Rep. Ellison says he isn't assigning blame, but finds destruction hard to understand

[Bjorn Against]

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

Rep. Ellison says he isn't assigning blame, but finds destruction hard to understand
Rep. Ellison toured Gaza for nine hours, will visit Israeli towns Friday.
By Kevin Diaz
Last update: February 19, 2009 - 12:25 PM

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Keith Ellison, one of the first high-level U.S. officials to enter the Gaza Strip in more than three years, said he is haunted by the scenes of destruction from Israel's recent military incursion.

"I have an image of a woman sitting in the rubble of her home burned in my head," the Minnesota Democrat said in a cell phone interview Thursday on his way back to an Israeli check-point.

The second floor of the house he visited had collapsed at an angle. Where a family with five children had once lived, "all that remains is a lean-to," Ellison said.

Ellison, who met with Gaza civilians and relief workers for about nine hours Thursday, said he was not there to assign blame for the violence, though he said the civilian devastation he witnessed was hard for him to understand.


Read more: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/39851042.html?page=1&c=y

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The fact that no other high level US officials have even bothered to visit Gaza in more than three years speaks volumes, if we are ever to see peace then we need to demand that the people in power take the time to understand the horrors of war. Kudos to Congressman Ellison and shame on all of the other US officials who should have taken the time to learn about the situation but chose not to.

[kooljerk666]

1. Keith Ellison is a stand up guy!!

I first heard of him when the wingnuts started crying cause he
was sworn in with the Koran NOT a bible.

I then saw him here  on Democracy Now & was truly
impressed by his intellect & concern for justice.

this is a great interview watch & educate yourselves: 
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/2/rep_keith_ellison_d_minn_condemns

Israel deserves the same treatment South Africa got in the
1980's

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[blm]

2. amazing to me that the reporter didn't notice Sen. Kerry there - especially since Hamas gave

the UN a letter to give Kerry who accepted it to pass on to Obama.

Kerry, Ellison and Baird were there for much more than the standard congressional factfinding mission, imo.

Still.....I wonder how the reporter missed that.

[karynnj]

5. That is rather strange, but they didn't enter Gaza together

Though I can say that Minnesota is doing a much better job coving one of its Congressmen than any MA paper is doing covering their Senator. There is a compelling story here because he is the first Muslim Congressman. From Reuters:

"Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for president in 2004, and two members of the House of Representatives, Brian Baird and Keith Ellison, entered the Gaza Strip separately." Later on they refer to them as the "Kerry led delegation".

The Reuters account, like the coverage all over the middle east and Europe, was better than in the US. http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE51I2IU20090219

[shireen]

9. probably for security reasons

If they traveled as a group, they may be targeted by lunatics. Separate low-profile visits are for their safety.

[Chulanowa]

11. I'm not so certain...

All of the Palestinian groups want the US to hear them out. Hamas and Fatah in particular want to have some sort of relationship with hte United States. I doubt that our senators were in any danger. However... Security is always good!

[karynnj]

15. Here are some links to BBC coverage - thanks to globalvillage's post on DU JK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7898801.stm

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml (One of the Congressmen is interviewed here and does a very very nice job.)

(All I can say is that the BBC puts our media to shame.

Here are some photos from the Boston Globe, which decided to cover their Senator
http://www.boston.com/news/world/gallery/2_19_09_kerry_in_gaza/

[bananas]

18. Destruction is always hard to understand.

[No Elephants]

20. Maybe the answer is

"corporate media?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avista_Capital_Partners

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Ellison is brave and also diplomatic

I'm sure many on the other side of the aisle would like to think that our Muslim Congressman would have automatically condemned Israel. He was diplomatic, but also showed he cared about what happened in Gaza. Very important, I think, that we do this.

[w4rma]

6. A good man. (nt)

[fascisthunter]

7. somebody with some sense on this issue in our government

more should speak up...

[shireen]

8. My heart breaks for Gaza

I don't give a damn about the politics. It's the people, and their pain. I feel just as much sorrow for Israeli victims of bombs.

Thanks, Rep. Ellison, for representing us.

[katty]

10. thank you Keith E

[debbierlus]

12. What they did was a horror and those who perpetrate this violence should be held to acount

Speaking truth is not 'blame'.

It is showing what is -

[DissedByBush]

17. Hamas will never be held to account

They use these civilians as cover, but nobody seems to care.

Let Israel make one little slip-up though, and everybody from the UN down is screaming for blood.

