustrates the falsehood of that myth.

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.

Thank you!

Full text of article:

Wednesday, March 27, 2007
Israel's Apologists Distort the Truth
By Steve Niva, Guest Columnist

The fairy-tale view of Israel as eternally besieged and completely faultless in its conflict with the Palestinians, as presented by David Brumer in the March 18 Focus ("Play shines light on conflict"), has certainly taken a hit this past year.

A growing number of Americans who deeply sympathize with Israel, including former President Jimmy Carter, have spoken eloquently of the need to recognize that Israel has committed severe human rights violations against the Palestinian people through its nearly 40-year military occupation and theft of Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. While extremely critical of Palestinian terrorism, they conclude that peace with security is not possible until Israel ends the injustices.

Perhaps that is why Israel's more fervent apologists are resorting to distortion and defamation as their preferred method to discredit anyone who dares acknowledge Palestinian grievances or Israel's grave and well-documented human rights abuses. Carter is facing an onslaught of malicious charges that range from intentionally lying to anti-Semitism. They want to silence an emerging debate over the United States' one-sided embrace of Israel.

This method of attacking the messenger is clearly on display in Brumer's article as well as in the flurry of protest against the play "My Name is Rachel Corrie" at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. The play tells the story of the 23-year-old woman from Olympia crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer demolishing Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.

Instead of joining with Carter, Rachel Corrie and countless others, many Israeli and Jewish, who recognize Israel's occupation and settlements are unjustified and prevent peace, Brumer peddles defamation and falsehoods about Corrie masquerading as reasonable criticism.

Claiming that Corrie was even "unwittingly" supporting terrorists is contradicted by the fact that the Israeli army has never claimed or provided any evidence that the homes in the neighborhood of Gaza that Corrie was defending when she was killed were concealing tunnels or were involved in attacks on Israelis.

Claiming Corrie was in any way providing cover for suicide bombers is easily proved false by the fact that no Palestinian suicide bombers had come from Gaza three years before or during the time Corrie was there.

Claiming that Corrie was working with an "extremist" organization is contradicted by the fact that the International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation is composed of leading Palestinian voices of non-violence and supported by numerous Israeli peace groups.

Legitimate questions can be raised about Corrie's risky decision to enter into a very dangerous conflict zone. But that zone was dangerous precisely because Israel has imposed a merciless military occupation over a largely defenseless population and was wantonly demolishing homes to steal land for Israeli settlements.

One can certainly and rightly blame, as Brumer does, Palestinian extremists for damaging the moral justness of the Palestinian cause through murderous and strategically worthless suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of innocent Israelis.

But none of that justifies Israel continuing to steal Palestinian land and building a wall deep within Palestinian lands to annex those settlements. Nor does it prevent Israel from taking unilateral steps to vacate completely the land that it has illegally occupied since 1967.

Brumer's complete silence regarding Israel's occupation and settlements implies that it does.

Brumer's implicit justification for Israel's occupation and settlements is the continually recycled myth that Israel has always extended its hand of peace while Palestinians have always rejected it. This myth conveniently ignores the fact Israel's "generous offer" at Camp David in 2000 was based on Israel annexing the bulk of its settlements, cutting any Palestinian state into five tiny enclaves surrounded by Israel. Brumer touts Israel's recent withdrawal from Gaza, but ignores Israel's withering siege upon its imprisoned population.

Brumer also justifies the status quo by emphasizing the immutable extremism of Hamas. But the fact is that Hamas has not conducted a single suicide bombing in nearly two years and has endorsed a reciprocal truce with Israel if it were to withdraw completely to its 1967 borders. But Israel completely rejects those terms, missing a historic opportunity to undercut Hamas extremism.

Those who truly support a balanced and just peace in the Middle East should honestly debate Corrie's life and legacy. Her very act of acknowledging legitimate Palestinians grievances and her promotion of alternatives to violence was a message of hope and peace sorely lacking today.

By attacking the messenger, Corrie's detractors are sending a clear message opposed to hope and peace.

*Steve Niva teaches International Politics and Middle East Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

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Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your dissatisfaction with the unbalanced nature of Sunday's Op-ed by David Brumer. The article, pegged to the current showing of the one-person play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," in well over one thousand words, manages to repeat a full catalogue of distortions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without ever using the word "occupation." In an attempt to bury the fact that Rachel Corrie had an excellent, first-hand grasp of the situation in Palestine, the op-ed condescendingly refers to her as a "human shield," "passionate," "fervent," and "unwitting," etcetera. It propagates wild myths about Hamas, and makes Israel out to be nothing less than a peace-loving, democratic nation, pining for reconciliation with its neighbors.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, March 19
--Still Helpful: Thursday, March 22

Opinion
Sunday March 18 2006
"Play shines light on conflict"
By David Brumer, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/307834_focus18.html
The Sunday Seattle P.I., Sunday, March 18, 2007

The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.

Context:

Friday, March 16^th, was the fourth anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie in Gaza, occupied Palestine, by an Israeli-operated (Caterpillar) bulldozer preparing to demolish homes of Palestinian civilians. Rachel and other colleagues from the International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation (ISM) were attempting to block the path of the bulldozer. Rachel was run over and crushed by the bulldozer which then reversed direction without the usual precaution of raising its blade, thus crushing Rachel a second time.

Rachel Corrie was an exceptionally intelligent and articulate young woman with a gift for writing, and she expressed her ideas passionately and shared her experiences in detail, in e-mail postings regularly sent back to her friends and family from Gaza. These writings, and journals from her childhood, have been compiled into a play opening at the Seattle Repertory Theater this week; an event that should help to educate Seattle's theater-going community by sharing some unpopular truths about the occupation, as witnessed by Rachel Corrie.

Sadly, David Brumer has chosen to defend the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land by distorting the story of Rachel's last writings and what she saw in Gaza beyond recognition. Please take a few minutes to read the op-ed, study the talking points below, and write a few lines of protest to the P.I.

For more clarification on the life of Rachel Corrie, see " Rachel Corrie: Myths and Facts" at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/RCFdocs/Rachel_Corrie_FAQ.pdf

Talking points for letter writing:

This op-ed is a particularly long and comprehensive collection of distortions which, for clarity, we are dividing into three sections: distortions about Rachel Corrie; distortions about Israel; and distortions about Hamas. As mentioned in the writing guidelines/reminders below, we recommend that you don't try to tackle all of these points, but pick one or a few that you feel most confident about, and express them well.

I. Rachel Corrie

-- Rachel Corrie was not misguided or naïve, but a very intelligent and articulate woman with a fully-developed sense of justice. Present on the scene of the occupation, she was able to discern the truth about what she saw, and write about it with clarity.

-- The name of the organization of which Rachel Corrie was a member was not the "Islamic Solidarity Movement" but the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Was this an intentional distortion on the part of David Brumer, who could easily have known better? This should be clarified. Mistake or not, this calls for a formal retraction by author or newspaper, or both.

-- It is true that the use of human shields is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The Israeli army often employs this illegal tactic in its operations against Palestinian civilians. However, Rachel Corrie and her fellow ISM volunteers were not "unsuspecting" people being manipulated as "human shields" by Palestinians. The ISM is composed of human rights activists who are committed to providing support, witnessing, and a measure of safety to Palestinian civilians under constant attack by the full might of the Israeli army.

-- The ISM is not an "extremist" movement, but one which seeks to uphold respect for human rights as enshrined in international law. In the Occupied Territories the ISM works against racism and apartheid. Far from being extremist, this work reflects values that Americans hold dear, such as non-violence, equal rights, the right to security in one's home, and the right to a livelihood.

II. Israel

-- Probably the most important thing of all to point out is that there is violence between Palestinians and Israel because Israel is occupying all of Palestinian territory. Going back a bit (but not very far) in history, 800,000 Palestinians were displaced from what is now Israel in 1948, when Israel was founded. This event took over 78% of historic Palestine, and the rest (the West Bank and Gaza) was occupied by Israel in 1967, displacing several hundred thousand more Palestinians. These people have not been allowed the right to return home, as supported by many U.N. resolutions. They have since lived in refugee camps under poor conditions. Further, thousands of Palestinians have been killed, injured, jailed, and tortured under the 40-year occupation, and thousands of homes and olive orchards have been destroyed. This is the background to the violence -- not Islamic fundamentalism.

-- Many Israelis "yearn for peace," but their government works around the clock against peace by continuing to conquer more land and drive Palestinians out to make room for Israeli-Jewish settlements. Israel's government is now erecting a massive separation (annexation) barrier that crowds the Palestinian population into ever-denser sections of land, like ghettoes, separating them from their farmland so that they can have no livelihood.

-- The true nature of the occupation is manifested in land confiscation, house demolitions, and checkpoints that make freedom of movement and a normal day of life impossible for all Palestinians. On top of this, the Israeli occupying army regularly attacks Palestinian civilians with F-16 fighter jets, helicopters tanks, and heavy artillery, killing and wounding thousands. We regret the deaths of Israeli citizens, but insist on pointing out that the death toll has been at least four times higher on the Palestinian side -- a fact that Brumer omits.

-- The Israeli political system displays some aspects of democracy, but only for Israeli Jews. Contrary to Brumer's assertions, Israeli Palestinians do *not* enjoy equal rights with Jews. Discrimination against Palestinians is comprehensive: in school, work, health, and social services, opportunities and conditions are consistently, vastly inferior to those available to Israeli Jews. "Jim Crow" describes the situation within Israel; in Israeli-occupied Palestine, the more appropriate word is "apartheid." There is nothing democratic about this.

-- The "generous offer" by Israeli Prime Minister Barak as described by Brumer was not, in fact, something that any Palestinian representative could have accepted. It would have annexed extensive Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, cutting the West Bank into separated reservations. The land offered in exchange for these parcels was not comparable in size, quality, or viability.

-- The "withdrawal" from Gaza has not left it an "emancipated" territory, by far. To the contrary, Israel has retained so much control over Gaza's air, water, and border access and crossings that the occupation arguably continues. And regular Israeli military incursions into Gaza, with resulting destruction exponentially greater than the paltry Qassam rockets mentioned by Brumer, amount to a state of siege on the territory.

-- The United States government uncritically supports Israel's occupation of Palestinian land with $3 to $6 billion a year in aid. We call for an end to this aid until the occupation is fully terminated.

III. Hamas

-- We don't presume to support all of Hamas's goals or tactics, but feel compelled to point out that the violence of the besieged and terrorized is a natural result of the conditions described above and of the actions of the Israeli military dictatorship, when no other avenue of redress is available. Despite the blind alley of occupation, even the militant Hamas carried out a unilateral cease-fire for well over a year in 2005-2006; it was Israel which refused to stop the violence.

-- Hamas has not completely recognized Israel, but has done so implicitly by agreeing to negotiations. And in recent years prominent members of Hamas have repeatedly expressed a willingness to discuss peace with Israel, based on mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty, rather than a one-way recognition of Israel by Hamas.

-- Hamas won the favor of the Palestinian electorate more because of its social policies and lack of corruption than because of its militancy. While Fatah (the party of deceased leader Yasser Arafat) was widely considered to be corrupt and unresponsive, Hamas has channeled extensive resources into provision of services to a destitute population, and its officials have a reputation for honesty.

-- Rachel Corrie was not in the Occupied Territories to support Hamas, but to provide solidarity with the population of Palestinian civilians under siege.

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

Full text of article:

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Play shines light on conflict
By David Brumer, Guest Columnist

Last week, as the Seattle Repertory Theater opened the one-woman show, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," we were again reminded of the tragic death of this passionate young woman from Olympia. Yet perhaps her untimely death and the play that celebrates her life can help shed new light on the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict and bring us closer to peace for both peoples.

Without doubt, Corrie, who was killed in 2003 while protesting the Israeli Defense Forces demolitions of Palestinian houses in the West Bank and Gaza, wanted to make the world a better place, and she fervently believed her actions in Gaza furthered that goal. But armed with an incomplete understanding of a very complex situation, she may have unwittingly supported a cause she would have been horrified to learn, actually undermined many of the beliefs and values she most cherished. When she attended pro-Hamas rallies in Gaza and in one photographed instance, burned a mock American flag, she may have been swept away by the youthful exuberance that buoyed her in the certain belief that her protests were justified by the need to defend the rights of the innocent and oppressed.

But if she was alive today, I like to believe she would be shocked by Hamas' rise to power, given what they stand for. At first, she would be surprised to learn that Hamas, an acronym for "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia," or Islamic Resistance Movement, is an offshoot of the radical Islamist movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood and founded in 1928, long before the establishment of the modern state of Israel. That Hamas is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Palestine and beyond, a state that if ever successfully created, would be ruled by Islamic Sharia Law. She would be appalled to hear that institutionalized misogyny plagues Arab women in Gaza, with widespread violence often inflicted on them from their husbands and clans, the most severe culminating in "honor killings" for adultery, even when the accusation is unsubstantiated. The form of execution mandated is death by stoning.

Some of Corrie's compatriots who joined the extremist Islamic Solidarity Movement alongside her, who might be gay or lesbian, would also not fare well under the yoke of Hamas. Were they to assert their sexual orientation under such a government, they would risk certain persecution, violence and possibly even death. Those standing under the much vaunted human rights umbrella so frequently touted by the defenders of the downtrodden in Gaza might be surprised to discover that using unsuspecting Western activists as human shields constitutes a gross violation of the often cited Geneva Convention. So too does targeting civilians (a proudly self-proclaimed Hamas practice) and firing from densely populated civilian neighborhoods, another favored tactic of Hamas and other internationally recognized terror organizations operating out of Gaza, like Islamic Jihad.

Meanwhile Israel, the nation whose policies and practices Corrie characterized in her diary as "true evil," continues to be a thriving secular democracy, where gays participate in military service, all women have the right to vote, with 18 of them serving in the 120-member Knesset, or Israeli Parliament. Of that parliamentary body of 120 members, 10 are Arabs, and there are three parties in the government representing the Arab segment of the Israeli population. In addition, Ishmael Khaldi, the Israeli Deputy Counsel General for the Western United States, is an Israeli-Arab and the second highest Israeli government representative in Western America. All Israeli citizens, Christians, Muslims and Jews enjoy freedom of speech, the press and unfettered religious expression. And all citizens, including the over one-million strong Israeli-Arabs, 20 percent of the population, have access to education, modern health care and good jobs.

Israel mourns the senseless deaths of all the Palestinians who have died since the eruption of the second intifada, recognized by Israelis as a deliberately launched terror war by the late Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian leadership. The deaths of all Palestinians during that war are not only senseless and tragic, but have done nothing to further the cause of establishing two states, living side by side in peace. Yet even after all the bloodshed of those years, both the Israeli government and the vast majority of Israelis still yearn for peace and a two-state solution. As Ambassador Dennis Ross definitively established after the Camp David Talks in the summer of 2000 (he was there throughout those talks as Special Middle East Coordinator under President Clinton), the Clinton Parameters improved on those earlier Israeli peace offerings, and at Taba in early 2001 Israel made its most far-reaching offer for peace:

Full withdrawal from Gaza.

Relinquishment of more than 96 percent of contiguous land in the West Bank.

Arrangements for a 4 percent land swap in exchange for the remaining percent.

Palestinian control of their holy sites in Jerusalem as well the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, where they could declare their capital.

The right of return to all Palestinian refugees -- and their descendants -- to the new Palestinian state.

A $30 billion fund created to compensate those refugees who chose not to exercise their right of return into the new Palestine.

Arafat and the Palestinian leadership rejected this offer and instead launched the Second Intifada, leaving more than 1,000 Israeli men, women and children dead and thousands more wounded and traumatized. Yet despite such suffering, Israel's desire for peace remained great enough that in the summer of 2005, it withdrew completely from Gaza, uprooting more than 8,000 Israeli citizens, including 48 who had died, interred in graves near their families' homes.

Those very painful sacrifices made by the Israelis in the name of peace were answered with almost daily barrages of Qassam missile attacks launched from the newly emancipated Palestinian Gaza into southern Israeli communities. After Hamas swept into power in January 2006, those unrelenting Qassam missile attacks culminated in a brazen, unprovoked ambush through a tunnel dug into Israel proper, resulting in two Israeli soldiers killed and one kidnapped.

Despite it all, Israelis still wants nothing more than to live in peace with its neighbors. Just as Israel made peace with brave Arab leaders such as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein, so Israel continues to dream of a day when she can live side by side with a free and democratic Palestine, realizing the vision of a two-state solution for the two beleaguered peoples.

"My Name is Rachel Corrie" reminds us of the tragic loss of life on both sides. Let us honor those lives by continuing to support the moderates in the region. May there soon come a day when the only aspirations of Palestinian children are to grow up to be doctors, educators, and entrepreneurs, living side by side in peace and prosperity with Israel. Let's not allow those dreams to blow up in smoke.

David Brumer is a member of the International Committee of the Anti-Defamation League of the Pacific Northwest. He works as a geriatric social worker and psychotherapist. Visit his blog, BRUMSPEAK, at http://brumspeak.blogspot.com

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CONTACT SENATORS MURRAY AND CANTWELL ABOUT ANTI-PALESTINIAN SIGN-ON LETTER TO SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE

Action Requested: Please call or e-mail Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell urging them not to sign a letter, currently being circulated in the Senate, calling for no contact with Palestinian leaders,

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Wednesday, March 14
--Still helpful: Friday, March 16

Context:

This alert is adapted from an alert sent out by Brit Tzedek
(see http://ga3.org/btvshalom/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=6987599)

Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and John Ensign (R-NV) are circulating a deeply problematic sign-on letter to Secretary Rice (see full text below) that asks her to promote a policy of banning ALL contact with Palestinian moderates such as President Mahmoud Abbas, if the new Palestinian unity government does not explicitly agree to all of the Quartet’s requirements: recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide by previous agreements. Senators will be faced with intense pressure to sign the letter early this week, leaving little time to consider its repercussions. Call your Senators NOW and urge them NOT TO SIGN the Nelson-Ensign letter to Rice!

