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Tonight the Madison Common Council will address the proposal to establish a
sister city with Rafah, Palestine. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m.
As you may be aware, the proposal has generated significant opposition by
folks who have accused it of been an anti-semitic political effort against
Israel. The opposition has not provided evidence to support the accusation
and have refused to participate in a public forum to discuss their concerns.
Some alders and the Mayor have acquiesced to the opposition and indicated
they will not endorse the proposal.
We hope to appeal to the alders' sense of fairness so they can judge the
proposal on its own merits in accordance to Madison's sister city criteria.
The Madison-Rafah Sister City proponents have done much excellent work
already on the project. The Council should evaluate their proposal based on
their track record and future plans for sister city activities. In doing so
they will clearly find that this proposal is no different from the
activities of other Madison sister cities, such as Ainaro, Arcatao, Bac
Giang, Camaguey, and Managua. Doing otherwise the Council may send a very
negative message to the Arab/Muslim community.
Please consider attending the meeting tonight to express your support for
this important peaceful initiative.
Thank you.
Peter Munoz
ps: you may be interested in reading the attached email from Mr. Geyer
which provides some information about the debasting human tragedy the cruel
cycle of vilolence is inflicting upon the people of Israel and Palestine.
> From: Bernhard Geyer <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> CC: George Arida MRSCP
> <[log in to unmask]>,Jennifer Loewenstein
> MRSCP <[log in to unmask]>,Barbara Olson MRSCP
>
> <[log in to unmask]>,Kathy Walsh MRSCP
> <[log in to unmask]>,Amy
> Scarr MRSCP
> <[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,Paul
> Beckett MRSCP
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Death in Rafah
> Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 12:25:52 +0000
>
> Dear Mr. Lueders,
>
> the longer I'm involved in the Madison-Rafah
> project, the more trouble I
> have to process the double standard that is applied
> to the two sides in the
> conflict. The value of a person's and especially a
> child's life fluctuates
> across demarcation lines.
>
> Take the case of the murder of a mother and her
> children near Rafah, a case
> much used by the opposition to our project. A
> terrible deed indeed. To
> refute the ensuing accusations, we have to research
> every aspect of the
> murder, be there on location, weigh different
> scenarios, look for clues
> Sherlock-Holmes-style. When Palestinian children
> are killed, the "IDF will
> investigate." No further questions asked, no moral
> stigma attached.
>
> Let's look at the numbers. B'Tselem, the Israeli
> Information Center for
> Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, gives a
> list of fatalities 29
> Sept. 2000 - 30 June 2004 [focus on children]:
>
> In the Occupied Territories, 2,651 Palestinians were
> killed by Israeli
> security forces in the Occupied Territories, of whom
> 523 were minors under
> the age of 18. In the course of [...] assassinations
> 100 additional
> Palestinians were killed, 90 of them minors. 32
> Palestinians were killed by
> Israeli civilians, including 3 minors. 206 Israeli
> civilians were killed by
> Palestinians, 34 of them were minors under the age
> of 18.
>
> Within Israel, 48 Palestinians, residents of the
> Occupied Territories, were
> killed by Israeli security forces gunfire. One of
> those killed was a minor
> aged 14. 408 Israeli civilians were killed by
> Palestinians, residents of the
> Occupied Territories. 75 of them were minors under
> the age of 18.
>
> According to the Amnesty International Report 2004,
> in the period from
> January and December 2003 the Israeli army has
> killed around 600
> Palestinians, including more than 100 children.
> Palestinian armed groups
> killed around 200 Israelis, at least 130 of them
> civilians and including 21
> children, in suicide bombings and other deliberate
> attacks.
>
> The U.N. relief organization UNRWA reports: "In
> total, 17 children under
> the age of 18 were killed by Israeli gunfire during
> 'Operation Rainbow'
> [Rafah, May 2004]."
>
> The stories of death are numerous and harrowing.
> One example taken from the
> AI report may suffice: "On 12 June [2003] Islam
> Taha, who was pregnant, and
> her 18-month-old daughter were killed in Gaza city
> by rockets launched from
> an Israeli army helicopter gunship at their car to
> assassinate her husband,
> Yasser Taha, who was in the car and who was also
> killed. Four bystanders
> were killed and some 20 bystanders, including
> several children, were
> wounded. In three similar attacks by the Israeli
> army in the previous two
> days, 11 passers-by were killed and scores were
> injured, including more than
> 10 children."
>
> Based on the B'Tselem numbers, the death ratio of
> Israeli to Palestinian
> children is 1:5.66. Yet on the market of world
> opinion, even those 5.66
> Palestinian children hold next to no value. In the
> face of these facts, it
> becomes clear why sistering with a city on one side
> of the conflict is a
> transgression to the point of criminality, while
> sistering with a city on
> the other side would surely be hailed as a great
> humanitarian achievement:
> The earthlings dwelling in Rafah are simply not up
> to standard.
>
>
>
> Bernhard Geyer
> 21 University Houses Apt. C
> Madison, WI 53705
> 608-238-7217
> [log in to unmask]
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