Jewish Voice for Peace 4

Dear Senator Graham: You can’t smear US Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel for views that are widely accepted in Israel — even former Israeli prime ministers have expressed concern that Israel may become an “apartheid” state. Dear Stan, Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse—U.S. Senate Republicans and their friends in the Greater Israel Lobby are using classic McCarthyite smear tactics to derail the confirmation of former Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham dug up an unsubstantiated report that Hagel once voiced concern over Israel “becoming an apartheid state”, and now the Lobby is making hay of the charge. Unless we act now — we have until Tuesday when the Senate reconvenes — the Lobby could succeed in smearing a public servant for saying what many high-ranking Israelis, including former prime ministers Ehud Barak[1] and Ehud Olmert[2], have been saying for years. Join us and our partners at Just Foreign Policy now. Sign the petition now and find out who else in Israel uses the term “apartheid”: http://tinyurl.com/NoMcCarthyism Graham and friends fail to understand that a responsible Middle East policy must include recognition of the millions of Palestinians living under Israeli military rule without basic rights, or inside of Israel as second-class citizens. Only then can we hope to reach a lasting peace for both peoples. Israel’s many public officials who have talked about apartheid — a formal system of segregation and discrimination — recognize this, but most Senate Republicans are acting as if unquestioning support of Israel’s illegal settlement policies is required for high level Cabinet positions. Enough is enough! If you believe, as I do, that it’s time the Israel Lobby and its Republican allies stop turning reasonable criticism into McCarthy-worthy smear campaigns, then I hope you’ll join me in signing this petition to Senator Graham. Sign petition here: http://tinyurl.com/NoMcCarthyism Already, Christians United for Israel has called for President Obama to remove Hagel’s candidacy. And the American Jewish Committee has called for “further deliberation” on Hagel’s candidacy. Let’s show Graham, Hagel and the media that the voices of reason and reality far outweigh the voices of those extremists who want us all to bury our heads in the sand. Thank you, Cecilie Surasky Jewish Voice for Peace P.S. Since we don't have much time, we'll be asking you all to Twitter Graham and post links to our petition page on Graham's Facebook page where the count will be visible. We've also got a collection of quotes on the page that he and others will want to read. [1] "As long as in this territory west of the Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel it is going to be either non-Jewish, or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state." – Ehud Barak, February 1, 2010,http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/03/barak-apartheid-palestine-peace [2] "If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished." – Ehud Olmert, November 28, 2007,http://www.haaretz.com/news/olmert-to-haaretz-two-state-solution-or-israel-is-done-for-1.234201

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