Unprecedented! 54 House Dems Call on Israel to End Siege of Gaza

[azurnoir]

Fifty-four House members are defying AIPAC and calling on President Obama to lift the deadly blockade of Gaza. Specifically, the House Members ask that Obama pressure Israel to permit:

* Movement of people, especially students, the ill, aid workers, journalists, and those with family concerns, into and out of Gaza;

* Access to clean water, including water infrastructure materials,

* Access to plentiful and varied food and agricultural materials;

* Access to medicine and health care products and suppliers;

* Access to sanitation supplies, including sanitation infrastructure materials;

* Access to construction materials for repairs and rebuilding;

* Access to fuel;

* Access to spare parts;

* Prompt passage into and out of Gaza for commercial and agricultural goods; and

* Publication and review of the list of items prohibited to the people of Gaza.

In short, the courageous 54 want the blockade lifted.

The 54 deserve our thanks as does J Street and Americans for Peace Now, which supported the House effort that was led by three Minnesotans: Keith Ellison, James Oberstar, and Betty McCollum.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/unprecedented-54-house-de_b_437568.html

[aquart]

1. Do they call on the Gazans to stop shelling Israel?

Or is that all okay in their book?

DO THEY ASK EGYPT TO OPEN THEIR GAZA PORTALS?

Just wondering.

[azurnoir]

2. Well "wonder" no more dear

Egypt's wall was paid for by US tax dollars and OKed in last few hours of Bushes adminstration, it is meant to stop weapon's smuggling

and Hamas well they have taken care of that themselves oh shucks huh?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x297954

ETA Egypt has one Gaza crossing it is Rafah

[Violet_Crumble]

7. The people of Gaza aren't shelling Israel...

So don't blame them unless you think it's okay for people to blame the people of Israel for the destruction in Gaza last year...

[Chulanowa]

10. Why should the Gazans stop?

They're the ones under siege, after all.

Of course, I forget who I'm talking to.

[cali]

11. why don't you read the letter?

[PDJane]

3. Thank you for the post.......and it's time.

Actually, it's past time. Israel has become a monstrosity.

[azurnoir]

4. Well the occupation and blockade

may well have become monstrosities but I would not extend that to encompass everything about Israel

BTW McCollum is my congress critter

[LeftishBrit]

9. +1

Just as the UK's involvement in the invasion of Iraq was a monstrosity, but the UK isn't a monstrosity.

[Hardrada]

5. High time for this! End the AIPAC strangehold on this topic!!

[Violet_Crumble]

6. It's astounding that anyone would be opposed to what they're asking for...

Obama really has to exert some pressure on Israel, because the blockade is inhumane, cruel and is targetting innocent civilians...

[LeftishBrit]

8. Good; hope this has some effect.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

12. A whole eighth of the Congress...

It's just wishful thinking to see any sign of hope here, I think - the vast majority of American politicians, like the majority of the American electorate, support giving Israel carte blanche to treat the Palestinians how it wishes, without material consequences.

Not all problems get solved, sadly.

[azurnoir]

13. Oh "buck up" DIR

it's a damn sight better than they've ever done before

glad to see you back though

[shaayecanaan]

14. It could have had more, I suspect...

Kucinich is not there, as are several other members on the Left who probably would have been willing to sign on. I dont think you can consider it an exhaustive list.

[pelsar]

15. my opinion....which is more moral?

israel should 100% close off its borders to gaza...and at the same time open up gazas link to the Mediterranean....Treat gaza as a hostile foreign country. This will mimic the situation israel had in 48 and prospered. Gazas problems will be theirs to solve and they will have all they need to solve it.....open access to the world.

now, to be realistic, just as when israel left gaza and we knew they would attack israeli citizens, the gaza govt will probably use their new port to bring in long range and accurate weapons. Furthermore they will bring in cement and continue to develop a complete underground city (gaza has an easy tunneling geology). This too will probably be used to attack israel with missile silos, tunneling to the border and beyond to kill israelis. The gaza govt has made it clear in action and words what they think of israel. Of course they may not attack israel......

if the above doesn't happen, then all is good, gaza will prosper and israel can ignore the gazans until the time when the two societies decide to work together. However.....

if the gaza govt decides to attack israel, launch accurate military missiles on its cities, terrorize and kill its citizens? ..isn't that immoral? is that more immoral than the blockade with its limited supplies? Yes, we can't read the future, yet the gaza govt has made it clear what they think of israel and they do have a history.....

its a reasonable scenario......an a responsible govt is prepared for various scenarios.

so lets say israel does open up gazas access and they do attack and terrorize millions of israelis....

then what? Should israel evacuate Beersheva, Ashkelon, Ashdod, etc.....an important note. The port of Ashdod has huge tanks of dangerous chemicals....a hit from a missile may unleash a deadly chemical mix that can kill hundreds of thousands, (the kassams landed nearby.)

the kassams were shot for over 4 years with gaza blockaded on all sides.....they were stopped (virtually) only when israel invaded. I would suggest that such a repeat scenario is not the preferred one.