This so-called “pro-Israel” letter suggests that the U.S., Israel, and the international community prohibit contact with ALL members of the Palestinian Authority if it does not meet the Quartet requirements. This would prevent all diplomatic engagement with Palestinian leaders, and is therefore in direct opposition to any sincere impulse for negotiation and peace-building on either side of the conflict.

Talking Points:

-- This letter calls on Sec. Rice to ban contact with ALL members of the Palestinian Authority, including moderates like President Abbas, if the unity government does not meet the Quartet’s requirements. This would render impossible any progress towards the restart of negotiations.

-- In the event of such a continued standstill in progress, Palestinians will be further victimized by the now 40-year-old Israeli occupation for an indefinite period of time.

-- Delaying the start of negotiations will also thus perpetuate the atmosphere of fear among Israelis and, for that matter, prolong the region-wide tension stemming from the continuing injustice caused by the occupation.

-- Please work to pressure the Israeli government (and encourage Secretary Rice to do so) to end the occupation, rather than cutting off lines of communication between parties which must, ultimately, negotiate.

Contact Information

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

E-mails to most Senators must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

Senator Patty Murray: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Senator Murray’s Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
To fax Senator Murray: Fax: (206) 553-0891;

Senator Maria Cantwell: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Cantwell’s Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
To fax Senator Cantwell: Fax: 206-220-6404;

Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!

Full text of Nelson-Ensign letter to Secretary Rice

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
United States Department of State

Dear Madame Secretary:

Securing peace in the Middle East between Israel and all of her neighbors has been a long-term goal of the United States- long before and quite apart from the current conflict in Iraq -- and we support your efforts to advance that important goal.

We know how deeply the people of Israel long for peace, and we are mindful of all the avenues successive Israeli governments have pursued to achieve it: bilateral negotiations, multilateral negotiations, and unilateral actions. Unfortunately, those efforts have yet to bring a lasting peace, largely because there has been no viable Palestinian leader ready to negotiate an end to the conflict who has the strength and conviction to compromise and then to implement an agreement. This sad fact remains as true today as it has ever been.

That is why, as you seek to reinvigorate the peace process, we believe it important to reinforce certain basic principles that have guided US Middle East policy that we know you share. First among these basic principles is securing the three very basic obligations put forward by the Quartet that the Palestinian Authority must meet in order for it to receive direct aid from the international community: recognition of Israel's right to exist, a renunciation of violence and terror, and acceptance of previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. So far, as a result of the international community's firm unity on these obligations, this policy has had a real impact, with pressure mounting on the Hamas led PA to do what is necessary in order for international assistance to resume.

The pressure to form a Palestinian unity government is a manifestation of that impact. We were deeply disappointed, however, that last month's Mecca agreement negotiated between the leaders of Hamas and Fatah failed to meet or even address the obligations of the Quartet. Statements by Hamas leaders since the agreement was signed only reinforce that fact. While the agreements might have brought a temporary peace between Hamas and Fatah, it had little to do with making peace with Israel and ultimately does not serve the interests of the Palestinian people.

We know that there are already some in the Quartet who are pressing for direct aid to resume. That would be a huge step back from the peace process you seek to invigorate. We urge you to continue to hold firm and insist that these very basic international principles not change- no direct aid and no contacts with any members of a Palestinian Authority that does not explicitly and unequivocally recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce terror, and accept previous agreements.

We know that these are principles that you helped develop and certainly share. It is our strong hope that they remain central to your efforts and to those of the Quartet as the process moves forward.

Sincerely,

* ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

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Emergency Week of Action, Aug. 7-11 Events Planned All Over the Country

On July 30, Israel bombed a residential apartment building in the Lebanese village of Qana, killing 57 civilians, including 37 children
(see below for details).

When U.S. soldiers killed civilians in Fallujah and other densely populated areas of Iraq, the Bush Administration claimed the "war on terror" justified such actions. But nothing justifies bombing innocent civilians, no matter who does it or in what country.

It is likely that U.S. weapons provided to Israel with U.S.-taxpayer dollars killed the villagers of Qana. According to The Washington Post, a bomb fragment found at the Qana bombing site read "For use on MK-84, Guided Bomb BSU-37/B". MK-84's are free-fall unguided bombs; Boeing-produced Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM's) are attached to MK-84's to convert them into GPS-guided "smart" bombs. Between 2002-2004, the Pentagon notified Congress of impending sales of 6,000 JDAM's and 2,590 MK-84's to Israel through its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program - valued at $346 million.

There is no military solution to the current conflict. The Iraq war hasn't brought peace or security to the people of Iraq and the U.S. Bombing civilian populations has not and will not bring greater peace or security to the people of Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel.

The only way out of the carnage is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, followed by multiparty negotiations to resolve the underlying political disputes based on human rights and international law. Most of the world agrees, but the governments of the U.S., Britain, and Israel have so far rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire.

So long as Washington provides military and diplomatic support to Israel's indiscriminate killing of civilians, a cease-fire will not be possible. It is time for the people of this country to speak up! The US Campaign and United for Peace and Justice, the country's largest anti-war coalition, call on you to take action to press Congress and the White House to back an immediate ceasefire and prevent Israel from using U.S. weapons to commit war crimes.

TAKE ACTION THIS WEEK: Emergency Week of Action, Aug. 7-11

During the week of Aug. 7-11, while Members of Congress are home on recess, organize local pressure on your Representatives and Senators to demand an end to support for Israel's human rights violations, an immediate cease-fire and a just peace, and the end of weapons deliveries to Israel.

Depending on the position of your Members of Congress, local organizers should decide whether a protest, vigil, meeting, or nonviolent civil disobedience is the most effective way to express opposition to U.S. support for Israel's attacks.

Your delegation should include, if possible, constituents who were evacuated from Lebanon so that they can provide eye-witness accounts.

Click here to see where events are being organized or to sign up to organize one.

Click here and here for resources on the legislation mentioned below, action alerts with talking points,
and policy briefs and news articles on Israel's misuse of U.S. weapons.

Click here for the addresses of the district offices of your Members of Congress.

Click here for a template to fax a constituent meeting request to your Members of Congress.

Click here for tips on how to conduct a meeting with your Members of Congress.

ISSUES TO RAISE WITH YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:

1. Support Kucinich & Jackson-Lee Resolutions for Immediate Cease-Fire & Just Peace

On July 19, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced H.Con.Res.450, calling for an immediate cease-fire and multi-party negotiations with no preconditions. On July 25, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) introduced H.Res.945, calling for the cessation of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, secure humanitarian corridors to be opened in Lebanon, an immediate cease-fire, and a comprehensive and just resolution to the Israeli-Arab conflict. Ask your Representatives to sign-on as a co-sponsor of these resolutions, or thank them if they've already done so. Ask your Senators to introduce a similar resolution in the Senate. Pressure on Congress has already resulted in 34 Representatives signing on to the Kucinich resolution, while 16 have signed on to the Jackson-Lee resolution.

If your Congressperson is a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, let them know you expect them to support an immediate end to the bombing of Lebanon. And urge them to publicly announce their support for a cease-fire now.

2. Stop U.S. Support for Israel's Attacks on Gaza and Lebanon

On July 18 and 20, the Senate and House respectively passed one-sided resolutions expressing unconditional support for Israel's attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip (S.Res.534 and H.Res.921). Tell your Members of Congress that the United States should be supporting human rights and international law, not expressing support for their violation. If your Representative was one of the few who voted no or abstained, thank them for not supporting this biased resolution.

3. End Weapons Deliveries to Israel Now

Over the past month, Lebanese and Palestinians civilians by the hundreds have been killed by Israel with U.S.-supplied weapons. By using U.S. weapons to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure, Israel is violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), which limits the use of U.S. weapons to internal policing and legitimate self-defense. Instead of stopping the flow of weapons as required by law, the United States is rushing jet fuel and satellite- and laser-guided bombs to Israel. Ask your Members of Congress to demand from the President a report on Israel's violations of the AECA as a first step toward cutting off U.S. weapons to Israel.

Get voices for peace into the media

Now is the moment to help people see there is an alternative, and getting our voices into the media should be a central part of what we do:

For your local newspapers: send a letter to the editor and encourage others to send letters; try to arrange for an op ed piece or a guest editorial; if you or someone you know has been personally touched by this crisis, try to get a reporter to do an interview.
Call into radio talk shows: you can often talk about anything that's on your mind and reach thousands of people.
If you organize a visit to your member of Congress, invite a reporter to come with you.
Be sure to let the media know about any public educational or protest events you are organizing.

BACKGROUND ON QANA AND CIVILIAN DEATHS

Israeli officials are blaming Hezbolla for the Qana deaths, saying Israel cannot be held responsible for killing civilians in "terrorist strongholds." But according to Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, the most recent strike on Qana "suggests that the Israeli military is treating southern Lebanon as a free-fire zone... [and] seems to consider anyone left in the area a combatant who is fair game for attack." According to Human Rights Watch, the consistent failure to distinguish between combatants and civilians is a war crime. http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/30/lebano13881.htm

In three weeks the Israeli government's bombing campaign has killed at least 750 Lebanese, the vast majority civilians; made 700,000-800,000 Lebanese homeless; and methodically destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure. Hezbollah fire has killed 52 Israelis, 19 of them civilians.

July 14, 2006: Stop Israel's Attacks on Gaza & Lebanon

* On July 12^th, Israel killed 23 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with missiles fired from aircraft and shells fired from tanks. Israel killed 9 members of one family in a missile strike on a house near Gaza City.

* On July 12^th, Israel launched a massive invasion of Lebanon. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure, including bridges, roads, a mosque, a community center, and the Beirut International Airport, and the Israeli navy is blockading Lebanon's ports. Israel has killed at least 50 Lebanese civilians and injured more than 100, including entire Lebanese families of 10 and 7 people killed in the villages of Dweir and Baflay.

* On June 27^th, Israel launched a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts of collective punishment, Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip's only electricity generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering Palestinian human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the purpose of these measures is to "apply pressure" to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

* On June 20^th, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed its intended target and killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.

* On June 13^th, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial assassination of two Palestinians in Gaza City. A second barrage of missiles fired shortly afterward killed nine Palestinian bystanders.

* On June 9^th, Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32. At the site of the killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence of a 155mm artillery shell consistent with those fired from an Israeli M-109 Self-Propelled Artillery.

Israel's human rights violations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon are being committed with US weapons financed by US tax dollars:

The Israeli air force fighter squadrons are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire US-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts, engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.

From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to the Israeli navy more than $572 million worth of patrol boat, ship, and submarine components and spare parts, torpedoes, and sonar equipment.

From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel more than $348 million worth of tanks, components, and spare parts.

From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109 spare parts and 155mm artillery shells.

(Statistics for US weapons licensed to Israel are compiled from the State Department's annual report to Congress pursuant to Sec. 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act. For more information, click here:

http://pmddtc.state.gov/)

Israel's summer of killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite last year's "unilateral disengagement". Living under military occupation, the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are "protected persons" under the terms of the Geneva Conventions. Israel's targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes war crimes.

In addition, by using US-supplied weapons to commit these atrocities, Israel is violating the terms of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act restricts the use of US weapons to legitimate self-defense and internal policing; US weapons cannot be used to attack civilians in offensive operations. The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US aid of any kind to a country with a pattern of gross human rights violations.

TAKE ACTION: Hold Israel to account for its killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

1. Contact the White House, State Department, and your Members of Congress to demand that Israel is held accountable for its violations of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act and urge that military aid to Israel be cut off as required by law. Click here to send an email: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460

2. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed for your local newspaper and call your local talk radio stations to protest Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and highlight US support for these actions. For contact information for your local media, click here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

Below is a template for a letter to the editor:

Letters to the editor should be short, punchy, and clear. They MUST refer to actual coverage of that particular paper, either naming a particular article or referring to trends (as below). Be sure the text of the letter does in fact respond to the particular article or trend you reference. Be sure to include full name, address, contact phone numbers and (for some, not for others) name of the organization.

BE SURE THAT LETTERS ARE ALL DIFFERENT, AND DO NOT LOOK LIKE CARBON COPIES OF EACH OTHER!

TEMPLATE: USE THIS AS A GUIDE, NOT A CARBON COPY!

* Ask WHY DOESN'T [NAME THE NEWSPAPER] ACKNOWLEDGE or DOWNPLAYS or MINIMIZES THE FACT THAT or DOES NOT EMPHASIZE THAT
       a) ISRAEL IS ATTACKING CIVILIANS or
       b) ISRAEL IS DESTROYING NON-MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE or
       c) ISRAEL'S RESPONSE IS DISPROPORTIONATE

* Add YOUR READERS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING
       a) THAT THE VICTIMS INCLUDE X, AGE XX, Y, AGE XX, AND Z, AGE XX or
       b) THAT DESTROYING THE ELECTRICAL PLANT MEANS
             1) 860,000 CIVILIANS WITHOUT POWER, MANY WITHOUT WATER or
             2) HOSPITALS DEPENDING ON LAST WEEK OF FUEL FOR GENERATORS or
             3) THE UN SAYS GAZA FACES A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE or
             4) ISRAEL AND U.S. HAD ALREADY IMPOSED A SEVERE BOYCOTT ON GAZA CAUSING HUGE HUMANITARIAN CRISES

* EXPRESS CONCERN FOR ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THE UNCRITICAL NATURE OF U.S. SUPPORT FOR THOSE VIOLATIONS.

* ASK [THE NEWSPAPER] TO BE MORE BALANCED IN ITS COVERAGE.

MODEL LETTER:

To the Editors:

I am mystified by the failure of the mainstream media to acknowledge that Israeli military actions in the Gaza and southern Lebanon are targeting civilians and other non-military targets. The destruction being wrought on the Palestinian people, and now the Lebanese, has largely been ignored while all attacks - whether on soldiers or civilians - carried out by a Palestinian militant receives significant attention.

The silence of the vast majority of the mainstream media and political leadership in the USA regarding Israel's actions and the blind-eye taken toward Israel's continual failure to respect the United Nations' resolutions to withdraw from the Occupied Territories, makes a mockery of any concern regarding human rights and international law.

I ask that [THE NAME OF NEWSPAPER] provide more balanced coverage of the situation in Palestine, and offer a forum for legitimate debate on the issues at hand. Years after an atrocity, the people of the world look at themselves and ask '...why were we silent?' It is not too late to preempt that question.

Sincerely,

3. Make a donation to support humanitarian efforts to reprovision the Gaza Strip with much-needed medical supplies for Palestinian children. The Middle East Children's Alliance and Grassroots International, member organizations of the US Campaign, are accepting tax-deductible donations to send medical supplies. Click here to donate: http://www.mecaforpeace.org/GazaMeds.html or http://www.grassrootsonline.org/

4. Support the efforts of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation to build a national movement to challenge US support for Israel's human rights violations. Click here to donate to our summer fundraising drive: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1221

July 30, 2006: Palestine Solidarity Committee-Seattle denounces hate crime

The Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) wishes to express its shock and sorrow for the vicious attack against members of the Jewish Federation. This attack was the action of an unbalanced individual, and we denounce this violent crime unequivocally.

Attacks based on ethnicity or religion do nothing but detract from work for equal rights, justice, and freedom. Anyone who perpetrates such attacks works against all we stand for.

We sincerely hope that this act will not escalate ethnic tension in our city. We call on the citizens of Seattle to reflect on the need for tolerance and to work towards non-violent ways of resolving conflicts, both locally and globally.

July 14, 2006: Stop Israel's Attacks on Gaza & Lebanon

BACKGROUND: Israel is using weapons supplied by the United States to target Palestinian & Lebanese civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in violation of the US Arms Export Control Act and the Geneva Conventions.

* On July 12^th, Israel killed 23 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with missiles fired from aircraft and shells fired from tanks. Israel killed 9 members of one family in a missile strike on a house near Gaza City.

* On July 12^th, Israel launched a massive invasion of Lebanon. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure, including bridges, roads, a mosque, a community center, and the Beirut International Airport, and the Israeli navy is blockading Lebanon's ports. Israel has killed at least 50 Lebanese civilians and injured more than 100, including entire Lebanese families of 10 and 7 people killed in the villages of Dweir and Baflay.

* On June 27^th, Israel launched a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts of collective punishment, Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip's only electricity generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering Palestinian human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the purpose of these measures is to "apply pressure" to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

* On June 20^th, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed its intended target and killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.

* On June 13^th, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial assassination of two Palestinians in Gaza City. A second barrage of missiles fired shortly afterward killed nine Palestinian bystanders.

* On June 9^th, Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32. At the site of the killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence of a 155mm artillery shell consistent with those fired from an Israeli M-109 Self-Propelled Artillery.

Israel's human rights violations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon are being committed with US weapons financed by US tax dollars:

The Israeli air force fighter squadrons are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire US-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts, engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.

From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to the Israeli navy more than $572 million worth of patrol boat, ship, and submarine components and spare parts, torpedoes, and sonar equipment.

From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel more than $348 million worth of tanks, components, and spare parts.

From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109 spare parts and 155mm artillery shells.

(Statistics for US weapons licensed to Israel are compiled from the State Department's annual report to Congress pursuant to Sec. 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act. For more information, click here: http://pmddtc.state.gov/)

Israel's summer of killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite last year's "unilateral disengagement". Living under military occupation, the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are "protected persons" under the terms of the Geneva Conventions. Israel's targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes war crimes.

In addition, by using US-supplied weapons to commit these atrocities, Israel is violating the terms of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act restricts the use of US weapons to legitimate self-defense and internal policing; US weapons cannot be used to attack civilians in offensive operations. The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US aid of any kind to a country with a pattern of gross human rights violations.