[The Stranger]

23. Just a little free advice: That "civilians as cover" meme isn't going to fly here on DU.

People here know what is going on in Gaza and Israel's cutting off food, water and medicine to over a million innocent civilians before a single shot was ever fired.

So you may as well not waste your time.

[DissedByBush]

24. You prove my point

Nobody seems to care that the fanatic Muslims in that area have no problems putting a rocket launcher in with civilians knowing that Israel will blow it up.

Besides, Israel was letting food and medicine convoys through. I'm sorry if they don't let weapons shipments through.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ConcernedCanuk]

27. Israel massacred civilians in Gaza

.
.
.

HUNDREDS of civilians and children

The World knows

[DissedByBush]

32. How?

Did they specifically target civilians with the intent to kill them, or did they target an area intelligence told them Hamas was fighting from?

You know, did they try to kill civilians like Hamas did by launching rockets into civilian areas where there were no legitimate targets?

Hamas gets no points from the fact that they killed few. Their intent was to kill civilians, they just aren't very good at it unless it's Palestinians suspected of cooperating with Israel. Then the civilian will be murdered.

[fascisthunter]

31. fanatics are on both sides

although, I wouldn't consider all those dead civilians as a bunch of fanatics, since no one has any way of knowing.

"Besides, Israel was letting food and medicine convoys through. I'm sorry if they don't let weapons shipments through."

yup... that one Israel's excuses... have anymore? I'm sure you do...

[ooglymoogly]

13. Gee not assigning blame...I wonder who did it. nt

[Jefferson23]

14. At last, well at least a few of them have visited. Of course the

civilian devastation he saw was hard to understand, it is for most honest people.

[DissedByBush]

16. Destruction hard to understand?

It's called war.

The extensive damage to civilian homes is mainly because Hamas and other similar organizations like to use their homes as fighting positions, hoping the inevitable destruction of the homes in response will win the PR war for them. Sadly, it works.

[peacetalksforall]

19. Sad logic. Same old, same old. Both sides are wrong, but what Israel did was

far in excess of humanity. It's all been said before. It's been two months. Please don't ask to listen to the same old arguments. the sequences of attack is so distorted. We're not buying it anymore.

[clixtox]

21. Amen...

[DissedByBush]

25. It's called war

I know it sucks, but it looks like Israel finally got tired of the "let's hide behind the civilians" game and the endless cease-fires which are only designed to allow Hamas and Hezbollah time to re-arm.

Israel knows it's going to be condemned if it accidentally messes up the hair of a toddler, so probably figured it might as well and go all the way and break the ability of Hamas to fight once and for all, the PR war be damned.

[Demit]

28. "accidentally messes up the hair of a toddler"?

That is really sick.

[DissedByBush]

33. It was a comparison

Israel will always be condemned even if their actions are as innocent as messing up the hair of a toddler (you know, rubbing his head a bit, kids like that).

Hamas and Hezbollah seem to get a free pass no matter what the atrocities are. I've seen the headlines like "Israel fires rockets, kills children." The dumb masses read and believe. They don't bother to learn the back story, where Hezbollah got tired of the Israeli retaliation to rocket launchings killing their soldiers who were dismantling the launchers, so they forced local children to dismantle the launchers. But as you see they win the PR war because their children are dead.

I found this wonderful graphic that sums it up.



This will continue until the Palestinians are universally condemned for their use of human shields. Until then, what do you suggest Israel do?

[peacetalksforall]

30. It's called war in the same way neighbors are at war with each other about

the debirs from a tree that spans two yards.

Israel and Palestinians have been carrying on a decades old gamewar of an eye for an eye. Nearly every Christian in this country has supported Israel for the same long decades. An eye for an eye started to disgust me about Israel. Not Israel is playing a gamewar of EYES FOR AN EYE.

Lately, Israel has turned deadely sinister and inhumane and most of us know what is going on -

...land-expansion
...resources - including oil and especially WATER and other discoveries of late
...chest beating
...all the coast
...and an inhumane desire to make ALL Palestinians exiles.

Please don't try to defend Israel with some of us.

[Arctic Dave]

22. Are you insinuating we give the palistinians the same kind of

military hardware we give to Isreal. I'm sure the Palistians would enjoy it.

[harun]

29. The point is, what good did it do anyone? Nothing, it was done before

the Israeli elections for political purposes and before Obama took office as to not cause problems for him. Hamas is still in power and everything else is the same, it didn't do the Israeli people any good, it just helped some political parties. Violence against civilians for purely political purposes is called terrorism, not "war".