Dear George W. Bush—
Cong. Barney Frank said recently that Barack Obama's declaration that "there is only one president at a time" over-estimated the number. He was referring to the economic crisis. But where are you on the Gaza crisis where the civilian population of Gaza, its civil servants and public facilities are being massacred and destroyed respectively by U.S built F-16s and U.S. built helicopter gunships.
The deliberate suspension of your power to stop this terrorizing of 1.5 million people, mostly refugees, blockaded for months by air, sea and land in their tiny slice of land, is in cowardly contrast to the position taken by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. That year he single handedly stopped the British, French and Israeli aircraft attack against Egypt during the Suez Canal dispute.
Fatalities in Gaza are already over 400 and injuries close to 2000 so far as is known. Total Palestinian civilian casualties are 400 times greater then the casualties incurred by Israelis. But why should anyone be surprised at your blanket support for Israel's attack given what you have done to a far greater number of civilians in Iraq and now in Afghanistan?
Confirmed visual reports show that Israeli warplanes and warships have destroyed or severely damaged police stations, homes, hospitals, pharmacies, mosques, fishing boats, and a range of public facilities providing electricity and other necessities.
Why should this trouble you at all? It violates international law, including the Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter. You too have repeatedly violated international law and committed serious constitutional transgressions.
Then there is the matter of the Israeli government blocking imports of critical medicines, equipment such as dialysis machines, fuel, food, water, spare parts and electricity at varying intensities for almost two years. The depleted UN aid mission there has called this illegal blockade a humanitarian crisis especially devastating to children, the aged and the infirm. Chronic malnutrition among children is rising rapidly. UN rations support eighty percent of this impoverished population.
How do these incontrovertible facts affect you? Do you have any empathy or what you have called Christian charity?
What would a vastly shrunken Texas turned in an encircled Gulag do up against the 4th most powerful military in the world? Would these embattled Texans be spending their time chopping wood?
Gideon Levy, the veteran Israeli columnist for Ha'aretz, called the Israeli attack a "brutal and violent operation" far beyond what was needed for protecting the people in its south. He added: "The diplomatic efforts were just in the beginning, and I believe we could have got to a new truce without this bloodshed…..to send dozens of jets to bomb a total helpless civilian society with hundreds of bombs-just today, they were burying five sisters. I mean, this is unheard of. This cannot go on like this. And this has nothing to do with self-defense or with retaliation even. It went out of proportion, exactly like two-and-a-half years ago in Lebanon."
Apparently, thousands of Israelis, including some army reservists, who have demonstrated against this destruction of Gaza agree with Mr. Levy. However, their courageous stands have not reached the mass media in the U.S. whose own reporters cannot even get into Gaza due to Israeli prohibitions on the international press.
Your spokespeople are making much ado about the breaking of the six month truce. Who is the occupier? Who is the most powerful military force? Who controls and blocks the necessities of life? Who has sent raiding missions across the border most often? Who has sent artillery shells and missiles at close range into populated areas? Who has refused the repeated comprehensive peace offerings of the Arab countries issued in 2002 if Israel would agree to return to the 1967 borders and agree to the creation of a small independent Palestinian state possessing just twenty two percent of the original Palestine?
The "wildly inaccurate rockets", as reporters describe them, coming from Hamas and other groups cannot compare with the modern precision armaments and human damage generated from the Israeli side.
There are no rockets coming from the West Bank into Israel. Yet the Israeli government is still sending raiders into that essentially occupied territory, still further entrenching its colonial outposts, still taking water and land and increasing the checkpoints This is going on despite a most amenable West Bank leader, Mahmoud Abbas, whom you have met with at the White House and praised repeatedly. Is it all vague words and no real initiatives with you and your emissary Condoleezza Rice?
Peace was possible, but you provided no leadership, preferring instead to comply with all wishes and demands by the Israeli government-even resupplying it with the still active cluster bombs in south Lebanon during the invasion of that country in 2006.
The arguments about who started the latest hostilities go on and on with Israel always blaming the Palestinians to justify all kinds of violence and harsh treatment against innocent civilians.
From the Palestinian standpoint, you would do well to remember the origins of this conflict which was the dispossession of their lands. To afford you some empathy, recall the oft-quoted comment by the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, who told the Zionist leader, Nahum Goldmann:
"There has been anti-Semitism the Nazis Hitler Auschwitz but was that their [the Palestinians] fault? They only see one thing: We have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"
Alfred North Whitehead once said: "Duty arises out of the power to alter the course of events." By that standard, you have shirked mightily your duty over the past eight years to bring peace to both Palestinians and Israelis and more security to a good part of the world.
