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Peter,
Pardon my ignorance. Can you answer one question for me, please? Does
Madison have a sister city relationship with an Israeli city?
>From: "Peter R. Munoz" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "AAM (African Association of Madison)"
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Madison Common Council will address the Rafah sister city
> proposal tonight
>Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 18:31:48 +0000
>
>** Our website: http://www.africanassociation.org is currently out of
>service.
>Sorry for the inconvenience.
>In the meantime you can visit: http://www.madison.com/communities/aam/ **
>
>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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