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From Mazin Qumsiyeh…

Take action on the two alerts below from Citizens for Fair Legislation and the Council for National Interest. Also please consider signing the petition supporting an Israel Accountability Act to President Bush and your Representative: HOLD ISRAEL ACCOUNTABLE.

For those not in the US, you can write to your elected officials and media and ask them to resist the dictats of the US government whose foreign policy is hijacked by special interests.

SEND PREWRITTEN LETTER TODAY:

Citizens for Fair Legislation

URGENT CFL ALERT: TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES THAT YOU OPPOSE THE DRACONIAN MEASURES AGAINST PALESTINIANS IN THE ROSS-LEHTINEN AND LANTOS RESOLUTION.

• Representatives Ros-Lehtinen and Lantos have sponsored a resolution calling for devastating and extreme measures against the Palestinians to punish them for electing a Hamas led Palestinian Authority. This resolution calls for a ban to all financial aid to the PA; a travel ban on all representatives of the PA; ending all financial support for UN programs linked to the PA (including food and education programs); closing PLO offices in Washington; and restricting the movements of the Palestinian representative to the UN.

• Take a moment and send our prewritten letter to your representatives asking them to both oppose and denounce this resolution. Tell your representatives that it is unreasonable and cruel to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority merely because the U.S. does not like who the Palestinians voted for. Remind them that the U.S. demanded that Palestinians hold democratic elections and for the U.S. to now say that they will accept Palestinian choices and that instead they will collectively punish Palestinians for their choices is ridiculous.
• Tell your representative that cutting off aid to Palestinians, in particular the assistance that Palestinians receive from the United Nations vis-à-vis education and food programs, will only serve to militarize Palestinian society and in no way advances the prospect of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Tell them that it is not in the best interests of Israeli security or American interests in the region to isolate and starve the Palestinian people. Tell your representatives that you think supporting this resolution would be disastrous for U.S. foreign policy and that it would be unethical and immoral to take these draconian measures against Palestinians that would result in the starvation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian nation. For the text of the Ross-Lehtinen-Lantos draft please visit our website. Please take action today.

EMAIL AND OR CALL THE WHITE HOUSE
WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS LINE: 202-456-1111
WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414
WHITE HOUSE FAX: 202-456-2461

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Congressional Resolutions Threaten Aid to Palestinians
Now is Not the Time to Shut the Door
February ?Washington Wednesday? Action Alert

START DATE: Immediately
END DATE: To be determined

The decisive victory of Hamas at the polls on January 25 in Palestine has prompted an international effort, led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, members of the European Union, the prime minister of Israel, and now members of Congress to isolate the Palestinian Authority by cutting off all aid to the Palestinians. A non-binding resolution has been introduced in the Senate by John Thune (R-SD) (partial text currently available on his website) supporting the ending of assistance to the Palestinians if Hamas forms a government, and even more draconian measures are being put forward by Tom Lantos ((D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) threatening not only to end aid but also to withhold US dues to the UN proportional to the percentage of the UN budget spent on protecting and advocating for Palestinian human rights; it also seeks to deny visas and place restrictions on Palestinian Authority diplomats.

ACTION REQUESTED
Email your Members of Congress (senators and representatives) to tell them that reevaluating relations with the PA and threatening to cut off aid is not the proper response to Hamas? victory. Tell them that at this stage, it is best to recognize that the Palestinian people have peacefully exercised their democratic rights and that cool heads should be given time to prevail. This is not the time to cut off aid to the Palestinians, who have endured three years of cruel and heartless military occupation that has impoverished their country.

If you would prefer to call or fax your Member of Congress, contact information can be found at www.congress.org.

TALKING POINTS

1. Palestinians should be congratulated, not admonished and threatened with diplomatic isolation and a cut off of aid, for conducting a free and fair, competitive, multi-party legislative election under harsh conditions of Israeli military occupation and besiegement, restrictions on their freedom of movement and ability to campaign freely, and other human rights violations.

2. The United States professes to promote democracy abroad. Supporting democracy means supporting the results of free and fair elections as an expression of the self-determination of the people who cast ballots, even when the United States and its allies are not pleased with the outcome.
3. There are indications that Hamas? participation in the political process is having a moderating influence on its policies. Recently, Hamas has floated the idea of accepting a two-state solution, observed a PA-brokered cease-fire and pledged to maintain it as long as Israel does likewise, and removed calls for the destruction of Israel from its election platform. If the United States were to boycott, sanction, or cut off aid to a Hamas-led PA, it could reverse this trend and exacerbate tensions.
4. The United States provides virtually no direct assistance to the PA; almost all US aid projects to Palestinians are implemented by non-governmental organizations through contracts awarded and overseen by the US Agency for International Development. These humanitarian programs are important to the social and economic well-being of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories whose ability to earn a livelihood is drastically curtailed by the human rights violations Israel commits through its US-backed military occupation of these areas. Cutting off this humanitarian aid would only cruelly punish people for exercising their right to vote.
5. Calm heads should prevail at this juncture, and no one’s interests are served by rushing to judgment. Allow the Palestinians time for a cabinet to be formed, for the President of the PA to mediate the situation, and to let pragmatic voices to be heard.

BACKGROUND
Prior to the Palestinian legislative election, both Houses of Congress threatened to reevaluate relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) if Hamas were to participate in the next Palestinian government.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution (H.Res.575) on Dec. 16 in which it stated that Hamas? participation in the PA government ?will inevitably raise serious questions for the United States about the commitment of the Palestinian Authority and its leadership to making peace with Israel and will potentially undermine the ability of the United States to have a constructive relationship with, or provide further assistance to, the Palestinian Authority.?

On Dec. 21, 73 Senators sent a ?Dear Colleague? letter to President Bush stating that ?if terrorist groups gain a substantial foothold in the Palestinian legislature, it will make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for there to be any progress on the roadmap or on the road to achieving a two state solution. There would be even more severe policy implications if any such groups were then brought into the Palestinian Authority. The United States?and no doubt other countries as well?would have little choice but to reevaluate all aspects of our relations with the Palestinian Authority.”

Now that Hamas has won the Palestinian legislative election and will be asked to form the next PA government, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Members of Congress have issued statements in an attempt to isolate the Palestinians. In this, they seem to be acting in tandem with the Israeli government, which has adopted the same stance. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) introduced a concurrent resolution on Jan. 26 stating that ?no United States assistance should be provided to the Palestinian Authority if any representative political party holding a majority of parliamentary seats within the Palestinian Authority maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel.?

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), the lead sponsor of H.Res.575, went further than Sen. Thune, threatening to cut of all aid to the Palestinians. According to Rep. Cantor, “If Hamas does not join the peaceful nations of the world at the table of cooperation and peace, the consequences will be the loss of America’s support and funding for the Palestinians” (AP, January 27, 2006).

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