Dissident Veteran For Peace: California Green Challenges Sen. Feinstein on Israel's War on Arabs

Dissident Veteran For Peace

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America." —Alexis de Tocquevile. Democracy in America, Book I, Chapter XV.

With a nod to the Most Rev. Dom Helder Camara: When I support Palestinians some call me an 'anti-Semite', when I try to explain why I stand in solidarity with Palestinians they call me a Nazi.

"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." —Major General Smedley Butler, USMC (ret.)

"... no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end." —character of O'Brien in 1984, part 3, ch. 3 by George Orwell.

"Every prophet has realized that nobody loves you for being the enemy of their illusions. Every prophet has realized that most of us want peace at any price as long as the peace is ours and somebody else pays the price. That is why the prophet Jeremiah said, ' "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace,' ..." —The Rev. William Sloane Coffin. "Not to Bring Peace, But a Sword."

Monday, July 24, 2006

California Green Challenges Sen. Feinstein on Israel's War on Arabs

The Green Party of California's U.S. Senate candidate, Todd Chretien, showed up at a pro-Israel rally in San Francisco on Sunday and offered "an alternative to Sen. Feinstein’s cheering of the Israeli military." Chretien's remarks at the rally were reported yesterday in an article, "Responses to a rally for Israel are split: Sen. Feinstein says nation 'fighting for its very existence' " in one of the Bay area's two main newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle:

The Hezbollah and Hamas attacks on Israel were on military forces, with very specific aims -- that is, prisoner exchanges," said Todd Chretien, a 37-year-old Oakland writer and activist running for U.S. Senate. "Instead, Israel has put into motion a pre-existing plan to reconquer Gaza, to destroy Hamas person by person, and to unleash the danger of a regionwide war in the Middle East."

Chretien described Hezbollah as a legitimate, organic movement of resistance to Israeli occupation and oppression rather than a terrorist group.

Below is the scathing press release issued by Chretien on Friday:

Sen. Feinstein Leads Rally to Cheer on Israeli War
Friday, July 21, 2006

For Immediate Release

7/21/06

Green Party Press Conference to Denounce Sen. Feinstein’s Support for Israeli War
Sunday, July 23 at 11am
Justin Herman Plaza (at the foot of Market Street)
Contact: 510-590-6073

On Sunday, July 23, Sen. Dianne Feinstein will lead a noon rally in San Francisco supporting the Israeli invasion of Gaza and Lebanon. (http://www.jcrc.org/israel/solidarity_rally_7_23-06.htm)

Green Party candidate Todd Chretien will be there, joined by members of the Palestinian and Arab community and Bay Area anti-war activists, to offer an alternative to Sen. Feinstein’s cheering of the Israeli military.

“Sen. Feinstein’s decision to lead the pro-Israel rally called by Jewish Community Relations Council is despicable. At least she is consistent. She has voted to send tens of billions of dollars in military equipment to Israel and now she supports the use of those F-16’s to murder children in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Chretien.

Chretien derided Sen. Feinstein’s claims that Israel is acting in “self-defense.”

“Over the last 18 months, Hamas has maintained a ceasefire with Israel. Just since January, Israel has assassinated more than 50 Hamas leaders and killed over 100 civilians. Hamas then captured one Israeli soldier, hoping to exchange him for some of the 9,000 Palestinians Israel has kidnapped,” explained Chretien. “On the other hand, Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and offered to exchange them for illegally held Lebanese prisoners. Israeli used this as an excuse to launch a pre-existing plan to destroy Lebanon and massacre civilians.”

Chretien noted that Sen. Feinstein was not alone amongst supposed “anti-war” Democrats who are cheering on Israel.

“Sen. Clinton led a pro-Israel rally in New York. Sen. Feingold holds the same position. If anything, the Democratic Party leadership is more fervently pro-war when in comes to Israel than President Bush,” stated Chretien. “If you support destroying Beirut, then vote for Sen. Feinstein. But if you want peace and justice in the Middle East, then you should vote for me in November and join me at the August 12 protests sponsored by the National Council of Arab Americans in San Francisco and Los Angeles against the U.S. and Israeli wars. We need to show the Arab world that not all Americans are blinded by greed and racism like President Bush and Sen. Feinstein.”