We hope your Passover or Easter was meaningful for you. Unfortunately, the anti-Israel bashing continues worldwide.
(1) In the Senate – update 4/28/17 – **all 100 senators signed onto the Rubio/Coons Letter!**
85 senators have co-signed a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging him to “engage member states in a comprehensive effort to directly confront and root out [anti-Israel] bias.” The letter commends the good work being done at the U.N., but at the same time it calls out “many of its member states and agencies” that are “using the U.N.’s privileged platform to advance an anti-Israel agenda.”
Both of our NM senators Heinrich and Udall have signed onto this letter [update: 4/28/17]. It’s not clear yet why they haven’t – they haven’t responded directly to our inquiries, though we first lobbied them in Washington, DC last month and have followed up with additional emails. Some of the most liberal members of the senate have signed on – this is clearly a bipartisan and worthy endeavor from right to left.
Please call, email, or write to Senators Heinrich and Udall and thank them for signing [ask them to sign onto] this important letter, a copy of which can be found here; the letter’s main points are listed below. Here is the information for how to contact them:
Martin Heinrich (202) 224-5521; fax: (202) 228-0832:
- http://www.heinrich.senate.gov/contact.cfm
- Chief of Staff: Joe Britton: joe_britton@heinrich.senate.gov
- Legislative director: Jude McCartin: jude_mccartin@heinrich.senate.gov
- Foreign Policy Legislative Aide: Tony Samp: tony_samp@heinrich.senate.gov
Tom Udall (202) 224-6621; fax: (202) 228-3261:
- http://tomudall.senate.gov/?p=contact
- Chief of Staff: Bianca Ortiz-Wertheim: bianca_ortizwertheim@tomudall.senate.gov
- Foreign Policy Legislative Aide: Matthew Padilla: matthew_padilla@tomudall.senate.gov
- Legislative Director: Andrew Wallace: Andrew_wallace@tomudall.senate.gov
Talking Points
Choose 1 or two talking points for calling or email:
Main message: “I am calling to urge the senator to sign the Rubio-Coons letter to the U.N. Secretary-General urging an end to the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias.”
- Every day Israel faces unfair criticism and attacks from the United Nations, international organizations, and activists that seek to stigmatize, delegitimize and isolate the Jewish state.
- Congress has long been the one body that has stood with Israel and fought back against these efforts.
- As both the U.N.’s principal founding member and its largest contributor, the United States should insist on reform at the U.N. and an end to anti-Israel behavior.
- The UN funds and maintains a number of standing committees which serve no purpose other than to attack Israel and inspire the anti-Israel Boycott, sanctions and divestment movement. These committees should be eliminated.
- While the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) does some important work on Holocaust education, its member states advance measures that target Israel and deny the Jewish and Christian links to Jerusalem.
- The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) downplays its role in perpetuating anti-Israel bias.
- THe UN Human Rights Council ignores most human rights issues worldwide and unfairly and in an unbalanced way focused on Israel as a permanent agenda item. This disproportionate attention can only be anti-Semitism.
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(2) Marwan Barghouti
You may have seen news reports about the hunger strike Palestinian prisoners are taking to try to arouse world opinion and pressure on Israel. This is being lead by Marwan Barghouti, a convicted murderer serving 5 life sentences in Israeli prisons and given inappropriate valuable op-ed space in the New York Times on April 16. As an example of poor documentation, the Times didn’t mention Barghouti’s crimes or imprisonment and was subsequently criticized by their public editor. You may have discussions about this with others, so here is some information on Barghouti from the government of Israel, which recently released this information:
On April 14, 2002 an IDF force in Ramallah arrested Marwan Barghouti, head of the Fatah supreme committee in the West Bank and leader of the military wing of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which between September 2000 – April 2002 carried out thousands of terror attacks against Israel, including suicide bombings.
1. Marwan Barghouti Served as Secretary General of Fatah in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, a member of the Palestinian legislature, head of the Tanzim, and the founder of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades which has carried out a large number of deadly terrorist attacks killing scores of Israelis and wounding hundreds.
2. In the framework of his activities, he has received large amounts of funds from different sources both inside and outside Israel. Among these sources is the Palestinian Authority. The specific allocations of these funds were authorized by the actual signature of Yassser Arafat. These funds were used by Marwan Barghouti to finance many activities carried out by terror cells in the West Bank.
3. Marwan Barghouti served as the most senior official in the Al-Aqsa Brigades. Nasser Avis, who was recently captured in Samaria, and Ahmed Barghouti, who was Marwan Barghouti’s personal assistant, reported directly to him. These two served as his operational officers and, under the initiative of Marwan Barghouti, launched dozens of attacks, including a large number of suicide bombings within Israel.
4. The following are some of the more heinous terror attacks for which Marwan Barghouti is responsible:
- Jun 12, 2001 – The murder of a Greek Orthodox monk on the road to Ma’ale Adumim.
- Jan 17, 2002 – The shooting attack during a bat mitzva celebration at a banquet hall in Hadera. Six Israelis were killed in this attack, 26 were injured.
- Jan 22, 2002 – The shooting spree on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem. Two Israelis were killed, 37 wounded.
- Feb 25, 2002 – The shooting attack in the Jerusalem residential neighborhood of Neve Ya’acov. One Israeli policewoman was killed, 9 Israelis were wounded.
- Feb 27, 2002 – The murder of an Israeli at a coffee factory in the Atarot industrial zone of Jerusalem.
- Feb 27, 2002 – The suicide attack perpetrated by Daryan Abu Aysha at the Maccabim checkpoint in which two policeman were injured.
- The
Marwan Barghouti was also directly responsible for operating the terrorist cell of Raed Karmi in Tulkaram which carried out a series of deadly terrorist attacks.
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(3) Yom HaShoah Update…
A quick update/clarification to our last posting April 6 about Yom HaShoah events this coming Sunday: after the Film, the memorial service for Yom Hashoah at TBS starts at 5 pm and will be co-officiated by Rabbis Amswych, Schlachter and Levy, and by Cantor Cindy Freedman.