Press release from the US Green Party:
WASHINGTON, DC — President Obama must put pressure on Israel immediately to stop the construction of settlements and displacement of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Green Party leaders and candidates said today.
“President Obama should send Prime Minister Netanyahu a message: enough is enough. If Israel continues to violate Palestinian human rights, the US must cancel the $30 million military aid package pledged to Israel for 2009-2018. The plan to build 1,600 housing units for Israeli Jews in East Jerusalem is the latest outrage. Although a rumored US abstension from a possible UN Security Council resolution against the settlements would be an improvement over its usual veto on Israel’s behalf, this would still be an act of moral cowardice,” said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. (News story on the possible UN resolution: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8591714.stm)
“The White House’s angry response to the East Jerusalem settlement announcement was a necessary first step, but it needs to be followed by concrete action, like support for a UN resolution against the settlements or actually withdrawing military aid. President Obama should show the kind of leadership that led Eisenhower to demand that Israel leave Sinai in 1955,” said Ms. Everette.
The Green Party has demanded that the US end military assistance to Israel, which has used such aid to displace Palestinians from their homes and farm lands, hold them in concentration camp conditions, maintain Bantustans in the style of apartheid-era South Africa, and launch illegal military assaults such as last year’s bloody invasion of Gaza.
“While the international community has been unable to deal with Israel’s violations after decades of UN resolutions, civil society has increasingly endorsed BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) as a powerful nonviolent strategy to pressure Israel into ending the Palestinian occupation and guaranteeing equality for all in Israel-Palestine. In 2005, the Green Party endorsed a BDS resolution (http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_11_28.shtml) comparable to the one passed by the Senate of the Associated Students of UC Berkeley in March,” said Derek Grigsby, Green candidate for State Representative in Michigan, District 7 ([email protected]).
The Berkeley students’ bill calls on the university to divest its assets from two General Electric and United Technologies for “materially and militarily supporting the Israeli government’s occupation of the Palestinian territories” and to advocate that the UC, with about $135 million invested in companies that profit from Israel’s illegal actions in the Occupied Territories (http://blogs.asuc.org/2010/03/18/announcements/sb-118-amended-passed).
Greens have urged the White House and Congress to reject the influence of AIPAC and to establish Middle East policy based on recognition that the rights of Palestinians must be equal to the rights of Israelis, on peaceful negotiation to resolve the conflict, and complete regional nuclear disarmament. Greens have noted the hypocrisy of applying sanctions against Iran for its alleged nuclear ambitions without insisting that Israel get rid of its nuclear weapons — especially since Israel, unlike Iran, has launched military attacks on other countries. (See “Arab Leaders Call for Middle East Free of Nuclear Weapons” Earth Times March 28, 2010, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316159,arab-leaders-call-for-middle-east-free-of-nuclear-weapons.html#ixzz0jUbcWzVi)
“We encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders — and President Obama — to follow the lead of human rights activists like Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, organizer of the Wheels of Justice tour (http://justicewheels.org). In his embrace of nonviolent resistance as a tactic for justice, Dr. Qumsiyeh continues an often unrecognized history of Palestinian non-violent resistance and keeps alive the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. In response, the Israeli army has targeted him for arrest,” said Tony Affigne, Rhode Island Green and member of the party’s International Committee (http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).
Dr. Qumsiyeh (http://qumsiyeh.org), former associate professor of genetics at the Yale University School of Medicine and a member of the Green Party of Connecticut before he moved back to Palestine, wrote about his experiences in a New Haven Register op-ed published on March 9, 2010 (“Peaceful protest in Israel can lead to arrest,” http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/03/09/opinion/doc4b95ab40a3642160727871.txt).
“The US’s uncritical support for Israel and flow of military and financial aid endanger US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and threaten US security and global stability. Even Gen. Petraeus and VP Biden have admitted this,” said Rodger Jennings, Green candidate for US Congress in Illinois, District 12 (http://www.rodgerjennings.org). (See “The Petraeus briefing: Biden’s embarrassment is not the whole story,” Foreign Policy, March 13, 2010, http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/14/the_petraeus_briefing_biden_s_embarrassment_is_not_the_whole_story). “The Gaza assault, which couldn’t have happened without US weapons, was a major turning point for people worldwide, including many American Jews. Like the misery that continues for Gazans, the memory of that horrific assault lingers.”
