[Peace] Senator Durbin and AIPAC

Sun Apr 3 10:57:52 CDT 2005

Thanks to those of you who have signed the letter
below. If you haven't, please consider doing it, info
on where to send also below. It would be nice to have
a larger downstate presence, so please circulate.

DG

Message: 4         
   Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 11:42:33 -0600
   From: Martha Reese <martha at martinreese.com>
Subject: Join hundreds of Illinoisans in signing Open
Letter to Senator 
Durbin

Dear Friend: 

We¹re writing to invite you to do two things:

1) Please read the open letter to Illinois Senator
Richard Durbin 
below. To
sign the letter, which will be delivered on or before
April 10 by FedEx 
to
Durbin's Washington DC and Chicago offices, please
send an e-mail with 
your
name and Illinois city of residence to
action4justice at hotmail.com. 
[Please
include your address and phone number; this
information is for identity
verification purposes only and will not be published.]

2) Please forward this action invitation to Illinois
residents you know 
who
are concerned about justice and peace for Palestinians
and Israelis and 
are
concerned about the negative impact of US policy
there. Please forward 
to
many friends and associates; this action opportunity
can serve to 
educate
about AIPAC and Durbin, as well as to offer a positive
opportunity for
constituents to make a powerful collective statement.

Thank you for joining with hundreds of Illinois
residents in sending 
this
important message to Senator Durbin..

* * *

April 8, 2005

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 for an organization we
believe works against 
a
balanced US policy in the Middle East and against the
necessary 
conditions
for peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and
Israelis based on
internationally-recognized principles of human rights
and law.

We who have been working with other Americans,
Israelis, and 
Palestinians
here in the US and in the Middle East to create a just
peace 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 the illegal 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 excessive use of
force against 
civilians.

--AIPAC promotes the selective application of UN
resolutions, rejecting 
only
those which condemn Israeli policy.

--In supporting the separation barrier--built on
Palestinian land-- 
AIPAC
works to neutralize judgments by the international
legal bodies that 
exist
for conflict resolution through nonviolent means.

--AIPAC condemns Syria's occupation of Lebanon, but
not Israel's 
occupation
of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the West Bank,
and Gaza 
which--unlike
Syria's occupation--has involved illegal territorial
annexation, 
population
transfer, destruction of private property and civil
infrastructure, 
physical
and economic oppression of the local population,
devastating movement
restrictions, and thousands of deaths and disabling
injuries.

--AIPAC selectively condemns attacks by Palestinians
on Israeli 
civilians,
but not attacks by Israelis on Palestinian civilians.

As our elected Senator, we urge you to work in
Congress for a balanced 
US
policy toward Palestinians and Israelis. 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 are concerned that your participation in events
such as the one 
occurring
on April 10 creates the disturbing perception that you
are working in
partnership with AIPAC to advance its damaging and
unbalanced agenda.