[ConsAreLiars]

16. Holy Crap!

If you can ever stop pissing all over yourself in fear and and wailing in face of imagined nightmares and demanding preventative mass slaughters to keep you from continuing to wet yourself, take a breath and look at how your media-masters are playing you for a total coward, fool, tool, and useful idiot. Print out what you wrote in that post, stick it up on the inside of the bathroom door and the contemplate it when, if only then, you are actually engaged in excreting the toxics ingested during an average day.

[pelsar]

17. can i assume that you believe

that mortars and kassams and very very small bullets fired from gaza in to israel and the occasional grad rocket are not considered dangerous or terrorism?

just clarifying......

and i'm not sure what "media master" is, you've mentioned that before, perhaps be kind enough to explain (or is this one of those buzz words that don't mean anything that people throw out when they their god has been questioned by a non believer?)

___

actually i don't expect to engage in a discussion with you, i get the feeling you just think all of us who dont think/believe like you just dont have a right to exist.....

[ConsAreLiars]

18. "dont have a right to exist....."

The usual and predictable jackass attack against anyone who asserts that the mass murder and collective punishment and constant tormenting and humiliating of Palestinians is utterly inhumane and disgusting and needs to be condemned. And that such policies and practices must be utterly rejected and reversed by Israelis if they wish to have any future.

The exterminationists may now hold the upper hand with the full backing by the Corporate State of Amerika, but this monster is attempting to devour and dominate more than it can kill or bribe and is in a steep decline. Before long, Egypt's dictatorship and Jordan's monarch will stop getting paid off and the IDF will stop being funded by the US,

Before that takes place, Israelis who support anything resembling equal justice and human rights for all and a just peace had better become the dominant force and voice and change direction or another real genocide will be one possible result, And those who support the kill-more, hurt-more, take-more strategy that has been policy for a very long time will reap what they are sowing.

[pelsar]

19. was that english?

im afraid i couldnt find a single sentence there that actually applies to the real world....a lot of anger...a lot of first year college viva la revolution (as one wears their chinese made, child labor t-shirts and gym shoes.....)

i did understand that you really dont like america....can i assume that you stick to your principles and dont wear or eat anything made by this evil corporate america?...or are you an arm chair, arugula eating revolutionary?

i guess i shouldn't mention your supporting corp america and israel with the use of the cell phones, computers etc..., that might upset you.

[ConsAreLiars]

25. English uses capitals to begin sentences, apostrophes when appropriate, and so on.

You may not recognize it since you are unfamiliar with it.

As for the non sequiturs, RW pro-monster gibberish and nonsense in your text: Were more insults and irrelevancies the best you could come up with? Well, I guess,'yes' is the answer already given.

I see you don't acknowledge that your insults were just "The usual and predictable jackass attack against anyone who asserts that the mass murder and collective punishment and constant tormenting and humiliating of Palestinians is utterly inhumane and disgusting and needs to be condemned. And that such policies and practices must be utterly rejected and reversed by Israelis if they wish to have any future."

Completely predictable. A baseless barrage of invective and accusations against anyone who states the obvious fact that "the mass murder and collective punishment and constant tormenting and humiliating of Palestinians is utterly inhumane and disgusting and needs to be condemned."

And fingers in the ear and howling at full volume when some poster states the equally obvious fact "that such policies and practices must be utterly rejected and reversed by Israelis if they wish to have any future."

(edit tiny typos)

[Violet_Crumble]

26. ive always wanted to have english as a second language....

im not sure what youd call this now that im not using capitals to begin sentences and apostrophes. it looks a lot like english but it has this rather strange accent to it that i can usually only achieve when using my iphone or trying to mimic pelsar or the young guy that works with me who believes in minimum effort per keystroke for maximun letter outputted ;)

Did you overlook what Az and I said to you about yr 'exchange' with pelsar? 'A baseless barrage of invective and accusations against anyone who states the obvious fact...?' Here's how I saw this exchange unfold:

Pelsar posted his opinion about what should happen to the blockade of Gaza. He aimed a few questions generally into the air, but there wasn't one insult or invective in his post.

You replied with a barrage of insults aimed directly at pelsar.

Pelsar, being a lot more patient than I would be on encountering a mouthful like that, didn't even insult you in his reply to the 'wet yourself' post...

You replied with a barrage of insults aimed directly at pelsar.

(repeat for the next few posts, but add in the bit where you ignore me when I ask you what you meant by pelsar's 'media masters')

Sorry, but there's a few things that need to be said here. Pelsar's not some exterminationalist, he's not a fool, or an idiot, so quit it with the lame insults. You want to go shriek that at someone like the Big Loud S, then that's a whole different matter than shrieking it at someone who adds value to this forum, imo. Why can't you go back to his original post, read through it, and tell him what you disagree with minus the insults and repetitive mentions of wetting himself?

btw, I still want to know what you meant by 'media master'...

