Dennis Kucinich: To My Friends in Oregon - Please Help Congressman DeFazio
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- Written by Dennis Kucinich Dennis Kucinich
- Published: 07 October 2010 07 October 2010
- Hits: 3292 3292
Dear AUPHR Supporters:
Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer have both been among the best rated politicans in support of Palestinian rights. The US Campaign gave DeFazio 7 Positive Votes, Blumenauer 8 Postive Vote, in comparison with Kucinich's exemplar 9 positives. In contrast, Kurt Schrader scored a horrid -3 and Greg Walden scored a hair wrenching -6. We need more people like DeFazio in office! See the Congression Score Card on the US Campaign's Web site.
Sincerely,
Peter Miller
To My Friends in Oregon - Please Help Congressman DeFazio
Hi, Dennis here.
Peter DeFazio, one of the greatest progressives in the Congress, is being targeted in this election. He has a well-funded extremist candidate running against him and now a Washington, D.C. based group is raising "unlimited amounts" from anonymous sources to defeat him. They have already spent $200,000 on ads attacking Peter and they are on pace to spend $1 million.
Rachel Maddow, the progressive MSNBC commentator, recently described these anonymous attack ads as "the story of what's wrong with elections this cycle."
The attacks are in the form of new shell organizations created as a result of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United earlier this year. The court threw out 100 years of precedents that banned corporate contributions to congressional campaigns. These groups are raising unlimited amounts of money from anonymous sources to influence the outcome of elections around the country and, as we've seen, they have been successful.
It's no wonder they would target Peter, who has been one of my strongest allies in Congress in fighting for a progressive agenda. He and I have stood shoulder to shoulder in fighting for a progressive agenda that benefits working families, rather than corporate special interests. We have fought against the Iraq and Afghanistan military campaigns, and pressed for peaceful resolutions in Iran and the Middle East.
Peter and I have consistently pushed Presidents and Democratic leaders to renegotiate trade policies that have led to the loss of millions of U.S. jobs, eliminate wasteful military spending, challenge the legal authority of U.S. military actions, re-regulate the financial industry whose misdeeds led to the current economic crisis, and to protect Social Security for our seniors.
These anonymous attack ads are attempting to undermine our democracy. If they can purchase enough elections to take back the majority, corporate America will once again dominate the federal agenda. They will cut corporate taxes, cut the social safety net, and undermine consumer and environmental protections. They will use war to pacify the voters with fear. If these shell groups win, the federal government will radically shift to promote the agenda of corporate America, ensuring CEO's continue to rake in million dollar bonuses. The rest of our work will be outsourced and our kids will be sent overseas to fight more wars.
Peter has been one of the strongest, most consistent voices for working families and peace in the Congress. We cannot afford to lose his voice, his independence, and his leadership on the issues we care about most. I am asking you to dig deep, and help him fight back so we can continue to fight for working families. Your contribution of $35, $50, $100, $500, or $2,400 is so important. You can make a contribution using the enclosed envelope, by using a credit card through Peter's secure website at www.defazioforcongress.org or by calling Peter's office at (541) 485-1622. Alternatively, you can volunteer on his campaign and help him directly.
Please act now!
Boy used as human shield by Israeli soldiers speaks out
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- Written by Rami Almeghari Rami Almeghari
- Published: 06 October 2010 06 October 2010
- Hits: 3310 3310
{josquote}"If there is peace, I, the children of Palestine and the children of
Israel will enjoy peace, rather than suffer more wars," Majid Rabah, age 12{/josquote}
Majid Rabah, age 11, had a broad smile on his face as he relaxed at his family's apartment in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City on Monday, 4 October. He had just heard the news that the two Israeli soldiers who had used him as a human shield had been convicted of their crime in an Israeli military court.
Gov. Kulongoski readies trade mission to Israel
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- Written by Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian
- Published: 06 October 2010 06 October 2010
- Hits: 3287 3287
Gov. Kulongoski's trip to Israel this
month will be his second as governor, and fourth overall.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski will lead a small delegation late this month
on a trade mission to Israel, where he will meet
with clean tech companies, venture capitalists and visit an Intel
facility slated for expansion.
By the time the governor leaves for the eight-day trip on Oct. 25, he'll have about three months remaining in office. So the trip will be one of his last opportunities for pushing economic initiatives his administration has championed.
"I've always recognized that there was a connection between Israel and Oregon, an economic tie," Kulongoski said in an interview Tuesday.
"They are as far ahead as any country in the world on renewable energy," he said. "It's a country we can partner with very easily on these things that we are trying to make part of our economic structure."
Details of the itinerary are still being set, but the trip will include a visit to Intel's state-of-the-art semiconductor factory in the southern city of Kiryat Gat. Intel brings employees to Oregon from that facility to train them on new manufacturing technology.
The Kiryat Gat factory is slated for a $2.75 billion expansion, Israel announced this week, financed in part by a $200 million government grant. Intel is in the process of expanding its manufacturing capacity, and Oregon chip industry insiders say an even larger project is on the drawing board here.
