I just emailed my Congress people the message below and will be calling them about this issue tomorrow.

Please do your part and contact your representatives. Financing this madness has got to stop...

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Hello,

I am sure you have heard the horrible news that Rachel Corrie, a Washington State, USA citizen, was brutally murdered on 16 March 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer driver who violently ran her over on purpose and then backed up to run over her again. She was a college student from Washington State, about to graduate. She was wearing a bright orange vest clearly identified as an unarmed international peace activist, and using a bullhorn to plead with the driver not to demolish a Palestinian home.

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!

The human rights abuses of Israel are well-known and in fact old news.

On April 9, 2002 - "Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today called on the United States government to suspend all transfers to Israel of weapons used to commit human rights violations until their use is clearly in compliance with the terms of the arms transfers as expressed in US law and bilateral agreements." Their request was sadly was not heard or perhaps ignored by you and your colleagues. It was in the news today that the Bush Administration will request a first installment of 90 billion to increase our aggression against Iraq and an "anonymous spokesman" said that a percentage of those funds will go to Israel. Ideally this request should be denied completely but at the very least, do not give any money to Israel after this atrocity. A country that sponsors the callous murder of a peaceful US citizen should not be financed. To do so is to condone the murder of our own statesperson and pay for future murder of US citizens.



My wife and I propose the following actions that you should take:

1) Please sponsor and/or vote for legislation to withhold any and all aid to Israel until they have pulled their military out of the West Bank and Gaza, and until they begin peace talks with Palestine for a just settlement arbitrated by the United Nations.

2) Please do not accept any donations from any organization lobbying for Israel, like the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, until they have met the above requirement.



Please let me know if you will take the above actions.

We will support or denounce you based on your response.

Thanks,



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For more information see:

http://www.sustaincampaign.org



Peace