--- On Thu, 11/18/10, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
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November 18, 2010
Cantor to Netanyahu: "I've got your back."
Is this acceptable?
Dear Hajja Romi,
Rep. Eric Cantor, about to be Majority Leader in the
next Congress, undermined the Executive Branch's authority last week by
conducting his own diplomacy with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After meeting with Netanyahu in New York, Cantor
released a statement pledging "that the new Republican majority will serve as a
check on the Administration…[making] clear that the Republican majority
understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States."
Now Cantor has caught heat from the press and is trying
to recant. However, there is no question that Rep. Cantor is dead-serious.
The irony is, Cantor needn't worry. According to media
reports, the United States and Israel are near agreement on a non-renewable,
90-day, partial Israeli settlement freeze in the occupied Palestinian West Bank
– excluding occupied East Jerusalem. The so-called "freeze" would also exclude
public buildings and infrastructure for settlers.
In return, the Obama Administration would provide
Israel with 20 stealth fighter jets, valued at $3 billion, in addition to the
$30 billion in military aid already pledged by the United States for 2009-2018.
"Negotiations leading to something remotely resembling
a just, lasting and comprehensive peace - is simply not on the agenda of either
Israel or the U.S.," wrote Phyllis Bennis, a US Campaign steering committee
member, in yesterday's Huffington Post.
The new Lockheed-Martin F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter for Israel's Air Force -- an additional $3 billion (for 20 fighters).
While ordinary Americans struggle to find living-wage
jobs, affordable housing and quality healthcare, and politicians contemplate
massive cuts in government programs to scale back the out-of-control U.S.
deficit and debt, U.S. military aid to Israel remains untouchable.
As the US Campaign warned last month, the Obama
Administration is resorting to desperate measures to keep these negotiations
alive based on a flawed strategy that rewards Israel for only partially and
temporarily freezing settlement activities.
The fact that all Israeli settlements are illegal is
lost.
These days in DC, competition to win the love of AIPAC
is out of control. Hardline "friends" of Israel are celebrating the most
recent elections in the U.S., and the vast majority of our elected officials
will do anything to ensure they're invited to the party. The Obama
Administration certainly isn't immune.
Yet, even Obama's approach of bending over backward to
placate Israel isn't enough for some House Republicans.
Watch Cantor address AIPAC.
It's unacceptable for an elected member of Congress to
reassure the head of a foreign government that he and his congressional allies
will defend that government against our own.
Enough is enough. If we're going to get the US economy
back on track, then we must stop spending $3 billion a year -- and certainly
not an additional $3 billion this year -- in military aid to Israel, and bring
that wealth home to create 600,000 new jobs.
Then, to recover the global credibility we lost during
eight years of Bush-era warmaking, unilateralism and unaccountability, we've
got to take some principled stands, ending wars and ending U.S. support for
illegal occupation.
The recent U.S. elections are a blow to those of us who
stand for a just peace in the Middle East based on human rights, international
law and U.N. resolutions.
Peace won't happen until "we the people" stand up and
demand it:
Tell Congress that when it comes to budget
decisions, we expect it to put U.S. interests—not Israel's—first.
Join our campaign to End Military Aid to Israel and
prioritize human needs over Israel's war machine.
Make plans to join our Grassroots Advocacy Training
and Lobby Day in March 2011. We'll need all the help we can get.
Thanks for standing with us.
Yours,
Rob Mosrie
Executive Director
TAKE ACTION:
1. Tell Congress that when it comes to budget
decisions, we expect it to put U.S. interests—not Israel's—first.
2. Join our campaign to End Military Aid to Israel and
prioritize human needs over Israel's war machine.
3. Make plans to join our Grassroots Advocacy Training
/ Lobby Day in March, 2011. We're going to need all the help we can get.
Follow Us:
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Support Our Work:
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The US Campaign aims to change U.S. policies that
sustain Israel's 43-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip
and East Jerusalem, and that deny equal rights for all.
ABOUT | TAKE ACTION | GET INVOLVED | STORE | DONATE |
RESOURCES | MEDIA | SUBSCRIBE
US CAMPAIGN TO END THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION | PO BOX
21539 | WASHINGTON, DC 20009
202-332-0994 | [email protected] |
WWW.ENDTHEOCCUPATION.ORG
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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