Letter to Government Officials
You can use the examples to write your own letters.
9 January 2009
Dear Senator Bingaman,
When it comes to the Israel-Palestinian issue, I hope your votes will be informed ones and not reflexive and conventional votes. I hope, as an influential American, you will stand up for human rights and human dignity. As a Jew, I am deeply concerned at the carnage being inflicted upon the Palestinians and the disproportionate use of force under the guise of self-defense. Yes, Israel has a right to defend its people from rocket attacks. Does Gaza have a right to protect its people from starvation, lack of medical care, and second-class citizenship? I have studied the history of this issue for some time, focusing primarily on Israel's military and civilian archives. There is no dispute among historians that the Palestinians have always been seen and treated as second-class citizens and as the "enemy" because they were, and are, not Jewish. Nelson Mandela has stated that South African apartheid was nowhere as brutal or demeaning as Israeli apartheid. How long will the U.S. government and its Congress continue to hold the world hostage to growing hatred, disgust, and retaliatory actions with their utterly uninformed and primitive understanding of the actual history of the Israel-Palestine issue? How long will the United States, the great bastion of democracy and freedom, continue its hypocritical policy of ignoring the suffering of another people, of even blaming them for standing up to hatred, discrimination and subhuman treatment? How much longer will they support a government that treats another people with such contempt? Are the fruits of campaign donations and the likelihood of re-election really worth the blood of innocent children and the ruthless destruction of the soul of an entire people who are guilty of the crime of not being Jewish? Please stand up and help restore integrity to your country and to the world. By doing so, you will begin to defuse the legitimate anger throughout the Muslim world at the punitive and unequal treatment of millions of Palestinians.
Sincerely,
Rich Forer
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009
Subject: Your first day in Congress
Dear Rep.-elect Heinrich,
Congratulations on your victory. I hit the pavement and knocked on doors in the neighborhoods of Albuquerque, urging Democrats to make sure to vote early and vote for you. I believed you were the best person to carry the mantra of change from Albuquerque to Washington. And on your first day in office, or soon thereafter, you will have an opportunity to show your new constituents that you represent a more humane approach to American foreign policy and that you have the courage to stand up to an extremely powerful, well-funded and organized special interest group.
We in the peace and justice community here in Albuquerque have learned that AIPAC is poised to push members of Congress to issue statements and perhaps legislation supporting Israel's right to "defend its citizens against terrorism" by continuing its military incursion into Gaza. I personally, as someone who wore down her shoe leather to get you into office, urge you to resist this pressure and to instead make a statement that calls attention to Israel's utterly disproportionate use of force against the desperate people of Gaza.
Here is a new fact sheet hot off the press, a resource for your staffers to use when drafting your statement, from the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation based in DC. http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/gaza_us_weapons.pdf
Many individuals in your district have decades of knowledge on the Israel/Palestine issue, years of experience on the ground in the region, and are willing to get you up-to-speed with facts, anecdotal supporting information, stories and documents to help you stand up to the powerful, pro-Israel lobby in Washington. I can put you in touch with many of these individuals.
Good luck during your first week. We are proud of your accomplishment and want to help you make change in 2009.
Sincerely,
Susan Schuurman, M.A.
History of West Asia and South Asia
University of New Mexico
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009 14:09:57 -0700
Dear Rey,
I met you at the 60th anniversary observance of the UDHR in Smith Brasher Hall. Thank you again for moderating that event.
Do you think it would be possible to get the Albuquerque City Council to pass a resolution condemning the Israeli seige, bombardment and invasion of Gaza?
Thanks.
Susan Schuurman
member, Middle East Peace & Justice Alliance (MEPJA)
member, Amnesty International, chapter 101
member, New Mexico Independent Media Center
Production Asst., Field & Frame
[contact information]
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009
To: Sen. Harry Reid: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
After hearing your statement on Meet the Press this morning, I will be going this week to my County Clerk's office to chanmge my registration from Democrat to Independent. I can no longer support a party that is either so ignorant, so corrupt, or so idealogical inr espect to Israel that they give such one-sided statements as you did this morning. UN reports on Israel have been numerous enumerating the human rights abuses that Israel impses upon the Palestinians both in the West Bank and in Gaza. Our military aid to Israel and our UN veoes make us complicit in these abuses. I will not be part of these actions by supporting anyone who approves them and lies to the American people about what is happening. If there were some way to remove such people from office immediately, I would be strongly in favor of it. Please examine your conscience.
-Sally McMillan, Albuquqerque
From: to_suesmall@hotmail.com
To: stacey.bernards@mail.house.gov
Subject: GAZA December 29, 2008
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:52:31 -0700
No, your 12/29/08 statement about Israel's right to self protection is so false. The Israeli assault is like the assault on the Warsaw Ghetto, it's like Guernica. You can't bomb the most populated place on the planet--a holding pen for refugees under siege--with US made weapons, with US money, with US jets and helicopters, and with US approval and not know this is a wholesale killing of Palestinians. These Israeli crimes against humanity are our crimes as well. You know it.
From: to_suesmall@hotmail.com
To: senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
Subject: GAZA December 2008; tell me what you think, what you'll do.
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:14:15 -0700
The current Israeli assault against Gaza is like the assault on the Warsaw Ghetto; it's like Guernica. You and I can't watch the bombing of the most populated place on the planet--a holding pen for 1.5 million refugees under siege--with US made weapons, with US money, with US jets and helicopters, and with US approval, and not know this is a wholesale killing of Palestinians. These Israeli crimes against humanity are our crimes as well. You and I, and others in the world know this is off the scale; there is no proportionality.
Our country cannot afford the enemies Israel is making for us. How can you and I remain silent at this state sponsored terrorism? It's not just a matter of humanitarianism; it's not just a matter of fairness; it's a matter of the continued existence of Israel--if we continue to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, the illegal settlements, the stealing of land, the apartheid nation which exists, then we wholly own the same injustice which is being committed by Israel this December 2008 and we share the perils Israel is sowing. One country, democratic, governed by a constitution, the only way forward.