Madison Rafah Journal

On January 21, 2010 54 members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama calling for an end to the Gaza blockade by Israel and Egypt. You can thank Tammy Baldwin for signing this letter and supporting an end to the suffering in Gaza here.

Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, February 4, 2010

Israel lobbyists are calling the 54 brave congresspeople who signed the letter to Obama against the Gaza blockade "the gang of 54," and trying to light a fire under em. One of them has cold feet. From Arutz Sheva wire:

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Mike Murray, The Capital Times, January 8, 2010

Dec. 27 marked the one-year anniversary of Israel’s brutal invasion of the occupied Gaza Strip, which was commonly referred to as “Operation Cast Lead.”

During this three-week act of aggression, Israel killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, injured thousands more, and destroyed billions of dollars of Palestinian civilian infrastructure. Today, Israel continues to subject the 1.5 million Palestinian inhabitants of the Gaza Strip to a dehumanizing blockade — an illegal act of collective punishment — that denies Palestinians adequate access to food, clean water, sanitation, electricity, and even school books and construction materials for rebuilding.

While most governments around the world have maintained an official silence about the siege of Gaza, activists worldwide are beginning to speak out against Israel’s illegal actions. Recently, a worldwide coalition of activists organized solidarity marches around the world — including Egypt and Gaza — to protest the siege.

Back in the United States, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, has begun to demonstrate an admirable proclivity for compassion, courage and rationality in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an institution where all three of these characteristics are sorely lacking on this issue: Congress. Many progressive and independent-minded members of Congress are beginning to tire of their colleagues’ unthinking support of Israel and are showing a willingness to challenge both Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians and our government’s unconditional support for Israel.

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Dr. James Zogby, Arab American Institute, November 16, 2009

A story universally missed last week was the extraordinary debate that occurred in Congress in advance of a vote on a resolution against the Goldstone Report. It may have been that this story not seen as newsworthy as others playing out at the same time: the fallout over Secretary of State Clinton’s “whip lash” performances in Jerusalem, Marrakesh and Cairo; Palestinian President Abbas’ announcement that he would not run in 2010; and Israel’s seizure of a ship it claimed was transporting weapons from Iran to Hizbollah.

Then again, the significance of the Congressional debate may have been ignored given what appeared to be the lopsided vote in favor of the anti-Goldstone resolution.

It will be recalled that when the Report was first released, members of Congress were quick to denounce it using, at times, near hysterical language. Since Goldstone had no vocal champions, when Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Howard Berman and ranking Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen introduced their AIPAC supported anti-Goldstone resolution, one might have thought that the matter would be quickly resolved with a near unanimous vote.

But that was not to be the case.

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Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice staff, Nov 05, 2009

Your email inviting Congresswoman Baldwin to stop by the ADC Annual National Convention June 12-14 was forwarded to me. There are votes scheduled on Friday, June 12th. Congresswoman Baldwin will be returning to Wisconsin after votes because there are events scheduled in the district.

Thank you for your invitation to Congresswoman Baldwin.

Sincerely,
Maureen Hekmat

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63 Members of Congress call on the Administration to address overwhelming humanitarian needs

Thank Tammy Baldwin for signing this letter, and urge her to do more to help Gaza, specifically to call for ending the siege.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 63 Members of Congress have sent a letter (text below) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting immediate action by the United States to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The letter discusses the need for the opening of border crossing into Israel to allow supplies to enter Gaza, as well as for the critically ill to be transported out of Gaza to receive medical treatment. The letter also reminds the Administration that rebuilding Gaza will depend on the international community making significant financial contributions.

In the letter, the Representatives request that Secretary Clinton, or her staff, share with the signatories the actions take to date and the strategy that will be pursued to address the humanitarian crisis. The letter requests that conversation take place prior to Congress recessing on February 13, 2009.

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