Greens note that, until recently, a campaign to silence critics of Israeli policies and actions helped maintain unilateral support for Israel, especially in the US, and that censorship of such criticism has sustained the conflict. Many US Greens expressed alarm when the Heinrich Boell Foundation (http://www.boell.de), a legally independent political foundation affiliated with the German Green Party, canceled February speaking engagements in Germany by Dr. Norman Finkelstein, an American Jewish scholar, child of Holocaust survivors, and author of books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust (http://www.normanfinkelstein.com).
“There is increasing recognition that the two-state solution is not viable. Israel-Palestine is already a de facto single state, mainly because of Israel’s illegal settlement policies, with over 500,000 Israeli Jews living in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. It’s time to consider the one-state solution — one homeland for both peoples — with a secular democracy that ensures full and equal rights regardless of religion or ethnicity, ” said Farheen Hakeem, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. (See “Palestinians Increasingly Back 1-State,” Jerusalem Post, March 22, 2010, http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=171559 and “Who’s Afraid of a One-State Solution?” by Dmitry Reider, Foreign Policy, March 31, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/03/31/whos_afraid_of_a_one_state_solution)
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
“Ensure Israel arms curbs, say MPs”
BBC News, March 30, 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8594402.stm
“Open Letter to Berkeley Students on their Historic Israeli Divestment Bill”
By Naomi Klein, Common Dreams, March 31, 2010
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/31-9
“Palestinians increasingly back 1-state”
Jerusalem Post, March 22, 2010
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=171559
“US Can’t Afford Military Aid to Israel”
Josh Ruebner, The Huffington Post, February 26, 2010
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-ruebner/us-cant-afford-military-a_b_478104.html
“Evidence of misuse of US weapons in Gaza”
Amnesty International, February 23, 2009
http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/20277
US Campaign to End the Occupation
http://www.endtheoccupation.org
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Winter 2010 issue now online
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
Hmmmm…..dunno.
I’m using a wide variety of browsers on different computers, and it seems to work.
I don’ know why it is not working for you.
”
Dave – find your comments in spam.
It is now indeed a two step process
1) Mark them as not spam
2) They go into “pending” and then you have to click “approve” on each one.
”
Not working. There’s no way for me to select a single comment to mark it as ‘not spam’. Perhaps it’s a conflict with my browser. I suggest that the admin try upgrading to a more recent version of wordpress.
I like visiting IPR, and I’d be more likely to spend time here if it were less of a pain to comment.
“Since it is now the GP startegy of only running real campaigns for small. local offices, the GP no longer has the credibility to make statements on Federal issues like this.”
Are we screwing up our own strategy by running statewide candidates in New York, California, Texas, Massachusetts, and several other states?
paulie // Apr 9, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Lake: ditto for [so called] Green Party fan!
One and the same [Green Party Conservative].
……… ah things are soooooooooo much more clear when you know more of the facts!
Including the outer behavior [like the Photosphere of the sun and other stars] of non Democans and non Republicrats —– based up on the bubbling turmoil of the interior conflicts [like the fission and the fusion]!
I’ve had some of my comments go into spam even when I am logged in.
Dave – find your comments in spam.
It is now indeed a two step process
1) Mark them as not spam
2) They go into “pending” and then you have to click “approve” on each one.
“……… pretty sure “Green Party Conservative” is from the Independent Green Party of Virginia, which is NOT affiliated with the Green Party of the United States nor the Green Party of Virginia.
Lake: ditto for [so called] Green Party fan!
One and the same.
Why are my comments always going to the spam filter?
Not sure….it’s an automated system which works to screen most spam out and most legitimate comments in, but it does make mistakes and I have no idea how to adjust the settings or even if it can be done at all.
I’ll look in spam and see if any of your comments are still there. When I have more time I go through the spam manually to check for legit comments, but I don’t have enough time now.
When you go into dashboard, go into “spam” and do a search for your name. You should be able to approve your comments from there.
i think it’s now a two step process where they go into pending and then you approve them from there.
Dennis // Apr 9, 2010:
@ Michael Cavlan RN,
“…… Greens here in NJ have totally surrendered”
“……… pretty sure “Green Party Conservative” is from the Independent Green Party of Virginia, which is NOT affiliated with the Green Party of the United States nor the Green Party of Virginia.
Lake: ditto for [so called] Green Party fan!
@ Michael Cavlan RN,
Yeah, the Greens here in NJ have totally surrendered seeking anything other than local office as well. And judging by McKinney’s 2008 campaign…well, maybe they should just stop running presidential candidates.
Dave,
Are you logged in before you post?
Try that and see if it fixes the filtering.
