[Peace-discuss] Durbin and AIPAC

[David Green]

A letter being circulated by a friend in Chicago:

Dear Senator Durbin:

We, your constituents, join together in expressing our
concern over 
your
Sunday, April 10 Chicago appearance in partnership
with AIPAC, the 
American
Israel Public Affairs Committee. The event, titled
"The Road to Capitol
Hill: Your Partnership with AIPAC and Congress Makes a
Difference to
Israel," reflects support of an organization we
believe works against a
balanced US policy in the Middle East and against the
necessary 
conditions
for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and
Palestinians based on
internationally-recognized principles of human rights
and law.

We who desire peace for Palestinians and Israelis are
extremely 
concerned
about AIPAC's promotion on Capitol Hill of a damaging,
short-sighted, 
and
profoundly unbalanced agenda:

--AIPAC fails to condemn Israeli settlement building
and expansion.
--AIPAC fails to condemn expropriation of Palestinian
land.
--AIPAC fails to condemn demolition of Palestinian
homes and 
agricultural
tracts. 
--AIPAC works against restrictions that would tie US
aid to Israel to
fulfilment of stated US goals, such as halting
settlement construction.
--AIPAC fails to condemn Israeli breaches of
international law, such as 
land
expropriation, assassination, and use of excessive
force against 
civilians.
--AIPAC promotes unbalanced Congressional resolutions
sympathetic to 
Israel.
--AIPAC promotes unbalanced Congressional resolutions
critical of
Palestinian leadership and other Arab governments.
--AIPAC promotes the selective application of UN
resolutions.
--In supporting the separation barrier--built on
Palestinian 
land--AIPAC
works to neutralize legal judgments by the
international bodies that 
exist
for conflict resolution through nonviolent means.
--AIPAC demands scrutiny of Iran's nuclear program,
but not of 
Israel's.
--AIPAC condemns Syria's occupation of Lebanon, but
not Israel's 
occupation
of Golan or of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and
Gaza.
--AIPAC selectively condemns Palestinian attacks on
Israeli civilians, 
but
not attacks by Israel on Palestinian civilians.

As our elected Senator, we urge you to work in
Congress for a balanced 
US
policy toward Israelis and Palestinians. We are
unanimous in believing 
that
the AIPAC agenda works against a just resolution to
the conflict and
creates conditions for mistrust and enmity between
Palestinians and
Israelis. We believe that events such as the one
occurring on April 10
foster the illusion that you are working in
partnership with AIPAC to
advance the damaging and unbalanced agenda described
above.

Sincerely yours,