TAKE ACTION: Hold Israel to account for its killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

1. Contact the White House, State Department, and your Members of Congress to demand that Israel is held accountable for its violations of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act and urge that military aid to Israel be cut off as required by law. Click here to send an email: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460

2. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed for your local newspaper and call your local talk radio stations to protest Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and highlight US support for these actions. For contact information for your local media, click here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

Below is a template for a letter to the editor:

Letters to the editor should be short, punchy, and clear. They MUST refer to actual coverage of that particular paper, either naming a particular article or referring to trends (as below). Be sure the text of the letter does in fact respond to the particular article or trend you reference. Be sure to include full name, address, contact phone numbers and (for some, not for others) name of the organization.

BE SURE THAT LETTERS ARE ALL DIFFERENT, AND DO NOT LOOK LIKE CARBON COPIES OF EACH OTHER!

TEMPLATE: USE THIS AS A GUIDE, NOT A CARBON COPY!

* Ask WHY DOESN'T [NAME THE NEWSPAPER] ACKNOWLEDGE or DOWNPLAYS or MINIMIZES THE FACT THAT or DOES NOT EMPHASIZE THAT
       a) ISRAEL IS ATTACKING CIVILIANS or
       b) ISRAEL IS DESTROYING NON-MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE or
       c) ISRAEL'S RESPONSE IS DISPROPORTIONATE

* Add YOUR READERS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING
       a) THAT THE VICTIMS INCLUDE X, AGE XX, Y, AGE XX, AND Z, AGE XX or
       b) THAT DESTROYING THE ELECTRICAL PLANT MEANS
             1) 860,000 CIVILIANS WITHOUT POWER, MANY WITHOUT WATER or
             2) HOSPITALS DEPENDING ON LAST WEEK OF FUEL FOR GENERATORS or
             3) THE UN SAYS GAZA FACES A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE or
             4) ISRAEL AND U.S. HAD ALREADY IMPOSED A SEVERE BOYCOTT ON GAZA CAUSING HUGE HUMANITARIAN CRISES

* EXPRESS CONCERN FOR ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THE UNCRITICAL NATURE OF U.S. SUPPORT FOR THOSE VIOLATIONS.

* ASK [THE NEWSPAPER] TO BE MORE BALANCED IN ITS COVERAGE.

MODEL LETTER:

To the Editors:

I am mystified by the failure of the mainstream media to acknowledge that Israeli military actions in the Gaza and southern Lebanon are targeting civilians and other non-military targets. The destruction being wrought on the Palestinian people, and now the Lebanese, has largely been ignored while all attacks - whether on soldiers or civilians - carried out by a Palestinian militant receives significant attention.

The silence of the vast majority of the mainstream media and political leadership in the USA regarding Israel's actions and the blind-eye taken toward Israel's continual failure to respect the United Nations' resolutions to withdraw from the Occupied Territories, makes a mockery of any concern regarding human rights and international law.

I ask that [THE NAME OF NEWSPAPER] provide more balanced coverage of the situation in Palestine, and offer a forum for legitimate debate on the issues at hand. Years after an atrocity, the people of the world look at themselves and ask '...why were we silent?' It is not too late to preempt that question.

Sincerely,

3. Make a donaation to support humanitarian efforts to reprovision the Gaza Strip with much-needed medical supplies for Palestinian children. The Middle East Children's Alliance and Grassroots International, member organizations of the US Campaign, are accepting tax-deductible donations to send medical supplies. Click here to donate: http://www.mecaforpeace.org/GazaMeds.html or http://www.grassrootsonline.org/

4. Support the efforts of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation to build a national movement to challenge US support for Israel's human rights violations. Click here to donate to our summer fundraising drive: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1221

April 5, 2006: P.I. Guest op-ed distorting Rachel story

Action requested: Please write a response to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the op-ed article on Tuesday, April 4, 2006, "Idealist Rachel Corrie was misled" By Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). CAMERA is a media watchdog organization that often sends out distorted information in the attempt to undermine criticism of Israeli policies

Please write a response to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the op-ed article on Tuesday, April 4, 2006, "Idealist Rachel Corrie was misled" By Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). CAMERA is a media watchdog organization that often sends out distorted information in the attempt to undermine criticism of Israeli policies.

Please note that the Seattle PI has recently published several positive articles and even a major editorial about Israel's military occupation and the work of Rachel Corrie. As usual, they felt they needed to publish some kind of counter-opinion. The article they chose is unfortunately full of innuendos and misinformation, particularly about the International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation (ISM).

The full text of the article is included at the end of this email.

Time by which action should be taken:

-- Ideal: Friday April 7^th

-- Still helpful: Monday April 10th

Talking points for letter writing:

-- Seattle PI has recently published several articles and an editorial which mentioned Israel's military occupation and supported the work of Rachel Corrie. It will be good to remember and thank them, and to know that they needed to print some kind of counter-opinion.

-- The International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation (ISM), which has already been the target of a libelous campaign of misinformation. ISM is and has always been devoted exclusively to nonviolent resistance to the illegal Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territory. Dozens of Seattle-area volunteers have worked with ISM, volunteers of all ages and from many walks of life -- not the young naive idealists of Ini's deliberately distorted picture.

-- Though practicing only nonviolence, ISM supports the Geneva Conventions, and therefore recognizes the right of people under occupation to legitimate armed struggle - that is, armed struggle against soldiers only. At no time as ISM facilitated or participated in armed struggle at any level. At no time nor in any way has ISM supported attacks against non-combatants, either by Palestinians or in far greater numbers by Israelis.

-- Not only were there no tunnels discovered in or around the house that Rachel Corrie died defending, but the great majority of demolished Palestinian homes are being destroyed not for security reasons but to make room for illegal Israeli settlements.

--Ini's proposed history not only leaves out Zionist terrorism that dates back to the early 1900's but also tries to cover up the central fact of the ongoing expulsion of Palestinians, beginning with 800,000 Palestinians driven out in 1948 and continuing to the present day in the form of confiscations, demolitions, and settlement building. Even many Israelis are calling the current conflict the War for the Settlements.

-- Nonviolent resistance to Israeli war crimes does not equal denial of Israel's right to defend itself.

-- ISM supports nonviolence, justice, peace, equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis.

Letters to: editpage@seattlepi.com
Op-ed Editor: kimberlymills@seattlepi.com
Editorial Page Editor: marktrahant@seattlepi.com

===

Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Idealist Rachel Corrie was misled
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/265324_corrieresponse04.html
By GILEAD INI, GUEST COLUMNIST

All can agree that the death of a young woman is tragic. Like the hundreds of young lives lost as the target of Palestinian suicide bombers, and like those unintentionally killed during Israeli counterterror operations, the loss of Rachel Corrie undoubtedly has affected many in a painful way.

It is understandable, then, that her friends and family want to keep her memory alive, and they have done so successfully. But whether Corrie's message deserves to be propagated and celebrated by audiences in theater productions such as "My Name is Rachel Corrie" and "Daughter Courage" is a different story. Corrie was an idealist; but as fate had it, her idealism ended up channeled through the radical International Solidarity Movement, an organization that not only puts at risk the lives of Israeli civilians but also the lives of its members.

ISM tells its young followers that Palestinians have the right to armed attacks against Israelis, while at the same time making clear through its activities that Israel has no right to protect its citizens. While the two positions seem mutually contradictory, the organization apparently reconciles them by summing up the complex Israeli-Arab conflict as singularly caused by a sadistic Israel seeking arbitrarily to oppress Palestinians.

In ISM's world, legitimate Israeli security concerns don't exist. The group's narrative obscures the fact that Palestinian terrorism began even before Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, that Israel acquired those territories in a war precipitated by neighboring countries openly threatening to destroy the Jewish state and that Israel repeatedly offered to turn over land to the Palestinians. Hamas, whose charter makes clear that the group's violence against Israeli civilians is rooted in racist ideology and is aimed at destroying Israel, and other groups seeking Israel's annihilation are invisible in the Middle East portrayed by ISM.

Why are those and other important realities about the conflict excised from ISM's depictions? Is it because creating a false dichotomy of blameless Palestinians and faceless Israeli oppressors makes it easier for the group to persuade naïve idealists to risk their lives? Perhaps ISM's activists would be less likely to throw themselves before Israeli bulldozers if they were told that the bulldozers are used to search for very real smuggling tunnels that bring weapons and explosives used against Israeli children. Whatever the reasons, ISM's activists are misled.

But theatergoers should not be misled. They should know that any play based on the ISM's dogmas might possibly provide audiences with a better understanding of the organization's propaganda, but certainly will not offer viewers an accurate, complete or nuanced understanding of the difficult situation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. ISM's partial and simplistic views are more geared toward building hatred against Israel than toward forwarding peace, human rights or justice.

Gilead Ini is a senior research analyst with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.

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March 30, 2006: Congressional Alert on anti-Palestinian bill

We are sending you this alert in conjunction with a national effort by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, to ask you to take action on a particularly dangerous resolution under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. It appears that HR4681, which punishes the Palestinians for electing Hamas by withholding aid to the Palestine Authority, will come under consideration by a House committee very soon.

While in the past Hamas has employed violence as part of its struggle against the Israeli occupation, for the past year it has observed a unilateral truce, even in the face of Israeli assassinations and incursions into Palestinian areas. Hamas has stated that it will continue to observe this truce. The measures proposed in HR 4681, far from discouraging terrorism or encouraging democracy, can only serve to disempower and invalidate the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and equal rights.

ACTION:

CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE HR 4681, THE "PALESTINIAN ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 2006"

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Friday, March 31

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
There will be a period of time before HR 4681 comes up to the full House, so your calls to Representatives on this issue will continue to be important.

BACKGROUND:

As the US Campaign writes,

"Of the several anti-Palestinian resolutions introduced by Members of Congress in the aftermath of the Palestinian 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...

"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."

These provisions include restriction of humanitarian aid to the Occupied Territories; designation of the Territories as a "terrorist sanctuary;" prohibition of official Palestinian diplomacy or representation in the United States; targeting the UN for supporting Palestinian human rights; and denying Palestinians the ability to receive assistance through international financial institutions.

These measures, far from preventing terrorism or encouraging a resolution to the conflict in the region, are a throwback to the pre-Oslo days when the United States would not even speak to representatives of the Palestinians. The U.S. Administration would do much better to pressure the Israeli government to end the occupation.

You can view the text of the U.S. Campaign's appeal on their web site at http://www.endtheoccupation.org/

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Please write letters to your Congressional Representatives expressing your objections to H.R.4681, (the "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006") and urging them not to support it.

You can also simply modify, sign, and post a message electronically from the US Campaign's site by going to this page: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2536

Contact info:

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html

E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

If possible, it would be very helpful if you could write us at alerts@palestineinformation.org, describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

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March 14, 2006: Thank P.I. for editorial on Rachel play

Please thank Seattle P.I. for its editorial column affirming the value of the recent play by Bread and Puppets, "Daughter Courage," about Rachel Corrie.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Tuesday, March 14
--Still Helpful: Wednesday, March 15

Short listing of news item:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board
"Rachel Corrie: Invisible no more"
Monday, March 13, 2006
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/262561_corried.asp
(vote at bottom of the P.I. article on seeing "My Name is Rachel Corrie" presented in Seattle.)

The full text of the article is included at the end of this email.

Why we are asking you to write: Usually we ask you to write critiques of misleading media pieces. This is an unusual opportunity. The P.I. Editorial Board has published a column that in a few short paragraphs acknowledges the courage and good intentions of Rachel Corrie and the brutality of the Israeli occupation -- a word that rarely makes it into the newspaper. (The fact that this is an unsigned editorial signifies endorsement by the newspaper.) The editorial also honors the act of presenting this play in Seattle, when a New York theater company backed out of producing another play about Rachel.

It is safe to assume that the P.I. will receive a barrage of complaints about this editorial from people who wish to sweep Israeli abuses under the rug and to blame Rachel Corrie for her own death. Let's write and try to balance those complaints with appreciation.

Talking points for letter writing:

Your letter can be very brief; it is the acknowledgment of the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below are a few points that could be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.

-- The P.I. did a good thing in acknowledging, in an editorial, the value of the play, the brutality of the occupation, and Rachel Corrie's good work.

--Rachel Corrie was not naïve, but wise beyond her years. She was not defending terrorists, but defending innocent civilians from an attack by the State of Israel. She was manipulated by no one, acting of her own free will in support of the right of Palestinians to live in freedom. Rachel Corrie was not anti-Israel; she and other activists who are called "pro-Palestinian" believe in peace, security, and equal rights for both peoples.

-- The bulldozer that killed Rachel Corrie was manufactured by Caterpillar, an American corporation. Caterpillar should be pressured to stop supplying the Israeli government with armored bulldozers that are used, in violation of international law, to destroy civilian homes under occupation.

--Rachel Corrie was an American who has become a symbol for courage and solidarity with the Palestinians. But let's also remember that Palestinian civilians themselves are being attacked regularly by the Israeli Defense Force, an army that has occupied Palestinian lands illegally for almost 39 years.

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

Also, please go to the article and vote at the bottom

Reminders:

1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.

2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.

3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....

4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."

5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.

6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.

7) Please bcc us at pscdocs@yahoo.com or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.

Thank you!
===

Full text of article:

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/262561_corried.asp
Rachel Corrie: Invisible no more
Monday, March 13, 2006

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Can Seattle liberals be proud about hosting a play on the remarkable Rachel Corrie without being smug? Let's try.

At a time when a supposedly bold New York theater dithered on one play, Vermont's Bread and Puppets Theater gave a Seattle presentation of another work, "Daughter Courage," about the Olympia human rights activist tragically killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003. As Seattle P-I art critic Regina Hackett described it, "Daughter Courage" is unabashedly pro-Palestinian. That is certainly a part of exploring Corrie's legacy, as she died trying to alleviate Palestinians' sufferings under an often-brutal occupation. But we don't think she, her family or her supporters can be charged with blindness to the suffering of Israelis, either.

Corrie's critics delight in lamenting her supposed naiveté, as if 23-year-olds all ought to sit on the sidelines awaiting the enlightenment of additional decades. The London play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," is about the inspiration to be drawn from a caring young person's engagement with the world. In one of its many beautiful lines, the play quotes an e-mail from her worrying mother, Cindy, "Palestinians have really been invisible to me, but you are changing that."

Now, about our Seattle tendency toward smugness. It's hardly criminal for the New York theater to think about balance. And let's remember that many people have tried to learn more from Corrie's life. President Bush's State Department last week included a statement about continuing concerns regarding her death in its annual report on human rights around the world. Pointedly, the remarks were included under a discussion of the international and non-governmental observers' treatment while they are checking alleged human rights violations. That's an appropriate way of looking at Corrie's presence in the Gaza Strip that largely has escaped local notice.

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February 25, 2006: Congressional Alert on anti-Palestinian bill

CONTACT CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TO OPPOSE HR4681, THE PALESTINIAN ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 2006

Since January, when Hamas won the majority the Palestinian Authority's parliamentary election, the U.S. Administration has been making threats against the new government. Congress recently passed a bill that prohibited transfer of any funds to the P.A. This law is largely symbolic, as the Administration has in any case not been granting assistance directly to the P.A. However, Congress has now introduced a bill that amounts to punitive measures against the entire Palestinian population. Together with the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, the Palestine Solidarity Committee is asking people to contact their and Representatives requesting that they oppose the passage of HR4681.

For the U.S. Campaign explanation of this campaign: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1188

For the text of the bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-4681

For good background information on Hamas, see the fact sheet and question/answer article by Jewish Voice for Peace:

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_292.shtml#q9

Background, talking points and contact information follow below

Time by which action should be taken:

-- Monday, February 27 for impacting the movement of this resolution from committee

-- There will be a period of time before HR 4681 comes up to the full House, so your calls informing your Representatives on this issue will continue to be important

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Phone, fax, or email your Representatives. Keep in mind that one fax is worth many e-mails. Since we do not have direct access to our Representatives, please try to speak to the aide most familiar with the issues we are addressing. It is helpful to make follow-up calls to ask aides what actions they have taken.

BACKGROUND:

While it is not PSC's purpose to praise Hamas and its goals and methods, Hamas was selected by the Palestinian voters in internationally-accredited democratic elections[1]. The U.S. and Israeli governments have reacted with measures that are punishing the Palestinian electorate in ways that will only serve to increase support for Hamas. The unbalanced idea of "starving Hamas out of power"[2] will literally result in the starvation of Palestinian citizens.

HR4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act Of 2006, which currently has 68 co-sponsors, goes much further than withholding funds from the Palestinian Authority. Provisions of the Bill include restricting US humanitarian aid by designating Palestinian territory as a “terrorist sanctuary” thus triggering the following: restrictions on US exports; prohibiting official Palestinian diplomacy or representation in the United States in a way counter-productive to promoting dialogue and a just peace; reducing US dues to the United Nations because some of its bodies were created by the UN to advocate for Palestinian human rights; and denying Palestinians the ability to receive assistance through international financial institutions.

This bill would punish and isolate the Palestinian people for exercising their right to vote. This unconstructive approach would only perpetuate the status quo of violence, military occupation, and human rights violations rather than promoting dialogue and a just, peaceful resolution to the conflict.

[1] "Don't punish the Palestinians" Jimmy Carter: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022106Z.shtml

[2] "U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster" Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/middleeast/14mideast.html?hp&ex=1139979600&en=d28cff5caa1702fa&ei=5094&partner=homepage

TALKING POINTS:

-- The Palestinian Authority is already around $900 million in debt. The Israeli government has determined to withhold a monthly payment of taxes to the P.A., which will render it unable to cover the payroll on which around a third of the Palestinian population depends. There is a very real possibility that the chilling effect of this action on the Palestinian economy could result in starvation of Palestinians. Further withholding of aid by the U.S. will only compound such a disaster.

-- Rather than punishing the Palestinian voters, the U.S. Administration should pressure Israel to hold direct peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority at the earliest possible date.

