A Letter to our Representatives

Fosna NorCal volunteers distributed this letter at a town hall meeting where their Congressional representative, the Hon. Barbara Lee, was scheduled to speak.  There was no Q & A, only written question cards that were carefully screened.

NorCal volunteers placed a copy of the letter in every chair in the auditorium and passed them out to everyone.

If you are looking ways to reach your own representatives as well as your neighbors, this letter, along with NorCal's Open Letter to Northern California Voters, may help you.
 

An Open Letter to the Hon. Barbara Lee

September 22, 2010

Dear Representative Lee:

We are members of Northern California Friends of Sabeel, a group supporting the aims of Sabeel, a Jerusalem-based ecumenical organization working for justice, peace and reconciliation in Palestine/Israel through non-violent action. As a group promoting human rights for all, we thank you for your many principled votes on foreign and domestic issues, in particular your stands on aid to Gaza and the Goldstone Report.

We are disappointed, however, that you voted this year to increase military aid to Israel by $205 million, on top of a record-breaking $3 billion in the proposed 2011 budget. Our military aid to Israel is both illegal and harmful to the interests of U.S. citizens. This aid


*Violates the U.S. Arms Export Control Act of 1976
*Violates U.S. prohibitions against aid to nuclear states outside of the Nuclear 
    Nonproliferation Treaty
*Robs U.S. citizens of much-needed federal aid at a time of economic distress
*Tarnishes our image abroad, especially in the Muslim and Arab worlds
*Places U.S. soldiers and citizens at risk.

This unrestricted support for Israel is morally repugnant. Israel is a wealthy industrial state and the fourth strongest military power in the world, and yet it receives more U.S. aid than any other country. With armaments supplied by the U.S., Israel has

*Killed thousands of innocent civilians in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon
*Attacked humanitarian aid workers in international waters
*Killed and maimed non-violent U.S. citizens protesting the occupation
*Destroyed hospitals, schools, mosques, UN facilities, ambulances, farms and water
    treatment plants
*Colonized occupied Palestinian territory in defiance of international law
*Robbed Palestinians of land and water; demolished their homes, groves and
fields; and confined them to Bantustans behind military checkpoints and an illegal separation barrier.

We ask you, with your influence on the Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committees, to insist on placing conditions on aid to Israel and requiring compliance with international and US law before any funds are dispersed; and to stand up for taxpayers who see their school districts and police departments struggle to survive in the face of budget cuts, while Congress increases support to Israel. This aid harms us at home and abroad, and it supports an inhumane and repressive occupation.

Yours in the cause of Peace and Justice,



Rev. Ann Coburn                Barbara Erickson               Katharine Davies Samway