[Peace-discussion] Hawkins for US Senate: Stop Israeli Attacks on Gaza
h duke
henryduke2004@yahoo.com
Sat, 1 Jul 2006 13:27:03 -0500
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Is there some way to arrange for an interview with Mr Hawkins, and the
importance of running against Hillary Clinton and for peace, justice, and
the Green Party?
We really have a media opportunity by playing up and soundbyting opposition
to Hillary Clinton.
Is it just me or does the Opposition to Bush [if covered at all] chronically
get buried into the Democratic Party/Hillary Clinton Story.
With an anti-Hillary and pro-Nader or green party bent, I could probably
arrange an interview with the Anniston Star, which has historically been a
journalist/journalism beacon here in the deep south.
Keep up the good work.
Henry H Duke
(256) 343-3289
PS Please pass this on to the GPUS Media Committee as Scott McLarty removed
me from that list.
_____
From: peace-discussion-admin@lists.gp-us.org
[mailto:peace-discussion-admin@lists.gp-us.org] On Behalf Of
Dunleamark@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 2:21 PM
To: peace-discussion@lists.gp-us.org
Subject: [Peace-discussion] Hawkins for US Senate: Stop Israeli Attacks on
Gaza
Howie Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.org
Media Release
For Release: June 29, 2006
For More Information: Howie Hawkins 315-425-1019, hhawkins@igc.org
Sally Kim Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968, green_sallyk@yahoo.com
Statement of Howie Hawkins, Green Party candidate for US Senate in NY,
on the current Israel-Palestine crisis
The US Should Call for a Halt to Israeli Attacks in Gaza
The US Should Recognize Newly Elected Palestinian Government, Support
Resumption of Direct Negotiations
The conflict in Israel/Palestine has reached new levels of menace and
suffering with the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The Israeli government is
intent on inflicting significant suffering on the civilian population,
targeting the local infrastructure by destroying the local power plant and
three bridges. Water and electricity has been cut off to 1.3 million
inhabitants. This comes on top of the suffering caused by decades of
military occupation and the recent cutoff off of funds to the Palestinian
government, which has left the many Palestinians in Gaza facing starvation.
With the "buzzing" of the home of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, by
Israeli fighter jets on the pretext that Syria is calling the shots for
Hamas in Palestine, there is a grave threat that Israel will also take
aggressive military action in Syria.
While I hope that the Israeli's soldier who has been captured is released
unharmed, the pretext by Israeli authorities that the military operation in
Gaza is to rescue the"kidnapped"IDF corporal Gilad Shalit does not stand the
most elementary tests of reason. However unfortunate Shalit may be, he was a
soldier in the line of duty, participating in a military action which had
involved deadly shelling of Gaza. Thus he was captured in the line of duty,
not kidnapped, and his treatment falls under the laws of war, which most
certainly do not call for an invasion in response to the capture of a
non-commissioned soldier.
Some 9,800 Palestinian prisoners are currently in Israeli custody, almost
all nameless and many of whom have been seized and transferred out of the
occupied territories in blatant violation of international law. Yet no
protest comes from President Bush, Senator Clinton, or Congress. Over three
hundred of the prisoners are children. Many of these prisoners should also
be released. However, both sides should refrain from using the threat of
violence against individuals as a way to secure the release of their
citizens.
The current Israeli attacks on Gaza comes immediately after the Palestinian
leadership put forth a peace proposal that includes the recognition of the
right of Israel to exist by Hamas, one of the alleged key demands of both
the American and Israeli governments. This unfortunately repeats a familiar
pattern of disruption of the peace process by the Israeli leadership at key
moments.
The United States, including its Senate and its junior Senator from New
York, Hillary Clinton, has acted disgracefully in this conflict from its
earliest days, and bears heavy responsibility, through its extreme,
one-sided favoritism of Israel, for its present continuation.
As Senator from New York, I would press for an even-handed approach to the
conflict seeking justice for Palestinians and security for Israelis. In the
present instance I would urge, first, an immediate cease-fire and Israeli
withdrawal from Gaza. Further, I would urge that immediate face-to-face
meetings be set up between Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership to
attempt a resolution of the basic causes of hostility. It is surely no
accident that the present escalation follows upon a movement toward
reconciliation among the Palestinian factions, whose next step would be the
resumption of peaceful negotiations toward the resolution of the heart and
soul of this conflict: the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.
