Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 14:50:43 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <200205031850.OAA17121@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Subject: oppose S Amdt 3389

Dear Senator Kerry

As your constituent, I write to express my disappointment with Senate
Amendment 3389, a bill `to express solidarity with Israel in its fight
against terrorism', which was passed yesterday.  You voted in favour of
this measure, which reinforces the United States' policy of sweeping
under the carpet Israeli abuses of human rights in the occupied
territories.

Accounts from those reporters who've managed to get into the Jenin refugee
camp relate survivors' stories of indiscriminate destruction and death at
the hands of the so-called Israeli Defense Forces.  The sheer number of
such accounts, and the physical evidence of bulldozed homes and bodies,
make it highly unlikely that they're all fabrications.  Israel does seem
to want to hide what it has done - else why would it refuse to allow a UN
enquiry into the events at Jenin to proceed?

I'm sure that in demolishing Jenin, Israel exterminated several would-be
terrorists - but at the cost of how many innocent lives?  And how many
residents of Jenin have now been galvanised into support for terror attacks
and other forms of extremism against Israel?

As you probably know, faculty members at MIT recently joined Princeton and
Harvard in circulating a petition for divestment from Israel.  This is an
extreme step, but Israel's extreme abuse of human rights calls for strong
responses from institutions in the United States.  I hope that in the future
you'll add your voice to the growing call for Israel to respect human rights
and the lives of innocents.

Matthew Belmonte