Senate Approves Resolution Backing Israel in Hamas Conflict

[WillowTree]

By Nicholas Johnston

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, while the House of Representatives prepared to act on a similar measure tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the measure “expresses vigorous support” for Israel.

“The Israelis have every right to defend themselves against these acts of terrorism,” said Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Israel is in its 13th day of military operations against the Islamic militant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop rocket attacks against southern Israeli towns.

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they had personally spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to express their support




Bloomberg.com: Politics




Well, just for Roberto,, I can say this is one thing the Democrats have done that I Happy now Roberto?

 

[Annie]

And some on the 'left', those cheering on the Palestinians, are NOT happy. Links at site:

Commentary » Blog Archive » J Street Cowers

J Street Cowers
JENNIFER RUBIN - 01.09.2009 - 12:02 PM
Well how is the unanimous vote on the very pro-Israel Senate resolution going down with the Juicebox set? Not well, to say the least. Glen Greenwald (no relation to the Good Greenwald) has gone into a tizzy over the Senate’s resolution. The depth of his disdain for Israel and of the support it traditionally enjoys from the U.S. is revealed:

It’s hard to overstate how one-sided this resolution is. It “expresses vigorous support and unwavering commitment to the welfare, security, and survival of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders.” Why should the U.S. maintain an “unwavering commitment to the welfare” of a foreign country? It “lays blame both for the breaking of the ‘calm’ and for subsequent civilian casualties in Gaza precisely where blame belongs, that is, on Hamas.” It repeatedly mentions the various sins of Hamas–from rockets to suicide attacks–but does not mention a single syllable of criticism for Israel. In the world of the U.S. Congress, neither the 4-decade occupation of Palestinian land nor the devastating blockade of Gaza nor the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements even exist. That may not be mentioned.​

Yeah, how wacky is assigning responsibility for the violence to the Hamas terrorists who lobbed 6000 shells into Israel? How odd to express sixty years’ worth of bipartisan commitment to the survival of the Jewish state! At least the facade that he and his ilk are “pro-Israel” has been demolished: He is plainly opposed to anyone who is.

Greenwald asked J Street for comment on the Senate vote:

Earlier today, I asked them for their position on the Senate Resolution and, just now, this is what they sent me:

“Since the first days of the crisis in Gaza, J Street has consistently called for strong American leadership to reach a ceasefire that ends all military operations, stops the rockets aimed at Israel, institutes an effective mechanism to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza, and lifts the blockade of Gaza. Since J Street’s founding, we have consistently advocated for active American diplomacy to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We support Congressional action that endorses these aims.”
That statement–by design, I would guess–is unclear in the extreme. It seems intended to imply–without actually stating–support for the Congressional Resolutions. They say they “support Congressional action that endorses these aims,” but–conspicuously–they don’t actually say whether the Resolution passed by the Senate and to be passed by the House does so. It’s hard to see how either of the two Resolutions could be deemed to do so, given that neither even mentions, for instance, a lifting of the blockade of Gaza. But that’s the statement J Street issued.​

So J Street doesn’t have the courage to say what it thinks of the Senate resolution. To reveal its true take–that the Senate unanimously rejected the entire worldview of J Street–would be to reveal that J Street is irrelevant and out-of-step with the entire political establishment. To offer clear praise for the Senate would be to reveal themselves as hypocrites. So they hide under a blizzard of words, crouching behind pablum. It’s good to know what intellectual cowards look like.

As for Glenn Greenwald, he’s done everyone a service by accurately portraying the degree to which the Juicebox set and their pet advocacy-group abhor support for Israel and lack the courage to come clean.

 

[WillowTree]

The "Juicebox Set" that's a new one for me, but funny as all hell,, I guess they mean those boxes with the tiny little straws????

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I don't think it was necessary or wise to make this resolution, regardless of how you feel about the conflict. We should be trying to remain as neutral as possible in this conflict, and this resolution will simply make Arabs hate us even more.

 

[WillowTree]

I don't think it was necessary or wise to make this resolution, regardless of how you feel about the conflict. We should be trying to remain as neutral as possible in this conflict, and this resolution will simply make Arabs hate us even more.

Well Kevin,, I don't think it's possible to make Arabs hate us more than they already do,, that's why they are in such desperate straits, they concentrate too much on hatred and blaming others for their problems than they do on bettering their lives. and as for the "evil" that is afoot? it cannot be approached with "humility" you have to take a stand. Sooner or later you will have to take a stand.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Well Kevin,, I don't think it's possible to make Arabs hate us more than they already do,, that's why they are in such desperate straits, they concentrate too much on hatred and blaming others for their problems than they do on bettering their lives. and as for the "evil" that is afoot? it cannot be approached with "humility" you have to take a stand. Sooner or later you will have to take a stand.

I don't have to take a stand with those that kill civilians. That goes for Israel and Hamas.

