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Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Protest the Role of AIPAC in US Policy toward Palestine/Israel
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Protest the Role of AIPAC in US Policy toward Palestine/Israel
"Washington Wednesday" Action Alert
Date: June 1, 2005
BACKGROUND
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its annual policy conference in Washington, DC on May 22-24. AIPAC is an organization that lobbies on behalf of Israel for US military and economic aid to support Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. AIPAC's one-sided agenda is partly responsible for the highly unbalanced US policy toward Palestine/Israel.
A mid-level Defense Department analyst, Larry Franklin, was arrested recently for allegedly passing US intelligence to two AIPAC officials who were subsequently fired and are also under investigation. It is believed that this information was then passed to Israel. They will shortly be charged with espionage, according to a recent article in Haaretz. Despite the gravity of the charge, Members of Congress and the Bush Administration continued to laud AIPAC and the US-Israel relationship at its annual conference. Among the speakers at the conference were Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Bill Frist (R-TN), and Harry Reid (D-NV), Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Dennis Hastert (R-IL), and Jane Harman (D-CA).
TAKE ACTION
1) Contact your Members of Congress and ask them to have AIPAC register as an agent of a foreign government.
Contact information for your Members of Congress can be found at www.congress.org but for specific addresses of Congressional members who spoke at the conference, see below.
AIPAC describes itself as "America's Pro-Israel Lobby" and closely coordinates policy with the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC and the Israeli government, making it an agent of a foreign government. AIPAC should not be allowed to keep its 501(c)(3) tax-deductible charitable status, but should be required to register as a lobbyist for a foreign agent.
2) Contact the seven Members of Congress and the Bush Administration who participated in the AIPAC conference and made remarks supporting or ignoring Israel's illegal military occupation:
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA-8), Democratic Minority Leader of the House, denied that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is the primary reason for the continuation of the conflict. According to Pelosi, "There are those who contend that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about Israel?s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. This is absolute nonsense. In truth, the history of the conflict is not over occupation, and never has been: it is over the fundamental right of Israel to exist." Source: http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=999
Contact info for Rep. Pelosi: Phone: (202) 225-4965, Fax: (202) 225-8259, Email: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apparently believes that military occupations promote "real democracies" in the Middle East. Rice thought it "incredible" that some in the Arab media "have even asked why the only real democracies in the Middle East are found in the 'occupied lands' of Iraq and the Palestinian territories." Source: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/46625.htm
Contact info for Sec. Rice:
Phone: 202-647-5291
Email: http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) ignored Israel's denial of human rights, freedom, and self-determination to the Palestinian people and insisted that what unites Israel and the United States is the promotion of these values. According to Sen. Clinton,
"I want to start by focusing on our deep and lasting bond between the United States and Israel. Now, these are bonds that are more than shared interests. These are bonds forged in a common struggle for human rights, for democracy, for freedom; they are rooted in fundamental beliefs and values about the dignity and rights of men and women to live in freedom, free from fear, free from oppression." Source: http://clinton.senate.gov/~clinton/speeches/2005524910.html
Contact info for Sen. Clinton:
Phone (202) 224-4451
Fax: (202) 228-0282
Email: http://www.clinton.senate.gov/email_form.html
Sen. Bill Frist
Phone: (202) 224-3344
Fax: (202) 228-1264
E-mail form: http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorFrist.ContactForm
Rep. Jane Harman
Phone: (202) 225-8220
Fax: (202) 226-7290
E-mail form: http://www.house.gov/harman/emailJane.html
Rep. Dennis Hastert
Phone: (202) 225-2976
Fax: (202) 225-0697
E-Mail form: http://www.house.gov/hastert/write1.shtml
Sen. Harry Reid
Phone: (202) 224-3542
Fax: (202) 224-7327
E-mail form: http://www.reid.senate.gov/email_form.cfm
ABOUT "WASHINGTON WEDNESDAY": The Council for the National Interest collaborates on an action alert the first Wednesday of each month on a topic related to US policy toward Israel and Palestine in association with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and its coalition of 200 member organizations, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Partners for Peace, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
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To make a tax-deductible contribution to the Council for the National Interest Foundation click here:
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=2836
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Council for the National Interest Foundation
1250 4th Street SW, Suite WG-1
Washington, District of Columbia 20024
http://www.cnionline.org/
http://www.rescuemideastpolicy.com/
posted by Somebody @ 8:08 PM Permanent Link
 
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