The least you can do in your remaining days at the White House is adopt a modest profile in courage, and vigorously demand and secure a ceasefire and a solidly based truce. Then your successor, President-elect Obama can inherit something more than the usual self-censoring Washington puppet show that eschews a proper focus on the national interests of the United States.
END.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/898t5l
{ 11 } Comments
There is no news of the Gaza massacre here in the media. I am very shamed to be an American due to our governments endless war mongering and supporting this Israeli killing of civilians in Gaza. Have our leaders no compassion? No sense of ethics or morals? What manner of human being perpetrates or supports killing innocent people? I don't know if there are any answers to these questions but do I know there are many others who feel the exact same way I do. I pray that the people that can stop this do so with great urgency. And I pray that endless compassion and wisdom rain down on our world in sufficient amounts to stop this madness and bring about a better world.
It has been unbearable to even think about the massacre that is occuring in Gaza. Am I one of the few that is utterly enraged at the American government and American Media (especially CNN) that have been extremely biased ??? Although occasionaly they seem to show some remorse, they continue to blame the "terrorist" (Hamas) to justify Isreali aggression.
Does anybody know history ?, do the american people even get to hear the strategies the Israeli government have deployed to demoralize, destabilze, and destroy the palestinians forthe past 50 years ?
Thank You, Mr. Ralph Nader for a very eloquent, truthful, and powerful letter.
The massacre of mostly Muslim citizens of Gaza by mostly Christian and Jewis citizens of the U.S. should make Muslims here realize that voting for and financially supporting Democrats and Republicans is helping the enemy. I would except Kucinich from this because he supports the rights of the Gazans. Otherwise, we Muslims should vote for independents like Nader and McKinney ( who was on a medical ship). WHY SHOULD WE ANY LONGER SUPPORT DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS WHO HATE ISLAM. FORGET THE ECONOMY AND EVERYTHING ELSE. ISLAM IS THE MOST IMPORTANT. BESIDES MOST OF THESE POLITICIANS IN THE MAIN PARTIES ARE OWNED BY INDUSTRIES AND THE RICH.
Good Morning America!!!
I would like to thank everyone here who made a comment, it is very important that people understand the truth so they can make decisions on electing their presidents. As you all know Mr. Bush has always something against Arabs & specially muslims with no reasons or why is he supporting Israel in this massacre against Ghaza?! p.s. Ghaza is part of Palestine and Hamas is elected by Palestenians people to defend them and they are not terrorists as Israel & US decided to call them!!! Do u know how many were killed till today? more than 800 were killed & 3400 injured (most serious injuries), they are attacking the civils kids, babies, women, old people, they even killed about 25 of the First Aid staff & ambulance drivers while doing their duties, plus they are attacking the Media till now more than 6 were killed I guess about 3 are from AlJazeera a trusted channel in the Middle East… you can check the exact figures from: english.aljazeera.net
As an Arabic lady I really respect the American people, I know many of them through TV shows plus I have many friends and I am very sure that they will never support such crimes against the humanity, but the problem is that the media is not showing the whole truth to them specially that Mr. Bush is still the persident. To all Americans: please stand up to protect this innocent people who are being killed every minute since 16 days now…. Can you imagine 16 days of countinuos WAR !!! would anyone stand this now?
I woud like to add something to James Farrell: I agree with you that Media are not showing most of these crimes I got this 2 websites might be useful fo you to know a bit more of what's going on…
http://english.aljazeera.net/
This 2nd site is translated to many languages, hopefully it will help in transmitting the actual situation in Gaza with no comments: http://www.elfarra.org/gallery/gaza.htm
I would also fault Obama – even though I think he will be great – for not speaking out forcefully. The excuse:"there's only one president at a time" sounds awfully lame. Nader is not president and, like Nader, Obama is certainly free to express his views as a private citizen. It might be well to remember that "those who do not speak out are complicit"!