The governor's office said he will fly coach, as he usually does on trade missions. The office said it's budgeting $5,000 per person on the trip, which will also include two representatives from the Oregon Business Development Department and one or two members of the governor's staff.
The Port of Portland will also send a delegation, led by Director Bill Wyatt and Diana Daggett, a Port commissioner and Intel corporate affairs director.
Oregon's exports to Israel totaled $107 million last year, 21st among the state's biggest trading partners. By comparison, the state's top export destination -- China -- purchased $3 billion in Oregon goods last year.
And yet this is the governor's second trade mission to Israel in a little more than two years.
"Most people wouldn't think of Israel as a major trading partner, but in fact there is a very strong commercial connection," Wyatt said. "It just doesn't show up in the statistics."
Israel is one of the top five destinations for commercial travelers on Northwest Airlines' nonstop flight from Portland to Amsterdam, according to Wyatt. That's driven in part by people traveling between Intel's facilities in Oregon and Israel.
On this trip, Wyatt said he will ask how to improve travel connections between Oregon and Israel and inquire about hang-ups current travelers experience.
"When you travel with the governor on a trip like this you just gain so much more access to people who have these kinds of questions or answers to those questions," he said.
Israel has been in the headlines this year over its raid of a Turkish relief ship headed for Gaza and more recently for troubled Palestinian peace talks brokered by the U.S.
Mideast politics crossed his mind as he planned this trip, Kulongoski said, but he said he believes in Israeli democracy and sees an economic opportunity for Oregon.
This will actually be Kulongoski's fourth trip to Israel. While he was attorney general, he spent three weeks there to observe a war crimes trial of suspected Nazi concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk. Kulongoski also visited Israel on a two-week vacation.
"I've always been taken by it," he said. "I'm a student of history."
By the time the governor leaves for the eight-day trip on Oct. 25, he'll have about three months remaining in office. So the trip will be one of his last opportunities for pushing economic initiatives his administration has championed.
"I've always recognized that there was a connection between Israel and Oregon, an economic tie," Kulongoski said in an interview Tuesday.
"They are as far ahead as any country in the world on renewable energy," he said. "It's a country we can partner with very easily on these things that we are trying to make part of our economic structure."
Details of the itinerary are still being set, but the trip will include a visit to Intel's state-of-the-art semiconductor factory in the southern city of Kiryat Gat. Intel brings employees to Oregon from that facility to train them on new manufacturing technology.
The Kiryat Gat factory is slated for a $2.75 billion expansion, Israel announced this week, financed in part by a $200 million government grant. Intel is in the process of expanding its manufacturing capacity, and Oregon chip industry insiders say an even larger project is on the drawing board here.
The governor's office said he will fly coach, as he usually does on trade missions. The office said it's budgeting $5,000 per person on the trip, which will also include two representatives from the Oregon Business Development Department and one or two members of the governor's staff.
The Port of Portland will also send a delegation, led by Director Bill Wyatt and Diana Daggett, a Port commissioner and Intel corporate affairs director.
Oregon's exports to Israel totaled $107 million last year, 21st among the state's biggest trading partners. By comparison, the state's top export destination -- China -- purchased $3 billion in Oregon goods last year.
And yet this is the governor's second trade mission to Israel in a little more than two years.
"Most people wouldn't think of Israel as a major trading partner, but in fact there is a very strong commercial connection," Wyatt said. "It just doesn't show up in the statistics."
Israel is one of the top five destinations for commercial travelers on Northwest Airlines' nonstop flight from Portland to Amsterdam, according to Wyatt. That's driven in part by people traveling between Intel's facilities in Oregon and Israel.
On this trip, Wyatt said he will ask how to improve travel connections between Oregon and Israel and inquire about hang-ups current travelers experience.
"When you travel with the governor on a trip like this you just gain so much more access to people who have these kinds of questions or answers to those questions," he said.
Israel has been in the headlines this year over its raid of a Turkish relief ship headed for Gaza and more recently for troubled Palestinian peace talks brokered by the U.S.
Mideast politics crossed his mind as he planned this trip, Kulongoski said, but he said he believes in Israeli democracy and sees an economic opportunity for Oregon.
This will actually be Kulongoski's fourth trip to Israel. While he was attorney general, he spent three weeks there to observe a war crimes trial of suspected Nazi concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk. Kulongoski also visited Israel on a two-week vacation.
"I've always been taken by it," he said. "I'm a student of history."
Obama faces humiliation over Middle East talks
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- Written by Simon Tisdall, guardian.co.uk Simon Tisdall, guardian.co.uk
- Published: 04 October 2010 04 October 2010
- Hits: 3425 3425
Obama faces humiliation over Middle East talks
Collapse of the peace talks would leave Obama exposed – and leave the two-state solution in tatters
o Simon Tisdall
o guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 October 2010 16.00 BST
o http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/04/israel-palestine-peace-collapse
Barack Obama 'Netanyahu may be calculating that big Republican gains in next month’s US midterm congressional elections will curtail Obama’s capacity to put pressure on Israel'. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA
Barack Obama has barely a week to save the Middle East peace process from collapse, only months after he relaunched it amid optimistic predictions that a solution would be reached within a year. The consequences of failure will be serious for the US president; for the region and the wider world, they are potentially disastrous.