Sincerely yours,

(list in formation)
Hatem Abudayyeh - Chicago, IL
Faiq Albazzaz  Des Plaines, IL
Eyas Alhomouz - Chicago, IL
Keli Briggs Allison  Chicago, IL
Fatimah S. Baeshen  Chicago, IL
John D. Bagley - Naperville, IL
Salua Vianeey Baida - Chicago, IL
Connie Baker - Elmhurst, IL
Jennifer Bing-Canar - Oak Park, IL
James E. Bloyd - River Forest, IL
Nelson Borelli, MD - Chicago, IL
Robert Bossie, SCJ -
Erik Bowen - Lake Bluff, IL
Morton K. Brussel - Champaign, IL
Donna Caplin - Oak Park, IL
Bill Chambers  Chicago, IL
Lisa Chason - Urbana, IL
Kevin Clark - Chicago, IL
Tom Cordaro  Aurora, IL
Betty Dodson  Charleston, IL
Benjamin Doherty - Chicago, IL
Laurie Empen - Chicago, IL
Jeff Epton - Chicago, IL
C.G. Estabrook - Champaign, IL
Shoshana Fanizza - Carpentersville, IL
David Feldman - Oak Park, IL
Steven Feuerstein - Chicago, IL
Louise Fields - Highland Park, IL
Steve Fleischman  Highwood, IL
Chris Fogarty - Chicago, IL
Libby Frank - Arlington Heights, IL
Joel H. Freeman  East Alton, ILs
Glenn Fritz - Park Ridge, IL
Hatem Galal, MD - Elmhurst, IL
David Gilbert - Oak Park, IL
Gail Gillispie - Glenwood, IL
Galen L. Gockel - Oak Park, IL
Z. Gorin - Peoria, IL
Bruce Gould - Chicago, IL
David Green - Champaign, IL
Rayya Haddad  Chicago, IL
Jeffrey Hamrick - Chicago, IL
Gloria Hannas - LaGrange, IL
Patrick Haran - Chicago, IL
Dierdre Hastings  Chicago, IL
Emily Hauser - Oak Park, IL
Caroline Herzenberg  Chicago, IL
Paula S. Hiebert - Homewood, IL
Louis Hirsch - Chicago, IL
Terrance J. Hodges - Palos Park, IL
Robert Hostetter - Chicago, IL
John Hundley  Mt. Vernon, IL
Sally Hundley - Park Forest, IL
Hussein Isbitan  Orland Park, IL
Tanuja Jagernauth - Chicago, IL
Rev. Peter W. Jenkins - Elk Grove Village, IL
Colleen Jersild - Wilmette, IL
Jimmy Johnson - Chicago, IL
Steven Jones - Chicago, IL
Aireen Joven  Chicago, IL
Al Kagan - Urbana, IL
Judi Kaminski - LaGrange Park, IL
Marilyn Kauffmann  Forest Park, IL
Elena M. Kenney  Chicago, IL
Diane Kerr  Downers Grove, IL
Christopher Khoury - Chicago, IL
Suzy Kim - Chicago, IL
Gary Kleppe  Villa Park, IL
Paul Krefft  Downers Grove, IL
Donald A. Kruse - LaGrange Park, IL
William R. Lamme - Chicago
Lauren Langman - Chicago, IL
Elisa Lapine - Oak Park, IL
Mehrene Larudee - Chicago, IL
Delbert Leppke  Evanston, IL
Michael Levin - Berwyn, IL
Rebekah Levin - Oak Park, IL
Cindy Levitt - Evanston, IL
Krista Lewis - Chicago, IL
Barb Lightner  Arlington Heights, IL
Nancy Long  Peoria, IL
Angela M. Loveless  Bolingbrook, IL
Marian M. Lynch - LaGrange Park, IL
Claire Marich - Downers Grove, IL
Bryn Martin  Chicago, IL
Dave Martin - Lombard, IL
Deb Martin  Woodridge, IL
Wendy Mathewson - Chicago, IL
Kathleen Matsushima  Inverness, IL
M.P. McKenzie - Chicago, IL
Tracy McLellan - Lansing, IL
Sally Merar - Wilmette, IL
Duane Mevis - Naperville, IL
Barry Miller - Downers Grove, IL
Ahmed Minhaj  Chicago, IL
Gerald Moyar - Naperville, IL
Charles J. Murnick - Chicago, IL
Daoud Nabhan - Naperville, IL
Robert Naiman - Urbana, IL
Sonia Ness  Elk Grove Village, IL
Jim Newman - Evanston, IL
Mary O¹Sullivan - Chicago, IL
Sharon Obeidallah - Forest Park, IL
Abby Okrent - Evanston, IL
Tim Oppenheim - Chicago, IL
Alex Orden - Chicago, IL
Libby Pappalardo  Crystal Lake, IL
Michael Perman - Oak Park, IL
Christine Phillips - Chicago, IL
Leroy K. Pickett - Downers Grove, IL
Mark Pickus - Oak Park, IL
Anand Pillay  Champaign, IL
Lynn Pollack - Evanston, IL
Margaret Power - Chicago, IL
James J. Prendergast  Mount Prospect, IL
Ra Ravishankar - Urbana, IL
Annalise Raziq - Chicago, IL
Martha Reese - River Forest, IL
Donald B. Register - Oak Park, IL
Bonnie Richardson  Chicago, IL
Joan Eldridge Ridell  Buffalo Grove, IL
Adam Rose - Chicago, IL
Carol M. Rounds - Elmhurst, IL
Jonah Rubin - Chicago, IL
Cinda Rubinstein - Chicago, IL
Eric Ruder - Chicago, IL
Jan Ryk - Downers Grove, IL
Judith Schader  Palatine, IL
Lester Schlosberg - Chicago, IL
Bob Schwartz - Chicago, IL
Robin Semer - Chicago, IL
Janet Settle - Oak Park, IL
Rupa Shah - Forest Park, IL
Mary Shesgreen - Elgin, IL
Elizabeth Parker Siebeck - Elgin, IL
Awad Paul Sifri - Naperville, IL
Michael Simon - Deerfield, IL
Amy J. Smith - Normal, IL
Janet K. Smith  Carol Stream, IL
Sarah Smith  Chicago, IL
Stansfield Smith  Chicago, IL
Paula Snider  Elgin, IL
Aisha Lamb Sobh - Urbana, IL
Peter Sporn, MD - Oak Park, IL
Burton Steck - Chicago, IL
Robert Stone, MD - Highland Park, IL
Shirley Stone - Highland Park, IL
Gary Swick - Elgin, IL
Jenny Tomkins - Sycamore, IL
Barbara Trautman  Evanston, IL
Donn Trautman  Evanston, IL
Shivali Tukdeo - Urbana, IL
Erin Unverferth - Chicago, IL
Caren Levy VanSlyke - Oak Park, IL
Harold Vogelaar  Chicago, IL
Sharon Weinblatt - Wheaton, IL
Martha Witwer - Wilmette, IL
Sharif Zaben  Chicago, IL
Nadima Zegar  Orland Park, IL
Ruth Zekowski - Skokie, IL
Walter E. Ziegenhals - River Forest, IL
Michael P. Ziri - Springfield, IL

* * *

Add your name to the open letter today! Send an e-mail
to
action4justice at hotmail.com. Please provide your name
and Illinois city 
of
residence (as well as address and phone number for
verification 
purposes
only). Don¹t forget to invite other members of your
household to sign, 
too.