IPFS News Link • Israel
Congressional tourists avoid apartheid in Israel
• www.salon.comAmericans, do you know where your member of Congress is?
He or she may well be visiting Israel right now. In fact, 81 members of the House of Representatives -- nearly 20 percent of the whole body -- are expected here this month, according to new reports. If challenged, the representatives (numbering 55 Republicans and 26 Democrats) are likely to say a few words about looking for business opportunities good for their constituents or the need to provide for the security of Israel, which has cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. That's their business and yours.
As a member of the Israeli Knesset, I am concerned that they're on a
propaganda tour run by an affiliate arm of AIPAC, the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, which bills itself as "America's leading
pro-Israel lobby," yet has helped stymie Palestinian freedom aspirations
for decades. Yes, the members will have a token meeting or two with
officials of the Palestinian Authority, but they certainly are not going
to learn of the discrimination and occupation that the state of Israel
imposes on the Palestinian people in its midst.