LETTER TO THE BRITISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
by Stuart Littlewood
Tzipi Livni, Israel’s former foreign minister, was largely responsible for the terror that brought mega-deaths and unimaginable destruction to Gaza's civilians nearly 2 years ago
Subject: Protecting war criminals – “just about the lowest thing anyone could do”
LibDem leaders know perfectly well that under ‘universal jurisdiction’ all states that are party to the Geneva Conventions are obliged to seek out and prosecute or extradite those suspected of grave breaches of the Conventions and bring them justice, regardless of nationality.
“Grave breaches” means willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and other serious violations of the laws of war… the sort of atrocities that have been (and still are) committed wholesale by Israelis against civilians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and on the high seas.
In other words, for these vilest of criminals there should be no hiding place.
The British Government shirks its solemn duty. Fortunately the law at present allows private applications for arrest warrants.
However, your Coalition partners the Conservatives, 80 percent of whom are claimed to be signed-up Friends of Israel, plan to interfere with our laws of arrest in order to protect those criminals they count among their friends. Apparently this will be done by ensuring that arrests for war crimes become strictly political decisions enabling the government of the day to pick’n’choose.
Foreign secretary William Hague, a Friend of Israel since his schooldays, recently told the pro-Israel lobby: “We have had good discussions with Israeli ministers on universal jurisdiction where the last government left us with an appalling situation where a politician like Mrs Livni could be threatened with arrest on coming to the UK… We have agreed in the coalition about putting it right, we will put it right through legislation that will be introduced… I phoned Mrs Livni amongst others to tell her about that and received a very warm welcome for our proposals.”
You, the Liberal Democrats, have already agreed to this???
Has everyone forgotten that Tzipi Livni, Israel’s former foreign minister, was largely responsible for the terror that brought mega-deaths and unimaginable destruction to Gaza’s civilians nearly 2 years ago?
Showing no remorse for the 1,400 dead (including 320 children and 109 women), the thousands horribly maimed and the hundreds of thousand made homeless, Livni’s office issued a statement saying she was proud of Operation Cast Lead, the murderous blitz she unleashed. Later at a conference in Tel Aviv she declared: “I would today take the same decisions.”
Many of you will recall how Israel violated the Egypt-brokered ceasefire to provoke a response that could then be used as an excuse to launch the onslaught Israel had been preparing for months.
You may also recall that in 2007 when Israel tightened the siege on Gaza, the prime minister’s adviser, Dov Weisglass, said “the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger”. Documents just released under a Freedom of Information petition by Gisha, an Israeli law centre, reveal that Israel operated “a policy of deliberate reduction” of basic goods in the Gaza Strip.
The papers confirm that the siege was not for security reasons but to keep Gazans at near-starvation level in order to bring down Hamas, the people’s choice. Since around half the population are growing children this inhuman act of collective punishment has meant that hundreds of thousands of youngsters are undernourished and permanently damaged.
Gisha’s director accuses Israel of “paralyzing normal life in Gaza”, and adds: “I am sorry to say that major elements of this policy are still in place.” http://www.gisha.org/index.php?intLanguage=2&intItemId=1904&intSiteSN=113.
Israel’s current foreign minister, ex-bouncer Avigdor Lieberman, is a convicted child-beater and has been variously described as “a virulent racist” and “a certified gangster”. He directly violates international law by living in one of Israel’s illegal settlements. “If you liked Mussolini, if you were missing Stalin, you’ll love Lieberman,” a member of Israel’s Meretz party observed.
All the same, Hague wants him freely walking the streets of London with Livni and the rest of the world’s psychopaths.
Whatever happened to the Liberal Democrats’ pledge to “reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, etc…” and to “fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services”. These fine promises are incorporated into the party’s Constitution.
Only last year Nick Clegg, LibDem leader and now deputy prime minister in the Coalition, was telling the Jewish Chronicle: “The very suggestion that I might explicitly or tacitly give cover for racism, I find politically abhorrent and personally deeply offensive.”
Who would have believed that any senior Liberal Democrat would support a move to undermine our justice system in order to make the UK a safe haven for blood-soaked foreign leaders whose policies and unspeakable crimes are alien to LibDem principles, disgusting to the British public and condemned by international law?
If we allow the warmongers to come and go as they please, civilized people will never be able to take back their world.
We read that Hague was sent away from Tel Aviv with a slap in the face the other day when the Israelis without warning suspended dialogue with Britain. As if that wasn’t embarrassment enough for such an ardent admirer, Hague now intends to humiliate us all by groveling and tinkering with British law to appease them.
