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House Resolution on Gaza Conflict
1) Who are we pleasing? Op-ed by Mike Ghouse HR 34 Barely Mentions human suffering, who are we pleasing? The question is about the House Resolution 34 which “barely mentions the human suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.” We are the most powerful nation on the earth and Israel is the most powerful nation in the Middle East, both of us can decide whatever pleases us, who will question us? Didn't that attitude get us into trouble? Every American but those few in power are paying for it, soaring unemployment, budget deficit of $1.2 Trillion, business closures and a miserable short term looming over our heads. Isn't it the same Congress and Senate that was scared to speak up with the Bush-push for the war? Cheney had them in chains, except Obama and a few, no one had the guts to speak out or dissent from the sheepishness. Shame on them, they need to repent and beg for forgiveness and mercy from the creator for the deaths of thousands of Iraqi's, putting thousands of women on the flesh trade, destroying their and our economies and sacrificing the lives of our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. Majority isn't always right, in the last decade California had passed two referendums by overwhelming majorities, both were immoral, thanks to our Judiciary system they were over turned. That is the right thing to do in the long run. The world is moving from extremism to moderation and we need to give it a hand. Our appeasement policies to a few lobbyist is blinding us in our judgments, our policies have hurt both the people of Israel and Palestine. Sixty years have gone by and the Israelis are yet to feel secure and the Palestinians are far from having the very basic of human existence; hope. The current leadership has made serious mistakes in behalf of their people, each has punished the ordinary and common civilians including women and children. Like the Rams they have locked in their horns and have not learned to be humans to dialogue. Shamelessly, we Americans have let our leaders do bad things in the world in our name as well. It all has to change, yes we can bring that change for the good of every human being. I pray that Obama rejects all that Bush stood for and gets down to really figuring out what brings peace to them two people. He has four years and he can take bold steps to establish peace in the Middle East and leave a legacy of peace to the world. The Jews, the Israelis, the Arabs, the Palestinian Muslims and Christians would welcome it. No doubt it will make the Neocons, Radical Zionists and the Islamists go ballistic in the short run, but they will appreciate it when they see Justice will bring enduring peace to all people. I pray that these three groups start thinking long term peace, real peace and not rejoice in the fire power, destruction and death. Spiritually their Karma is stained, they may choose to do some good to recover their equilibrium and earn salvation, or pay a price in their conscience. We have a moral obligation to the peace and security of the people of Israel and Palestine and we need to speak up. Our policies have been disastrous for the region. With the exception of Carter, Begin, Sadat, Perez and Arafat, all others have mistakenly written destruction in their plans in the folder named peace. Unless we all speak up, we will continue to let the vicious people run the world and bring injustice to us, the average Joe's and the people of Israel and Palestine. The biggest hurdles to peace are the following items; i) our inability to see our mistakes ii) our quickness to blame the other rather than mourn the loss of life, any life and iii) our degradation to animal behavior and loss of the human quality to dialogue and iv) continue to find justifications for our actions. What can we do? 1. We need to build an opinion for Israeli and Hamas leaders to dialogue, that is the best given course; saving lives and destruction for one and all. Mother Teresa had said, if you want peace, you talk with your enemies and not your friends. 2. We need to drop our anger, revenge and justifications, the life is far above that. 3. We need to work on mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill. 4. We need to hold the temptations to destroy the other; push Israel into sea or obliterate Hamas. If not, it deepens the chasm. I always think of car accidents where we have the arrogance of our right of way, if I we still drive and not pause or yield, both of us would be in an accident. I support Congressman's Ellison's voice of conscience and urge other congressman to do the right thing and pray that God gives them the guts to speak up. Lose the damned election but do the right thing, you have to answer yourselves. You owe peace and hope to the Israelis and the Palestinians and need to do what works best in the long run and not appease some one who wields pressure on you or pays you money. You are welcome to write your comment below, if you stick to the subject an offer viable solutions, it will be published. Mike Ghouse
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For Immediate
Release
Congressman Ellison’s Floor Statement on Gaza
Conflict House Resolution Washington, D.C. --
Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis) made the
following statement on the floor of the House of
Representatives today regarding his vote on House
Resolution 34, a bill expressing the sense of
Congress about the ongoing conflict between Israel
and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Congressman Ellison
joined 22 of his colleagues and voted “Present” on
the resolution.
Madame Speaker, I come to the floor today torn
about this resolution.
Though I welcome resolutions by Congress to
express support for the people of Israel and Gaza
at this difficult time, this resolution does
little to move toward a stable and durable peace
in the Middle East.
I cannot vote against this resolution because I
believe every country in the world has the right
to defend itself.
I have been to Sderot and I have seen
first-hand both the physical and emotional
destruction caused by the rocket attacks launched
by Hamas.
Israeli citizens living near the Gaza border
have been repeatedly harassed and live daily in
fear. Hamas, a terrorist organization founded with
the goal of destroying Israel, has launched more
than 6,000 rockets and mortars into Israel since
2005.
Last fall I voted for a resolution specifically
condemning these rocket attacks into Israel.
At the same time I cannot vote for this
resolution because it barely mentions the human
suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Over 750 people have been killed, including 250
children and 50 women, with over 3,000 people
injured.
