Senate Approves Resolution Backing Israel in Hamas Conflict

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aUhdubfcXlOE&refer=politics

"The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, while the House of Representatives prepared to act on a similar measure tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the measure “expresses vigorous support” for Israel...

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they had personally spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to express their support.

“We support the state of Israel, very strongly as a national policy, because it is in our national interest to do so,” said Pelosi, a California Democrat. “We also defend any country’s right to defend itself.”

Do they also support the attacks on the UN people?

Oh, wait. The UN is there merely to certify our invasions. Silly of me to forget.

convoy attacks and Israel has a right to defend themselves...so I was told by my senator's office.

Does he remain "neutral" and "independent" and risk being at odds with both Houses of Congress which are controlled by his own party or does he join them in their support?

a more neutral speech for the people IMO.

Considering that Clinton and Biden will both be working in the Obama administration, this may serve as a clue as to what direction Obama will take on this issue.

I already have some clues, but hope that I am wrong in my interpretation.

was truely against this he could have done something, such as try and block this vote behind the scenes or at least gather some No votes. The world is watching.

:(

This is done when a non-controversial bill is being considered by the Senate. The chair asks if anyone objects to the bill passing. If no one speaks up, it passes and no roll call is taken, since everyone is in favor of it.

present? Not that it means very much, if Obama wanted to begin to change course he could have.


Back in early 2008 when the UN was discussing the situation in Gaza, Obama wrote the following letter...


Dear Ambassador Khalilzad,

I understand that today the UN Security Council met regarding the situation in Gaza, and that a resolution or statement could be forthcoming from the Council in short order.

I urge you to ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution on this matter that does not fully condemn the rocket assault Hamas has been conducting on civilians in southern Israel.

All of us are concerned about the impact of closed border crossings on Palestinian families. However, we have to understand why Israel is forced to do this. Israel has the right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians.

The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks. If it cannot bring itself to make these common sense points, I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

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that sets up a great starting point for negotiations.

:sarcasm:

on Israel, the international community is not going to support Israel.

others....

this is about more than AIPAC. It's about institutional behavior and history as well as a western bias.

70% of americans want this madness to end and they march in Lockstep with the Israel lobby. And keep giving them BILLIONS in tax payer money. I am going to be sick. :puke:

I have read a lot from folks like Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson and Howard Zinn etc. They all boil it down to we the people and a revolution, hopefully non violent. Given the police state being put in place I am not hopeful for that.

My personal dream is to get my two boys through a decent high school and send them to Canada or abroad for college. IF we can afford it all. :(

it sucks anyway you look at it.

We KNOW that AIPAC infiltrated the NSA because a couple of them were caught.
We know the NSA has access to basically everything, thanks to Bushco. So....

=

:eyes:

They've totally blown the good will they had built up after the 1967 and 1973 wars and the Entebbe rescue, when the whole Western world was cheering them on.

may have, at the very least, delayed action.

Have they SEEN the pictures of the death and devastation??? How can they support such killing and murder especially when the fight is so imbalanced in Israel's favor? MONEY. Let's face it - ISRAEL OWNS US! Or at the very least they own our congress. :puke:

“We also defend any country’s right to defend itself.”

now will they call for a cease-fire?

and so it goes...

StudsT

The vacuum of British withdrawal long ago was never filled ... and virtually everything possible has been done to preclude any stable self-governance in Palestine.


"Destabilization" has been a constant strategy of 'Western' governments in the Middle East for decades and decades.

however i do find it bizarre that some think that right only applies to certain people.

StudsT

and once again FUCK what we think.

:grr:

they know people are going to vote for the lesser of two evils.

:(

before our politicians are free to disagree with Israel's actions?

foreign policies.

approve of the civilian killings adds another level of hate.

....they make me ill...

Senate Democrats obviously support Israel on this. Otherwise the vote would not have been unanimous. He is simply reflective of the members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

about doing the right thing.

in a war between two foreign countries.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=124&topic_id=240805&mesg_id=240805

I asked this question yesterday in the IP forum after learning of the March 2008 House resolution in support of Israel...sometimes the best action is no action.

to cause a unanimous vote to take sides. I can't help but wonder if there's some religious persuasion going on, due to the fact that I have a fundie cousin who believes that the Holy Land must be defended at all costs. And I believe that the people representing us in government are abusing our country's separation of church & state boundary by foresaking common sense & good judgment. Taking sides only does more harm.

Agree taking sides only does more harm, I think both Houses are working on a resolution to support Israel, and the people of Gaza are rarely mentioned. We could do with less religion in our government.

:(

direction. It's looking like more of the same.

taken place.

should we call and e-mail Dennis on this massacre. I think I will, I am totally against this.

The best governments that global corporatists can buy (or rent) ... profiting from human suffering and death.

and every dime--plus more--he ever asked for to pursue the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq

They also gave the bush gang the right to wiretap and gave telecos immunity for their illegal wiretapping.

Yay Senate.

Which is only exceeded by their lack of courage.

disgrace us in front of the whole world.

The Senate's actions prove that we are the same country that lied to start a war for oil and went on to kill over a million innocent civilians.

I first read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer when I was 11 years old. I read Hitler: A Study in Tyranny a couple years later. I COULD NOT comprehend such brutality and evil.

Now I see that there is very little difference between Nazi Germany and Zionist Israel.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/barbaraanastasia/CG558

Jan 23rd, 2008

"(See full text of Senator Obama's letter to the US Ambassador to the UN at the end of this post.)

This is the first time Barack Obama has done something with which I completely disagree.

