Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 14:22:28 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <200205031822.OAA17077@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: CapuanoHR8@aol.com
Subject: oppose HR 392

Dear Representative Capuano

As your constituent, I write to express my disappointment with HR 392,
`A Bill Expressing Solidarity with Israel in its Fight Against Terrorism',
which was passed yesterday by a House vote in which you voted `present'.
Although I'm glad that you declined to support this measure, I'd like to
see you actively opposing the United States' policy of support for Israel -
a policy that ignores Israel's horrible record on 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