-- The U.S. government must demand that Israel give the Palestinians their own money that Israel collects for them at customs. Delivery of humanitarian assistance must be allowed to continue through UN and private agencies.

-- If the U.S. government wishes to influence the new Palestinian government, it must find ways to do so without injuring ordinary Palestinian civilians. However, the best way for the U.S. to influence the situation and to reduce the violence would be to pressure Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian lands; this is the root cause of Palestinian resentment and resistance.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the above URL into the address bar of your browser.

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January 30, 2006: Seattle Times article on Palestinian elections

Action requested: Please write the Seattle Times to comment on the Monday, January 30 article titled Palestinian vote rocks Bush's plan for region." Like the preponderance of media coverage around the January 25 elections in the Occupied Territories, this article misses the crucial point that if the U.S. wishes to support democracy, it should recognize the new, democratically-elected Palestinian government, and should encourage negotiations with it.

This is the first of two alerts that we will be posting to you. The second one is a forwarded Congressional action alert generated by the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, encouraging activists to contact their representatives asking them not to withhold U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority. We encourage you to respond to at least one of these alerts, and let us know by bcc'ing us at alerts@palestineinformation.org, or by forwarding your letter to that address.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Tuesday, January 31
--Still Helpful: Friday, February 3

News item:
"Palestinian vote rocks Bush's plan for region," by Glenn Kessler
Monday, January 30, 2006
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mideastpolicy30&date=20060130

The full text of the article is included at the end of this email.

Context: The mainstream press has been inundated with professions of "shock" since Hamas scored an overwhelming victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections held last week. With an accent on Hamas's terrorist history, Israel vows to refuse negotiations with any Palestinian government containing Hamas members, and the U.S. Administration is preparing to withhold vital economic assistance to the Occupied Territories because of Hamas's non-recognition of Israel. The overwhelming thrust of this media coverage is that a Palestinian parliament with Hamas members is a frightening, destabilizing element in Middle East politics and must be repressed harshly. There has been precious little recognition, first, that the popularity of Hamas is the direct result of long-term oppressive Israeli and American policies, and second, that Israel's best hope for peace would be to take the new democratically-elected government seriously and negotiate with it on a sincere basis.

While Mr. Kessler's article, on the whole, repeats this kind of context-free analysis, it includes one or two comments, noted below, that should be recognized as helpful insight.

For a good background information on Hamas, see the fact sheet and question/answer article by Jewish Voice for Peace at http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_292.shtml#q9

Talking points for letter writing:

--Kessler notes accurately that the U.S. " was so focused on facilitating Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip that it did not press Israel to end settlement expansion, release additional prisoners or take other measures that might have reduced Palestinian indignation." Better put, the U.S. did not press Israel to end the occupation.

-- The attitude of the U.S. and Israeli governments that negotiations with Hamas members must not take place is wrongheaded on various counts. One does not choose one's enemy; if there is a sincere desire to work towards peaceful resolution of the conflict, the Israeli government has no other recourse than to talk to the government that the Palestinian population has clearly legitimized.

-- The Bush Administration purports to be campaigning in the Middle East and throughout the world for democratization. And Israel is often touted as the "only democracy in the Middle East." Now, the Palestinians have shown themselves to be one of the most democratic societies in the Arab world.* Given this, the U.S. and Israel should show their sincere desire to promote democracy by reinforcing the new Palestinian government.

*see quote from elections observer former president Jimmy Carter in the January 26 Seattle Times article: "Huge Hamas win throws Mideast peace prospects further in doubt": http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webmideast26&date=20060126

* (See JVP document cited above: "Considering that this election took place under military occupation and was run by a Palestinian Authority that does not have anything like the resources of an independent government, the election, in and of itself, was a triumph for the Palestinians. Virtually free of any scandals, and with nearly 78% of eligible voters participating, the election was a huge success. In terms of participation, transparency and verified honesty of the ballot, one would have to dig deep and far before one found an Israeli or American national election that could match it.")

--Regarding the hyped-up danger of a terrorist organization running Palestinian society, several ameliorating factors must be recognized. While we in no way support Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians any more than we support Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians, it is important to note that Hamas has held to its self-imposed, unilateral period of "calm," during which attacks on Israelis have been significantly reduced. Among other things, this is a result of Hamas's recognition that it lacks the military power to significantly affect the Israeli occupation. Since the beginning of Hamas's cease-fire in early February 2005 the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) has been responsible for the deaths of over 170 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
(For statistics on deaths in both sides of the conflict see the web site of the Middle East Peace Council -- http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/resources/resources.asp click on "conflict statistics".)

--Hamas has shown evidence that it is a flexible organization that is capable of changing its positions. For example, Hamas has historically refused to participate in Palestinian elections, but its current participation and victory are a reflection of a moderating stance. This assertion will be rejected by those who wish to perpetuate the disempowerment of the Palestinians by any means, but it is a political truism that extremists, once in office, are compelled to face the demands of power by mitigating their policies. Hamas is not a monolithic organization, but some members espouse relatively moderate tendencies. In any case, Hamas spokesmen have made it clear numerous times over the past year that they are prepared to establish a long-term truce with Israel if Israel shows a willingness to end the occupation of Palestinian land.

--Speaking of occupation, the most omitted word in dozens of articles from the mainstream media is "occupation." The Kessler article in today's Seattle Times refers to the "Palestinian territories," as if they were frontier lands benevolently administered by the Israeli government. In fact, it should be recognized that the occupation is the root cause of the violence. As Israel's violence towards Palestinians became more extreme under former Prime Minister Sharon, the Palestinian response became more extreme as well. In a very real sense the victory of Hamas is a clear reflection of the long-term policies of Sharon and his predecessors. Given that Sharon consistently refused to negotiate with Palestinian Authority president Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority was powerless to show its constituents any sign of success in making headway against the occupation. Combined with the ruling Palestinian Fatah party's notorious corruption and factionalism, this apparent weakness increasingly turned Palestinian voters towards Hamas. While Hamas's militancy appealed to some, its contrasting reputation for honesty and its record of public service was the strongest attraction for the voters. In the end, according to polls, Hamas's clean record was more of a selling point than its anti-Israel policy.

Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com

===

Full text of article:
"Palestinian vote rocks Bush's plan for region," by Glenn Kessler
Monday, January 30, 2006
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mideastpolicy30&date=20060130

WASHINGTON -- Standing in a sunny Rose Garden on June 24, 2002, surrounded by his top foreign-policy advisers, President Bush issued a clarion call for resolving the deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror."

Last week, Palestinians gave their answer, handing a landslide victory in national legislative elections to Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings and desires the elimination of Israel. Bush's statement calling for new leaders was aimed at the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but in the same speech he also said it was necessary to thwart Hamas and other militant groups.

The election outcome signals a dramatic failure in the administration's strategy for Middle East peace, according to analysts and some U.S. officials. Since the United States cannot deal with an organization labeled a terrorist organization by the State Department, Hamas' victory is likely to curtail U.S. aid, limit official U.S. contacts with the Palestinian government and stall efforts to create an independent Palestinian state.

More broadly, Hamas' victory is seen as a setback in the administration's campaign for greater democracy in the Middle East. Elections in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and now the Palestinian territories have resulted in the defeat of secular and moderate parties and the rise of Islamic parties hostile to U.S. interests.

The administration has long been criticized for being reluctant to get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; even after Bush's 2002 speech, the policy drifted except for occasional high-profile speeches and events.

But after Arafat's death in late 2004 and the beginning of the new presidential term, Bush vowed things would be different, saying he would invest "political capital" in ensuring a Palestinian state before he leaves office three years from now.

The effort went wrong on three fronts, according to interviews inside and outside the administration:

-- The administration put its hopes on the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and gave hundreds of millions of dollars for public-works projects. But it failed to back him when he asked for concrete help, especially in his dealings with the Israelis.

-- The administration was highly attuned to the shifts of Israeli politics but tone-deaf to the upheaval in Palestinian society. It was so focused on facilitating Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip that it did not press Israel to end settlement expansion, release additional prisoners or take other measures that might have reduced Palestinian indignation.

-- Despite deep Israeli misgivings, the administration late last year shifted policy and decided Hamas could participate in the elections even though it had not disarmed its militias, in contrast to rules set for elections in Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.

To be sure, a large share of the blame for Hamas' victory rests with Abbas -- widely perceived as weak and indecisive -- and his quarreling and often corrupt Fatah party. The Palestinian Authority proved incapable of governing Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal, adding to the perception of incompetence.

Analysts credit the Bush administration with focusing on building some governing institutions, such as a well-functioning Finance Ministry that handles the foreign aid that keeps the Palestinian Authority afloat. But many experts fault the administration for issuing high-sounding rhetoric without sustained involvement on the ground.

"There were eloquent speeches and praise for Abbas" but little else, said Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East program, who was on President Clinton's National Security Council. "There was an abstract faith in the idea that if you do the right thing, you will get a two-state solution."

The administration at the start of last year pledged it would take a low-key approach that would rely much more on nations in the region to carry the diplomatic burden. Officials were disdainful of the Clinton administration's deep involvement in the peace process, which they believed amounted to micromanaging.

But over the course of the year, a top general was dispatched to help organize Palestinian security forces, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn was recruited to assist on the Gaza withdrawal and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in November personally negotiated the opening of a border crossing.

The key to the administration's plan was Abbas, who was elected president after Arafat's death. Abbas had briefly been prime minister under Arafat in 2003, after international donors threatened to abandon Arafat if he did not allow the creation of a strong prime minister. Abbas quit after a few months, blaming both the United States and Israel for failing to back him up.

Administration officials had said they would not repeat the mistake when he became president.

But Abbas faced a steep road. The administration was perceived in the region as biased toward Israel, in part because Bush backed the Gaza withdrawal plan with pledges that Israel could keep large settlements and refuse the return of Palestinians in a final peace deal.

Israel's departure from Gaza was designed to be a unilateral step, depriving Abbas of a negotiated peace victory he could claim; instead, Hamas asserted it had driven the Israelis out with its uncompromising approach.

Abbas cut a deal with Hamas, winning its agreement for a cease-fire in exchange for allowing it to participate in elections. But Abbas did not put conditions on its participation, such as giving up its weapons or even pledging not to attack Israelis -- a problem that did not capture the administration's attention until it was too late.

Abbas privately convinced U.S. officials that a Fatah victory would be a blow to Islamic extremism in the region, making the election showdown more enticing to an administration promoting democracy in the Middle East. He also pledged to quickly pass a law requiring the dismantling of militias as soon as the new legislature was elected. The original argument that he should take action against the militias sooner rather than later faded.

When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned in September that he would try to block Hamas' participation unless it disbanded its militia and accepted Israel's right to exist, the administration forced the Israelis to back off.

"Elections are fundamental to the continued evolution and development of the Palestinian process," Rice said.

=======
Copyright (c) 2005 The Seattle Times Company
www.seattletimes.com

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January 18, 2006: P.I. Guest Op-Ed on Sharon

Action Requested: Please write a response to the Seattle P.I. opinion piece from Wednesday, January 18: "Sharon Makes Lasting Contributions" by guest columnist David Brumer, inserted in full below. This op-ed, a paean to the stricken Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, is remarkable for its rote repetition of the entire catalogue of myths about Sharon and his heroic status as a "brilliant strategist" who helped create and strengthen Israel. While placing Sharon on a pedestal, Brumer also vilifies the Palestinians with the usual round of epithets.

It is important that we avoid rejoicing in Sharon's physical demise; in any case, his policies live on. However, it is equally important that we work to debunk the avalanche of falsehoods that have inundated the media since Sharon's last stroke took place.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Friday, January 20

--Still helpful: Tuesday, January 24

Context:

Ariel Sharon was not a hero, but a militarist who advanced his long-term goals for the expansion of Israel in the most vicious manner over a long, well-recorded period. Among his notable early achievements was the massacre of 69 Palestinians in the village of Qibya in 1953 .* As he rose through the ranks of the army his reputation for two attributes, dishonesty and brutality, grew. His culminating act as a military figure was to oversee the massacres of the Palestinian refugee camps Sabra and Shatila in 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
* see http://student.cs.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/bigDB.php?eid=113

Sharon's famous visit to the Muslim holy site of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on September 28, 2000, touched off the beginning of the long-overdue second Intifada. Soon after, in February 2001, he was elected prime minister of Israel. During his tenure, he supervised the destruction of over 7,500 Palestinian homes and hundreds of orchards, the confiscation of thousands of acres of Palestinian-owned land, the killing of over 4,000 Palestinians, mostly unarmed civilians.* He initiated the construction of the Separation Barrier in the West Bank, designed to annex to Israel large areas of Palestinian land. In September of last year, he orchestrated Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, leaving the territory surrounded on two sides, its borders and air space under foreign control, and bombed on occasion by Israeli forces, and essentially converting an occupation into a siege.
* see (http://www.miftah.org/report.cfm)

Talking Points:

1. Sharon's record as a "brilliant strategist" must be set straight. His main goal was expansion of Israel's control over Palestinian land, and his main instrument was military terror. The massacres at Qibya and in Lebanon stand out, underlining these attributes of his career.

2. Brumer's article demonizes the Palestinians, repeating the sham assertion that the Israeli government has "no negotiating partner." In fact, the Palestine Authority under Arafat and then Mahmoud Abbas was always willing to negotiate, but Sharon did not find this useful. He saw no need to negotiate when he could achieve his goals by brutalizing Palestinian civilians and stealing their land, and then covering up his transgressions by blaming the Palestinians. Sharon had no desire to promote real "Palestinian autonomy."

3. It is easy to point a finger at the Palestinians and blame all of Palestinian society, and its hapless government, for the violence of a few. But the fact is that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is the root of this violence. There can be no hope for a real end to this conflict without an end to the occupation; the cards are in the hands of the Israeli government.

Brumer writes that "Israeli mothers dream that their children will no longer have to work at checkpoints..." It dehumanizes the Palestinians in a most offensive way not to acknowledge that Palestinian mothers also dream: that their children will not be arrested without charge, detained without trial, or humiliated at checkpoints.They also dream that Israel will stop confiscating their land, and that they may live in their homes without fear of demolition and eviction.

4. Brumer writes that Sharon's new Party "Kadima" (Forward) "reflects the will of Israeli's moderate, mainstream majority." This fanciful statement reflects the desire of an American extremist to stake out a position even more hard-line than that found in the mainstream Israeli press. In fact the Israeli electorate is quite polarized, and Kadima's strength was based on Sharon's popularity. In recent times Sharon's position, and by extension that of Kadima, was described as "centrist" -- quite a stretch considering his ongoing goal of destruction of Palestinian society.

5. One of Brumer's most imaginative stretches is to refer to an "independent Gaza." In fact, Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza left the territory in ruins, both socially and physically. Gaza's infrastructure, and by extension the possibility of effective Palestinian self-government, had long since been systematically destroyed by the occupying army. So it is no surprise that amidst the destruction, hopeless Palestinians will lash out. Meanwhile, Sharon collected a bounty of false political capital for this "disengagement," which he then used to solidify and expand Israel's hold on the West Bank.

For more background on Sharon see the following articles:
http://electronicintifada.net/forreference/keyfigures/sharon.html http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery10182004.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-makdisi7jan07,0,7417483.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Full text of article:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/256000_sharon18.html

Sharon makes lasting contributions
DAVID BRUMER
GUEST COLUMNIST

While the fate of Ariel Sharon is still undetermined, it is not too early to comment on the legacy this extraordinary man leaves or the new direction he has irrevocably set for the Jewish nation. His brilliance as a military strategist helped create and strengthen the fledgling nation, but it is as prime minister that he has made his most valuable and lasting contributions to the still formative state of Israel, contributions that will ensure his legacy as one of Israel's giants.

Sharon's first great accomplishment at the helm of government was to defeat the strategically planned Palestinian campaign of terror that began in late summer of 2000. After dramatically improving Israel's security, he was ready to look to the future. But finding no partner for peace in Yasser Arafat, Sharon initiated the unilateral disengagement from Gaza. While this plan entailed painful sacrifices on the part of Israel and jeopardized Sharon's standing within his own party, he boldly pushed through the evacuation of 9,000 Jewish residents from Gaza.

Sharon's other important contribution to a more hopeful future was to create a new centrist party, Kadima, or Forward, reflecting the will of Israel's moderate, mainstream majority, who crave peace and have shown themselves overwhelmingly supportive of living side by side with their Palestinian neighbors.

Long before Sharon succumbed to serious health problems, the onus for ending the conflict had shifted to the Palestinian side. An independent Gaza was meant to be a first step in the direction of self-rule for Israel's neighbors. Thus far, that experiment has been a dismal failure. Armed gangs, warlords and terrorist groups currently vie for control of the Gaza Strip. Qassam rockets rain down unceasingly into Israel, al-Qaida is already trying to infiltrate into Gaza and Hezbollah has already established a beachhead there. And the Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 25 are shaping up as a struggle between Hamas, which still does not recognize Israel's basic right to exist and refuses to disarm, and Fatah, whose leading vote-getter, Marwan Barghouti, is serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison for his role in terrorism.

Given those grim realities, Israel's predicament is not that Sharon can no longer lead the way toward peace, but rather, that there is no equivalent leader on the Palestinian side with the courage and determination to do what is necessary to transform Palestinian society. As long as there is no end to terror, no monopoly on the use of arms by governmental forces and no end to the culture of hatred, there can be little hope of continuing the momentum toward peace.

While Sharon's departure from the political scene is a great and sorrowful loss, Israel remains a mature democracy with the mechanisms for the succession of power securely in place. Ehud Olmert already has taken over the temporary reins of power as acting prime minister, and he will almost certainly head the new Kadima party that Sharon established.

In Olmert, Israelis have a smart and seasoned leader, the mayor of Jerusalem for a decade, a distinguished statesman in his own right, known and respected by heads of government throughout the world. As deputy prime minister under Sharon, he was a major force behind disengagement and other visionary plans for establishing Palestinian autonomy while safeguarding Israel's security. Olmert long ago recognized the legitimate rights of the Palestinians to govern themselves, and is committed to ending the conflict in a way that acknowledges both Palestinian and Israeli needs.

