| Author | Message | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:09 pm Post subject: Americans want Israel Held Acountable on Israeli Nukes |
| Americans want Israel Held Acountable
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=140-04062004
To: National and International Desks
Contact: Terry Walz of the Council for the National Interest, 202-863-
2951
WASHINGTON, April 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In a clear break with U.S.
policy and in direct opposition to Congressional attitudes, a
majority of Americans now believe that Congress should hold Israel
accountable for maintaining programs of weapons of mass destruction
and for its human rights violations in the Palestinian Territories,
according to the Council for the National Interest.
A poll conducted by Zogby International for the Council for the
National Interest and released today shows that 56 percent of
Americans agree and 29 percent disagree that Congress should pass an
Israel accountability act on weapons of mass destruction and human
rights violations. Nearly one in three (30 percent) strongly agrees.
Fifteen percent are not sure.
As might be expected, Muslims were strongly in favor of such an act
(72 percent), but so were a surprising percentage of Jews (45
percent).
This flies in the face of repeated Congressional efforts, spearheaded
by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro-Israeli
organizations, to penalize Arab governments for their support of
Palestinian independence and failure to rein in "terrorists." The
Syria Accountability Act, passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by
President Bush on December 11 last year, promises economic and other
sanctions against Syria for its support of "terrorist" organizations
and for its "failures" to heed UN Security Council and Congressional
resolutions.
Currently Congress is considering a "Saudi Arabia Accountability
Act," which promises sanctions if Saudi Arabia doesn't stop the
private financing of "terrorism" and doesn't cooperate more fully
with U.S. anti-terrorist efforts.
Support for an Israel accountability act came primarily from
Democrats and independents (61 percent), 18-29 year-olds (69
percent), progressives (70 percent), and liberals (72 percent), but
also a plurality of Republican voters (46 percent). People with
annual household incomes of $25,000-$34,999 were strongly in favor
(70 percent), and also those with $75,000 and above (61 percent).
There has been much written on the support of Israel by the
conservative (Born Again) Christian group, but the Zogby poll showed
the opposite: 49 percent agreed with an Israel accountability act and
34 percent disagreed, although many held no opinion at all. A
majority of African Americans agreed with holding Israel accountable.
The Council for the National Interest, which is circulating a
petition to send the act to Congress and the President, is a D.C.-
based nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that promotes a balanced
policy toward the Middle East. A public forum on the Accountability
Acts on March 17 received wide publicity. The draft act is available
on the CNI Web site ( http://www.cnionline.org ), which has received
thousands of signatures since it was first circulated on the Internet
April 2.
http://www.usnewswire.com/ | |  | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:14 pm Post subject: AMEU on Vanunu (Israeli Nukes) |
| Subj: AMEU on Vanunu
Date: 4/1/04 6:53:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: rbleier@igc.org
To: rbleier@igc.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)
----- Original Message -----
From: John Mahoney
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 1:02 PM
Subject: Americans for Middle East Understanding
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mordechai Vanunu
AMEU's Latest Issue of The Link
March 30, 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contents of This Email:
-- Vanunu's Story
-- Nick and Mary Eoloff
-- Uncertainty
-- Our Archive
-- With Apologies . . .
This is the second of five scheduled annual "alerts" to inform you of a new issue of The Link.
Vanunu's Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although Israel's nuclear weapons program was an open secret for more than 20 years, Mordechai Vanunu- -opposed in principle to nuclear weaponry--exposed the program to the world with photographs and information he gave to the London Sunday Times in October, 1986.
Kidnapped by Israeli agents in Rome, Vanunu was smuggled back to Israel, tried secretly on charges of espionage and treason, and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Nick and Mary Eoloff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This issue of The Link was written by Mary Eoloff in collaboration with her husband, Nick. As longtime anti-war activists, the Eoloffs were instantly drawn to Mordechai Vanunu. They exchanged letters. His, written from Ashkelon prison, were heavily censored.
Then in 1996, with eight years of Vanunu's sentence remaining, the Eoloffs reasoned that if they could legally adopt Vanunu, Israel might grant him an early release and allow him to leave Israel to live in the U.S.
Uncertainty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although a Minnesota court granted the adoption, hopes for early release did not materialize. On April 21, Vanunu will have served his full 18-year sentence, 11 and 1/2 years of it in solitary confinement.
In the months leading up to the release date, there have been news reports speculating that Israel will not allow Vanunu to leave the country, or that he may be placed in administrative detention. Nevertheless, the Eoloffs will be part of an international delegation that will await Vanunu at Ashkelon's gate on April 21.
AMEU's Website
Our Archive
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One hundred and eighty issues of The Link are archived on the AMEU website as a free and accessible resource for writers, researchers and academics.
Click below to access the catalog (requires Acrobat Reader) describing each of the issues found in our on-line archive.
Archive Catalog
With Apologies . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the few recipients of this email who did not, on their own initiative, subscribe to our email alerts, we apologize if this email is unwanted. The Safe Unsubscribe option is available below.
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: info@ameu.org
voice: 212-870-2053
web: http://www.ameu.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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