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from The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53945-2002Apr2.html?referer=email Hill Support for Israel Grows As Bombings Touch a Nerve By Helen Dewar and Juliet Eilperin Empathy arising from the nation's own experience with suicide attacks has reinforced already strong support for Israel in Congress, prompting renewed efforts to impose sanctions on Palestinian leaders. With Congress nearing the end of a two-week recess, the outlook for legislative action is unclear. But many lawmakers have spoken out in defense of Israel and declined to second-guess counterstrikes by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in light of the United States' military response to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Many also say they would support more vigorous intervention by President Bush, and some are openly pushing for such action, although Democratic leaders have generally refrained from direct criticism of the president. Support for Israel has always run strong on Capitol Hill, both because of the importance of Jewish voters in domestic politics and because of the nation's strategic importance as a pro-Western democracy in a largely Arab region. But lawmakers in both parties say the Sept. 11 attacks and the daily pattern of suicide bombings in Israel have created an even stronger bond that provides wide latitude for self-defense by both countries. "We can identify with their shock and loss," said Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.). "A lot of us are thinking: There but for the grace of God go we." Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, "For us it happened one day. For them, it happens day after day. I think there is enormous sympathy for Israel." Reaction in the House was similar. "The Israelis have had many September 11ths in their country nearly every day with these suicide bombings," said International Relations Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.). "Sharon has a duty to protect his country and his people." House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.), said, "Sharon is doing what we in Texas describe as, 'A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do,'" adding that "it would be fine with me" if the prime minister were to force Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat into exile. Lawmakers appear divided over whether the administration is sufficiently engaged in trying to end the strife. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) has said the administration should get more involved, but Hyde declined to offer advice. "I'm not ready to suggest that Congress leap into this," Hyde said. Daschle found a diplomatic way of suggesting more U.S. involvement. "Vice President Cheney said on several occasions that it was critical that we be deeply engaged . . . I agree with the vice president," he said. Other Democrats edged closer to outright criticism. The administration has demonstrated "some inconsistencies," Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said last weekend. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said the administration has been "timid and tentative" and needs to "risk a little of its own prestige." Lowey, like Daschle, said it's time to send Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to the Middle East. Several bills have been introduced to pressure the Palestinians to end violence and negotiate a peace agreement. Other bills being drafted, including one by McConnell and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), are aimed specifically at Arafat. In its current form, the Feinstein-McConnell bill would impose a series of sanctions, including denying Arafat a visa to travel in the United States, restricting operations of the Palestinian office in Washington, imposing travel restrictions on the senior Palestinian representative at the United Nations and seizing any assets held by Arafat in this country. McConnell said the measure is likely to be attached to the foreign operations spending bill for next year if it is not approved separately before that. The House is considering a bill, introduced last year by Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.), that would empower the president -- if he concluded that existing peace accords have been broken -- to impose a variety of sanctions. They include closing the Palestinians' Washington office, designating the Palestinian Authority and related groups as terrorist organizations, denying U.S. visas to top Palestinian officials and eliminating all non-humanitarian aid to the West Bank and Gaza. Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), would prohibit any federal agency from directly or indirectly assisting the Palestinian Authority or related groups. Howard Kohr, executive director of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, said he had received a dozen calls from lawmakers over the recess asking what they could do to support Israel. But a few lawmakers, as well as some Arab American activists, suggested that legislative action condemning Arafat and the PLO would simply imperil the peace process. "This is not a time for criticism; it's is a time for us to bring people together," said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), one of 11 lawmakers to vote against a December resolution "expressing solidarity with Israel in the fight against terrorism." "How do you become an honest broker when you give one side the feeling you're against them?" Dingell said. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, argued that Congress has "served all too often as an impediment to diplomacy" by siding with Israel against the Palestinians. "What Congress wants to do is institutionalize the bias that already exists in American policy. . . . If they wanted to pass a resolution rounding up Palestinians in the United States and deporting them, they probably could get the votes to do that." ===== Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts & ends at the colonnade between Grand & Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