U.S. pandering to Israel (or even taking their side) is a primary source of anti-American sentiment in the Arab world. Senator Obama's previous expressions of empathy for the Palestinian situation led me to believe that he would distinguish himself from every other U.S. politician by remaining neutral and objective in his rhetoric on the subject, thereby offering some hope that peaceful U.S. intervention might produce better results in the future than we’ve seen in the past...

I would be interested to hear what he suggests Palestinian families do when Israel bombs them…..and blocks access to their families for years….and prevents them from going to where they buy their food…and shuts off access to clean water. I would like to hear what choice he might make if it was his family who needed what only Hamas seems willing to provide (clean water, food, protection, work, money…) after foreign governments had arbitrarily carved out a piece of his country to house thousands of European refugees.

I would like to know what suggestion he might offer to address the source of the problem…which, in my opinion, is (at least partially) that both sides claim victim stance, and everyone seems to have lost track of “who started it.” The U.S. continuing to side with Israel’s “right to respond” (with restrictive social programs and aerial attacks on innocent families) will only perpetuate the insanity. Unless he is willing to request a similar condemnation of Israeli aggression, I find this a disturbing portent of things to come in an Obama administration..."


Dear Ambassador Khalilzad,

I understand that today the UN Security Council met regarding the situation in Gaza, and that a resolution or statement could be forthcoming from the Council in short order.

I urge you to ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution on this matter that does not fully condemn the rocket assault Hamas has been conducting on civilians in southern Israel.

All of us are concerned about the impact of closed border crossings on Palestinian families. However, we have to understand why Israel is forced to do this. Israel has the right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians.

The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks. If it cannot bring itself to make these common sense points, I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator

This is part of the reason I'm an independent, not a Democrat (or Republican).

sorry to break bad on Nancy but finding it really hard to stand her anymore.

the offices of Biden and Sanders say there has not been a vote yet, Lautenberg's office says the vote is scheduled for later on today, the Bloomberg article says there was a unanimous vote in favor of the resolution.

Not surprised, as so much of our economy depends on a really big war machine, just as Eisenhower warned.

Like, right fucking now!!!11!!11!

No seriously, call them. The House hasn't voted on this yet.

"Israel controls the United States Senate. Around 80 percent are completely in support of Israel; anything Israel wants it gets. Jewish influence in the House of Representatives is even greater.”
--Senator J. William Fulbright on CBS Face the Nation, April 15, 1973

His saying it was political suicide.

I wish they had been more neutral or said we support Israel but have reservations about their methods this time.

What this means is that there is still time to call and voice your opinion.

See my post here...

Well this is interesting, does anyone want to make some calls...

the offices of Biden and Sanders say there has not been a vote yet, Lautenberg's office says the vote is scheduled for later on today, the Bloomberg article says there was a unanimous vote in favor of the resolution.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4790077&mesg_id=4790911

Why did Bloomberg publish the results of the vote before it had taken place?

not taken place.

are not telling you the truth.

They may not know because it was a non-controversial bill which no one opposed.

If they do know, they may be misleading you so as to not have to tell you that their boss voted for it. Most congressional offices would like to break bad news to you in writing, where they back up their actions with well-crafted arguements.

place S.Res. 10

I questioned the staffer at Biden's office three times, he was almost about to get nasty and stated unequivocally that no votes had been taken.

The staffer at Reid's office says the vote has definitely taken place.


"Most congressional offices would like to break bad news to you in writing, where they back up their actions with well-crafted arguements."

I tell them to save the paper, their replies come about four months later.

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, while urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel.

The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber.

"When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel's inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said before the vote.

Noting that Israel was bent on halting Hamas rocket fire into its southern towns, Reid said: "I ask any of my colleagues to imagine that happening here in the United States. Rockets and mortars coming from Toronto in Canada, into Buffalo New York. How would we as a country react?"

more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUKN08534236

I decided to call the offices of Biden and Clinton after our exchange in the other thread, could not get through to the right person at Clinton's office, but Biden's office was rather emphatic stating that no vote had taken place.

Called a few more offices who said the same thing, that was why I posted about others making some calls to verify.

:shrug:

By Nicholas Johnston

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, while the House of Representatives prepared to act on a similar measure tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the measure “expresses vigorous support” for Israel.

“The Israelis have every right to defend themselves against these acts of terrorism,” said Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Israel is in its 13th day of military operations against the Islamic militant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop rocket attacks against southern Israeli towns.

more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aUhdubfcXlOE&refer=politics

By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
Tags: hamas, israel, israel news

The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, while urging a cease-fire that would prevent the Islmast militant group from launching any more rockets into Israel.

The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber.

"When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel's inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said before the vote.

Noting that Israel was bent on halting Hamas rocket fire into its southern towns, Reid said: "I ask any of my colleagues to imagine that happening here in the United States. Rockets and mortars coming from Toronto in Canada, into Buffalo New York. How would we as a country react?"

more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053951.html

innocent people getting killed with our money and Bush and Cheney smiling about it all.


"Noting that Israel was bent on halting Hamas rocket fire into its southern towns, Reid said: "I ask any of my colleagues to imagine that happening here in the United States. Rockets and mortars coming from Toronto in Canada, into Buffalo New York. How would we as a country react?"

I already sent an e-mail to Dennis Kucinich, he seems to be the only one who seems to care.

Back in 2006 the Senate passed a resolution supporting its military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. That one also passed unanimously.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/31/hagel.mideast/

Also he has referred to the struggle of the Palestinians on the floor, one of the few senators to do so.

S.Res. 10

:sarcasm:

And AIPAC thanks them:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231424894184&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

:puke:

had me on hold for 10 minutes while they obtained the correct information.

We're all happy that AIPAC is happy :(

It was considered a non-controversial vote, and as such, did not attract a lot of attention.