As mayor of Jerusalem during the height of the second intifada, Olmert witnessed firsthand the horrors of Palestinian terror attacks and was deeply affected by them. He has said publicly, "We are tired of fighting, tired of being courageous, tired of winning, tired of defeating our enemies. ... We want them to be our friends, our partners, our good neighbors, and I believe that this is not impossible." Indeed, this remains the wish of the vast majority of Israelis. Israeli mothers only dream that their children will no longer have to work at checkpoints and that fences can eventually come down.

Olmert has proved himself to be a leader who can be trusted to negotiate further compromises with the Palestinians, to relinquish more land in exchange for guarantees of peace, when there are responsible leaders on the other side with whom to make lasting agreements. But as long as rockets continue to rain down on Israel and terrorists continue to dictate policy, the Palestinians continue to be their own greatest existential threat.

David Brumer is on the Israel Advocacy Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

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DECEMBER 29, 2005: THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES
Action Requested:

Please thank the Seattle Times for Bruce Ramsey's editorial column exposing the inhumanity of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and drawing a comparison between that occupation and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, December 29
--Still Helpful: Tuesday, January 3

News item:
Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist
"Occupiers in another land, but hated all the same"
Wednesday, December 28, 2005: Editorials & Opinion
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002707197_rams28.html
The full text of the article is included at the end of this email.
Why we are asking you to write: We usually ask you to write critiques of misleading media pieces, but this is an unusual opportunity to commend the Seattle Times for publishing a rare comment that tells the unvarnished truth about the brutal practices of the Israeli army that occupies Palestinian territory. We wish to encourage future writing of this kind. We expect that the Times will receive many letters criticizing the columnist and the paper for having taken this step. Your letters will send the important message to the Times that there are many readers who are concerned about the behavior of an occupying army and appreciate it being described for what it is.
Bruce Ramsey's column relays the message of some former Israeli soldiers who have become repelled by the mistreatment of Palestinian civilians which they have witnessed and, indeed, practiced themselves. These former soldiers have founded an organization called "Breaking the Silence," which toured the United States and visited Seattle in late October (see http://www.breakingthesilence.com/). Ramsey quotes the two young veterans at length, describing how they used gratuitous force essentially to terrorize the Palestinian population into submission. The two former soldiers, Mr. Sharon and Mr. Chayut, describe how they realized that they were engaging in brutal practices that had nothing to do with protecting Israeli lives and that were unconscionable behavior.
Bruce Ramsey very briefly draws a parallel between the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Israeli occupation -- strongly supported by the U.S. Administration -- of Palestinian lands. We should thank Mr. Ramsey for this observation and point out that the U.S. support or implementation of any occupation is thoroughly wrong and objectionable, and that the violence done unto civilian populations through the methods described in this column can only result in an escalation and perpetuation of terror.

Talking points for letter writing:
Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.
--Mr. Ramsey has taken the courageous step of using the appropriate name for the U.S. presence in Iraq and the Israeli presence on Palestinian land: "occupation." Through tortuous legalistic reasoning and simple distortion of the English language the truth is usually concealed, leaving such euphemisms as "disputed territory" or "administered lands" to hide the reality of an illegal occupation. Once the word is gone, the truth disappears as well.
--Mr. Ramsey's recounting of Sharon's and Chayut's message provides us with a relatively detailed description of the brutality of the Israeli occupation visited daily upon Palestinian civilians for the last 38 years. The humiliation and the mean, wanton, destruction committed by Israeli soldiers can only result in an outburst of anger from those thus affected. It is in the violence of occupation that we should find the original cause of the conflict, not in the usually-implied "hateful" character defects of those under occupation.
--Given the vicious nature of this occupation, we call for an end to the U.S. Administration's economic support of Israel as long as it continues militarily to occupy Palestinian land.
--We call on the U.S. Administration to pressure the Israeli government to implement a complete withdrawal from Palestinian land, accompanied by direct peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
--Furthermore, the American people should examine and reconsider their support of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, which shares many of the brutal attributes of the Israeli occupation. The U.S. army has even called on the assistance of the Israeli army for training of in the treatment of an occupied population (see "Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq," http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4815008-103681,00.html ). Given the similarities of the two occupations, it is no wonder that in both cases there are horrendous outbursts of violence in response.
--It is important to remember that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is illegal. Prominent among relevant elements of international law are the 1949 Geneva Conventions, to which Israel is a signatory. The Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention, covering belligerent occupations, prohibits a host of acts currently committed by the Israeli government, including construction of settlements, collective punishment, forced transfer of the native population, and denial of education. (see http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm)

Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com

Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will still be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!

Full text of article:

Occupiers in another land, but hated all the same
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002707197_rams28.html
The travails of American occupiers of Arab Iraq may not be so different from those of the Israeli occupiers of Arab Palestine. That is what I thought while hearing the stories of Avichay Sharon and Noam Chayut.
Sharon, 24, and Chayut, 26, had been in the Israeli army. They were here recently to criticize what their army does, touring under the auspices of a group called Breaking the Silence. Of course they "had an agenda." Keep that in mind -- but hear their story.
"It is very difficult to do this," said Sharon. "We love our country. We grew up in patriotic Zionist homes, thinking we would serve in the most moral army in the world." But the civilian notion of morality is difficult to apply to the job of a military occupier.
The occupiers are shot at. To protect themselves, they search for weapons. They have learned it is dangerous to approach a front door. Where houses are wall-to-wall, they pound or blast through the wall instead. This is a tactic proven to reduce casualties. "We invented it," said Chayut.
As a soldier, he commanded a squad in Jenin. Besides confiscating weapons, he said, "the order was to arrest every male between 16 and 50. You go to every house, handcuff and blindfold the men, put them in a truck and send them to Israel." Usually, he said, the men were beaten up, though "that was not in the order."
Sometimes the soldiers would commandeer a house, either leaving one room for the family or expelling them. "I could choose who will be the family sent outside for three weeks," Chayut said. He added, "I was 22 years old."
Every night there would be a search-and-arrest operation. "You stop feeling that these are people," Chayut said. "You can't sympathize. You break things. You break the walls, maybe you break the floor if you suspect there are weapons hidden there. I was in a small kid's room, tossing the things in the kid's knapsack. I saw the kid in the corner. He was six or seven years old. He was afraid of me. I saw fear and hatred in his eyes -- and I realized I looked like a monster to him."
This was Chayut's moment of truth.
"Five minutes before, we had thrown that boy's father against the wall -- his father, who is like a god to him. That is the essence of being an occupier."
None of what I'm describing is about killing. Killing is not the essence. It is the power to kill -- which is the power to humiliate. These youths were humiliating men older than their fathers, and for any reason, or for none at all. They did it for a political reason, or because they were frustrated, or simply because they could.
They could take an armored personnel carrier and squash parked cars with it. And they did.
"Was it fun?" I asked Chayut.
"It is fun," he said.
Smashing cars was not a military necessity. Ripping out a decades-old olive orchard along a road in Gaza was, Sharon said, because it made the road secure. He recalled the Palestinian owners of that orchard -- an old man, a middle-aged man and a boy -- beholding the destruction of their family's asset. "I am the son of a farmer," he said. "I know what it means to have an orchard."
To all this I know the all-purpose reply: There is a war on. The occupier has to "suppress terrorism." The occupier has to take "security measures." Always the occupier has to "defend." Those are labels. From the perspective of far away they may be satisfying. From the perspective of these two soldiers, pushing the muzzles of their rifles at frightened fellow humans, they were false labels, heavy carpets thrown over inconvenient facts.
The facts, as they saw them, were that they were occupiers, they were hated, and they were doing things to make them hated more.
I asked Sharon his thoughts about Iraq.
"I am not an expert on Iraq," he said.
Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com

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OCTOBER 22, 2005: P.I.'s ARTICLE ON BUSH AND ABBAS
Action Requested: Please write a response to the Seattle P.I. article from Friday, October 21, " Bush urges Abbas to curb attacks," inserted in full below.

Time by which action should be taken:

--Ideal: Monday, October 24
--Still helpful: Wednesday, October 26

Context: President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas visited the United States and met with George W. Bush on Thursday. At the meeting, as mentioned in this article, President Bush concentrated on pressuring Abbas to rein in militant Palestinian organizations that employ violence against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Abbas made the point that the PA is doing what it can in this area and that the U.S. Administration must work harder to pressure Israel for an end to the occupation. We readers and supporters of self-determination for Palestine need to write the P.I. in support of this point.

In emphasizing the PA's role in pacification and overlooking the fact of the occupation, President Bush reinforces the Israeli government's ongoing but disingenuous claim that it has taken steps towards peace (such as the fake "withdrawal from Gaza"*), while the Palestinians have yet to take effective steps of their own -- or even that "there is no partner to negotiate with." In fact, in the post-Gaza period the Israeli government has been taking steps to reinforce and expand its hold on the West Bank

*See "Israel's Unilateral 'Disengagement'" by Diana Buttu http://www.jmcc.org/news&media/editorial2.htm

Talking Points:

1. In his conversation with President Bush, Mahmoud Abbas expressed the need of the Palestinian people: that the Israeli government must be pressured to end the occupation. The ultimate source of the violence between Israel and Palestine is the occupation, and Israel must display a sincere intention to bring the occupation to an end before there can be any hope of ending that violence. But contrary to such a development, construction of the "separation Wall" continues with resulting destruction of homes and orchards, and annexation of farmlands. The Israeli army has arrested over 400 Palestinians in a massive escalation of repression in the Occupied Territories. (1) Settlement expansion continues in many parts of the West Bank, and the Israeli army exercises no effective control over invading settlers. As long as the Israeli government and Israeli settlers are maneuvering to take more and more land away from Palestinians, as long as the occupying army is visiting massive and regular brutality upon Palestinian civilians, and as long as many Palestinians feel that they have no other outlet, some of them will respond with violence (2)

2. The Israeli army has spent the last five years intensively destroying the infrastructure of Palestinian society, with Palestinian police and government buildings high on the list of targets. After such an onslaught, the Palestinian Authority has been left without the logistical power required to clamp down on the militant Palestinian organizations that attack Israelis. Without an effective police force, the PA cannot very well be expected to provide order in Palestinian society.

3. The Palestinian territories are due to hold legislative elections in January. The government of Israel has vowed to prevent Hamas from taking part in these elections. With all its talk of support for democratization in the Middle East, can the United States government condone this thwarting of democratic processes among the Palestinians? This would make President Bush's talk of a "genuinely democratic Palestine" look particularly hypocritical.

Democratic processes have a tendency to bring "extremists" towards the political center and give them a stake in non-violent participation. In fact, Hamas has already been moving in this direction. The Israeli and American pressure to exercise repression against Hamas, a movement that has strong support from among the Palestinians, works counter to this moderating process. Rather than "fighting terrorism," the real purpose of Bush's demand is to pressure the Palestinian Authority into sub-contracting the Israeli occupation.

4. As Abbas travels to the United States to receive a lecture from Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon builds a new border between Israel and what will become Palestinian enclaves, well outside the old, internationally recognized Israeli "Green Line." The enclaves may eventually be called a state -- this looks to be Sharon's strategy. But enclaves do not make a state. The violence will continue, because the new "state" of Palestine -- actually a string of ghettoes -- would not be economically viable; it would lack full sovereignty over its borders, airspace, and resources, and remain a pressure cooker for a frustrated society. (3)

5. President Bush has committed himself rhetorically to the establishment of a Palestinian state, but continues to back away and soften his stance on an actual date for this event. He has similarly avoided discussion of the status of Jerusalem and the question of Palestinian refugee return. This stalling effectively works as a form of support for Israel's occupation, its not-so-covert expansion and for its general flouting of world opinion.

Background resources:
1) "Israeli Offensive in Gaza Targets Hamas" By Jean Shaoul
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=4&id=2411).

2) "Israel Redraws the Roadmap, Building Quietly and Quickly" by Chris McGreal http://www.miftah.org/display.cfm?DocId=8708&CategoryId=5.

3) "Setting up Abbas" by Jeff Halper http://www.miftah.org/display.cfm?DocId=8653&CategoryId=5).

Full text of article:
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=wdig21&date=20051021

Friday, October 21, 2005
Bush urges Abbas to curb attacks

Washington

President Bush politely urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
yesterday to do more to crack down on terrorist attacks against Israel so that
long-stalled Middle East peace negotiations could move forward.

But Bush acknowledged that the negotiations have slowed to the point that he's
unlikely to reach his goal of an independent Palestinian state before he leaves
office in 2009.

Bush told Abbas that the best way to proceed was by "confronting the threat that
armed gangs pose to a genuinely democratic Palestine" and to a "lasting peace
between Israelis and Palestinians."

Bush said he'd name a new senior U.S. security coordinator in the region to help
Abbas and the Palestinian Authority fulfill their responsibility under the
so-called "road map" peace plan to end terrorist attacks, dismantle terrorist
infrastructure and maintain law and order.

Abbas, who was elected last January, said his government was doing what it could
to rein in terrorism and called on Bush to push Israel to end its "policies of
occupation" and policies of "settlement construction ... that undermine your
vision toward two states."

"Peace and security cannot be guaranteed by the construction of walls, by the
erection of checkpoints and the confiscation of land, but rather by the
recognition of rights," Abbas said.

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OCTOBER 9, 2005: ONE-SIDED P.I. ARTICLE BY YOSSI KLEIN

Action Requested: Please write a response to the Seattle P.I. article from Wednesday, October 5, "A Letter to His Palestinian Neighbors" by guest columnist Yossi Klein Halevi," inserted in full below. This column is so one-sided and oblivious to the reality of occupation that it cries out for refutation. Halevi ignores the occupation completely, blames the victim of the occupation for lack of progress in peace negotiations, and places the burden for change on the backs of the Palestinians. Halevi projects an air of aloof philosophizing, as if there were no demolitions, administrative detention, or abuse at checkpoints, and as if the construction of an annexation Wall had never happened. This "letter" is clearly meant to sway Western readers to believe that Israel's position is righteous and that of the Palestinians is benighted. We need to express our objection to the P.I.'s publishing of this cheap and insulting kind of propaganda, and demonstrate that we are not fooled.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Sunday, October 9
--Still helpful: Tuesday, October 11

Context:

In mid-August Israel evacuated several thousand Israeli settlers from the occupied Gaza Strip, and subsequently removed all settlements and Israeli military installations from that territory. While this event was a monumental propaganda coup for Israel, in fact the occupation of Gaza is not over, since Israel still controls all of Gaza's air space, borders, and movement in and out of the territory (for more on the disengagement see http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=2&id=1014 ). Meanwhile, capitalizing on the "moral credit" gained from this perceived withdrawal, Israel is escalating its offenses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Illegal Israeli settlements are rapidly expanding, construction of the "security Wall" which effectively annexes to Israel vast portions of Palestinian farmland continues, and Palestinians are still abused on the street and at checkpoints (report on human rights violations in since disengagement http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4218.shtml).

The column by Halevi is part of the cover-up of these events and the whitewashing of the Israeli government's behavior. Phrased in liberal, empathetic language, in fact this letter is yet another piece of demagoguery calculated to make Israel look like the beleaguered party in the conflict, when it is the Palestinians who have been under occupation for 38 years.

Talking Points:

1) One of the most objectionable elements of this article is Halevi's position that Palestinians want to destroy Israel, and the only difference among Palestinians is whether to do so quickly or slowly. It's worth pointing out that, meanwhile, the reality is that Israel has destroyed Palestine and is continuing to do so. There is an occupation going on, after all, and it is the Israelis who are occupying Palestinian land, not the reverse. It is also the Israelis, not the Palestinians, who have an army with tanks, airplanes, and helicopters. The Israeli government has demolished thousands of Palestinian houses, unjustly arrested many thousands of Palestinians, held them without charge and in many cases tortured them, and is in the process of building a Separation Wall which will annex thousands of acres of Palestinian farmland to Israel. These things are not mentioned in Halevi's letter (see http://www.miftah.org/report.cfm for statistics on deaths, demolitions and detentions).

2. While these abuses are continuing, Halevi speaks self-righteously of "legitimate claims" and "national narratives." It would be good to point out that it would be much more reasonable to expect to successfully embark on this kind of discourse if Israel would, to paraphrase Desmond Tutu, "kindly get its foot off the Palestinians' neck." Furthermore, Halevi's assertion that Palestinians have "made virtually no effort to understand [the Israeli] narrative" is the height of manipulation. Palestinians are trying full-time to understand why their land is being stolen from under their feet. Meanwhile, few Israelis have even a vague understanding of what it is like to live under occupation.

3. Halevi places the "onus for ending the conflict" on the Palestinians, as if the entire problem were one of the failure of the Palestinians to "make a conceptual breakthrough" and accept the Israelis' "legitimacy." Actually, the problem is much more concrete than that. If the Israeli government were to behave in a
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
legitimate manner, for example by respecting international laws on human rights to which it is a signatory, it would be much more possible for Palestinians to accept that legitimacy. Under the present circumstances, there is no chance that this acceptance can happen.

4. Halevi justifies building a "security fence" without acknowledging that it is routed in such a way that it is effectively confiscating over ten per cent of West Bank land (so far), shutting thousands of Palestinians into ghettoes, and separating them from vital sources of work and sustenance. The Separation Wall is not being built for security, but to create a new de facto border. For more information on the Wall, see www.pengon.org .

5. Halevi refers to a "terror lull." For the Palestinians, that "lull" is over. Since the Israeli re-deployment from Gaza, Israeli terror against Palestinians in the West Bank has markedly increased. The Israeli army has killed 32 Palestinians and arrested hundreds more, just in the past month and a half (for more on arrests of activists and candidates see http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=4&id=2411).