If Parliament passes measures to undermine the important principle enshrined in the Geneva Conventions and weaken the law to enable those wanted for crimes against humanity to evade arrest, wouldn’t that make the whole British nation an accessory to those crimes?
And please reflect on how nodding it through would be just about the lowest thing anyone could do.
Stuart Littlewood
10 November 2010
Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk
Read: Keith Olbermann’s Entire Letter Of Apology To Viewers — NOT To NBC!
Keith Olbermann returns from suspension Tuesday night.
A Statement to the Viewers of Countdown
Read the New York Times’ take on the letter. Thanks also to Times reporter Brian Stelter for the text.
Related posts:
- Olbermann Vs. Stelter Vs. Deutsch: MSNBC The Angry?
- Olbermann Suspension Over, Returns This Week
- Is Keith Olbermann Gay Rights Advocates’ Best Friend?
Defeated Congressional Dems Write Letter To Pelosi PLEASE STEP ASIDE!!!
Not everyone is happy with Nancy Pelosi’s intention to run for the Position of house minority leader. The people who object to her new move are called Democrats. The consensus is that by seeking to stay in power only serves to help the GOP, after all in 2012 the GOP can run against the same three headed monster, Obama, Reid and Pelosi and make it obvious that the Democrats have not learned from their loss in the 2010 midterms. To prevent that scenario a group of congressman who lost their seats last week are penning a letter to Pelosi urging her to step aside.
Letter from Defeated Members:
Many of us want the chance to run again and reclaim the seats that we lost on Tuesday. With you as the leader of House Democrats, the hangover of 2010 stands no chance of subsiding. Many of us have run our last race but remain committed to our party; we want to help recruit successful candidates to run in our stead. Unfortunately, we fear that Republicans will further demonize you, and in so doing they will scare potential candidates out. The prospect of having to run against their own party leadership in addition to their Republican opponent is simply too daunting.
This is a difficult letter to write, because we admire your commitment, your drive, and your conviction. You have been an historic figure in our great nation, and for that we are all proud, as should you be. Nonetheless, we each experienced how Republican demonization of you and your leadership contributed to our defeat.
It is impossible not to judge the results of November 2nd as anything but a profound loss. We want to recover. Recovery of our majority in the House necessitates new leadership at the top of our party. Nonetheless, one mark of a strong leader is the ability to discern when it is time to pass the baton. As defeated members, whose party needs to rebuild, we are counting on you to show the strength of your leadership in this dark hour. We ask that you step aside as leader of our party in the House. We believe that you can and will play an extraordinary role in our party, and it is extremely unfortunate that Republicans have taken away your ability to lead as effectively as you are able.
With utmost respect, we are
Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com
Letter to DOJ and John Durham Re: Torture Tape Crimes Expiring
As you may know, in early November of 2005, agents of the United States government destroyed at least ninety two videotapes containing direct evidence of the interrogation and, upon admission and belief, torture of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (see: here, here, here, here and here). The statute of limitations, for the criminal destruction of said taped evidence in the cases of Abu Zubaydah and al-Nashiri will expire on Sunday November 7 (since the last day falls on a weekend, the statute should maintain through the next business day, which is Monday November 8). As we have heard absolutely nothing from Eric Holder, John Durham, the DOJ or the Obama Administration in relation to indictments or other results of the investigation Mr. Durham has been conducting since January 8, 2008, nearly three years, I thought a letter was in order asking just exactly what their status was. Said letter was addressed to Dean Boyd and Tracy Schmaler, official representatives and spokesmen for the Department of Justice, and reads as follows:
Dean and Tracy,
As I believe you are already aware, the statute of limitation on criminal charges including, notably, obstruction of justice for the destruction of evidence, are about to expire. The destruction appears to have occurred on or about November 8, 2005 and there is a five year statute on most all of the general crimes that could possibly be under investigation by John Durham. No competent prosecutor would have waited this long to file charges if he intended to do so, but there are still a couple of days left; what is the status?
Secondly, I would like to point out that should you be thinking about relying on some rhetoric that Mr. Durham simply cannot find any crimes to prosecute and/or that there were no proceedings obstructed, it is intellectually and legally impossible to not consider the tapes to be evidence, and as they almost certainly exhibit torture to some degree and to some part they would almost certainly be exculpatory evidence, in the cases of Abu Zubaydah and al-Nashiri themselves. The United States government continues to detain these individuals and they have charges that will putatively be brought against them in some forum (civil or tribunal), Habeas rights and/or indefinite detention review processes that will occur in the future.
