On Monday, Aug. 4, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant read the draft letter she plans to send to elected leaders in Washington, D.C., regarding what she called a blackout of dissent in Congress and from the Obama adminstration. Sawant has asked all members of the council to sign the letter, and is accepting comment from Seattle residents before she sends the final draft. You can constructively and courteously suggest amendments to the letter by contacting Councilwoman Sawant at kshama.sawant@seattle.gov or 206-684-8016 before Monday, Aug. 11.
Dear President Obama, Members of the House of Representatives, and Members of the Senate,
As the most recent wave of Israeli bombardment of Gaza enters its 28th day, many of us globally watch in horror as the death toll soars. News reports indicate that more than 1,888 Palestinians have been killed, while more than 9,400 have been injured. Hundreds of Palestinian children and civilians are counted among the dead in this humanitarian catastrophe. Sixty-three Israeli soldiers have also died, along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker.
Yesterday, Israel attacked a United Nations school sheltering some 3,000 displaced people in Rafah, in Southern Gaza, killing 10 people and prompting United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon to declare the attack “a moral outrage and a criminal act.” The U.S. State Department also issued a denunciation saying, “The United States is appalled by today’s disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school.”
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is reaching a critical breaking point. The 139 square mile territory contains 1.8 million people who literally have nowhere to go and no place to hide from Israeli attacks. The UN reports that medical facilities are “on the verge of collapse.” An attack on Gaza power plant has left more than half the population without electricity, and more than 270,000 people are reportedly crammed into 90 UN shelters. Without an immediate end to all hostilities, the Palestinian death toll will continue to rise rapidly.
We also condemn the indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas against the civilian population living in Israel. We stand in solidarity with the ordinary people of Israel and their desire for security, and in particular with the Israeli anti-war movement.
Security and peace will never be achieved on the basis of the current occupation and blockades. The path to protecting the legitimate interests of the Palestinian people as well as the ordinary people of Israel lies first and foremost in ending the illegal building of settlements in the Palestinian territories and an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
We call on President Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate to issue a formal statement denouncing Israel’s siege and blockade of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank. We also call for an immediate end to all U.S. government military aid for the Israel.
A link to Sawant’s blog and website can be found here.
The councilady misses the point. The 1967 war broke out when Israel had no occupation of the territories..so there is historical precedent that the two are not related. Even if they were, what guarantees would be acceptable in return of the territories (which I support)? Of course, those things aren’t spelled out in this letter. It’s all one way. The ultra left has left reality at the door.