Full text of article:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/243349_plo05.html

Wednesday, October 5, 2005 A letter to his Palestinian neighbors YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI GUEST COLUMNIST

Once, before what you call the Second Intifada and we Israelis call the Terror War, a time that seems now to belong to another millennium, I undertook a one-man pilgrimage into your mosques and churches, seeking to know you in your intimate spiritual moments.

I went as a believing Jew, praying and meditating with you wherever you allowed me to enter into your devotional life. My intention was to transcend, however briefly, the political abyss between us by experiencing together something of the presence of God.

During my journey, which took me from Galilee to Gaza, I saw the fearless heart of Islam, its choreography of surrender, in which one becomes a particle in a great wave of devotion, a wave that preceded our arrival on this Earth and that will continue long after we are gone.

I learned that acceptance of mortality can be the basis for a religious language of reconciliation. Repeatedly, Palestinians would say to me, "Why are we arguing over who owns the land when in the end the land will own us both?"

But I learned too, during numerous candid conversations with Palestinians at all levels of society, that, in practice, few within your nation are willing to concede that I have a legitimate claim to any part of this land.

I learned in my journeys into your society that moderation means one thing on the Israeli side and quite another on the Palestinian side. An Israeli moderate recognizes the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a struggle between two legitimate national narratives. A Palestinian moderate, by contrast, tends to disagree with the extremists about method, not goal: He advocates the disappearance of Israel through more gradualist means, like demographic subversion. He sees a two-state solution as an interim agreement, a step toward a one-state solution, which, of course, is nothing more than a thinly veiled code for the end of a Jewish state and the creation of a Greater Palestine.

My journey into the faiths of my neighbors was part of a much broader attempt among Israelis, begun during the First Intifada, to understand your narrative, how the conflict looks through your eyes. Your society, on the other hand, has made virtually no effort to understand our narrative.

Instead, you have developed a "culture of denial" that denies the most basic truths of the Jewish story. According to this culture of denial, which is widespread not only among your people but throughout the Arab world, there was no Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, no ancient Jewish presence in the land, no Holocaust.

The real problem, then, is not terrorism, which is only a symptom for a deeper affront: your assault on my history and identity, your refusal to allow me to define myself, which is a form of intellectual terror.

I believe that the onus for ending this conflict has now shifted to your side. Many Israelis have made the conceptual breakthrough necessary for peace between us; but we will remain entrenched behind our security fence until we sense a shift in attitudes on your side. The fence represents the antithesis of my hope for an Israel integrated in the Middle East, but I must accept reality and protect myself from your refusal to accept my legitimacy.

I wrote above that your people has made "virtually no effort" to understand who we Jews are.

One remarkable exception was a pilgrimage of Palestinian Israelis to Auschwitz two years ago. For Palestinian citizens of Israel to reach out to Jews at the height of the Intifada was the deepest expression of the generosity of Arab culture. I was privileged to be among the Jewish participants in that Arab initiative. We stood at the crematorium, Arabs and Jews holding each other in silence, facing the abyss together. At that moment, anything seemed possible between us.

Lately, perhaps because of the terror lull, I have been thinking again about that journey, and about the journey I took into your devotional life.

I have even allowed myself to miss the intimacy and uplift I felt in your mosques, the conversations about faith and meaning and destiny over endless cups of coffee and tea, the sense of leisurely time expanding into God's time.

I approached you then without apology for my presence here or dismissal of your presence. And that is how I dream of being with you again: as fellow indigenous sons of this land, which one day will claim us both.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Center and the Israel correspondent of The New Republic. He is also author of "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land."

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
(c) 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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JULY 15, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON ANNIVERSARY OF ICJ OPINION

We are sending you this alert to ask you to join with us in commemorating the one-year anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the illegality of Israel’s Wall and using this opportunity to educate and pressure government officials regarding this important and increasingly urgent matter.

ACTION:
Contact members of Congress and the State Department, and demand the United States comply with the ICJ opinion regarding the illegality of Israel’s construction of the wall and the illegality of other nations providing Israel with aid to build or maintain the wall.

START DATE FOR ACTION:
Friday, July 15

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Thursday, July 21

BACKGROUND:

One year ago, on July 9, 2004, at the request of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), an area encompassing Gaza, the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem.

This Opinion represents the most authoritative statement to date on the content and applicability of international law concerning Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory. It established that the construction of the Wall and of Israeli settlements in the OPT breach both international law and international humanitarian legal obligations. The ICJ made clear that Israel should not only immediately stop with the construction of the Wall, but also begin dismantling existing portions of the Wall and settlements and pay reparations to those who have lost their property as the result of the illegal construction.

The Court also concluded that all states were obliged not to recognize the illegal situation Israel has created and to refrain from any financial support to Israel in maintaining the illegal construction. The ICJ noted that signatories to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, including the United States, have "additional obligations to ensure Israel's compliance" with the Conventions.

You can view the complete text of the ICJ Advisory Opinion at:
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/idocket/imwp/imwpframe.htm

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Please write letters to your Congressional representatives and the State Department expressing your support of the July 9^th 2004 ICJ Opinion and ask that the US comply with the rulings therein.

Contact info:

E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

Senator Patty Murray
E-mail: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Fax: (206) 553-0891
Senator Murray's Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621

Senator Maria Cantwell
Email: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Fax: 206-220-6404
Senator Cantwell's Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for US Representatives: http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html

Ambassador C. David Welch
State Department
Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs
(202) 647-7209
nea-ipa@state.gov

It would be very helpful if you could write us at alerts@palestineinformation.org, describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.

TALKING POINTS:

-- The International Court of Justice ruled that states cannot "render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created" by Israel's construction of an illegal Wall in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. (Paragraph 163D, Source: http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/icjhome.htm)

-- The Israeli Foreign Ministry has announced plans to build high-tech terminals to solidify its grasp on the occupied Palestinian West Bank under the guise of easing the movement of Palestinian peoples and goods. The Foreign Ministry affirmed that the terminals will be at "crossing points along the revised route of the security fence." The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported that Israel plans to build 34 of these terminals into the Wall.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Israeli+assistance+and+humanitarian+measures+towards+the+Palestinians+-+May+2005.htm

-- Congress has already passed legislation limiting Israel’s use of US assistance "only to support activities in the geographic areas which were subject to the administration of the Government of Israel before June 5, 1967." (Public Law No. 108-11: Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003) Congress and the Executive Branch must act now to ensure that this US aid to Israel is not used in the occupied Palestinian West Bank to maintain Israel’s illegal Wall.

-- Regardless of whether money that the U.S. Administration grants to Israel are explicitly designated for construction of these terminals, in any case these considerable funds free up resources for Israel to continue its construction projects. Since the Wall constitutes nothing less than a de facto annexation of massive portions of Palestinian land to Israel, the United States has the responsibility to work against this construction -- as emphasized by the ICJ finding -- rather than supporting it.

-- Haim Ramon, the Israeli Cabinet minister in charge of Jerusalem, confirmed claims that demographics and not only security determined the barrier route, and is meant to ensure a Jewish majority in the city and not just serve as a buffer against bombers. This represents de facto annexation of Palestinian land and is illegal by international law as stated by the ICJ.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071100257.html

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

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JUNE 2, 2005: P.I. ON PLANNED DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM HOMES

Action Requested: Please write a response to the Seattle P.I. article from
Thursday, June 2, "East Jerusalem plan provokes protest", cited below.

On this, the 38th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, it is crucial to examine the ongoing encroachment of Israeli settlements on neighborhoods around Jerusalem heretofore inhabited by Palestinians. The planned destruction of 88 Palestinian homes in the El-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan valley, just outside of the Old City, signals yet another inexcusable takeover of Palestinian residential areas. This plan exposes the Israeli government's true intention, which have nothing to do with peace: to continue illegal settlement expansion into the West Bank, in order for Israel to secure for itself as much Palestinian land as it can, with as few Palestinian inhabitants as possible.

If you do not live in the Seattle P.I. readership area, you can still write to your local newspaper and comment on these developments.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Sunday, June 5
--Still helpful: Tuesday, June 7

News item:
East Jerusalem plan provokes protest
Thursday, June 2, 2005
By Erik N. Nelson Cox News Service
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/226745_jersalem02.html
The full text of the article is included at bottom.

Context:
Much ink has been spent in the world press about "peace negotiations" and the forthcoming Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but developments such as this
planned destruction of yet another Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem show that the Israeli government is forging ahead with its decades-long drive to
take over that area, and for that matter most of the West Bank, in small but steady increments. The supposed withdrawal from Gaza is only a cover for that
encroachment. Meanwhile, the destruction of the Silwan neighborhood directly violates the Road Map peace plan injunction against construction of new Israeli
settlements.

The demolition of 88 dwellings in Silwan, displacing close to 1,000 Palestinians, would constitute the largest Israeli demolition since 1967 in Jerusalem.
It would be another step in what various Israeli officials have made clear is a concerted program to establish a growing foothold in traditionally Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, drive the Palestinian inhabitants out, and expand settler control over the entire space between Jerusalem and Israeli settlements to the east of the city.

According to Meir Margalit, a former Jerusalem City Councilman and a member of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), "All this is part
of an explicit process of "Judaizing" Jerusalem. Look at the larger picture," he says. "Put the settlement actions in Silwan together with the ongoing
demolition of Arab houses in East Jerusalem. Put it together with the building of the wall through Abu Dis. All these features together paint a very dramatic
picture where the Israeli government, together with the settlers, are part of a national program to make the life of Palestinians so hard they will leave
Jerusalem. It is that simple."

For a comprehensive review by ICAHD of the Silwan plan and Israeli intentions concerning the expansion of Israeli control in the East Jerusalem area, see
http://www.icahd.org/eng/

also:

US Campaign to End the Occupation fact sheet on the Wall:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1107

For more information of the illegal actions of the Israeli military towards
Palestinians during 38 years of occupation:
Fact sheet on US policy: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1076
Fact sheet on the law:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/fact_sheet_2.pdf

Talking Points:

1) The plan to destroy the homes of around 1,000 Palestinians in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem is an affront to the rights of the legitimate civilian
inhabitants of that neighborhood. This is expulsion, the destruction of around one tenth of the families inhabiting a traditionally Palestinian neighborhood
to make way for new Israeli settlement.

2) The plan constitutes an illegal operation by the Israeli government. Israel regularly declares space inhabited by Palestinians as "open green space,"
whenever it desires to clear it and claim it for its own purposes. Furthermore, it uses the excuse that Palestinians built their homes without permission --
finessing the fact that the government never grants Palestinians building permits. But no amount of legal manipulation or excuses negates the fact that the
Israeli occupation itself is illegal.

Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention states: "Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited". Article 53 states: "Any
destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public
authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."
Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that "extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried
out unlawfully and wantonly" is a grave breach of the Convention.

3) The ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank violates the "Road Map" peace plan, which specifies that the Government
of Israel must end "actions undermining trust, including attacks in civilian areas and confiscation/demolition of Palestinian homes/property as a punitive
measure or to facilitate Israeli construction."

4) This expansion exposes the false nature of the proposed forthcoming Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The Israeli government is trading Gaza for increased
control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Its maneuvers in these areas show that it intends to capitalize on supposed moral credit gained by the
withdrawal from Gaza as a cover for expansion elsewhere.

5) Please note in your letter that this Sunday, June 5th, is the 38th anniversary of the Israeli takeover of Palestinian lands after the 1967 war. The
salient features of this long and illegal occupation are the expansion of settlements; proliferation of checkpoints; extended detention of thousands of
prisoners without charge; and the construction of a massive Separation Wall that effectively annexes large portions of the West Bank to Israel. All these things
amount to denial of self-determination for the Palestinians. For peace ever to be achieved between the Palestinians and Israel, these moves must be reversed.
Nothing less will work. Certainly, the destruction of the homes of another 1,000 Palestinians is a major step in the wrong direction.

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

Full text of article:

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Thursday, June 2, 2005
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/226745_jersalem02.html
"East Jerusalem plan provokes protest "
City wants to raze up to 88 Palestinian homes for park
Thursday, June 2, 2005

By Erik N. Nelson , Cox News Service

JERUSALEM -- Like any municipal planning director, Uri Shetrit has a vision
for his city: parklike vistas that highlight its history.

This Israeli's vision of a biblical archaeological park springs in part
from 3,000-year-old stones on display at the bottom of a canyon in the
Palestinian Arab neighborhood of Silwan.

The stones are remnants of Jerusalem's oldest history, in an area called
Shiloah in Hebrew, believed to be the original Jebusite city that King David
conquered and made the capital of Israel about 1000 B.C.

But the Palestinians now living in this valley, just down a hill from the
Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site, and Judaism's most revered
Western Wall, subscribe to a different vision for their neighborhood. They want to
remain in their homes, and Palestinian leaders warn that the project could
hurt peace efforts.

As many as 88 homes in the neighborhood are designated to be demolished
under the city's plan, which has been widely condemned by Palestinian residents
and Israeli peace and human rights activists.

The plan would amount to the largest eviction of Arab residents of
Jerusalem since Israel captured the eastern part of the city from Jordan in 1967. A
year later, Israel tore down Arab homes adjacent to the Western Wall to make
room for a plaza.

Opponents of the demolition plan for Silwan note that it would displace
about 1,000 residents, one-tenth of the neighborhood's population. Some of the
families have lived in the neighborhood for three or four generations,
dating back to British colonial rule before World War II and the creation of
Israel in 1948.

But Shetrit says that the dwellings violate zoning laws and that perhaps 95
percent of the current residents came to the area in the 1990s from the
West Bank city of Hebron and have no legitimate claim to residency.
Since Israel captured the city, it has declared Jerusalem its eternal and
unified capital -- even though the United Nations, the United States and most
of the world still regard the city's eastern half as occupied territory.
Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of an independent
state.

Palestinian residents of Silwan say they will challenge the plan in Israeli
courts, which generally have frowned upon the destruction of homes if they
have been inhabited for a decade or more. Both sides agree that a large
proportion of East Jerusalem's 230,000 Palestinian residents live in housing
built illegally under Israeli administration of the city. Over the years,
Jewish groups have used the courts to evict Palestinian residents and take up
residence behind them. While the city's plan for Silwan would not put Israelis
in the houses, it would remove Palestinians from the neighborhood,
something opponents say serves the motives of right-wing Israelis.
"This reflects people in positions of authority who view the realities of
3,000 years ago with 20/20 vision, but are totally blind to the realities of
today," said Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer who advises the public
interest group Ir Amim, or City of Nations.

The group is taking the Israeli government to court for enforcing a
55-year-old law that strips ownership from absentee property owners, another tactic
to push Palestinians out of the city, advocacy groups have complained.
"The attempt by all sorts of legal manipulations to eject many hundreds,
perhaps thousands of people from homes which they've lived in for decades,
based on a biblical-ecological vision of pastoral Jerusalem, gives me the
chills," Seidemann said. Shetrit said that he has been unfairly demonized by the
Israeli media, and that the "four or five" dwellings he believes might have
been in the area before 1974, when the area was designated as open space by
the city, would be preserved under his plan.

Even before 1967, the Jordanian government had designated the area as
public open space, he said.

(c) 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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MAY 7, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON "JERUSALEM RESOLUTION"

We are sending you this alert to ask you to take action on a particularly objectionable resolution recently introduced in the U.S. Senate. A bill has been introduced, and subsequently referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recognizing Jerusalem as the “undivided capital of Israel.” Senate Joint Resolution 14 (S.J.Res.14) requires this recognition to take place 180 days before any U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state. Together with the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation and other organizations, we request that you contact your Senators and urge them not to support S.J.Res.14 and to oppose its passage.

ACTION:
Contact Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and urge them to oppose Senate Joint Resolution 14, the “Jerusalem Resolution.”

START DATE FOR ACTION: Saturday, May 7

TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN: Friday, May 13

BACKGROUND:
On April 19th, Senator Brownback (R-KS), together with cosponsors Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), introduced S.J.Res.14, which calls for US recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel prior to any recognition of a Palestinian state by the US. The bill also denies all Palestinian political, historical, and religious claims to the city.

The bill’s wording calls upon a spurious use of garbled history to support a claim that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and only of Israel. Completely negating all legitimate Palestinian claims to the city, S.J.Res.14 requires the United States recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move its Embassy to that city prior to any recognition of Palestinian statehood.

While S.J.Res.14 calls for freedom of worship for all citizens of Israel, it entirely overlooks the existence of the military occupation of Palestinian land, and the accompanying regular denial of the freedom of Palestinians to worship in their holy shrine at Jerusalem.

Due to its extreme racist character, S.J.Res.14 may sink of its own weight. However, such dodgy legal forays by marginal Senators tend to accumulate momentum over time. Ignoring S.J.Res.14 can only contribute to the legitimacy of a later, similar but more clever attempt. It is important for us to weigh in on this matter.

You can view the text of the legislation on the U.S. Campaign website at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/s.j.res.14.pdf

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please write letters to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell expressing your objections to S.J.Res.14 (the “Jerusalem Resolution”) and urging them not to support it.

Contact info:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.

Senator Murray
E-mail: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Fax: (206) 553-0891
Senator Murray's Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621

Senator Cantwell
Email: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Fax: 206-220-6404
Senator Cantwell's Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
If possible, it would be very helpful if you could write us at alerts@palestineinformation.org, describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.

TALKING POINTS
(adapted from U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation’s alert and other sources):

--S.J. Res. 14 makes a mockery of efforts to achieve peace in Israel and Palestine, and shows that the U.S. is a biased participant in the peace process.

--For thousands of years, members of different ethnicities and adherents of different religions have shared Jerusalem. To declare the city as the sole capital and property of one nation, and to throw the political weight of the world’s superpower behind this declaration, would be a gross violation of the rights of the Palestinians who look upon Jerusalem as their holy city, as do Israelis.