Israel's refusal to extend a moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank is the ostensible reason for the halt in direct talks with the Palestinians. Speaking at the weekend after the PLO refused to continue the negotiations, executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said a line had to be drawn.
"How can you have a two-state solution if you are eating up the land of the other state?" Ashrawi told the Washington Post. "The Israelis have to understand once and for all that they just can't continue with this approach … We can't afford it any more."
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, is likewise refusing to budge. He reportedly told US officials that a 60-day extension to the building moratorium that expired last month, as sought by Obama, would damage his political credibility and endanger his coalition.
He also argued that the Palestinians were being unreasonable, given past practice. "For 17 years the Palestinians conducted direct talks with Israeli governments while building went on in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank)," Netanyahu said, ignoring Ashrawi's point that this was no longer tolerable. Limited new settlement activity during the next 12 months would not affect the final two-state map, he argued.
As matters now stand, the impasse will be discussed at the Arab League summit in Libya at the weekend, where Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, says he will seek the "advice" of fellow leaders. If, as currently expected, they endorse the PLO position, direct talks may be suspended indefinitely at the beginning of next week.
George Mitchell, Obama's peace envoy, is lobbying friendly Arab governments but has made no headway so far. Egypt, increasingly distracted by a looming succession crisis, is as usual punching below its weight. The dire warnings issued by Jordan's King Abdullah about new regional conflict seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Washington's friends in the Gulf, more wary of Iran than of Israel, are meanwhile arming themselves to the teeth, aided by $120bn in US weapons sales.
Mitchell's effectiveness has been undermined by complaints that he exaggerated the progress made in the first three rounds of direct talks. He indicated that rapid advances were being made, but Arab and western diplomats told Haaretz newspaper that nothing of substance had been discussed.
"Netanyahu refused to hold a serious discussion on any of the core issues apart from security, Abbas reportedly told diplomats at the UN general assembly," Haaretz said. "Israeli and foreign sources say the main problem is that Netanyahu refuses to present fundamental positions or discuss the borders of the Palestinian state."
In other words, resumed Jewish settlement building was not the only or even the main stumbling block. Abbas was reportedly dismayed, for example, by Netanyahu's insistence that an agreement, if any were reached, must be implemented over a period of 20 years.
Netanyahu may be calculating that big Republican gains in next month's US midterm congressional elections will curtail Obama's capacity to put pressure on Israel. If the process does collapse, Netanyahu will be able to say, publicly, that it was the Palestinians, not he, who turned their backs on peace; and privately, that the inexperienced Obama screwed up, a verdict that the American right will gleefully endorse.
Across the region, anti-Israel forces are gearing up for failure, as is their wont. Visiting Tehran at the weekend, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria definitively dismissed recent US conciliatory moves and stressed Syria's "eternal" brotherhood with Iran. "The [Israel-Palestinian] negotiations follow no goal but are merely intended to improve the Obama administration's image domestically," Assad said.
Further stirring the pot with characteristic insouciance, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, is due to visit Lebanon this week, where his political and military allies in Hezbollah are thought to be preparing new attacks on Israeli targets. Arab press reports say Ahmadinejad will visit the Lebanon-Israel border and make a symbolic gesture by throwing stones at Israeli soldiers – a possible reprise of the famous act of defiance by the late Palestinian intellectual, Edward Said, in 2000.
Israeli officials are already describing Ahmadinejad's visit as a provocation, and are pressing the Lebanese authorities to rein him in. A row would doubtless delight Hamas, the rejectionist "other half" of the Palestinian nation, that has consistently reviled the latest peace efforts from its isolated Gaza ramparts.
The collapse of the talks process, so laboriously constructed, would almost certainly spell a humiliating end to Obama's peace drive, although indirect diplomacy may stutter on. It would entrench Netanyahu and the Israel right, whose priority is confrontation with Iran, not compromise with the Palestinians. And it would serve to further convince the Palestinians themselves, and the wider Arab world, that a two-state solution is not attainable.
In the absence of a better idea, and notwithstanding the multiple tragedies of the past, many may thus conclude that a return to violence is their only way.
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Palestinians mull talks walk-out over settlements
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- Written by BBC NEWS BBC NEWS
- Published: 02 October 2010 02 October 2010
- Hits: 3479 3479
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• 62% under full Israeli control. This area contains all Israeli settlements, roads used by settlers, buffer zones and almost all of the Jordan Valley • 38% under Palestinian civil control. In more than half of this, Israel has security control • There are 149 settlements and 100 outposts (settlements not authorised by Israel) • Population: 2.4 million Palestinians, 500,000 Jewish or Israeli settlers |
The Palestinian leadership has said it will not continue peace talks with Israel unless a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank resumes.
Read more: Palestinians mull talks walk-out over settlements