The following is from the End the Occupation web site. Once again, the Israel-haters demonstrate they are aptly described, since their prime motivation is hatred.
It is ironic that their web site is hosted by Democracy In Action, since their raison d'etre is the destruction of the only democracy in the Middle East.
It is ironic that their web site is hosted by Democracy In Action, since their raison d'etre is the destruction of the only democracy in the Middle East.
Take Action: House to Vote on Resolution Today on Israel's 60th Anniversary
Today the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on H.Con.Res.322, "recognizing the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel and reaffirming the bonds of close friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel."
In addition, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has reserved time each week through June for Representatives to make statements on the floor of Congress on the occasion of Israel's 60th anniversary.
[The resolution has since passed overwhelmingly, as it should, demonstraging our solidarity with the only democracy in the Middle East and our only true friend in that region.]
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation urges all of its member groups and individual supporters to contact their Representative in Congress and ask him/her not to vote for resolutions or make statements that recognize Israel's 60th anniversary but fail to recognize the historic injustices that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people and the injustices that it continues to inflict daily. To send your message today, please click here.
[Primerprez suggests going to that link and revising the message to support Israel and point out the injustices perpetuated by its Arab enemies, including the Palestinian Arabs.]
Below is a copy of talking points which the US Campaign faxed to each Representative yesterday.
Talking Points on H. Con. Res. 322 and Israel's 60th Anniversary
On Tuesday, April 22, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote under suspension on H. Con. Res. 322, "recognizing the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel and reaffirming the bonds of close friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel." In addition, Speaker Pelosi has reserved floor time each week through June for Representatives to make statements on Israel's 60th anniversary.
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a national coalition of more than 250 organizations working to change U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law and equality for all, has prepared the following talking points for the consideration of Representatives voting on resolutions and making statements on the occasion of Israel's 60th anniversary.
[The coalition may be working to change our policy towards Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, but it is certainly not working to support human rights, international law and equality for all; it is primarily working to eliminate human rights for Israelis.]
* The establishment of the State of Israel was accompanied by the widespread ethnic cleansing and dispossession of indigenous Palestinians from their homes and lands. Israel destroyed at least 418 Palestinian villages and towns and caused to flee or forcibly exiled at least 711,000 Palestinians. Palestinians recall this record of destruction, dispossession, and ethnic cleansing as the Nakba, or "catastrophe", in Arabic.
[Many if not most of the Arabs living in Palestine were far from indigenous, having recently immigrated there to take advantage of the economic opportunities which opened up because of the Zionist movement.
Their plight was self-inflicted, as none would have been displaced had the Arabs joined the Jews in accepting the United Nations Partition Plan which gave approximately 78 percent of Palestine to the Arabs.]
Their plight was self-inflicted, as none would have been displaced had the Arabs joined the Jews in accepting the United Nations Partition Plan which gave approximately 78 percent of Palestine to the Arabs.]
* To this day, Israel has prevented these Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who now number nearly 4.5 million people, from exercising their right to return despite the fact that this right is guaranteed generally under international humanitarian law and specifically by UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Meanwhile, Israel adopted a law of return which guarantees Israeli citizenship to Jewish people worldwide. By treating people differently based on ethnicity or religion, Israel's differential treatment of Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants is one manifestation of its apartheid policies.
[There is no "right to return" under either international law or as part of the UN resolution referred to; certainly no nation would accept the immigration of millions of hostile foreigners dedicated to its destruction.
It's typical that anti-Israel propagandists accuse Israel of precisely what the Arabs are guilty of. One of the prime demands of the Palestinian Arabs is the cleansing of the entirety of the disputed territories of any Jewish presence.]
It's typical that anti-Israel propagandists accuse Israel of precisely what the Arabs are guilty of. One of the prime demands of the Palestinian Arabs is the cleansing of the entirety of the disputed territories of any Jewish presence.]
* Palestinians who were not ethnically cleansed from their homes and lands in 1948 were given Israeli citizenship but remain subject to discriminatory policies. Palestinians with Israeli citizenship were forced to live under military occupation until 1966. The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel today counts more than 20 Israeli laws that explicitly discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel who comprise approximately 20% of Israel's population. Palestinian citizens of Israel are also discriminated against in land use policies and Palestinian communities in Israel receive disproportionately less government funding than Jewish communities. The second-class citizenship of Palestinians in Israel and the discrimination they are subjected to are another manifestation of Israel's apartheid policies.
[Israel is the only state in the Middle East in which all citizens have equal rights regardless of religion. Indeed, the Arabs living in Israel have more rights than any of their brethren anywhere else in the Middle East.]
* Since 1967, Israel has illegally occupied the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. Israel's brutal record of collective punishment, torture, killing of civilians, building illegal Israeli settlements, walls, barriers, and checkpoints is well-documented by Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organizations. The fact that Palestinians are subjected to military laws under perpetual military occupation while Israeli settlers are subjected to civil law and can drive on Israeli-only roads in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is yet another manifestation of Israel's apartheid policies.
[There is no "Palestinian West Bank" or "East Jerusalem." There are disputed territories, portions of the British Mandate over Palestine whose final status has yet to be negotiated because of the Arab refusal to accept the existence of Israel and make peace.
Pending the negotiation of a peace agreement, Israel is abiding by international law in continuing to apply the laws previously in effect, primarily those instituted by the Ottomans and by the British during their mandate.]
Pending the negotiation of a peace agreement, Israel is abiding by international law in continuing to apply the laws previously in effect, primarily those instituted by the Ottomans and by the British during their mandate.]
Given Israel's 60-year record of ethnic cleansing, dispossession, discrimination, military occupation, and apartheid against Palestinians, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation urges Representatives not to vote for resolutions or make statements that fail to recognize the historic injustices that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people and the injustices that it continues to inflict daily. Members of Congress have an obligation to pass resolutions and make statements that accurately reflect the historical record and not unambiguously applaud the anniversary of countries such as Israel with such dismal human rights records.
[Fortunately, members of Congress are intelligent and moral enough to ignore the hate message from the organization whose name should really be "End the Democratic State of Israel."]
Don't forget to send your message to your Representative by clicking here.
[Replace their message of hate with a message of support for democratic Israel.]
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