Uppity Wisconsin

On January 21, 2010 Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) signed a letter with the signatures of 54 members of Congress delivered to President Obama calling for a halt to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, describing the siege as an 'ongoing crisis' that would lead to 'disastrous' political and humanitarian consequences.

The stakes are rising, but you will not read about the current behind-the-scenes moves in the corporate press. From Jeff Gates:

Our President Needs Our Support

by Jeff Gates at Veterans Today

Forget your opinion of Barack Obama. Love him or loathe him, the reality remains unchanged: we have but one president at a time. And but one commander-in-chief.

U.S. national security is endangered perhaps now more than at any time in history. Both he and our military leaders took an oath to defend this nation from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Recent events suggest that, in cooperation with senior military officers, President Obama is battling a cunning and committed adversary. To prevail, he needs public support.

Update V: From the Free Gaza Movement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1 July 2009

We are NOT the 'Story'
It’s Not Just Our 21 Kidnapped Passengers

On June 30th 2009 Israeli Occupation Forces forcibly boarded the Free Gaza boat, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, and kidnapped 21 human rights workers and journalists who were on their way to deliver much needed humanitarian and reconstruction supplies to besieged Gaza.

Those abducted by Israel include Nobel peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

Since their kidnapping, tens-of-thousands of people around the world have mobilized to demand their immediate and unconditional release. The Free Gaza Movement would like to thank everyone who has made a phone call, sent a fax or email, written a letter, or organized a demonstration on behalf of our 21 imprisoned friends.

With respect, it is not enough. We are not the story. Since its founding in 1948 the State of Israel has regularly kidnapped and tortured Palestinians, throwing them into forgotten prisons where they can languish for years.

Today, over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners without benefit of due process, some never even charged - men, women, and children – endure torture and isolation in Israeli jails, outdoor prison camps, and secret black sites.

Note: After a lifetime of fighting bigotry I have been called anti-Semite and Jew Hater (at Daily Kos yesterday). Such is the mindset of those dedicated to war and militarism. Stand up for innocent Palestinian families and you are a "Jew hater". [See The Politics of Anti-Semitism for a discussion of this repulsive tactic.]

An effective voice against Israeli militarism is the Free Gaza Movement, a "human rights group that in August 2008 sent the first international boats to land in the port of Gaza in 41 years ... (raising) international awareness about the prison-like closure of the Gaza Strip ... ."

Of course, militarists seeing Palestinians as less-than-human have said the effort to ship aid to starving families is inherently anti-Semitic or sympathetic to terrorists, yada, yada.

It's a lie. Support the Free Gaza Movement.

Update II: Gideon Levy in Haaretz: "The only recognition that is needed now is Israel's recognition of the Palestinians as human beings."

Update: Inside Gaza: The Land of Ghosts

Some wonder if the humanistic dictum of standing with the victims of militarism and racism that - far away from the slaughter of Palestinians and assorted Arabs - animated the creation of Israel lives on today.

When is killing enough killing?

From Robert Fisk in The Independent:

(Peace activist) Tom Hurndall had stayed in Rafah. He was only 21 where – in his mother's words – he lost his life through a single, selfless, human act. 'Tom was shot in the head as he carried a single Palestinian child out of the range of an Israeli army sniper.' Mrs Hurndall asked me to write a preface to Tom's book and this article is his preface, for a brave man who stood alone and showed more courage than most if us dreamed of. Forget tree huggers. Hurndall was one good man and true.

Don't know if there are still tickets, by the way, but if you are in Maidson next Tuesday, April 7, check out: Noam Chomsky;. "US Foreign Policy, Israeli Security, & Human Rights" (Event)

Ethan Bronner has what should be a blockbuster in the NYT, excerpted below.

[Shot below shows Israeli humanism at work, an all too typical photo from the Gaza Strip.]

How long are we going to support this hyper militarism and continuing war crime? What will Obama do?

A Palestinian schoolgirl inspects her classroom which was burnt during Israel's offensive, at UNRWA's (UN Relief and Works Agency) primary school in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on January 24, 2009. Some 200,000 Gaza children returned to school for the first time since Israel's offensive, many having lost family members, their home and their sense of security. The main UNRWA centre and several schools were destroyed by Israeli bombing during the 22-day war. [By Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty Images.]

From former neocon Andrew Sullivan, no less.

Update: Rights group: Israel uses white phosphorus in Gaza
Sunday, January 11, 2009 3:41 PM EST
The Associated Press
By JASON KEYSER Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) — Human Rights Watch said Sunday that Israel's military has fired artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into Gaza and a doctor there said the chemical was suspected in the case of 10 burn victims who had skin peeling off their faces and bodies.

This is what Rep. Baldwin and others are supporting. It's wrong, period.
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Update: Israeli Navy attacks and wounds human rights 'Dignity' ship in International Waters

Update: Washington Post: Food and Medical Supplies Grow Scarce in the Gaza Strip.

Personally, I can no longer regard Israel as a moral entity; it has lost its status as a state dedicated to humanism, veering into savagery in its worst attacks in decades. The only question is: Will we remain silent?

The sick irony of history bares its bizarre head as we head into the new year.

As Israel continues its strikes in Gaza enraging the Arab street, the Free Gaza movement is breaking the Israeli siege in another voyage of the Dignity ship to draw world attention to "Israel's draconian policies on the civilians of Gaza."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday 29th December 2008

What will Israel do after being embarrassed by human rights workers in August as a similar mission, the SS Dignity, journeys to Gaza to bring needed supplies and break the illegal blockade of Gaza that Israel denies exist?

The 27 unarmed civilians sailing aboard SS Dignity represent 13 different countries. We are doctors, lawyers, teachers, and human rights advocates. We are Christians, Muslims, Jews, and agnostics. ...

This morning, the Free Gaza Movement was informed through the media that the Israeli Navy is threatening to forcibly stop the SS Dignity from entering Gaza tomorrow morning. Israel has not bothered to inform us of a legitimate reason for preventing us from delivering medical supplies, doctors, lawyers, and prominent human rights advocates to the Gaza Strip.

Some militarists, a minority, have seriously suggested that the Israeli Navy kill them. Let's hope more civilized action takes place.

This video shot last year is appalling.

Thousands of innocent Palestinians getting shot, imprisoned and killed is appalling.

I read Norman G. Finkelstein's preface, an angry challenge to Barack Obama, and then watched the video.

We need more, not less anger at what Israel (with American complicity) has now become, and what we have all become. What a travesty.

American progressives often fret that the Israel-militarism issue will split the Democratic Party, parting the way for radical Neocon dominance of American politics for generations.

But do we add our voices of condemnation and challange Israeli-American aggression and human rights violations, or ought we be silent?