In short, there exist not just the potential, but the necessity, of future proceedings, and agents of, or on behalf of, the United States government have destroyed material, and almost certainly exculpatory, evidence. Crimes have been committed. At a bare root minimum, it is crystal clear Jose Rodriquez has clear criminal liability; there are, without question, others culpable too. What is the status?
If the DOJ does not intend to proceed in any fashion on these clear crimes, please provide me with some intellectually consistent explanation for why the US government is covering up, and refusing to prosecute, the criminal acts of its own employees and agents.
Thank you.
bmaz
emptywheel.com and firedoglake.com
If there is any worthwhile or meaningful response, I will advise.
Related posts:
- Polish Prosecutor Looks Backward; US Prosecutor Lets Statute of Limitations Tick Away
- CIA Stores Their Torture Tape the Same Place Judy Miller Does!
- Bush Admits to Approving Torture-But Which Use of It?
Open letter to McConnell and Boehner from top conservatives: It’s time to stand up for core principles
Hmmm.
I take it this is a warning shot that any wrong moves legislatively will result in primary challenges and/or third-party runs. That point isn’t made explicitly, granted, but does it need to be? The letter, obtained Thursday by CNN, was co-signed by a fleet of top conservative activists including former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, […]
Tea Party letter to Republican leadership calls for unified vision
Washington (CNN) – In a sign the conservative movement intends to hold the newly-emboldened Republican leadership accountable in the wake of Tuesday’s midterm elections, over 60 prominent activists on the right sent a letter Wednesday to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker-designate John Boehner and Republican Governors Association Chairman Haley Barbour urging the new GOP leadership to unify around a set of core principles.
Read full letter (pdf)
The letter, obtained Thursday by CNN, was co-signed by a fleet of top conservative activists including former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Let Freedom Ring founder Colin Hanna and Tea Party Express chairman Amy Kremer.
It asks McConnell, Boehner and Barbour to “go before the American people jointly and present a unified vision of what this Republican victory will stand for” – namely lower taxes, reducing the size of government, a commitment to “restoring traditional moral values” and a muscular foreign policy.
“You are in positions to lead Republicans in putting aside personal ambitions and desires to retain positions of power and use the public offices entrusted to the Republican Party to address the momentous economic, moral and national security challenges our nation faces today, as our Founding Fathers did before us,” the letter reads.
Cantor announces run for House Speaker: His letter
Cantor released the following letter announcing his intention to seek the Speaker’s Office. The “governing document” referenced is available here.
The letter:
Dear Republican Colleague:
Congratulations on your election and for being a major part of a new Republican resurgence. For the past two years, Democrats have refused to listen. Now that we have been given a trust – we will not make that mistake.
I have long believed that success for the Republican Party is tied to success for America. Thomas Jefferson once remarked that “governments are republican only in proportion as they embody the will of the people, and execute it.”
To that end, we must govern differently. Not just differently than the Democrats, but differently from our previous majority. And job number one is to focus on more jobs for more Americans and to shift the economy from stall to forward. It’s time to produce results. Americans are asking for the opportunity to assume responsibility and get back to earning success. I also believe we need to change the culture of Washington. I believe that we must change the culture of spending that has prevailed for far too long. And I believe we need to change our expectations of the Congress, the Leadership, the committees, and of each of us.
I have announced my intention to stand for election as Majority Leader because I am results oriented and I want to help lead that effort and bring about these changes. I write not only to ask for your support, but also to outline some thoughts as to how we can seize the opportunity and make these changes.
Let us be under no illusion – many of those who cast their vote for Republicans yesterday have their share of doubts about whether we are up to the task of governing; about whether congressional Republicans have learned our lesson.
I harbor no such doubts.
For the past two years, House Republicans dedicated ourselves to developing alternative solutions grounded in the time-tested principles of fiscal responsibility and small-government. On the stimulus, instead of pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into non-stimulative government programs, we proposed to give private-sector job creators an incentive to hire by exempting small businesses from 20 percent of their tax liability.
On health care, instead of the government takeover known as ObamaCare, we provided solutions such as medical liability reform and allowing the purchase of health care coverage across state lines which would lower costs while enabling families and patients to keep the care they have if they choose.
To create real jobs, we offered a “no cost jobs plan” that would cut unemployment by, among other things, halting the deluge of President Obama’s tax increases and approving negotiated free-trade agreements.
And on the budget, we challenged President Obama to freeze spending at 2008 levels, offered hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts, and enacted an earmark moratorium within the House Republican Conference.
Our efforts culminated with the release of the “Pledge to America,” in September.
Faced with an administration and a Pelosi-led Congress intent on reorienting the role of government in America, time and again we stood up against them. Now it is our responsibility to lead with the same conviction, vigor, and fight. Joined by our new Members, I know that we are ready for that challenge.
