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Washington Wire

OU IPA Washington Wire - February, 8 2008
February 08, 2008

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Action Alert
To help stop the Bush administration's proposed $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia from going through, write to Congressman Tom Lantos (D-Ca.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) the Ranking Member of the committee to express your concerns with the sale.

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) just introduced a resolution (H.Res. 951) condemning the ongoing, Iranian-enabled, Palestinian rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and supporting Israel's sovereign right to defend itself against such attacks. For more information, click here to see a letter that was sent to members of Congress and click here to read the full text of the resolution. Make sure to write to your Congressmen and urge them to support this resolution.

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From Israel
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said that a lasting peace accord with Israel was unlikely in 2008 despite renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the long-running conflict. To read more click here.

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From the Campaign Trail
The Daily Forward writes that Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have each won a stamp of approval from Jewish voters Tuesday, as both Democratic presidential contenders captured significant Jewish support in key primary contests. To read the full article click here.

The "Chesapeake Primary" (MD, DC, VA) is the next contest on the primary on the presidential race calendar. Team Hillary sent Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) into Northwest Baltimore on Thursday to meet with rabbis and other community leaders.

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From Washington
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) denounced the PLO's representative in Washington, Afif Safieh, for calling the late terrorist George Habash "a great leader." The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman said he was "astonished that the PLO's representative to this country would make such an asinine comment and would actually have the temerity to call on Americans to come to his office and sign a 'register of condolences' for this vicious individual. How disgusting." Habash, who died Jan. 26, was the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and was the mastermind of airliner hijackings in the 1970s.

The Forward has learned that the United States is pulling back its involvement in an upcoming U.N. anti-racism conference due to concern that it would stir up the same anti-Israel sentiments that marked the first such conference. To read the full story click here.


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[This posting is comprised of excerpts from cited news articles and does not necessarily represent the views, opinions, or positions of the Institute for Public Affairs, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, its affiliates or its employees.]