CPTnet
November 13, 2001
URGENT ACTION: Call Congress, President immediately regarding
bill authorizing aid to Israel

[Note: Normally we do not run Urgent Actions from other organizations, but
Israel's use of U.S. military aid to brutalize Palestinians profoundly
affects the work of CPT's Hebron Team and that of its Israeli and
Palestinian partner organizations. Thomson's Urgent Action gives a concise
background of the bill in question and specific hints about more effective
ways of contacting House and Senate members. Congress, especially the
representatives and senators participating in the conference committee that
will be writing the bill, needs to hear Americans say NOW, at this crucial
moment, that they are opposed to their tax dollars subsidizing the Israeli
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.]

The bill giving $2.76 billion in foreign aid to Israel (17.7% of the entire
foreign aid budget--approximately $460.00 for every Israeli citizen) has
now
gone to a conference committee to resolve differences between the House
(H.R.
2506) and Senate (Recorded Vote 312) versions. You can find the details on
<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR02506:@@@L&summ2=m&#status>.

The bill is subject to modification in the conference committee, and we are
asking the thousands who receive this email to contact the conferees and ask
that the aid to Israel section be eliminated or suspended until Israel
complies
with international agreements on human rights and the Geneva Conventions (in
particular: "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
-Article
49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949). When calling the office, ask
to
speak with the staffer in charge of foreign relations. Please call as many
of
these members as you can, but AT LEAST call any who respresent you, as well
as
FOUR members of EACH house from neighboring areas.

Senate Conferees:

Bennett (UT: 202-224-5444 / 801-524-5933)
Bond (MO: 202-224-5721 / 314-725-4484)
Byrd (WV: 202-224-3954 / 304-342-5855)
Campbell (CO: 202-224-5852 / 719-636-9092)
Durbin (IL: 202-224-2152 / 312-353-4952)
Gregg (NH: 202-224-3324 / 603-225-7115)
Harkin (IA: 202-224-3254 / 515-284-4574)
Inouye (HI: 202-224-3934 / 808-541-2542)
Johnson (SD: 202-224-5842 / 605-332-8896)
Landrieu (LA: 202-224-5824 / 504-589-2427)
Leahy (VT: 202-224-4242 / 802-863-2525)
McConnell (KY: 202-224-2541 / 502-582-6304)
Mikulski (MD: 202-224-4654 / 410-962-4510)
Reed (RI: 202-224-4642 / 401-943-3100)
Shelby (AL: 202-224-5744 / 334-223-7303)
Specter (PA: 202-224-4254 / 215-597-7200)
Stevens (AK:202-224-3004 / 907-586-7400)

House Conferees:

Bonilla (TX: 202-225-4511 / 210-697-9055)
Callahan (AL: 202-225-4931 / 334-690-2811)
Jackson (IL: 202-225-0773 / 708-798-6000)
Kilpatrick (MI: 202-225-2261 / 313-965-9004)
Kingston (GA: 202-225-5831 / 912-352-0101)
Knollenberg (MI:: 202-225-5802 / 248-851-1366)
Kolbe (AZ: 202-225-2542 / 520-881-3588)
Lewis (CA: 202-225-5861 / 909-862-6030)
Lowey (NY: 202-225-6506 / 914-428-1707)
Obey (WI: 202-225-3365 / 715-842-5606)
Pelosi (CA: 202-225-4965 / 415-556-4862)
Rothman (NJ: 202-225-5061 / 201-646-0808)
Sununu (NH: 202-225-5456 / 603-641-9536)
Wicker (MS: 202-225-4306 / 662-844-5437)
Young (FL: 202-225-5961 / 813-893-3191)

       Also, please contact the White House (202-456-1111) and ask the
President to be prepared to veto this bill.

TALKING POINTS

       1. The major talking point that is likely to resonate with House and
Senate members is that aid to Israel at this time will have a seriously
negative impact on the President's anti-terrorism efforts and will put
American
citizens at risk.

       2. If you think the Representative/Senator might be receptive, you
might also talk about the brutality of the current Israeli attack against
Palestinians, and the occupation in general. Be careful with this one
however,
since, unfortunately most members have a knee-jerk positive response in
favor
of funding for Israel. Better to concentrate on the dangers to Americans
(which is an argument that I find personally offensive, due to its clear
implication that American lives are more valuable than any others).
However,
it IS the American citizen that votes for these folks.

Some hints about contacting the President, House and Senate:

******CONTACT EARLY AND OFTEN******BE POLITE******CONTACT EARLY AND
OFTEN******BE POLITE******

       1. When contacting members of Congress, they tend to take more
seriously the calls and letters that specifically mention the legislation
(i.e., H.R. 2506 for the House--Senate Recorded Vote 312). You can find
contact information for additional Senators and Congresspeople at
http://government.aol.com.

       2. On another note, as long as it is not one of a mass email or
mailing, they don't tend to look at the source of the information much
differently (i.e.--phone/email/mail/fax), unless you meet in person, which
is
of course much more effective.

       3. At present (Fall 2001), I highly recommend emailing over mailing.
Also, it is currently more useful to fax than mail info because mail is
backed
up for weeks due to the anthrax scare.