.
Houston Day III: "You Will Never Know What Happened in that City During the Flood"
Submitted by Andrew Schamess on Fri, 09/09/2005 - 15:05.
http://www.semitism.net/node/226
Please follow the link to Dr. Schamess's blog to read the responses to his post.
I spent my last night in Houston in the Astrodome. It's a much more chaotic scene than the Convention Center. The Astrodome is a gigantic complex that includes two stadiums, an arena, storage facilities and vast expanses of gated parking. It must cover several square miles. The sight that greets you is of evacuees milling about everywhere - talking in clusters, sleeping on benches, pushing strollers, tossing footballs wherever there are islands of grass; gangs of teenagers dressed like rap stars standing on the pavement looking tough; volunteers scurrying around with tasks to do; Houston police on foot and horse directing traffic; state cops clustered around their cars every few hundred yards; trucks unloading at cavernous docks; bags, boxes and pallets of donated supplies stacked everywhere. It was still near 100 degrees at 6:00 p.m. when I inched my car through the crowd to the medical clinic that has been set up in the Reliant Arena...
Houston's two medical schools have split the job, with University of Texas staffing the medical clinic at the Convention Center and Baylor taking on the Astrodome. Both clinics have the feel of MASH units. Frame partitions divide the space into specialty areas: general medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, trauma. Each is marked with a handwritten paper sign taped to the cloth. Within each area are ten or twelve numbered examining rooms enclosed by white curtains. The acoustics are what you would expect in a cement sports arena - there's a constant murmur of voices, you can hear every clang and siren, and a stethoscope is useless while the generator is running. All the doctors and nurses there are volunteering their time, sometimes coming to the Astrodome to help out after finishing long shifts in the hospital.
All the patients have stories to tell, most of them horrifying. One woman, who came in to get blood pressure medicine and to treat a skin rash, said:
You will never know what happened in that city during the flood. We saw people climbing to the attics of the houses, and then the water rose to where the whole house was under water. I'm sure those people never made it out. They died in their houses. I saw women with three-day-old babies in the Superdome, in the pitch black all night. With people shooting and dying. All you see in TV is the looters. But people were breaking into stores to get food. No one knew when help was coming. It was days, and we thought they had forgotten about us. There were old people, sick people. They should have sent in the army right away, but no one did anything. You will never hear the real story of what happened in those days.
She was glad to be out, alive, in Houston. She was very appreciative of the volunteers. I gave her prescriptions and told her she could go over to the pharmacy and get them without charge (CVS and Walgreens were doing this). She asked politely if she could hug me, and then did, crying.
After a couple of hours in the medical clinic I was pulled aside with a few others to screen evacuees to relocate to a cruise ship. A cruise company had offered a ship docked in Galveston. We were supposed to decide who was healthy enough to board. There was a very nice geriatrician named Aimee Garcia, and - of all people - Robert Rakel. He's the author of Conn's Current Therapeutics and a popular textbook in family medicine. An old Public Health Service hand, he'd come down with everyone else to voluteer. He's not Sean Penn but, OK, for me, he's a celebrity.
They kept us sitting around for about two hours, during which time we decided which conditions to screen for and made up a checklist. They weren't going to tell the evacuees where they were going until they got to Galveston. Aimee and I objected - you can't just bus people out to Galveston and then tell them they're going on a boat. They have a right to make their own decisions.
Everyone agreed, once the argument was made - but in the end it was a moot point. We went over to the staging area across the arena at 10:45 p.m. There were two employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was coordinating relocation to the cruise ship, and about twenty-five people who were identified as FEMA "contractors". Evidently their job was to process the paperwork. They stood out a bit as paid employees in a sea of volunteers.
Come 11:00, the FEMA employees decided to knock off. The processing would have to wait until tomorrow, they declared - as if it made little difference whether four hundred hot, miserable evacuees got to leave the Astrodome now or later. This lassez-fair attitude struck me as inappropriate in representatives of the agency whose slow response left thousands of New Orleaneans to die in the flood. I told the FEMA supervisor this. She smiled and assured me that my concerns would receive full attention in the morning. Then she left for her hotel.
Aimee and I spent the rest of the night running the gastroenteritis clinic. I want to emphasize that the City of Houston is doing its absolute best to manage the influx of evacuees - but this is what happens when you crowd six thousand malnourished people together in an open space on cots. We had a steady stream of patients with vomiting and dehydration. We laid them down on stretchers, gave them intravenous fluids, anti-emetics, cleaned them up, found them new clothes. Once they were able to keep down some water, we sent them out to the quarantine area. They were remarkably cooperative about it once they understood that they could infect others in the Astrodome.