Having crisscrossed the country over the past year, I have consistently heard Republican candidates speak passionately about jobs and getting people back to work. They have inspired by articulating the case for constitutionally limited government that empowers individuals, families, local communities, entrepreneurs, and small business people. Our candidates have stood proudly for traditional values and have fought to ensure that we do not sacrifice our national security to political correctness or to a desire to win the approval of foreign elites.
We now have the opportunity to turn our words into action and produce real results. Like you, I am anxious to get started.
Most of us ran for Congress because we wanted to tackle the big problems facing our nation. We came to Washington to eliminate the deficit, to tear down barriers to job creation, and to reform a government that has grown out of touch with the governed.
I don’t think any of us ran for Congress with the idea that we could finally provide a subsidy to this industry or that, or to this community or that. Or that we would vote to continue the same federal programs and agencies that are failing our citizens and bankrupting our children and grandchildren. And I know none of us ran with the idea that we should go to Washington to congratulate a collegiate basketball team for having a good season – or feel obligated that we needed to do so – even if we happened to be a fan.
Yet that is what we have been doing under the recent Democrat majority and even all too often under the previous Republican majority. Our problems have grown too immense to waste any more time. America stands at a crossroads, and the decisions we make at this very moment will determine the type of country that our children will live in.
That is why we will drain the swamp rather than learning to swim with the alligators. How?
We start by rethinking how time is spent and about the types of legislation that will be considered on the House floor. We start by identifying our top policy goals and committing to take concrete steps every single week to advance those goals. And we hold each other accountable with this simple question: are the actions of the House, our committees, and our Conference consistent with our principles and do they advance the nation’s priorities
We will not be able to roll back the leviathan overnight or balance the budget tomorrow or defeat terrorism once and for all next week, and people realize that. They understand how big the problems facing our country are, the obstacles that stand in our way, and the old, ingrained powers of Washington that will fight us every step of the way. Yet, people expect that we will fight each and every day to address these problems and make progress in every battle. We must not fall prey to the culture of Washington that exacerbates and creates problems. To put it simply, we must do the job we said we would do. We’ve talked the talk, now it is time to walk the walk.
I know we are ready.
In the attached document, Delivering on Our Commitment: A Majority to Limit Government and Create Jobs, I outline some thoughts on how we can begin that effort. Included is a particular focus on a sustained effort on jobs, reducing government spending, putting in place a new standard for prioritizing legislation, and how we strengthen oversight.
In thinking about and preparing this plan, I found myself guided by one simple proposition which I believe will be instructive for our efforts over the next two years: “Are my efforts addressing job creation and the economy; are they reducing spending; and are they shrinking the size of the Federal Government while increasing and protecting liberty? If not, why am I doing it? Why are WE doing it?”
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions you may have. I know that by changing the culture and focusing on our priorities, ours will be a lasting and worthwhile legacy: that we will achieve what we said we came to accomplish, and in so doing, deliver on the type of conservative governance that has been promised.
Sincerely,
Eric Cantor
To Pay For Mortgage And Health Care, Woman Forced To Sell Letter From Obama Saying ‘Things Will Get Better’
Every single day, President Obama receives a special memorandum with “10 pieces of correspondence addressed to” him from Americans of all walks of life, a tradition he has kept up since he made the request to receive these letters on the second day of his presidency.
In January of this year, Obama read a letter from Jennifer Cline, a 28 year-old woman living in Monroe, Michigan. Cline informed Obama that she and her husband had both lost their jobs in 2007 and fallen on hard times as a result. “I lost my job, my health benefits and my self-worth in a matter of five days,” she wrote. Following the loss of her job, Cline “was diagnosed with two types of skin cancer, and she had no health insurance. She signed up for Medicaid, and treatment was successful. She went back to college after her unemployment benefit was extended.” She hoped that in “just a couple of years we will be in a great spot.”
After reading the letter, Obama chose to reply with a handwritten note on White House stationary. He wrote, “Thanks for the very kind and inspiring letter. I know times are tough, but knowing there are folks out there like you and your husband gives me confidence that things will keep getting better!”
But things, unfortunately, did not get better. Crunched by the costs of a down payment on her home and cancer treatments, Cline has been forced to sell her letter from the president to earn some money. She is selling the letter to autograph dealer Gary Zimet for $ 7,000, who will then sell it on his website momentsintime.com, which markets autographs:
But things didn’t immediately improve for Cline, who’s now agreed to sell the letter to autograph dealer Gary Zimet for $ 7,000. He tells us, “The letter is a historical document, and it is very hard for her to part with it. It’s very timely considering the elections. But I don’t think she’s disillusioned with Obama — this is just about surviving and practicality. She is selling it to pay for a house, which I think is poetic justice.”
