[Peace] Update on anti-Palestinian Legislation

[David Green]

(Calls many of you in the US made to your elected
officials to stop the

anti-Palestinian legislation did make a difference. 
For those in the US,

please do this follow-up calling as stated in the
alert below from the

Council for National Interest.  Hamas is no more
equivalent to the

Palestinian authority than Likud or Kadima are
equivalent to Israel.

Further, boycotting all entities connected to the
Palestinian authority

literally means mass starvation, boycotting government
hospitals, emergency

services, teachers, civil servants, etc.  On the
political front, why are

the conditions only on one side (hypocritical): why is
the Israeli

government not required to allow Palestine to exist
AND then recognize

Palestine, why is that government not required to
renounce violence, and why

is it not required to accept all previous agreements
(including freezing all

settlement/colonial construction)? I also included
below a decent article by

President Jimmy Carter on this subject of collectively
punishment of the

Palestinians.  Mazin, qumsiyeh.org)


Protest Slows Anti-Palestinian Legislation

Take Action Now


Due in part to your unprecedented opposition to
anti-Palestinian

legislation, the House leadership has unexpectedly
removed H.R. 4681, the

Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, from today's
list of scheduled

votes!


Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee has asserted
its jurisdiction over

the bill and will hold a "mark-up" session tomorrow,
Wednesday, May 10th, to

discuss possible amendments to it. You can watch the
mark-up session live

tomorrow online starting at 10 AM (EDT) using
RealPlayer. The Judiciary

Committee has jurisdiction over the important section
of the resolution that

deals with visas.


As currently written, Section 6 of H.R. 4681 states
that "A visa shall not

be issued to any alien who is an official of,
affiliated with, or serving as

a representative of the Palestinian Authority" without
a special waiver

issued by the President. The resolution defines the
Palestinian Authority to

include the Palestinian Legislative Council, meaning
that even non-Hamas

members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, such
as Mustafa Barghouti,

Hanan Ashrawi, Nabil Sha'ath, and Saeb Erakat, could
be banned from entering

the United States.


Current U.S. law already prohibits the granting of a
visa to a person

belonging to a group, such as Hamas, which the United
States considers to be

a "foreign terrorist organization."


TAKE ACTION: Contact the House Judiciary Committee
today through the Capitol

switchboard at 1-800-355-3588 or directly at
202-225-3951 and tell the

committee that the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act
should conform to current

U.S. law and only deny visas to members of a group the
United States

considers to be a "foreign terrorist organization."
Ask the committee to

amend the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act to include a
provision that would

continue to grant visas to Palestinian politicians who
are not members of

U.S.-designated "foreign terrorist organizations."


Also, if your Representative is on the House Judiciary
Committee, please

call them today as well with the same message.


House Judiciary Committee Members

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Chair, (R-WI-5),
202-225-5101

Rep. John Conyers, Ranking Member (D-MI-14),
202-225-5126

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL-6), 202-225-4921

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA-28), 202-225-4695

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA-9), 202-225-3861

Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT-3), 202-225-7751

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH-1), 202-225-2216

Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC-6), 202-225-3065

Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA-10), 202-225-3111

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL-24), 202-225-2706

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ-6), 202-225-2635

Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA-4), 202-225-6365

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ-2), 202-225-4576

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA-24),202-225-5811

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1), 202-225-3035

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA-6), 202-225-5431

Rep. Mark Green (R-WI-8), 202-225-5665

Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN-8), 202-225-4636

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL-6), 202-225-4561

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC-4), 202-225-6030

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49), 202-225-3906

Rep. William Jenkins (R-TN-1), 202-225-6356

Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL-8), 202-225-2176

Rep. Steve King (R-IA-5), 202-225-4426

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18), 202-225-3816

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16), 202-225-3072

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA-3), 202-225-5716

Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA-5), 202-225-3411

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-8), 202-225-5635

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN-6), 202-225-3021

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA-39), 202-225-6676

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA-29), 202-225-4176

Rep. Debbie W. Schultz (D-FL-20), 202-225-7931

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA-3), 202-225-8351

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX-21), 202-225-4236

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8), 202-225-5341

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA-35), 202-225-2201

Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC-12), 202-225-1510

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY-9), 202-225-6616

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL-19), 202-225-3001


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