 

[Sunni Man]

This Senate Resolution just shows the strangle hold the Zionist Jews have on American politics.

All high level politicans in the US have to kowtow to Israel if they want to get re-elected.

America's government is truely ZOG infected.

 

[toomuchtime_]

By Nicholas Johnston

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, while the House of Representatives prepared to act on a similar measure tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the measure “expresses vigorous support” for Israel.

“The Israelis have every right to defend themselves against these acts of terrorism,” said Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Israel is in its 13th day of military operations against the Islamic militant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop rocket attacks against southern Israeli towns.

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they had personally spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to express their support




Bloomberg.com: Politics




Well, just for Roberto,, I can say this is one thing the Democrats have done that I Happy now Roberto?

Back in 2002 while President Bush was standing in the Rose Garden demanding that Israel withdraw its troops from the West Bank, the Senate passed a resolution in support of Israel's military actions that was so strong it made Joe Lieberman nervous, and the House actually debated whether to include a statement in its resolution that Israel would be justified in deporting all the Palestinians from the territories. This resolution is more temperate that those were and shows that while US political leaders in both parties share everyone's anguish over the pain and destruction war brings that they understand Israel is fighting against the same kind of Islamic terrorist threat the US is fighting against and that Israel is forced to use the same methods the US is forced to use to protect its citizens against that threat.

 

[toomuchtime_]

I don't have to take a stand with those that kill civilians. That goes for Israel and Hamas.

Then I guess you don't stand with the US either since we are killing civilians in Afghanistan in our fight to protect Americans against the threat from al Qaeda.

 

[elvis]

Well Kevin,, I don't think it's possible to make Arabs hate us more than they already do,, that's why they are in such desperate straits, they concentrate too much on hatred and blaming others for their problems than they do on bettering their lives. and as for the "evil" that is afoot? it cannot be approached with "humility" you have to take a stand. Sooner or later you will have to take a stand.

Why do we HAVE to take a stand? It's not our problem. Let Israel defend herself (of course that's a paradox because she would be using American weapons in doing so)

 

[elvis]

Then I guess you don't stand with the US either since we are killing civilians in Afghanistan in our fight to protect Americans against the threat from al Qaeda.

the difference is al qaeda members in afghanistan ATTACKED us.

 

[Sunni Man]

Then I guess you don't stand with the US either since we are killing civilians in Afghanistan in our fight to protect Americans against the threat from al Qaeda.

There is that magic word "Al Qeada"!!

All one needs to do is utter that name and all forms of murder, torture, and destruction are instantly justified.

 

[WillowTree]

Why do we HAVE to take a stand? It's not our problem. Let Israel defend herself (of course that's a paradox because she would be using American weapons in doing so)

just do the math!

 

[elvis]

just do the math!

What math? what do you mean?

 

[DiamondDave]

It is right to take a stand against terrorism... I don't care if it is Israel drawing the support, or Sudan, or fucking Iceland...

Not taking a stand is another form of appeasement to the terrorist assholes.. I only wish we would do more to eliminate Hamas and any of their supporters from physical existence

 

[toomuchtime_]

the difference is al qaeda members in afghanistan ATTACKED us.

That was a long time ago and now it is the US that is attacking al Qaeda and the Taliban and other Islamic militants in Afghanistan and killing civilians, some undoubtedly innocent, in the process. One can also argue that Israel was attacked first by Hamas suicide bombers and Hamas rockets and that Hamas has just as strong a commitment to destroy Israel as al Qaeda has to destroy the US and that Israel has an even stronger justification for inflicting unavoidable civilian casualties in Gaza that the US has in Afghanistan because the range of Hamas' rockets has been steadily increasing so that without this current military operation, those rockets would soon be landing in Tel Aviv just as the planes crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon on 9/11.

 

[Orange_Juice]

Unanimous vote?? Wow, that's power! Try and find another foreign nation that has such power over our government--all this while spying on us!

 

[DiamondDave]

Unanimous vote?? Wow, that's power! Try and find another foreign nation that has such power over our government--all this while spying on us!

Every goddamn nation tries to gain an advantage thru some type of 'spying' or espionage... whether it be about military technology, business practices, information for future negotiations on something, etc... Prance and other Euro-Socialist trash do it as well

So get off your fucking high horse...

 

[Sunni Man]

Israel and the IDF are the terrorists.

Hamas fighters are much like the Minute Men in the American Revolution.

Both were made up of civilian Patriots fighting for Justice and Freedom for their country.

 

[DiamondDave]

Israel and the IDF are the terrorists.

Hamas fighters are much like the Minute Men in the American Revolution.

Both were made up of civilian Patriots fighting for Justice and Freedom for their country.

Go to hell you terrorist appeaser

How dare you even compare the terrorist, rocket lobbing, "destroy all of Israel" asshole Hamas pigs to the MinuteMen...

There is and was no country of Palestine.. you worthless piece of camel dung