And even before the recent Israeli military
operation, life for the people of Gaza had become
increasingly unlive-able -- with shortages of
food, fuel and basic medical supplies.
The 1.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip
existed in a state of dreadful isolation, cut off
from the world, often including the world's media.
Earlier this year the people of Gaza broke
through the walls separating Gaza and Egypt simply
to purchase groceries.
We need to have compassion for the people of
Gaza and the tremendous human suffering there.
That is why I will vote “present” on this
resolution concerning the current conflict in
Gaza.
History has shown that ground troops and air
strikes have not resolved conflict in the Middle
East. If we try to resolve conflict with military
might and nothing else, then we will be no safer
than we were before.
Diplomacy is necessary to save lives and yield
a lasting peace with security.
The United States government, together with
international partners, must play an active role
in pursuing real peace with security in the Middle
East. The text of the
resolution is available at:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:hr34ih.txt.pdf
111 1ST
SESSION
Recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES J ANUARY 8, 2009Ms. P ELOSI (for herself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. CLYBURN,Mr. P ENCE, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MCCARTHY of California,Mr. B ERMAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ACKERMAN, and Mr.B URTON of Indiana) submitted the following resolution; which was referredto the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Whereas Hamas was founded with the stated goal of destroying the State of Israel; Whereas Hamas has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization; Whereas Hamas has refused to comply with the Quartet’s (the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations) requirements that Hamas recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and agree to accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians; Whereas in June 2006, Hamas illegally crossed into Israel, attacked Israeli forces, and kidnaped Corporal Gilad Shalit, whom they continue to hold today; Whereas Hamas has launched thousands of rockets and mortars against Israeli population centers since 2001, and has launched more than 6,000 such rockets and mortars since Israel withdrew its civilian population and its military from Gaza in 2005; Whereas Hamas has increased the range and payload of its rockets, reportedly with support from Iran and others, putting hundreds of thousands of Israelis in danger of rocket attacks from Gaza; Whereas Hamas locates elements of its terrorist infrastructure in civilian population centers, thus using innocent civilians as human shields; Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement on December 27, 2008, that ‘‘We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the cease-fire and for the renewal of violence there’’; Whereas on December 27, 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, ‘‘For approximately seven years, hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens in the south have been suffering from missiles being fired at them. . . . In such a situation we had no alternative but to respond. We do not rejoice in battle but neither will we be deterred from it. . . . The operation in the Gaza Strip is designed, first and foremost, to bring about an improvement in the security reality for the residents of the south of the country’’; Whereas the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including shortages of food, water, electricity, and adequate medical care, is becoming more acute; Whereas Israel has facilitated humanitarian aid to Gaza with hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian assistance and numerous ambulances entering the Gaza Strip since the current round of fighting began on December 27, 2008; Whereas on January 6, 2009, before the United Nations Security Council, Secretary Rice stated that: ‘‘The situation before the current events in Gaza was clearly not sustainable. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis lived under the daily threat of rocket attack, and frankly, no country, none of our countries, would have been willing to tolerate such a circumstance. Moreover, the people of Gaza watched as insecurity and lawlessness increased and as their living conditions grew more dire because of Hamas’s actions which began with the illegal coup against the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. . . . A ceasefire that returns to those circumstances is unacceptable and it will not last’’; and Whereas the ultimate goal of the United States is a sustainable resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will ensure the welfare, security, and survival of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders, and a viable, independent, and democratic Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the State of Israel: Now, therefore, be it 1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— expresses vigorous support and unwavering commitment to the welfare, security, and survival of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders, and recognizes its right to act in self-defense to protect its citizens against Hamas’s unceasing aggression, as enshrined in the United Nations Charter;(2) reiterates that Hamas must end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, agree to accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, and verifiably dismantle its terrorist infrastructure; (3) encourages the Administration to work actively to support a durable and sustainable cease-fire in Gaza , as soon as possible, that prevents Hamas from retaining or rebuilding its terrorist infrastructure, including the capability to launch rockets and mortars against Israel, and thereby allowing for the long-term improvement of daily living conditions for the people of Gaza; (4) believes strongly that the lives of innocent civilians must be protected to the maximum extent possible, expresses condolences to innocent Palestinian and Israeli victims and their families, and reiterates that humanitarian needs in Gaza should be addressed promptly and responsibly; (5) calls on all nations— (A) to condemn Hamas for deliberately embedding its fighters, leaders, and weapons in private homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, and otherwise using Palestinian civilians as human shields, while simultaneously targeting Israeli civilians; and (B) to lay blame both for the breaking of the ‘‘calm’’ and for subsequent civilian casualties in Gaza precisely where blame belongs, that is, on Hamas; (6) supports and encourages efforts to diminish the appeal and influence of extremists in the Palestinian territories, and strengthen moderate Palestinians who are committed to a secure and lasting peace with Israel;(7) calls on Egypt to intensify its efforts to halt smuggling between Gaza and Egypt and affirms the willingness of the United States to continue to assist Egypt in these efforts; (8) calls for the immediate release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been illegally held in Gaza since June 2006; and (9) reiterates its strong support for a just and sustainable resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict achieved through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in order to ensure the welfare, security, and survival of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders, and a viable, independent, and democratic Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the State of Israel.
©
MIKE GHOUSE 2001- 2008 :: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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