Saturday, 22 July 2006
The Cavlan for United States Senate campaign condemns this resolution, which was passed unanimously.
Michael Cavlan, Green Party candidate for United States Senate states “we condemn this resolution and the unbelievable political cowardice of those who support it as well as the Israeli government without any question or reservations.”
Cavlan also states “no-one can claim to support human rights and support this bill and the actions of the Israeli government at the same time.”
He further states”in this time of conflict, our country desperately needs voices for peace and sanity. Our campaign will be proud to stand for these noble principles and values, held so dearly by many decent people in Minnesota and elsewhere.”
Cavlan then directed his comments to members of the Minnesota Peace and Justice community.”We challenge those people in Minnesota who hold these principles and ideals to join in our campaign immediately. The time for courage and decisive action is now.”
He ended his statement directed at the mainstream, corporate owned media and journalists working within it. “We will also hold the media in this country responsible for their coverage of this critical issue. Thomas Jefferson called a ‘free and independent press’ indispensable to democracy. He called you the “Fourth Estate” of democracy.
The time to start acting like you believe in this principle is now. Your time of courage is now. The future of our world and democratic rights in our country demands nothing less”.
The full text of resolution can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.RES.534:.
Of note within 534:
“Whereas the Government of Israel has shown restraint in the past year…”
“Whereas, without provocation, on the morning of July 12, 2006, Hezbollah launched an attack into northern Israel,….”
” Resolved, That the Senate– (1) reaffirms its steadfast support for the State of Israel;”
“urges the President to continue fully supporting Israel as Israel exercises its right of self-defense in Lebanon and Gaza” [Note: this does not just support Israel's right to self-defense, it supports its exercise of that right.]
“condemns the Governments of Iran and Syria for their continued support for Hezbollah and Hamas, and holds the Governments of Syria and Iran responsible for the acts of aggression carried out by Hezbollah and Hamas against Israel” [Note: This is obviously very dangerous and helps set the stage for a wider war including an attack on Iran.]
This resolution was introduced, with 61 co-sponsors, including both Coleman and Dayton, along with Feingold, Boxer, Harkin, Kennedy, Feinstein, Leahy, Obama, and Kerry.
The Washington Post reports this resolution was also supported by Mark Kennedy and Amy Klobuchar.