--Israel has controlled the Palestinian portion of Jerusalem, i.e., East Jerusalem, since it began to occupy the West Bank and Gaza in June of 1967. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 called for Israel to withdraw from these occupied territories. U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital would violate this U.N. resolution and other international laws, which prohibit the acquisition of territory through the use of force.

--This is a chauvinistic resolution that only recognizes Israeli and Jewish claims to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city of historical, religious, political, and cultural significance for Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The U.S. Senate has no business deciding which religion or nationality has an exclusive claim to Jerusalem.

--The resolution claims that only citizens of Israel should have the right to worship freely in Jerusalem and that Israel supports freedom of worship for all faiths. All people, including Palestinian Muslims and Christians, are guaranteed the right to worship freely (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18). The resolution fails to mention that Israel often bars Palestinian Muslims and Christians from accessing their holy places in Jerusalem.

--Jerusalem is one of the "permanent status" issues that are supposed to be resolved by Palestinian and Israeli negotiators. Jerusalem has been envisioned as a shared capital for Israelis and Palestinians in previous negotiating rounds. It is inappropriate for the Senate to undercut the desire of those Israeli and Palestinian negotiators who want to have Jerusalem as their shared capital.
-- S.J.Res.14 conceals the grave damage being done to Palestinians in Jerusalem by Israel's construction of an illegal wall and the expansion of its illegal settlements there. Recently, Israel announced plans to add 3,500 housing units to the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The expansion of this illegal settlement will sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank and prevent the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. In defiance of the International Court of Justice, Israel is continuing to build an illegal wall around and through Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, turning them into disconnected and unsustainable ghettoes.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.
Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.

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APRIL 10, 2005: CONTACT CATERPILLAR

We are sending you this action alert in conjunction with a campaign initiated by Amnesty International. The goal of this campaign is to pressure Caterpillar Inc. stop selling Israel armored bulldozers that are used to demolish homes of innocent Palestinian civilians.

On Wednesday April 13^th, the annual Caterpillar shareholders meeting will be held in Chicago. This date has been declared an international day of action against Caterpillar. In observance of this day we request that you contact Caterpillar Inc. and send a message based on the talking points below.

ACTION:

CONTACT CATERPILLAR INC.
DEMAND THAT THEY STOP SELLING LIFE-DESTROYING BULLDOZERS TO ISRAEL.

Time by which action should be taken:

Tuesday evening, April 12

BACKGROUND (adapted from Amnesty International reports):

The Israeli government continues to use Caterpillar bulldozers illegally to destroy hundreds of family's homes and possessions, in support of Israel's overall policy of forced eviction and demolition of homes of Palestinians living both in the Occupied Territories and in Israel. Recently, Israel announced its intention to suspend its policy of "punitive" house demolitions. However, that category of demolitions constituted only a small percentage of all such actions, and numerous other homes remain under threat of demolition. One target is the homes that are in the path of Israel's "Separation Wall" that is being constructed well inside the territory of the West Bank, cutting off large portions of Palestinian land from access to its owners.

Forced evictions and house demolitions are usually carried out without warning, often at night, and the occupants are given little or no time to leave their homes. Often the only warning is the rumbling of the Israeli army’s bulldozers and tanks and the inhabitants barely have time to flee as the bulldozers begin to tear down the walls of their homes. In the wake of the demolitions men, women and children return to the ruins of their homes searching for whatever can be salvaged from under the rubble: passports or other documents, children’s schoolbooks, clothes, kitchenware or furniture that was not destroyed.

Many of these demolitions have been carried out using specialized “D9” series bulldozers. Caterpillar promotes these bulldozers as having the “flexibility to respond to the specialized unique needs of U.S. military and government agencies along with foreign militaries…We are also well staffed to design and manufacture high priority military modifications for our standard products such as armor kits…”

It was a D-9 series bulldozer that was used by the Israeli military in the killing of Rachel Corrie. Corrie, a US. citizen, was trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian civilian's home in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip when an Israeli army bulldozer ran her over, crushing her to death. The D-9 has also been implicated in the deaths of Palestinians.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Below are several ways to contact Caterpillar:

1. Go to Caterpillar's contact form at their web site to post a letter:
http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=37391&x=7

2. Call Caterpillar's Corporate Public Affairs Office: (309) 675-4388

3. Write a letter:
Mr. James W. Owens
Chair and CEO, Caterpillar, Inc.
100 NE Adams Street
Peoria, Illinois 61629-1425

TALKING POINTS:

Express concern about Caterpillar bulldozers being used by the Israeli army to commit human rights violations in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

--In the past four and a half years the Israeli army has used Caterpillar bulldozers among others to demolish more than 7,700 homes,* vast areas of agricultural land and hundreds of other properties in Israel and the Occupied Territories. The destruction of these properties constitutes widespread violations of the right to adequate housing and a decent standard of living for tens of thousands of people. (*for figures on demolitions see www.miftah.org)

--Although Caterpillar sells its bulldozers to the U.S. government, Caterpillar has been made aware of the fact -- through Amnesty International and many others -- that its bulldozers are being sold by the U.S. government through US Foreign Military Sales to Israel.

Urge Caterpillar to take the following actions:

--Caterpillar has claimed that the D-9 bulldozers are transferred to Israel through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program. Given this, Caterpillar Inc. should immediately request the U.S. government stop the transfer of these bulldozers until enforceable guarantees can be obtained that they will no longer be used to commit human rights violations. This suspension should also apply to spare parts, training and other support whether supplied by Caterpillar directly or through the US government.

--Caterpillar Inc. should adopt a code of conduct that complies with the United Nations Human Rights Norms for Business (UN Norms). Caterpillar should appoint an independent committee to determine whether the sale of its equipment to the Israeli military conforms to its Code of Worldwide Business Conduct.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter

For more information and background on the use of Caterpillar's bulldozers in the Occupied Territories, to Amnesty International's site:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=11671

Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.

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MARCH 29, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON SEPARATION WALL

CALL CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT THE ILLEGAL DIVISION OF JERUSALEM
In our Congressional alert of January 26th, we wrote you about the Expansion of settlements in the Jayyous area and the resulting confiscation and destruction of Palestinian property. Today, in spite of what seem to be advancing peace negotiations and somewhat reduced violence between Israelis and Palestinians, destruction of Palestinian property and curtailment of Palestinian rights continue rapidly. One of the greatest causes of destruction -- and thus emblematic of the continuing occupation -- is the Separation Wall that the Israeli government is building throughout the occupied West Bank. [1]

We would like to call your attention to a request posted by the Israeli Coalition Against House Demolitions, asking that informed citizens contact their Congressional representatives to oppose the division of Jerusalem caused by the ongoing construction of the Separation Wall. [2]

Construction of the Separation Wall in the Jerusalem area began in August 2002 and during the past year has begun to surround the Jerusalem municipality. It already cuts off Abu Dis and several other villages from Jerusalem, the economic, cultural and political center of the West Bank.

Unless they have Jerusalem IDs, Palestinians from the West Bank, Including the villages only a kilometer or two away, will be prohibited from accessing the city that they have named as their capital. Additionally, in July Palestinians from East Jerusalem will be prohibited from traveling to the West Bank without a permit. This constitutes the separation of East Jerusalem from the West Bank. Meanwhile, news reports this week inform us that 3,500 new housing units are to be constructed in the Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem. The expansion of this settlement, in violation of international law and the Roadmap peace plan, will further cut the West Bank into geographically separate cantons, rendering a future Palestinian state unviable. [3]

A stark example of the damage caused by the Wall in the Jerusalem area is found in the village of Sheikh Sa'ad, just southeast of the Jerusalem municipality. In late September of 2000, the Israeli army blocked the road out of Sheik Sa'ad with a pile of rubble, making traffic between this village and Jerusalem almost impossible. Because of the conditions caused by the separation, at least 30% of the residents have left the village. Difficult as it is now, when the Separation Wall passes through thisarea in a few months, it will completely sever the village from Jerusalem. It will mean the complete economic death of Sheikh Sa'ad. [4]

Another instance of the drastic effect of the construction of the Wall in the area around East Jerusalem is found in Beit Hanina, the neighborhood bordering Ramallah to the north of Jerusalem. There, the Israeli army has blocked the road that connects two parts of the town. Those living in one part of the town lost their jobs in the other part after the road was closed. Travel restrictions have caused the closure of event halls, factories, butcher shops, a dental clinic and a private school. The rent market has collapsed as well, leaving hundreds of apartments empty. Among other hardships, the completed Separation Wall will prevent people in the western part of the town from reaching the hospital. [5]
With these actions Israel is violating Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which confirms the right to
Freedom of movement. Additionally, Article 43 of the Hague Regulations demand that the occupying power should make every effort it can to ensure that public life continues in the area under its control.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please contact your government representatives. Most of them have not displayed concern about the security and rights of the Palestinians under occupation. They need facts about the occupation, and they need to be informed that they have constituents who care about this issue. Only this pressure will help them change their positions. Phone, fax, or email your Senators, your Congressperson, and/or their foreign affairs aide. Keep in mind that one fax is worth many e-mails. Since we do not have direct access to our Senators, please try to speak to the aide most familiar with the issues we are addressing. It is helpful to make follow-up calls to ask aides what actions they have taken.

Time by which action should be taken:
--This is an ongoing campaign. Please call or write in the next few days.

TALKING POINTS:

The essential purpose of the Separation Wall, notwithstanding Israeli
rhetoric to the contrary, is to annex Palestinian land and to create a de facto new Israeli border with the West Bank. Construction of the wall, still proceeding at full pace, is cutting the West Bank into small, geographically separate cantons, and separating Palestinian villagers from their farmland and from the towns and cities where they work. This fragmentation of Palestinian territory makes ordinary life and self-governance impossible.

Most extreme among these separations is the restriction of access to Jerusalem for residents of the West Bank. Jerusalem is the heart of Palestine's commercial and spiritual life, and its fate should be a matter for negotiations, not the result of a the forced construction of an illegal barrier. If the Wall continues simply to be forced through the West Bank countryside, it will leave a permanent cause for resentment and hostility among the Palestinians.

Last year the International Court of Justice (World Court) found the Separation Wall to be a grave violation of international law covering military occupation. (URL reference here) The ICJ called upon the international community to sanction Israel for this destructive project.[6]

As citizens of the United States -- the strongest supporter of Israel – we must call upon our representatives to act in accord with the World Court's recommendations.

We urge our Senators and Representatives to pressure the Israeli government to halt the construction of the Separation Wall and the division of East Jerusalem. Current travel barriers should be removed, and no new ones should be put in their place. The fate of Jerusalem and its access to Palestinians must be the subject of negotiations, not the de facto result of unilateral actions by Israel.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members:
http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To Access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Murray's Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
To fax or e-mail Senator Murray: Fax: (206) 553-0891;
E-mail: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Cantwell's Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
To fax or email Senator Cantwell: Fax: 206-220-6404;
Email: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
It would be very helpful if you could write us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org, describing to us your interaction with
any government officials over this issue.
Thank you!
Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle
Resources:
[1] Documents about the Wall supplied by the PLO Negotiations and Affairs
Department:
http://www.nad-plo.org/listing.php?view=palisraeli_wall_primary
Maps of the Wall: http://www.nad-plo.org/listing.php?view=maps_wall
Also: http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3178&CategoryId=21
[2] ICAHD (Israeli Coalition Against House Demolitions)
http://www.icahd.org/
Action alerts from ICAHD:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/icahdaction/
[3] "And the Land Grab Continues," Article from Miftah.org on recent
Israeli government approval of construction of additional 3,500 housing units at Maale Adumim. http://www.miftah.org/Index.cfm
[4] Information from Israeli human rights organization B'tselem on Sheik Sa'ad and other issues around Jerusalem: http://www.btselem.org/english/Separation_Barrier/Jerusalem.asp
[5] Khaled Odetalah (2005), Beit Hanina - a ghetto under construction:
http://www.pngo.net/campaigns/Beit_Hanina_impact_of_Wall.htm
Map of Beit Hanina: http://www.pngo.net/campaigns/Beit_Hanina_Wall.pdf
[6] Ruling on Separation Wall by International Court of Justice:
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2004/ipresscom2004-2_summary_mwp_2
0040709.htm

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FEBRUARY 5, 2005: P.I. MISSES THE POINT
Action Requested: Please write a response to the PI editorial, "A Moment of Hope", cited below. While it is always hopeful when violence by Israelis and Palestinians might decrease and when negotiations rather than unilateral action are emphasized, the PI has missed the important context of the ongoing occupation and Israeli land grab, conditions that are impossible for ordinary Palestinians to ignore. It was once aptly said that the way Israel negotiates is like talking about how to split up a pizza while you keep eating one piece after another.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Sunday, February 6
--Still Helpful: Thursday, February 10

News item:
"A Moment of Hope"
Friday, February 4, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/210625_summited.html?searchpagefrom=2&searchdiff=2
The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.

Context:
Indeed, things are a little hopeful now. 900 (out of 7,000) Palestinian political prisoners will likely be released; there might be less suicide bombing and less shooting of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers; Israel may put its policy of extrajudicial assassinations on hold for a while. On the other hand, the Israeli land grab continues completely undisturbed and uncriticized, including construction of new sections of the Separation Wall, demolitions of houses and farmland in the "seam zone" between the wall and the Green Line (the internationally recognized border), ongoing Israeli settlement construction, the introduction of new measures to separate Palestinian East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, and plans to build a huge moat on Palestinian land between Gaza and Egypt involving the demolition of hundreds or thousands of additional Palestinian homes. Israel has even asked the US to fund $180 million in new high tech checkpoints in its illegal separation wall which cuts through Palestinian land. Israel claims this wall is "only temporary".

Talking Points:

1) While politicians and editors are crowing with "optimism", Israeli bulldozers continue their deadly work undisturbed and Israeli state and army lawyers rationalize these illegal acts. For Palestinians, nothing significant has changed. Their land is still being ripped out from under them. They are still being humiliated at checkpoints set up by Israeli soldiers on Palestinian territory. Their children are still being shot by Israeli soldiers. Their economy is still being "de-developed" by the Israeli siege.

2) This is also a dangerous moment in that, if history is any indication, negotiations may be hailed as leading to "a two state Middle East peace solution" (as the PI editors put it), but what they may really lead to is a "one state (Israel), several reservations (Palestine), temporary, peace-without-justice non-solution" and later, inevitably, to a third Intifada (uprising). There can be no lasting peace without justice. Palestinians must have a VIABLE state over which they have TRUE sovereignty, and not self-determination in name only.

3) The editorial states that "Sharon has made clear to the Israeli public that he is prepared to make painful concessions for peace." Sharon has proposed that Israel withdraw its settlers, and the soldiers who protect them, from Gaza and four insignificant outposts in the West Bank. But, Israeli military, political and negotiating strategy has always been and continues to be based on an effort to get the most land with the fewest Palestinians.

Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and, by contrast to the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) where there are 400,000 illegal Israeli settlers, in Gaza there are only some 8,000. Unlike the West Bank, including East Jersualem, Gaza is not rich in natural resources and areas of profound historical, religious and political importance to Israel.

Sharon makes no concession at all in "disengaging" from Gaza. "Disengagement" does not constitute liberation for the Palestinians who will still be imprisoned there. Israel will sub-contract the occupation to the Palestinian Authority and cease to be responsible for the well-being of the Palestinians who have been made starving and homeless by Israel's seige and house demolition program. In addition, Israel will maintain control over Gaza's borders, water resources and air and sea space. The Gaza withdrawal plan is a coup for Sharon, especially on the PR front where he can claim to be making huge concessions and fool the likes of the editors of the PI. Meanwhile, Sharon's eye remains focused unwaveringly on the valuable East Jerusalem and West Bank land that he wants for the Israeli state.

4) The editorial states that "Abbas won a legitimate election and has cooled anti-Israeli violence". Abbas won in a dubious election. It is extremely difficult to carry out any kind of free and fair election under conditions of military dictatorship imposed by an occupying power. Abbas's main rival, Moustafa Barghouthi (as well as other candidates), was not able to campaign freely within East Jerusalem and Gaza. He was beaten, arrested and detained for long periods by Israeli authorities, while their chosen candidate, Abbas, was accorded full freedom of movement. One of Barghouthi's campaign aides was shot dead by Israeli soldiers while hanging political posters in Gaza. Additionally, Israeli authorities allowed only 5,000 of the 180,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem to cast a vote.

5) While the PI and most other media outlets have been thoroughly focused on the need to stop Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians, especially that that facilitates the continuation of the construction of the illegal separation wall and of illegal Israeli settlements, has continued apace, with no criticism, or even notice, being lavished on it by the US press. Palestinian and Israeli violence are not discussed on equal terms and the victims are not mourned with equal attention or feeling. Do we care less about one people than another? If so, that is a questionable, indeed racist, point of departure for any reporting and analysis.

Full text of article:
Friday, February 4, 2005
"A moment of hope"

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Israel and the Palestinian leadership have reached a moment of hope. In a region where violence has a way of destroying optimism, the Bush administration and the world must stand ready to preserve the prospects for peace.
President Bush's policies certainly helped create the possibility of Tuesday's summit. The more direct credit goes to a patient Israeli public and Palestinians who have elected a leader whose policies offer a peace settlement.
But creating the terms of a workable peace agreement will challenge the leadership skills of everyone involved. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the newly elected Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet in Egypt.
They will have some support on hand from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, representing the only Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the region in advance, setting up a possibility she could stay for the summit.
On twisting paths, Israelis and Palestinians have brought themselves to this promising point. While protecting security, Sharon has made clear to the Israeli public that he is prepared to make painful concessions for peace. Mubarak, who invited the leaders to the summit, has said Sharon is the Palestinians' best hope for a deal. Abbas won a legitimate election and has cooled anti-Israeli violence.
Sharon and Abbas have differing ideas on the next steps toward peace. But for the first time since 2000, the top Israeli and Palestinian leaders will meet. If a two-state Middle East peace solution is to have a chance, that's something Americans must support.

