Madison-Rafah Journal

Dear Members and Friends of MRSCP,

The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has forwarded this call from the United for Peace and Justice group for an urgent national effort to speak out against a military attack on Iran by the U.S., Israel or both.

They suggest five actions below…but in particular, we want to ask you to please participate in the FIRST one: phone calls to Congress and Senators Feingold and Kohl. On Monday, peace groups in Milwaukee will be raising this issue with a march on the offices of Feingold and Kohl (as well as Rep. Gwen Moore) so this is a GREAT time to reinforce the message!

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Dear Members and Friends of MRSCP,

If you haven't watched the news today, last night unknown parties blew at least seven holes in the massive Israeli wall between Rafah and the Egyptian border and today the UN estimates that up to 350,000 Gazans have been streaming back and forth across the border to Egypt to buy food, medicine, fuel, cement, cigarettes, and every imaginable thing that has been blockaded by Israel. (Of course, this does not restore electricity or water service or power to hospitals as Israel retains tight restrictions on diesel fuel entering the strip.)

For video footage, click here.

For pictures, click here: Gaza border break

This amazing event is taking place in the context of a week of protests against the seige of Gaza all over the world…just yesterday there were angry and desperate protests by 3000 women in Rafah at the border, some succeeded in crossing into Egypt but were detained and sent back after clashing with Egyptian police that injured many. It is reported also that a shipment of emergency aid from Egypt had just been denied entry into Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Keren Shalom crossing. So for some reason, Egypt has decided not to intervene for the time being. There are also protests in Egypt in support of the seige break. It is unclear how long the border will remain open.

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Jennifer Loewenstein, The Capital Times, May 19, 2007

In a recent Capital Times article, Wayne Bigelow, who chairs the Dane County Democratic Party, is quoted as saying U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin "fits very well with what most … people believe in" and "I think people are generally satisfied with her votes."

Actually, Tammy Baldwin's record on the subject of Israel-Palestine not only belies her progressive reputation, it also keeps many of us dissatisfied with her votes.

Focus on Israel-Palestine is often considered "a single-issue obsession." People aware of the actual and symbolic implications of U.S. support for Israel understand, however, that it is the centerpiece of American foreign policy. Attempts to ignore, minimize or separate support for Israel from the multitude of international issues facing our nation are disingenuous.

Israel is not a "single-issue obsession." Support for Israel has become the litmus test for our convictions regarding the sanctity of human rights, the superiority of democratic government and the rule of international law.

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Below are three items dealing with Tammy Baldwin's record on Palestine. The first is an editorial by the Cap Times criticizing Baldwin's support of the "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act". The second is an op-ed by Matt Rothschild in which he chastises Tammy Baldwin for her vote in September 2000 to condemn the Palestinians for the Second Intifada violence. The third item, perhaps the most important, is Tammy's letter justifying her vote on the Palestinian Anti-Terrorisim Act.

Finally, I found that Baldwin's trip to Israel was sponsored by the American Israel Educational Foundation, an organization affiliated with AIPAC.

Jennifer Loewenstein

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"Baldwin took just one trip last year, but it was the single most expensive trip of any Wisconsin member. The trip to Israel with her partner was sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation.

"Congresswoman Baldwin believes that if the last few years have taught us anything, it is that we need to listen to other nations, and engage them in addressing the major challenges facing the world," Baldwin spokeswoman Jerilyn Goodman said. "Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central to resolving the other conflicts in the Middle East."

Goodman added that "no briefing paper" can take the place of face-to-face talks and interactions with people."

Wisconsin State Journal, March 4, 2007

June 15, 2006
Mr. James L. Rissman
Verona, Wisconsin

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Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2007
From: "Barbara Olson" [rafahsistercity (at) yahoo.com]

AIPAC is holding their national convention in Washington, DC this weekend and tomorrow, Monday March 12, when their representatives will be swarming all over congressional offices. High on their agenda, according to the Congressional Quarterly (see below), is to pressure the Democrats to remove any language from the Iraq war legislation that requires Bush to get congressional approval before attacking Iran.

(One can also assume they will be pushing hard for Israel's recent request for additional billions in military aid, reportedly being sought before the Bush administration either leaves office or is too weakened to get this through.)

In a recent meeting with MoveOn activists, Rep. Tammy Baldwin stated that she was "concerned" about an attack on Iran and mentioned possible legislation to require Congressional approval. She also revealed that she is FULLY AWARE of the drive for an attack on Iran.

Please call Tammy Baldwin on Tuesday, March 13 to let her know that AIPAC doesn't speak for her contituency. Kohl and Feingold could use a reminder of that as well.

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Journey to a land out of bounds

Jennifer Loewenstein, ZNet, February 13, 2004

Said Zoroub drives a white pick-up truck with the words "Rafah Municipality" painted on the driver's side in Arabic and English, a gift from the Norwegians.[1] Less than an hour after my arrival in Rafah, Zoroub, the mayor, receives an urgent call on his cell phone. An Israeli bulldozer has struck a water main eight feet under the earth in the process of demolishing homes along the border between Rafah and Egypt. This has cut off the water supply to the western half of the city. From the passenger side of the municipality truck I get to survey the latest damage.

Outwardly Zoroub looks unperturbed, but his words belie the appearance. "We live each day here in a state of emergency." On either side of the road the homes and buildings on the streets of Rafah are dotted with bullet holes as if suffering from a contagious disease. The nearer we get, the more ravaged are the buildings –crumbling from disrepair, caved in where tank shells and mortar fire have hit them during the night, their inhabitants make-shifting roofs, walls and doorways as needed. Lines of drying laundry hang outside the windows and political graffiti and posters of martyrs decorate the walls. Poverty and ruin define the city landscape. The edge of town is a no-man's-land of rubble torn up and rolled over by the heavy tracks and claws of the armored vehicles that rule this terrain.

Puddles, stones and broken glass adorn the path alongside the homes on the city's perimeter that the Israeli army has blasted into gaping gray caverns too treacherous to stray into for long. More and more children appear from the alleyways of the neighborhood to our left following us curiously toward the end of the street. Men and women come out to greet the mayor as we pursue the sound of the tank in the distance that is flattening the earth beneath it, its guns pointed toward us. A bulldozer is pushing up mounds of dirt and rubble behind it with a steady roar: more homes gone and no water in western Rafah until the Israeli authorities give clearance for the municipality to send out a repair crew that won't be shot on sight. A boy points to a hole in a wall from where I can snap pictures without being easily detected. From the same vantage point, children can watch the progress of the demolition. I have only taken two photos when the mayor tells me to "get away now, it's dangerous." It is Thursday afternoon the 15th of January 2004.

There are tall IDF watchtowers everywhere along the Egyptian and Israeli borders with Rafah as well as between Rafah and the Gush Katif settlement bloc on the southeastern bend of the Mediterranean Sea. The beaches of Rafah, a short walk away for most of the citys residents, have been off limits to Rafahns since the beginning of the second Intifada denying them the only relief they have from the unbearable squalor of the Strip. Driving past the edge of the Tel as-Sultan district, the area exposed to the settlement watchtowers, the mayor picks up speed sensing our vulnerability. Many people have died along this stretch of road hit by bullets fired randomly by soldiers in the towers. The local boys nevertheless still attempt to use open spaces like this one as a soccer field on 'quiet' days.

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