Here are my previous comments, which I’ve had to cut and paste from the spam filter because marking them NOT SPAM and approving them apparently isn’t enough:
Ross – I’m pretty sure “Green Party Conservative” is from the Independent Green Party of Virginia, which is NOT affiliated with the Green Party of the United States nor the Green Party of Virginia. Is that correct, GPC?
Paulie – good detective work.
Michael – the elections database at gp.org shows 37 candidates for US House and 11 candidates for US Senate. That’s almost 50 Green candidates for federal office this year, and more are declaring all the time.
and:
Why are my comments always going to the spam filter? I have admin privileges on this site. I’d be much more willing to participate in the discussion if I didn’t have to log in every time to fish my comments out of the spam filter.
Hey, this is fookin ridiculous. I’m an admin of this site and my comments still get flagged as spam. I just logged in to approve my comments, and they’re still not showing up.
Why are my comments always going to the spam filter? I have admin privileges on this site. I’d be much more willing to participate in the discussion if I didn’t have to log in every time to fish my comments out of the spam filter.
Greens still run candidates for federal office.
GP.org has a list of candidates for all sorts of offices, although I don’t think it’s anything like complete.
Ross – I’m pretty sure “Green Party Conservative” is from the Independent Green Party of Virginia, which is NOT affiliated with the Green Party of the United States nor the Green Party of Virginia. Is that correct, GPC?
Paulie – good detective work.
Michael – the elections database at gp.org shows 37 candidates for US House and 11 candidates for US Senate. That’s almost 50 Green candidates for federal office this year, and more are declaring all the time.
Once again progressives beg reactionaries, who have the encumbent political power.
BDS is stronger begging.
PLAS could change that.
Since it is now the GP startegy of only running real campaigns for small. local offices, the GP no longer has the credibility to make statements on Federal issues like this.
They can talk with great authority on issues like pot holes and local zoning for bike lanes and such.
rofl…
http://liberapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Etymology
Etymology is the study of the origin of words. The origin of the word “conservative” is from the word “con”, which means to lie or cheat for personal gain. […]
Dissection of “Conservative”
“Con:” Beforesaid, to trick for personal gain
“Serv:” Either to serve, or a low-class farmer
“At:” To be someplace
“Ive:” Ivy, presumably poison ivy, that crawls over a perfectly good tree and poisons anyone who touches it with a terrible itchy rash
So the etymology of “Conservative” means “Someone who tricks farmers into touching poison ivy and giving them an itchy rash.”
Green Party Conservative – your name is something that’s typically thought of as an oxymoron. If you’re a conservative, why are you in the Green Party? Or, if you’re in the Green Party, why are you a conservative? What kind of conservative are you?
Green Party candidate t Rob Sherman files $2.3 Billion lawsuit against Gov. Quinn
IR 8 April 2010 One Comment
Green Party could be rich if he wins..
Rob Sherman filed a federal lawsuit ( Complaint, Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C ), yesterday evening in the federal court in Springfield, to block $2.3 billion in Illinois grants from the $31 billion Capital Bill that was enacted into law last year. Sherman is challenging 176 grants on various constitutional grounds, but most of the challenges are for violating the separation of state and church.
The case is Sherman v. Quinn et al, Case Number 10-cv-03086 in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, located in Springfield. The case was filed in Springfield because that’s the location of the offices of the State officials who administer and pay the grants.
http://www.cdobs.com/archive/syndicated/atheist-rob-sherman-files-2-3-billion-lawsuit-against-gov-quinn/
The Green Party
Record number of Green Party candidates in U.K.
Thame’s Green candidate on parliamentary reform –
MARK Stevenson, the Green candidate for the Henley constituency, has stated that his email inbox has been swamped with requests to support parliamentary reform.
Mark said: “In the last two days I’ve had over thirty emails on this issue from voters. I am delighted that people are putting it high on their agenda. In this election the main Parties have already ignored people’s anger and dissatisfaction with the system and are back to business-as-usual.
http://www.thamenews.net/readmore.asp?Content_ID=5441&Navigation_ID=104&SubNav_ID=53
Thank you for the Green Party post.
Enjoyed the read.
Applaud all of the obvious work that went into this Green Party press release by Green Party leaders, and Green Party members who have worked on these issues for years with great dedication and passion…
In other Green Party news
Green Party Watch reports tonight..
Montana Green Party’s Cheryl Wolfe announces campaign for state house
April 8th, 2010 by Dave Schwab
Montana Green Party candidate Cheryl Wolfe of Polson has announced her campaign for Montana House District 11. Wolfe will face the winner of a three-way Republican primary in November. From the Montana Green Party:
http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2010/04/08/montana-green-partys-cheryl-wolfe-announces-campaign-for-state-house/