Monday, May 29, 2006
Profile in Courage: Betty McCollum
HR 4681, the "starve the Palestinans" bill that was recently passed in Congress, was strongly opposed by the mainstream and progressive parts of the Jewish community, both here and in Israel, for the very sensible reason that it empowers and radicalizes the backers of the very group (Hamas) it is supposed to kill off. (Examples of Jewish groups opposed to the billl include Americans for Peace Now, Meretz USA, Bri Tzedek v'Shalom, and Tikkun.) It was, however, supported by AIPAC, which has ties to both the Bush Administration neocons and the Sharonistas and Likudniks in Israel -- all of whom do not hesitate to hurl accusations of anti-Semitism, treason, and what not against anyone who dares get in their way, or even look like they might be getting in their way. Because of their ties to Bush and his neocon pals like Cheney and Rumsfeld, they wield a lot of power, or at least act like they do. (This despite AIPAC's being under investigation for actions that go beyond mere thuggishness.) Which is why I'm glad to see my Congresswoman, Betty McCollum, not only voting against this horrible bill, but putting AIPAC in their place when they tried their standard thuggish bullying tricks against her. They eventually backed down and claimed it was all a misunderstanding.
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