Oregon Democrats must challenge AIPAC's promotion of War and Occupation

To Oregon Democrats and Democratic Politicians, especially Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Oregon State House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland), Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem), Sen. Vicki Walker (D-Eugene), Sen. Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo), Rep. Mitch Greenlick (D-Portland), and Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie).

Dear Oregon Democrats:

On May 21st, 2008, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held a "community dinner" in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. According to our sources, the Democratic leaders listed above attended that event.

We are Oregonians who are opposed to the current aggressive and militarized U.S. policies in the Middle East and concerned that yet another war, this time against Iran, is being promoted by right wingers such as were present at this event. As a result, we are very concerned by your attendance.

The keynote speaker, AIPAC member and Fox News analyst Marc Ginsberg clearly is promoting military action with Iran. He also was imploring his audience, which includes you, to help convince the American people of the necessity of the use of military force.

We are also concerned by the complete mischaracterization of the views of such Americans as former President Jimmy Carter as presented by AIPAC officer Brandt. We believe President Carter and others are absolutely correct in their criticism of Israel's ongoing policies of occupation and oppression of the Palestinians, and the ongoing theft and colonization of Palestinian lands. We believe that President Carter is correct in his characterization of Israel's domination of Palestinians as the creation of a system of Apartheid. Brandt is simply incorrect as characterizing Carter's motivation as one simply of not believing in America's relationship with Israel as Brandt suggested. Instead, Carter is acting out of sincere concern for the human rights of Palestinians and the prospect for peace for both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. President Carter is the man who brought peace between Egypt and Israel and has worked tirelessly to foster democratic institutions around the world (without, like Bush, using violence and force). It should be noted that Egypt recently brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. This would not have been possible without President Jimmy Carter's earlier peace making.

Israel already gets over $3 billion in U.S. military assistance each year, much of which is used to support the illegal occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands. We are further concerned that, at a time when we believe Israel needs to be held to account for its policies against the Palestinians, Oregon Democrats are seeking to enhance economic ties to the state of Israel. Governor Kulongoski obviously is trying to make these ties a reality with his recent trade mission to Israel and we question the morality of these ties given the oppression experienced by the Palestinians at the hands of Israel. We are not opposed to economic ties to Israel that also helps the Palestinian economy or when relations between Israel and her neighbors are normalized in accordance with human rights and international law.

We would like an opportunity for representatives of AUPHR (Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights) and members of the Oregon Peace and Justice community meet with you to discuss our views on these critical issues. We do not want the Democratic Party to be leading the charge for yet another war against people in the Middle East. Nor do we want Oregon Democrats to implicate our great state with Israel's Apartheid policies while they continue to illegally take more Palestinian lands. We are concerned that the Democratic Party's enmeshment with AIPAC raises these very dangers.