I would like everyone to share this website with friends and family so that they are able to know the true news. http://www.livestation.com you are able to watch Al-jazeera in English and Arabic, many other channels are included. I would also to say that Pro-Palestinian protest that have been held have been great but we must get the media to report the true number of people that are present in these protests. For example there was a protest held yesterday where the NYPD reported that there was approximately 25,000 people and when it was put on the news NY1 claimed that there was only 150 people, meanwhile just from there footage you can see that it was a lot more than that .
At this time total death are at 917 :-(
Mr. Nader, I agree with you 100% with everything you say. Now, what do we do? Words can take us just so far!
I can not take it anymore!!!….
I don't mean to be unrespectable of the dead (martyrs) and their families but why don't we send the bodies to the Israeli homes when this genocide is over…..I just want the people of Israel to see what they have done…..And then let the Palestinians sue America and Israel for the laws they have broken. Money seems to be the only thing that will make Israel/America listen, so lets make them PAY. I heard an interview with an American official (on PressTV) that legally the American govenrment is liable for the manner in which Israel uses the weapons they provide…I am not sure what the legalities are, but perhaps some lawyers can look into this…..
I hope many of you are blogging the american sites with your comments and views….I have noticed alot of pro-israel comments since the american media has censored alot. If yoc can provide links to sites with reports and pictures from inside gaza it would help our cause to get more people aware.
Here is one that have alot bloggers -
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/arab-israeli-dialogue-of-a-kind-in-blogs-pranks-and-robocalls/#comment-210219
It does not take a genius to figure out who the true aggressor of this war is…..it takes someone willing to accept the truth regardless of their loyalties.
Just take a look at the facts -
The land was forcibly being taken away from the Palestinians 100 years ago. Millions of them since then have become refugees continuing to live in improvised conditions.
After the creation of Israel, the Israeli government continued to reject the peace offerings of Arab countries for a Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders. A Palestinain state that posses just 22% of the original Palestine !!!!
Till then there has been resistance from the Palestinian people and Israel felt compelled to occupy the territory and eradicate all resistance for the sake of Israels security.
Israeli supporters are quick to point out that Israel had removed their troops from Gaza a while back. Yet they still maintained a stronghold on Gaza by controlling their borders. Humanitarian organizations including UN, testify that Gaza has been under siege by Israeli control for over a year (there are many ways a territory can be sieged) . Even the cease fire negotiated between the Palestinians and Israel, stipulated that 1) Hamas would not fire rockets at Israel, 2) Israel would open up the Gaza borders and 3) the Palestinians hold a democratic election.
The Palestinians had democratically elected Hamas (much to Israels dislike) and ceased firing rockets into Israel.
When Israel started their offensive they made propaganda statements that Hamas broke the cease fire and Israel had enough and it was time for them to retaliate.
Soon after the truth came out that ISRAEL actually broke the ceasefire by bombing Rafah on Nov 6th (claiming to destroy a Hamas tunnel) . Even then Hamas held back and tried diplomatically to get Israel to hold their part of the deal and open up the borders.
After much failure, and seeing the plight of their people (UN reports that people were dying from simple ailments due to lack of medical supplies, medicine, and many were living on one meal a day), Hamas decided to send a message to Israel with rockets (all other negotiations failed, they felt they had no choice). Either Hamas let Gaza remain under this type of siege and accept occasional attacks in Gaza whenever Israel felt a threat OR fight back to cause some sort of change and attention.
Now Israel had an excuse to mount an aggressive assault on Gaza.." we have had enough of the rockets attacks". Israel wanted to destroy Hamas for the long term security of Israel.
Now it is like a vicious circle. Hamas will not stop firing rockets until Gazas border siege is removed and Israel will not stop their offensive till Hamas stop firing rockets (or more implicitly Hamas is removed from power).
The people of Gaza voted for Hamas because they feel they are their only protectors against the tyranny and oppression they have suffered almost 50 years under Israeli occupation. If Hamas were to be removed or destroyed, another resistant front will emerge.
So this all comes down to the question…..why did not Israel accept a Palestinian state based on the 1969 borders ?! why does Israel not let Palestinians live in peace in their own state without any type of occupation or siege ?
Israel has always claimed its security issues justify all their decisions and actions. Yet the continual oppression and bloodshed of the Palestinians just aggravates the issue more……
So now I have another question, does Israel really want peace ? (otherwise they would of allowed for a Palestinian state with full autonomy such that the Palestinians would not be willing to support any resistant militancy…….. SO what does Israel REALLY want ?!…what is their ultimate goal ?
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