Obama and Gaza
This is what Obama wrote about the Israeli wall break in Egypt to the Ambassador: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 condenm 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 what I wrote to Obama:
Senator Obama,
I have supported you for some time well before your meteoric rise to the public eye. After embracing your stance on reducing nuclear weapons proliferation (including the US and other countries that have been previously exempt) and your ideas on peaceful resolution to conflicts, I was disappointed to read the letter you wrote to Ambassador Khalilzad. Although I too condemn the violence committed against Israel, I cannot believe that you would choose to ignore the greater humanitarian crisis in Gaza. No matter what the acting government has committed or sanctioned, an entire people cannot and should not be contained arbitrarily within a cage. I would have thought a candidate of your persuasion would have long ago decried the escalation tactics used both by Palestine and Israel, and like Reagan, condemned the walls that separate them.
How can you as a Christian condone walling up people and allowing no access from the outside? How can you as a humanitarian allow people to be treated like a herd of cattle? How can you as a candidate for the United States reject the principle of unlawful imprisonment in Guantanamo and accept this imprisonment? Is it really any surprise that the wall is coming down by brute force? What alternative do the people of Gaza have?
As a front runner for the president, I ask that you publically deplore this situation and demand that Israel allows some level of freedom in and out of the Gaza strip. Surely, that is more "common sense" than what you have proposed to the ambassador. And I think it would be a better way to display your "concern" for "Palestinian families."
Sincerely,
Joshua Hester
Concerned U.S. Citizen
Whether you agree with me or not, please write to Senator Obama if you have a chance.
Thanks for being involved. Pass this onto anyone who is remotely interested.
posted by the prisoner @ 2:00:00 PM
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