Zimet plans to sell it on his Web site, momentsintime.com. He noted, “Handwritten letters of any sitting president on White House letterhead are extremely rare. It is certainly worth more than I am paying for it.” Zimet, who took possession of the letter on Saturday, added she was “selling the letter for a down payment on a house and to pay off medical bills from her cancer treatment.” Cline and the White House did not get back to us.
Cline’s story is tragic, but unfortunately her circumstance of having to take desperate measures just to keep her home is not unique. The housing market has been a nightmare since the housing bubble burst, with countless homeowners being unable to make the payments to keep their homes. By 2009, three million homeowners received at least one foreclosure notice, and as of July 2010, one in seven mortgages were delinquent.
The administration’s primary policy response to the foreclosure crisis was the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which started in June 2009 and was “meant to keep 3 to 4 million troubled borrowers in their homes by lowering their mortgage payments to a sustainable level.” Yet by Aug. 2010, 40 percent of homeowners who had participated in the program had dropped out. “HAMP has not put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings,” noted a report from the Special Inspector General for TARP that same month. “Foreclosure filings have increased dramatically while HAMP has been in place, with permanent modifications constituting just a few drops in an ocean of foreclosure filings.” The program’s problems stem from banks’ inability to process enrollments in a timely manner and a lack of incentive for banks to ensure that borrowers successfully complete the program.
The administration and Congress have not stepped up to the bat for tougher measures that would help homeowners. Legislation that would allow for “cramdown” — which would let a third party re-negotiate mortgage terms — has been voted down multiple times by legislators, and was met with little backing by the Obama White House. While leading progressive politicians and economists continue to argue in favor of a moratorium, the administration continues to oppose one.
My letter to the UN
A commenter noted that Al Awda, an extremist organization that is dedicated to destroying Israel by falsely claiming that descendants of Palestinian Arabs who fled in 1948 have a “right of return,” has started a letter writing campaign to the UN to fire Andrew Whitley for making the sane comment that most Palestinian Arabs will never “return.”
They nicely gave a list of email addresses to send their letter to.
So, I used their list and sent a letter to the same UN officials, saying my opinion. You might want to modify my letter and do the same.
To: [email protected]
CC: [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]
The Secretary General of the United Nations
Open Letter to President Obama from an independent: The Partisan Revolution is Over
Dear President Obama,
The Partisan Revolution is over. The time for partisanship and factionalism has passed. Whatever the midterm elections “reveal”, real progress for our country cannot be made under the current partisan system. I am writing to you as part of the campaign by CUIP/ independententvoting.org to encourage you to support structural political reform [such as open primaries, ranked voting, nonpartisan elections, etc.] as a way forward for our country and the whole world.
I’m sure I am only one of many people who called my daddy on election night November 4, 2008, to celebrate a moment of magic. I got home around 11:30pm to Sunnyside Queens from Harlem New York, after the clear and decisive numbers were announced. Voices resounded from kids in my neighborhood yelling “OBAMA” out their windows as I lingered on the stoop to my apartment building. “I never thought this would happen in my lifetime” my dad said to me.
My father and I are both transplanted Arkansans:
He now lives in Richmond VA
I’m a New Yorker
He’s a Kennedy-Clinton Democrat
I’m an independent
He was in charge of a unit of the Arkansas State Guard that was mobilized under Pres. Eisenhower’s federal authority in Little Rock in 1957 that effectively tested the integration of public schools in the South
I helped put Lenora Fulani on the ballot in all 50 states in 1988, effectively testing the possibility of an independent run against the Democratic and Republican parties for President of the United States of America. 
(My daughters Lucy and Rena, who were 8 and 6 years old respectively in 1988, were a great source of support and inspiration to me then, and continue to be so now.)
I worked for you as a volunteer on the streets in Harlem during the February (closed) Dem primary when every black elected official in NYC was supporting Hillary Clinton. I received emails from your campaign that pegged me as a Hillary Clinton supporter. (I’m female and over 50.)
I urge you to reconsider — and get to know — who independents are.
As Jackie Salit said in her most recent conference call: President Obama, We mean you no harm but we will press ahead to build our movement and pursue the structural reforms that will create more uncertainity for your party and for the Republican Party and you may not like it….”
America needs to change. Independent voters are growing in numbers and organization. We need structural political reform. I STRONGLY urge you to get to know and support the independents in the independent movement.
History demands it. And America could use your leadership to develop.
In solidarity,
Nancy Hanks