We need to start that process right now. Israel claims that its basic
concern is to stop Palestinian firing of Qassam rockets from Gaza, and that
this led to the shelling which in turn led to the Palestinian guerrilla raid
resulting in the deaths of two IDF soldiers and Cpl. Shalit's capture. The
United States must unequivocally state that there will be no peace in
Israel/Palestine so long as the Palestinian people are being deprived of the
most elementary human rights and subjected to a never-ending process whose
intended outcome can only be their complete dispossession from their homes
and expulsion from their homeland. For this is the principal stimulus to
their armed struggle. If we do not address this core problem, and what has
fed into it, there will be no end of violence and suffering. Not just the
Palestinian people will be destroyed in the process: Israel itself will
continue its internal process of moral disintegration, and its own
destruction will follow.
There can be no peace in Israel/Palestine, and indeed in the entire region,
so long as the Israeli Occupation continues under the direct support of the
United States. It is the responsibility of each US Senator to work toward a
fundamental change in the policy that has given rise to this unending
tragedy. I pledge to do so if elected.
I urge Congress and the Bush administration to support negotiations with the
democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people. I also
urge the Bush administration and the Israeli government to not unilaterally
redraw the boundaries between Israel and Palestine and to immediately begin
good faith negotiations with the Palestinian leadership, including
representatives of the Hamas government.
I urge both sides to refrain from using violence against one another and for
Israel to immediately end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
I stand with the 37 members of Congress who voted against HR 4681, which
severely restricts US aid to the Palestinian people so long as Hamas is in
power. As a member of the US Senate, I would vote against such legislation,
which constitutes a form of collective punishment and flagrant violation of
human rights. Congress is starving the Palestinians people because they
exercised the democratic rights that our government proclaims as the prime
goal of US policy. Such action is a recipe for violence and extremism by
cutting off reasonable channels of diplomacy.
The Greens affirm the right of self-determination for both Palestinians and
Israelis, which precludes the self-determination of one at the expense of
the other. I urge both sides to respect and support the rights and security
needs of the other. The Greens recognize that Jewish insecurity is
understandable in light of the history of horrific oppression and genocide
toward Jews in Europe. However, we oppose as both discriminatory and
ultimately self-defeating the position that Jews would be fundamentally
threatened by the implementation of human rights to Palestinians, including
the right of Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes.
I oppose extending US financial and military support to Israel while it
continues to occupy Palestinian lands in violation of numerous UN Security
Council resolutions. More Israelis than Americans are aware of the brutal
nature of the occupation, subjecting Palestinians to daily economic
deprivation, denial of basic human rights, and violence to Palestinian
persons and property.
While the Greens oppose the use of violence as a political strategy, we
should recognize that international law permits the Palestinians the right
to resist the Occupation. We should also recognize Hamas' belligerent tone
for what it is, a bargaining chip that they feel compelled to use after
nearly four decades of a military occupation of Palestinian territory and
the repeated failure of Israel to reciprocate to Fatah's many concessions to
Israeli demands. We should acknowledge that Hamas exercised restraint by
observing a cease-fire for more than a year until recently. The Israelis did
not reciprocate and observe that cease fire.
The US needs to reject the longstanding Israeli strategy of continually
provoking violence while preaching peaceful accommodation. In his June 2nd
address to Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared: "We extend
our hand in peace to the Palestinian People." But at the very same time,
Israeli forces were conducting a large-scale invasion in the heart of
Ramallah, at Manara Square, in which the soldiers opened fire and shot to
death four Palestinian youths. Such Israeli military actions are extremely
common and raise the question of whether Israel deliberately provokes
violent Palestinian countermeasures in order to keep the conflict at a level
where its absolute military superiority gives it a free hand to do what it
wants.
Unlike my opponent, Hillary Clinton, I oppose the construction of the
apartheid wall by the Israeli government, often on Palestinian land. This
action, capping a set of policies similar to the former apartheid policies
of South Africa, by the Israeli government has been ruled illegal by the
International Court of Justice.