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JANUARY 26, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON JAYYOUS LAND THEFT

Call Congressional representatives and the State Department about the Jayyous land grab.

We would like to call your attention to a national campaign spearheaded by the Rhode Island Qalqilya Alliance, requesting that informed citizens write or call their congressional representatives and the U.S. State Department to oppose the destruction of village farmlands for the expansion of an Israeli settlement planned on Jayyous property.

Please call and/or email the Foreign Affairs aides of your Senators. Insist that they inform the Senators of the urgency of the situation in Jayyous. We are asking the Senators to write a letter to the State Department and the Israeli Embassy to protest the destruction of Jayyous lands and the illegal Israeli settlement planned on village property. We are also asking the Senators to write a “Dear Colleague” letter or initiate a Resolution to protect Jayyous and oppose ongoing settlement expansion.

Adam Smith (R-WA 9th) is on the House International Relations Committee and has just returned from a trip to Israel. He has yet to make a public statement about his experience there. If you are in his district we urge you to call or write his Foreign Affairs aides with our concerns about the Israeli land grab.

Please call William Burns, Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs, at the State Department. Urge him to direct representatives from the American Embassy and American Consulate in Jerusalem to go to Jayyous to speak with farmers and see for themselves the destruction Israel is perpetrating on Palestinian lands.

Contact information and talking points follow after the background on Jayyous.

Background on Jayyous:

Ongoing construction of the Separation Wall between Palestinian towns and Palestinian farmland is engineered to annex valuable West Bank property to Israel. This is how it's done, as exemplified on the lands of Jayyous: first the wall creates a new border where the Israeli government would like the border to be (in places, veering as much as four miles into the West Bank, away from the internationally recognized "Green Line"); then the land between the wall and the Green Line is developed by the expansion of settlements in order to make the "new border" a permanent fact. This deprives Palestinians both of their livelihood and of hope for a viable Palestinian state.

The destruction of land, the process of annexation, and the ongoing ethnic cleansing are taking place at a vicious rate to the village of Jayyous. The farmers who are losing their lands have documents to prove their ownership and are in the process of taking legal action against the Israeli government to stop the illegal expansion of the settlement of Zufin. They need our help. This is a good opportunity to explain to members of Congress and the American public what is happening throughout the West Bank. For the people of Jayyous, stopping the destruction of their farmland and the planned construction of Zufin is critical to the survival of their village. Many residents of Jayyous have been forced to leave due to loss of their lands, and more will be leaving if this land theft is not stopped.

To understand more about what is happening to Jayyous, and to read about US Senators’ attempts to bring the State Department's attention to this issue, read Pricilla Read's article "U.S. should help stop Israeli land grab.” This article can be found at http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/projo_20050114_14read.2e67e.html. To read "The 'olive branch' that ought to cross the wall" by Abdul-Latif Khaled, a Palestinian from Jayyous, go to: http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1221/p09s02-coop.htm.

Talking points:

<> Under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan, accepted by Israel and the Palestinians, Israel is required to stop further settlement building in the Occupied Territories. Yet Israel continues construction of settlements throughout the West Bank. In the last few weeks in the Jayyous area alone, and despite nonviolent protests by Palestinian villagers, farmland has been destroyed and Israeli bulldozers have uprooted hundreds of olive trees in order to clear land for the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Zufin. This is blatant theft of private property, in violation of international law, and proof that the purpose of the wall is not for security, but for annexation of more Palestinian lands and resources. For more information on land confiscation at Jayyous, including maps and details of legal actions go to: www.RIQA.info, and http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763.

Currently there is yet another instance of massive confiscation of Palestinian land taking place in East Jerusalem. For more information on this, see: http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/01/25/opinion/edsiegman.html ; http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5200774.html

<> The expansion of the Zufin settlement is the latest step in a long program of ethnic cleansing directed at Jayyous. Jayyous has suffered land and water theft by Israel since 1948. Consequently, members of a community that would otherwise be self-sufficient are being forced to leave their homeland for economic reasons. Half of the village is already in exile and half of those who remain now rely on foreign aid.

<> The United States Administration claims to promote a peaceful resolution to this conflict in an impartial way. But, not only does it turn a blind eye to Israel's brutal military occupation in the Palestinian territories, it also supplies Israel with $3 to $6 billion in aid every year. In addition to this amount, Israel is now asking for another $180 million to pay for new high tech checkpoints in the wall, claiming that this will help Palestinians go through the search process faster. This is truly Orwellian. The U.S. has no business paying for a wall that was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice last July.

Contact Info:

Phone numbers and email for U.S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Senator Murray’s Foreign Affairs aide: Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
To fax or email Senator Murray: Fax: (206) 553-0891; Email (cut and paste into url): murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Senator Cantwell’s Foreign Affairs aide: Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
To fax or email Senator Cantwell: Fax: 206-220-6404; Email (cut and paste into url): cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html

Adam Smith (R, WA): Smith’s Foreign Affairs aide, John Mulligan, in Washington: (202) 225-8901; Foreign Affairs aide, Sean Eagan, in Tacoma: (253) 593-6600; Fax: (253) 593-6776

State Department Near East Desk:

William Burns, Assistant Secretary: (202) 647-7209; Fax: (202) 736-4462.
Daniel Rubinstein, Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs: (202) 267-2647

Call one or both of your Senators’ Foreign Affairs aides. Since we do not have direct access to our Senators, it’s imperative that we speak to the aide most familiar with the issues we are addressing. If you can make more calls, call the State Department numbers. You might get the run-around from the State Department, saying that they can't do anything without hearing from elected officials. As part of the executive branch, the State Department takes orders from the Bush Administration. However, we are more likely to get a response from them if our efforts are paralleled by the efforts of our elected officials. If you are able, after a couple days please make follow up calls; ask them what they've done. If they’ve done nothing, ask them why they are allowing such blatant illegal behavior from Israel to go unchallenged.

It would be very helpful if you could write us at alerts@palestineinformation.org, describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.

Thank you!
Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle

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JANUARY 16, 2005: ERLANGER in the P.I.

Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your dissatisfaction with the unbalanced nature of Saturday's article by Steven Erlanger on page A4, a reprint from the New York Times. The article, referring to the Israeli government's recently-declared suspension of contact with all Palestinian institutions, places a disproportionate amount of the burden of peace-making on the Palestinians, and fails to recognize Israeli responsibility for the ongoing conflict.

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, January 17
--Still Helpful: Friday, January 21

News item: Sharon cuts Palestinian ties, says Abbas must bring end to attacks
By Steven Erlanger, The New York Times

The P.I., Saturday, January 15, 2005 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/208012_mid15.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=2
The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.

Why we are asking you to write:

One of the fundamental arguments of those who directly or indirectly support Israel's occupation of Palestinian land is that the Palestinian Authority must bring an end to Palestinian attacks against Israelis before any peace negotiations can take place. This gambit of placing an impossible demand on the P.A., while ignoring Israeli responsibilities, is widely circulated in the mainstream press. It implicitly denies the possibility that the Israeli occupation is the root of the violence, and it effectively supports the perpetuation of that occupation.

The Erlanger article focuses exclusively on Palestinian violence and the failure of Mahmoud Abbas's new government to reign in violence -- even though Abbas had barely been elected when the attack in question took place. It does not mention the ongoing violence committed against Palestinians (for example, six Palestinians were killed in Gaza at the end of last week), nor Israel's obligation, under the Road Map peace plan, to end the construction of new settlements in the Occupied Territories. Israel's promise to halt settlement construction is violated repeatedly throughout the West Bank, notably most recently in the vicinity of the Palestinian town of Jayyous, where orchards are being uprooted to make way for massive expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Zufin.

Talking points for letter writing:

--The article focuses on Palestinian violence to the exclusion of the wanton ongoing violence that the Israeli army commits against the Palestinians. Since the beginning of the Intifada, roughly four times as many Palestinians have been killed as Israelis.

--The article fails to address Israeli obligations. Under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan, accepted by Israel and the Palestinians, Israel is required to stop further settlement building in the Occupied Territories. Quite the opposite has happened. In the last few weeks in the Jayyous area alone, despite nonviolent protests by Palestinian villagers, Palestinian orchards, farmland, and greenhouses have been destroyed in order to clear land for the expansion of the Zufin settlement. For more information on land confiscation at Jayyous, see http://www.skjpag.org/%20riqahome.htmand http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1372963,00.html

For general information on the ongoing Israeli land grab in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/524066.html

--The ongoing construction of the separation Wall between Palestinian towns and Palestinian farmland is engineered to annex valuable West Bank property to Israel. First, the barrier is constructed in places where the Israeli government would like to establish a new border, and then the space between Israel proper and the wall is in a way that makes the 'new border' a permanent fact. This process deprives Palestinians both of their livelihood and of the hope for a viable Palestinian state -- hardly a way to discourage terrorism. For current maps of Jayyous and Zufin go to: http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/832.shtml.

--The United States Administration claims to promote a peaceful resolution to this conflict in an impartial way. But not only does it turn a blind eye to Israel's brutal military occupation in the Palestinian territories, it also supplies Israel with $3 to $6 billion in aid every year. And while Colin Powell castigates the newly elected President Abbas for not having reigned in Palestinian extremists, no criticism is made of Israel's ongoing land confiscation and illegal settlement building.

Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com

Full text of article:

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Sharon cuts Palestinian ties Says Abbas must bring end to attacks

By STEVEN ERLANGER THE NEW YORK TIMES

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered yesterday that all government officials cut ties with the Palestinian Authority and that the Gaza Strip be sealed until Palestinian leaders move to curb terrorism. He issued the order a day after Palestinian militants killed six Israelis at a checkpoint on the Gaza border.

"The prime minister has instructed all members of the government to cease all contact with the Palestinian Authority until they take the necessary steps to curb and stop terrorism," said Ranaan Gissin, a senior aide to Sharon. "We are suspending contacts until they investigate this incident and bring to justice those who planned it, and take real steps to stop terrorism."

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a radio interview that he hoped the action by Sharon would be "just a temporary breach," but that the Israeli leader needed to send a signal to Palestinians that they have to stop the attacks on Israelis.

Any meeting between Sharon and the newly elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, would have to wait for the Palestinian security forces to move against the militants, Gissin said.

"This will send a very clear and unequivocal message to the Palestinians," he said. "Where are the Palestinian preventive-security forces? They need to deploy and present themselves on the ground in Gaza to prevent such actions."

The attack Thursday night appeared to have been coordinated with Palestinian security forces around the Karni terminal, Gissin added.

Earlier, Israeli officials had said they would give Abbas, who will be sworn in today, time to reorganize his security services and take action against militants such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

Sharon's decision was unexpected, because it seemed to allow the militants to distort the Israeli-Palestinian agenda before Abbas could even form a new government.

Sharon spoke to Abbas earlier this week to congratulate him on his election and begin to plan a meeting; one of his senior advisers, Dov Weissglas, has regular contact with senior Palestinians, as do Israeli military officers.

Israeli officials believe that Abbas can take the measures they are asking: arresting those responsible for the attacks and deploying Palestinian security forces. But it is unclear how forcefully Abbas feels he can move against Palestinian militants.

Sharon's actions, officials said, were intended to protect his plan to pull Israeli settlements out of Gaza, which he cannot do politically under Palestinian fire.

Sharon also appears to be trying to puncture Western optimism over the death of Yasser Arafat and the election of Abbas in his place, while emphasizing Israel's bottom line for progress: Israel will not negotiate while its citizens are being attacked.

Sharon has been pressured by the European Union and the Israeli left to hold early talks about a Palestinian state to strengthen Abbas. But Sharon aides and the military are resisting, believing that this is precisely the mistake made in the Oslo accords of 1993 and should not be repeated.

*"We are not going back to the days when we had attacks in the morning, funerals in the afternoon and negotiations at night, as if nothing had happened," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.*

Palestinians said the Israelis' demands were unreasonable and counterproductive.

"We reject that you hold Abu Mazen responsible because he is not sworn in yet as president," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator, using the name Abbas is popularly known by. "The only way to end this vicious cycle of violence is by resuming peace talks and not suspending them."

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DECEMBER 29, 2004: THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES
Please thank Seattle Times for editorial column showing map of Qalqilya and explaining how Israel's wall constitutes a land grab

Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, December 30
--Still Helpful: Wednesday, January 5

Short listing of news item:
Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist

Israel's circuitous wall puts chokehold on Palestinians
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 : Editorials & Opinion
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=rams29&date=20041229&query=%22Bruce+Ramsey%22

The full text of the article is included at the end of this email. Unfortunately, we are not able to show you the map, which accords with maps created by the Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO, and is an accurate map as far as we know. If you have the print version of the Times, you can see it there. But you can easily write your response without seeing the map, as the columnist describes it.

Why we are asking you to write: Usually we will ask you to write critiques of misleading media pieces. This is an unusual opportunity. In a mostly unprecedented move, the Times has printed both the truth about the annexation wall and the map that proves what the wall is really for. We wish to encourage future writing of this kind. Additionally, the Times will receive many letters castigating the columnist and the paper for having taken this step. Your letters will help soften the blow.

Talking points for letter writing:

Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.

--Why this is a good column: Many Americans do not understand very much about the Israeli wall, the strategy behind its route (which is to keep as many Palestinians as possible out of the future boundaries of Israel and as much Palestinian land as possible in), and its real-life effects both on Palestinian people and on the viability, or lack thereof, of a future Palestinian state. The reason for this lack of understanding is that the US media generally does not tell this story. Mr. Ramsey is to be commended for printing both the facts and the map. In particular, Mr. Ramsey's description of the wall's strategy and effect as "gerrymandering," or "the redrawing of boundaries for political gain," is a highly apt analogy.

Some points Mr. Ramsey left out and which you can add. Don't criticize him for leaving them out. After he printed the map (which was an excellent choice), he didn't have much space left:

-- Building and expanding Israeli settlements, like Zufin and Alfe Menashe, on Palestinian land is illegal: Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." This means that Israel cannot legally facilitate the movement of settlers to the West Bank (including East
Jerusalem).

--On July 9 of this year, the International Court of Justice in the Hague declared the Israeli wall illegal due to its route through Palestinian lands and stated that the wall should be dismantled. The world, with the US as its leader, is ignoring its responsiblities in this regard. The Palestinians brought their case against the wall to the Hague, received a just ruling, and are still waiting for it to be carried out.

-- The wall is only part of the larger problem of Israeli military occupation: In the Occupied Territories, Palestinians have no freedom of speech or movement or assembly, can be arrested and imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial, and are subject to assassination, torture, and collective punishment. The upcoming Palestinian elections are all well and good, but no change in Palestinian leadership will make much difference as long as Israel maintains these conditions of military dictatorship. As long as Palestinian farmland and water wells continue to be confiscated on a daily basis by the Israeli army and its subcontractors and as long as Palestinian houses and olive groves continue to be demolished to clear land for the Israeli wall and for new Israeli colonies, there is not much chance for a just peace.
--On the northern side of the illegal Israeli settlement of Zufin, further land for its expansion is being confiscated from the Palestinian village of Jayyous, RIGHT NOW. As Mr. Ramsey points out, this is part of a larger strategy to annex the land between the artificial border created by Israel's wall and the internationally recognized border between Israeli and Palestinian territory known as the Green Line. The Israeli human rights group, Bimkom, reports that the Israeli government plans to expand Zufin from 200 to 1400 homes. The PLO estimates that Israel is planning an additional 1,670 units in Zufin. For more information on the Jayyous land grab subsequent to the construction of the wall through Jayyous, you may want to read one of the following recent articles: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1372963,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position
The second one has some inaccuracies, but it is the first account printed in the US mainstream press.

Full text of article:

Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist
Israel's circuitous wall puts chokehold on Palestinians

Here is a map that tells a story few Americans know.
Americans have seen photos of Israel's wall in the West Bank. It looks much like the old Berlin Wall, which was built to keep people in. Israel's wall is supposed to keep terrorists out. It is labeled a defensive wall.
Consider the map, a detail of the border along the West Bank. The border is the dotted line. Israel's wall is the black line.
Americans will recognize its shape: It is gerrymandering, the redrawing of boundaries for political gain. Israel drew this new line and, as you might expect, every square inch of the gain is Israel's. The wall does not loop into Israeli territory to favor Palestinian towns. Here it loops into Palestinian territory to favor two Israeli settlements, Zufin and Alfe Menashe. These land claims act as pincers, squeezing Qalqilya into a congested enclave.
I talked to several Seattle people who went to Qalqilya. Robert Becker, 39, a graphic designer, visited in 2003 as part of the pro-Palestine International Solidarity Movement.
"It's surreal," he said. At the Western edge of Qalqilya is a high concrete wall with a guard tower. Outside the town, it is a barrier of razor wire, ditches and a patrolled road. For the Palestinian farmers separated from their fields and water wells, Israel has provided two crossings at Qalqilya. Becker visited one that was open 4:30 to 4:45 a.m., 12:30 to 12:45 p.m. and 5 to 5:15 p.m. Imagine farming under such circumstances — and if the owners don't farm their property, they fear it will be declared abandoned, and confiscated.
Long-term, the problem is the settlements. The people there are making not only a property claim with their personal assets but a sovereignty claim for Israel. In effect, they are attempting to move Israel's frontiers at the expense of any future Palestinian state.
The appetite, Palestinians say, is for land. "I'm a Christian Palestinian," says Michael Tarazi, legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization. "They don't want me in their country. I'm a demographic threat. But they do want my land."
Israel's original land grant, made by the United Nations in 1947, was for 55 percent of Palestine. After the 1948 war, Israel held 78 percent. The wall is an attempt to annex some of the choicest bits of the other 22 percent.
All this time, Israel's friends have defined the wall as a barrier to terrorism and a bulwark of Israel's right to exist — that is, as defense.
It does that. And some other things, as this map illustrates.
Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com. Look for more of his thoughts on the STOP blog, our editorial online journal at www.seattletimes.com/stop

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