[Violet_Crumble]

20. What is a 'media master'?

I'm a bit lost on what that one means too, so pelsar's not alone in wondering about it...


I'm also going to strongly disagree with you when it comes to yr comment about 'the exterminationists'. There's lots and lots of very valid criticisms of the current extremely RW Israeli govt, but that's not one of them. I hope there'll never come a day when the fringe lunatics who support 'transfer' hold that sort of power in Israel...


Y'know, a few threads back I was assuring Pelsar that the Loud S. is actually much more offensive and abusive to me than you are to him. What I saw in this thread has got me wondering if I spoke in haste, because that response of yrs to Pelsar's initial post was just a bit out of line. I think one of the things me and pelsar are the furthest apart in our views are over Gaza, and I disagreed with much of his post, but he deserved a reasoned and polite response, not being told blahlbahlbahmediamastersblahblahstupidfoolblahblahmediamastersblahblahBLAHMERIKA....

[ConsAreLiars]

27. The shorthand was too short.

But I'm sure you understand how things work.

What people think and believe is controlled by both their direct and indirect experiences. For a lot (nearly everyone) their direct experiences of the world outside of, or apart from, their homes and own country, unless surrounded by a protective cocoon of similars on a tourist bus or invading army, is close to zero. Media provides the rest.

In nearly all cases, the media (the corporatist media except for those few who find and use non-corporatist sources) creates a view of "them" that is consistent with the objectives of those that own it.

That is usually a rather different view of those 'others' who one might have encountered if one had gone there as a simple traveler and guest. But it is almost always a view that is supportive he powers-that-rule want to propagate. Mass media become a master of belief systems this way. And thus propagates beliefs, however irrational, and blind loyalisms, no matter how self-destructive, have no rational basis.

When challenged, the "media-mastered" parochials and true-believers do nothing but scream like stuck pigs and hurl insults and avoid the facts. Like that one did.

[Violet_Crumble]

28. I know how the mainstream media works...but...

...I think pelsar's views no more come from an exposure to them than mine on domestic issues here in Australia would. Pelsar's views are more complex, at least in my opinion, than that of yr garden variety American pro-Israel types. Part of it's to do with him actually being affected directly by the conflict, just the same way I'd expect a Palestinian's views would be affected. I'd definately argue that while I didn't agree with some of what pelsar said in his post, I do think what he said was pretty rational.

I won't rehash what I said in my earlier post tonight, but pelsar wasn't the one who hurled insults - you were...

[azurnoir]

23. I am going to say this albeit a bit late

the one p*ssing all over themselves here seem to be you, not to mention that you also seem to play to almost every antiSemitic stereo type out there please just stop

[shira]

21. Rosenberg points to "brave souls" standing up against the Joooish Lobby

How true! How brave it is to stand athwart the Jews and yell "Stop!" We are a dangerous group of people. Just look at what has happened to other critics who have gone where angels fear to tread and criticized Israel. Take, for example, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, the authors of "The Israel Lobby." Walt, as many of you know, is in hiding in Holland, under round-the-clock protection of the Dutch police, after the chief rabbi of Wellesley, Mass., issued a fatwa calling for his assassination. Mearsheimer, of course, lost his job at the University of Chicago and was physically assaulted by a group of Hadassah ladies in what became known as the "Grapefruit Spoon Attack of 2009." Now he teaches political science at a community college in Hayden Lake, Idaho, under police guard. And Michael Scheuer, the former CIA man who argues that American Jews are traitors to their country, was recently burned in effigy during a riot led by a cell of Reconstructionist rabbis. All across this country, assaults by Jews on their critics are on the rise. It's gotten so bad you can't even publish a mildly anti-Semitic cartoon without having your office sacked by gangs of extremists from the North American Federation of Temple Youth. It's tough out there for brave truth-tellers these days.

:)

http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2010/01/the_taboo_that_just_wont_shut.php

[azurnoir]

22. That's nice now do you have anything that deals with the article?

here is the subject of your posted snippet

Andrew Sullivan, in a post on the root causes of jihadism, praises a writer for the American Conservative, Daniel Larison, for his bravery in addressing what he sees as a strong connection between terrorism and America's support for Israel. Larison, Andrew writes, "as often, treads where angels fear to."

Oh and BTW AIPAC doesn't contribute to any of the 8 Congress critters from Minnesota, one IMO tried to suck up recently that would be Michelle Bachmann by promoting the declaration against Goldstone but something changed her mind cause she only voted present when the actual vote was taken

but it is so nice to see your pumping the Israel = Jews conflation point, it really makes very clear Israeli Arabs actually stand in the scheme of things rather like "White" America wouldn't you say?

[varelse]

24. I applaud their courage in taking this stand (nt)