100 pages of statements on Israel/Hamas from our elected leaders

[The Straight Story]

http://www.aipac.org/Publications/SourceMaterialsCongressionalAction/CongressIsraelGazaSelfDefense.pdf

It's not just the yes votes one needs to look at.

Sample:

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
“Israel, like every other nation, has a right to defend itself; I find it naïve and unrealistic that some say Israel should ‘sit down and talk’ to Hamas, a group sworn to Israel’s annihilation, that broke the recent ceasefire by flinging missiles at Israeli cities. The Palestinian people must realize that Israel is here to stay and that no amount of violence, which Hamas seeks to undertake, will change that fact.” (Press Release, December 30, 2008)

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)
“At this point, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to focus on foreign policy and particularly the Middle East. Again, I would point out that if there are colleagues that would like me to yield them a few minutes and they happen to be on the floor, they need only get my attention.

Now, I want to commend the Bush administration for its support of Israel during this difficult period. Now, the press, as is often the case, is beating up Israel due to its lack of understanding of what is happening and how to interpret it.

First, let us remember that over the last several years Hamas has sent nearly 7,000 rockets into Israel. That's 7,000 times they have attempted murder. But the press would have you believe that those attempts at murder don't count because most of them were unsuccessful. This is absurd. The malice is demonstrated by the attempted murder, and I use the term “murder” explicitly here because every one of those rockets was fired with only one intention: kill Israeli civilians. Not a single one of those rockets was targeted at anything military. The fact that they haven't killed 7,000 Israelis does not reflect well on their morality. It may reflect poorly on their aim.

[mmonk]

1. I'm so tired of this. It's so obvious those in Gaza are trapped

in a rain of hell with no where to run, protect themselves, or really defend themselves no matter what the morals or intentions of Hamas are. Shooting fish in a barrel isn't really a fight or a moral justification of anything. Anyone with a sense of decency no matter who you support would urge an end to this.

[peacetalksforall]

3. A phrase keeps going through my mind- "Whatsoever you do to...."

I wanted to check out the context as I'm not a religious teaching expert.

I found this:

‘Whatsoever you do to the least of them, you do also to me.’ I didn't look further because of the context of the words - I found the words with a beautiful story of honoring (what I like to call) the little people. This may seem off topic, but contrast it with what is going on now at the Gaza Strip as these people are the little people, the refugees, abandoned by their own with whom they share an Arab culture and relgion.

Read about this fellow - the words, Whatsoever, etc, appear at the end in some of his quotes.

(I checked DU Search and did not find his name in Subject/Message for GD.)

Lucious Newsom. Maybe some of you already know about him.

Perhaps we need to be the Lucious Newsoms of the refugee Palestinians - who are mostly innocents who thought they had a Democracy.

http://www.archindy.org/Criterion/local/2008/08-22/newsom.html

(The Archdiocese of Indianapolis.)

[mmonk]

7. Thanks for that link.

Heart warming.

[stillcool]

2. Now that's what I call "Lock-step"..

[peacetalksforall]

4. And last week we learned that AIPAC is going to run a Public Relations program

to help protect the image of Israel. My (para)phrasing.

[stillcool]

5. they've done a great job so far.

I don't mean about this latest kerfluffle..but all those preceding.

[Poll_Blind]

6. You could take these statements, and statements by Bush and Condi Rice, etc al. and you...

...could snip off the names off those comments, and put them into a hat. And when you pulled them out you'd be hard-pressed to figure out who said what, because they all say almost exactly the same thing.

  Regardless of a person's emotional or intellectual response to the conflict, the lock step response from almost all American legislators in the House and Senate with such conformity across the entire ideological spectrum is...astounding.

  Moreso, that that response from American politicians is more rigid and uniform than Israeli legislators, themselves, and that America's "official" opinion on the matter is at great variance with the opinions of almost-literally the entire body politic of humanity on the rest of the planet...and even from the American citizens who elected those politicians...

  It is extremely interesting. How anyone cannot find that an absolutely fascinating point to ponder, I can't imagine.

PB

[McCamy Taylor]

8. Try saying "Over the past several years Latinos have fired 7000 guns at whites in the US..."

and then finish up that statement. Or insert the minority of your choice. Maybe the Bush administration wants to invade Mexico. Maybe they just want an excuse to round up Latinos. Maybe they want to hold Asians hostage. If we were to starve minority communities, I will bet that we could get them to shoot at us.