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<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT =
size=3D3>Is there=20
some way to arrange for an interview with Mr Hawkins, and the importance =
of=20
running against Hillary Clinton and for peace, justice, and the Green=20
Party?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3><STRONG><EM>We really have a media opportunity by playing up =
and=20
soundbyting opposition to Hillary =
Clinton.</EM></STRONG></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3><STRONG><EM>Is it just me or does the Opposition to Bush [if =
covered at=20
all] chronically get buried into the Democratic Party/Hillary Clinton=20
Story.</EM></STRONG></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT =
size=3D3>With an=20
anti-Hillary and pro-Nader or green party bent, I could probably arrange =
an=20
interview with the Anniston Star, which has historically been a=20
journalist/journalism beacon here in the deep south.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006><FONT =
size=3D3>Keep up the=20
good work.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=3DSection1>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig align=3Dleft>Henry H Duke</P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig>(256) 343-3289</P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><SPAN class=3D969441418-01072006>PS Please pass =
this on to the=20
GPUS Media Committee as Scott McLarty removed me from that =
list.</SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D=20
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><BR>
<DIV class=3DOutlookMessageHeader lang=3Den-us dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft>
<HR tabIndex=3D-1>
<FONT face=3DTahoma><B>From:</B> peace-discussion-admin@lists.gp-us.org=20
[mailto:peace-discussion-admin@lists.gp-us.org] <B>On Behalf Of=20
</B>Dunleamark@aol.com<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 29, 2006 2:21=20
PM<BR><B>To:</B> peace-discussion@lists.gp-us.org<BR><B>Subject:</B>=20
[Peace-discussion] Hawkins for US Senate: Stop Israeli Attacks on=20
Gaza<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><FONT id=3Drole_document face=3DArial color=3D#000000>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#010101>Howie Hawkins for US=20
Senate<BR>www.hawkinsforsenate.org<BR>Media Release<BR><BR>For Release: =
June 29,=20
2006<BR>For More Information: Howie Hawkins 315-425-1019,=20
hhawkins@igc.org<BR>Sally Kim Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968,=20
green_sallyk@yahoo.com<BR><BR>Statement of Howie Hawkins, Green Party =
candidate=20
for US Senate in NY,<BR>on the current Israel-Palestine =
crisis<BR><BR>The US=20
Should Call for a Halt to Israeli Attacks in Gaza<BR>The US Should =
Recognize=20
Newly Elected Palestinian Government, Support Resumption of Direct=20
Negotiations<BR><BR>The conflict in Israel/Palestine has reached new =
levels of=20
menace and suffering with the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The Israeli =
government=20
is intent on inflicting significant suffering on the civilian =
population,=20
targeting the local infrastructure by destroying the local power plant =
and three=20
bridges. Water and electricity has been cut off to 1.3 million =
inhabitants. This=20
comes on top of the suffering caused by decades of military occupation =
and the=20
recent cutoff off of funds to the Palestinian government, which has left =
the=20
many Palestinians in Gaza facing starvation.<BR><BR>With the "buzzing" =
of the=20
home of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, by Israeli fighter jets =
on the=20
pretext that Syria is calling the shots for Hamas in Palestine, there is =
a grave=20
threat that Israel will also take aggressive military action in=20
Syria.<BR><BR>While I hope that the Israeli's soldier who has been =
captured is=20
released unharmed, the pretext by Israeli authorities that the military=20
operation in Gaza is to rescue the"kidnapped"IDF corporal Gilad Shalit =
does not=20
stand the most elementary tests of reason. However unfortunate Shalit =
may be, he=20
was a soldier in the line of duty, participating in a military action =
which had=20
involved deadly shelling of Gaza. Thus he was captured in the line of =
duty, not=20
kidnapped, and his treatment falls under the laws of war, which most =
certainly=20
do not call for an invasion in response to the capture of a =
non-commissioned=20
soldier.<BR><BR>Some 9,800 Palestinian prisoners are currently in =
Israeli=20
custody, almost all nameless and many of whom have been seized and =
transferred=20
out of the occupied territories in blatant violation of international =
law. Yet=20
no protest comes from President Bush, Senator Clinton, or Congress. Over =
three=20
hundred of the prisoners are children. Many of these prisoners should =
also be=20
released. However, both sides should refrain from using the threat of =
violence=20
against individuals as a way to secure the release of their =
citizens.<BR><BR>The=20
current Israeli attacks on Gaza comes immediately after the Palestinian=20
leadership put forth a peace proposal that includes the recognition of =
the right=20
of Israel to exist by Hamas, one of the alleged key demands of both the =
American=20
and Israeli governments. This unfortunately repeats a familiar pattern =
of=20
disruption of the peace process by the Israeli leadership at key =
moments.=20
<BR><BR>The United States, including its Senate and its junior Senator =
from New=20
York, Hillary Clinton, has acted disgracefully in this conflict from its =
earliest days, and bears heavy responsibility, through its extreme, =
one-sided=20
favoritism of Israel, for its present continuation. <BR><BR>As =
Senator=20
from New York, I would press for an even-handed approach to the conflict =
seeking=20
justice for Palestinians and security for Israelis. In the present =
instance I=20
would urge, first, an immediate cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from =
Gaza.=20
Further, I would urge that immediate face-to-face meetings be set up =
between=20
Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership to attempt a resolution of =
the basic=20
causes of hostility. It is surely no accident that the present =
escalation=20
follows upon a movement toward reconciliation among the Palestinian =
factions,=20
whose next step would be the resumption of peaceful negotiations toward =
the=20
resolution of the heart and soul of this conflict: the Israeli =
Occupation of=20
Palestine.<BR><BR>We need to start that process right now. Israel claims =
that=20
its basic concern is to stop Palestinian firing of Qassam rockets from =
Gaza, and=20
that this led to the shelling which in turn led to the Palestinian =
guerrilla=20
raid resulting in the deaths of two IDF soldiers and Cpl. Shalit's =
capture. The=20
United States must unequivocally state that there will be no peace in=20
Israel/Palestine so long as the Palestinian people are being deprived of =
the=20
most elementary human rights and subjected to a never-ending process =
whose=20
intended outcome can only be their complete dispossession from their =
homes and=20
expulsion from their homeland. For this is the principal stimulus to =
their armed=20
struggle. If we do not address this core problem, and what has fed into =
it,=20
there will be no end of violence and suffering. Not just the Palestinian =
people=20
will be destroyed in the process: Israel itself will continue its =
internal=20
process of moral disintegration, and its own destruction will=20
follow.<BR><BR>There can be no peace in Israel/Palestine, and indeed in =
the=20
entire region, so long as the Israeli Occupation continues under the =
direct=20
support of the United States. It is the responsibility of each US =
Senator to=20
work toward a fundamental change in the policy that has given rise to =
this=20
unending tragedy. I pledge to do so if elected.<BR><BR>I urge Congress =
and the=20
Bush administration to support negotiations with the democratically =
elected=20
representatives of the Palestinian people. I also urge the Bush =
administration=20
and the Israeli government to not unilaterally redraw the boundaries =
between=20
Israel and Palestine and to immediately begin good faith negotiations =
with the=20
Palestinian leadership, including representatives of the Hamas=20
government.<BR><BR>I urge both sides to refrain from using violence =
against one=20
another and for Israel to immediately end its illegal occupation of =
Palestinian=20
territory.<BR><BR>I stand with the 37 members of Congress who voted =
against HR=20
4681, which severely restricts US aid to the Palestinian people so long =
as Hamas=20
is in power. As a member of the US Senate, I would vote against such=20
legislation, which constitutes a form of collective punishment and =
flagrant=20
violation of human rights. Congress is starving the Palestinians people =
because=20
they exercised the democratic rights that our government proclaims as =
the prime=20
goal of US policy. Such action is a recipe for violence and extremism by =
cutting=20
off reasonable channels of diplomacy.<BR><BR>The Greens affirm the right =
of=20
self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis, which precludes =
the=20
self-determination of one at the expense of the other. I urge both sides =
to=20
respect and support the rights and security needs of the other. The =
Greens=20
recognize that Jewish insecurity is understandable in light of the =
history of=20
horrific oppression and genocide toward Jews in Europe. However, we =
oppose as=20
both discriminatory and ultimately self-defeating the position that Jews =
would=20
be fundamentally threatened by the implementation of human rights to=20
Palestinians, including the right of Palestinian refugees who wish to =
return to=20
their homes. <BR><BR>I oppose extending US financial and military =
support to=20
Israel while it continues to occupy Palestinian lands in violation of =
numerous=20
UN Security Council resolutions. More Israelis than Americans are aware =
of the=20
brutal nature of the occupation, subjecting Palestinians to daily =
economic=20
deprivation, denial of basic human rights, and violence to Palestinian =
persons=20
and property. <BR><BR>While the Greens oppose the use of violence as a =
political=20
strategy, we should recognize that international law permits the =
Palestinians=20
the right to resist the Occupation. We should also recognize Hamas' =
belligerent=20
tone for what it is, a bargaining chip that they feel compelled to use =
after=20
nearly four decades of a military occupation of Palestinian territory =
and the=20
repeated failure of Israel to reciprocate to Fatah's many concessions to =
Israeli=20
demands. We should acknowledge that Hamas exercised restraint by =
observing a=20
cease-fire for more than a year until recently. The Israelis did not =
reciprocate=20
and observe that cease fire.<BR><BR>The US needs to reject the =
longstanding=20
Israeli strategy of continually provoking violence while preaching =
peaceful=20
accommodation. In his June 2nd address to Congress, Israeli Prime =
Minister Ehud=20
Olmert declared: "We extend our hand in peace to the Palestinian =
People." But at=20
the very same time, Israeli forces were conducting a large-scale =
invasion in the=20
heart of Ramallah, at Manara Square, in which the soldiers opened fire =
and shot=20
to death four Palestinian youths. Such Israeli military actions are =
extremely=20
common and raise the question of whether Israel deliberately provokes =
violent=20
Palestinian countermeasures in order to keep the conflict at a level =
where its=20
absolute military superiority gives it a free hand to do what it=20
wants.<BR><BR>Unlike my opponent, Hillary Clinton, I oppose the =
construction of=20
the apartheid wall by the Israeli government, often on Palestinian land. =
This=20
action, capping a set of policies similar to the former apartheid =
policies of=20
South Africa, by the Israeli government has been ruled illegal by the=20
International Court of Justice.</FONT><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>
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