Does your congressperson represent you -- or Israel?
source: http://www.alternet.org/story/151953/does_your_congressperson_represent_you__or_israel
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- maasanova
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In this time of economic austerity, when jobs are being slashed and Americans are fearful about their future, the Congressional recess is the time for our elected representatives to be home in their districts, reaching out to their constituents and servicing the people they are paid to represent.
Instead, this August one out of every five representatives will be taking a junket to Israel, compliments of an affiliate of the Israel lobby AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) but still clocked in on the taxpayer’s dime.
Going on an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel is the moral equivalent of using an Anglo-Boer travel company to visit apartheid-era South Africa. Although they claim to be visiting leaders “across the political spectrum”, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, you can bet your bottom dollar that AIPAC will not be giving these 81 Congresspeople a fair and balanced view of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
They won’t observe one of the weekly demonstrations in Bi’lin or Nabi Saleh, where Israeli soldiers routinely tear gas and arrest non-violent protesters. They won’t spend time with grieving Palestinians whose homes have been demolished to make way for more Jewish-only housing. They won’t spend a few hours at a checkpoint to witness how Palestinians are detained, abused and humiliated, or how this “thriving democracy” forbids Palestinians from driving on Jewish-only roads.
They won’t go to Gaza, where 1.5 million people are suffering under an unbearable siege, unable to travel freely, conduct business transactions across borders or even rebuild their homes destroyed by the Israeli invasion. And they won’t likely be visiting the burgeoning tent cities in Tel Aviv where hundreds of thousands of Israelis are currently camped out protesting the lack of affordable housing, gas and food.
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KurtLewin
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How can we, in good conscience, ignore this regime?
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412015&utm_source=twitterfee... - 1 year ago
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KurtLewin
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KurtLewin
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This is the quintessential issue of our time, and the press does not inform us. We must take responsibility to be informed on this issue, for eventually it WILL affect us. The rest of the world is no longer tolerant of the special relationship between US and Israel. Our policies in the Middle East make us a target of hatred.
Recent tweet from @AAIUSA
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer encouraged a group of world ambassadors to oppose Palestinians' UN bid 4 recognition: politi.co/mPV36DKnow what your legislators are doing in your name on this issue.
- 1 year ago
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KurtLewin
