Sacramento Coalition to End the War

The message below contains contact information for Sacramento area Congress members; if you don't live in Sacramento, you can reach your representatives and senators by calling the Congressional Switchboard, 202-224-3121 or emailing them through: www.house.gov or www.senator.gov.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION: Stop Congress from opposing the Goldstone Report  

  Last Friday, Oct. 23, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida)  introduced H.Res.867, calling on the Obama Administration to "oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration" of the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, known as the Goldstone Report.  As of this writing local Congress members (Matsui, Thompson, Lungren and McClintock) have not signed on.

Please CALL now and ask your representative to: 1) NOT sponsor this legislation and 2) issue a statement opposing it.  Also ask them to investigate the detention of human rights activist Mohammed Othman who was taken by Israeli officials on September 22 and to demand his release (see below).     

  You can call the Congressional switchboard (202-224-3121) in Washington DC or their local district offices:
            Rep. Doris Matsui:  (916) 498-5600; fax: (916) 444-6117
            Rep. Mike Thompson (530) 662-5272; fax: (530) 662-5163
            Rep. Dan Lungren  (916) 859-9906;  fax: (916) 859-9976
            Rep. Tom McClintock (916) 786-5560
  You can also email all representatives through www.house.gov

   Also, contact your Senators and ask them to oppose any similar resolution in the Senate; call 202-224-3121; email www.senate.gov; or call their local district offices:
   Sen. Barbara Boxer: 916- 448-2787; Sen. Dianne Feinstein: 415-393-0707  
     
   If passed, this dangerous resolution would instruct the Obama Administration to continue its attempts to shield Israel from accountability for the war crimes it committed, as documented by the Goldstone Report, before, during, and after its assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008-January 2009.  The resolution also undermines the Obama Administration's rhetorical support for the universality of human rights and its stated commitment to holding human rights violators accountable.  In addition, it contains numerous inaccuracies about and misleading characterizations of the Goldstone Report.
    For more information:  http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2403

 TAKE ACTION to free Palestinian Human Rights Activist

   As noted above, ask your Congress person to investigate the detention of human rights activist Mohammed Othman who was taken by Israeli officials last month and to demand his release. 
   BACKGROUND:  On September 22, 2009, human rights defender, Mohammad Othman was taken  by Israeli soldiers when he was returning to Palestine’s West Bank from an advocacy tour in Norway, during which he was engaged in a number of speaking events and meetings with government officials.  Othman is being held without charges while he is continuously interrogated.  His Israeli captors have threatened his family and subjected him to long interrogation sessions, lasting at times from 10 to 15 hours, during which he was repeatedly cursed at, intimidated and threatened.  His captors now have adopted a strategy of physical and mental exhaustion by leaving Mohammad alone, sitting in the interrogation room in the same position for several hours at a time, with his hands tied behind his back. 

   For more information: http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2096.shtml