One young man wandered in who was autistic and mute. He had been separated from his group. We had no idea how to find them. He was frightened as well as sick. Aimee contacted a local agency that cares for the retarded. They were willing to take him in. How he will ever be connected with his prior caregivers, I don't know.
As the night wore on and patients came and went, I began to imagine that he symbolized all the hurricane victims. It's as if they've lost, not just their homes, but their place in the world: their individual voices, their collective voice, their power to choose. Who is representing them politically? All kinds of decisions are being made about them without their input.
When I left Houston and had time to look again at the media coverage, this feeling was even stronger. The administration is working assiduously to shift the focus away from the disaster, away from the three days that people were trapped in the flood zone with no food or water, and toward rescue and reconstruction efforts now underway. We see soldiers patrolling the now empty streets, politicians posing in front of demolished houses. Everyone cares! The great crisis is be the damage to the President's reputation. Can he save his legacy?
We should not allow ourselves to forget the real experience of the people of New Orleans, those who were abandoned in the flood. I hope their stories will be collected and told. I hope that they will not disperse silently to whatever homes can be found for them. I hope they will not be bought off by a $2,000 ATM card. Their lives have been changed forever. I would like to know what happens to them.
There is an opportunity there for community organizing. It's not my specialty - but I think it would be possible to establish groups, elect leaders, create a structure for collective action. I put this out in case anyone reading this post has the skill and motivation to begin the process. The flood victims I met were strong, smart, decent people. Their story should not become what the press and the politicians want it to be. They should have their own voice. They should be allowed to decide their own future. |
Pentagon Nixes 9/11 Hearing Testimony
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5293493,00.html
Wednesday September 21, 2005 8:46 PM
AP Photo NY113
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Wednesday he would look into whether the Pentagon obstructed his committee by refusing to allow testimony from five people who had knowledge of a secret military unit named ``Able Danger.''
They were expected to testify Wednesday about a link between al-Qaida and four of the Sept. 11 hijackers - including leader Mohamed Atta - that the unit is said to have uncovered than a year before the 2001 attacks.
``I think the Department of Defense owes the American people an explanation of what went on here,'' said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
Maj. Paul Swiergosz, a Defense Department spokesman, said that public testimony about Able Danger would be inappropriate.
The Pentagon has acknowledged that some employees recall seeing an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist before the attacks.
``We have expressed our security concerns and believe it is simply not possible to discuss Able Danger in any great detail in any public forum,'' Swiergosz said.
A second spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said the Pentagon believes it has provided sufficient information on Able Danger to the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, which oversee the department.
Lt. Col. Mark Shaffer, a military intelligence officer who worked on Able Danger, was prepared to testify that three different times he tried to meet with the FBI to discuss the unit's findings, but was prevented from doing so because of legal concerns by department lawyers, according to Shaffer's lawyer, Mark Zaid, who testified on his behalf.
Specter said one reason for the hearing was to determine whether the federal Posse Comitatus law needs to be amended. The 1878 law restricts the military's law enforcement functions in the United States.
The Pentagon was represented at the hearing by William Dugan, the acting assistant to the secretary for intelligence oversight.
Dugan testified that he had very limited knowledge of Able Danger. But, he said, if the information were properly collected, Posse Comitatus should not have prevented intelligence sharing between the Pentagon and the FBI.
Specter told Dugan to inform his superiors that the committee wants to hear from people with firsthand knowledge of Able Danger.
Zaid, the lawyer, also testified on behalf of James Smith, a defense contractor. Zaid said Smith recalls seeing, before the Sept. 11 attacks, a chart bearing Atta's picture. The picture was purchased from a California contractor, Zaid said.
Erik Kleinsmith, a former Army major who worked on Able Danger, said he destroyed documents pertaining to Able Danger in 2000 because he was required to do so under Army regulations.
Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., was the first to come forward to assert that Able Danger had identified Atta and three others as being members of an al-Qaida cell. If correct, the intelligence would change the timeline for when government officials first became aware of Atta's links to al-Qaida.
Slade Gorton, a member of the commission that investigated the attacks, said a review of Able Danger documents found ``no charts, no data sets, and no analysis identifying Mohamed Atta or any of the other hijackers pre-9/11.'' |
The World Council of Churches Joins Palestinian Christian Group Sabeel and an International Representation of Church Organizations and NGOs for Toronto Conference of Morally Responsible Investment in Response to Israeli Occupation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
http://www.religionnews.com/press02/PR092105A.html
September 21, 2005
Contact (in Canada):
Brian Perkins
Email: brianchmaster@look.ca
Telephone: office 416-431-0333; home 416-552-3677
Website: www.sabeel.ca
In the U.S.:
Email: friends@fosna.org
Phone: (503) 653-6625
Representatives of major Christian denominations in North America, Europe and the Global South will gather in Toronto at the invitation of Canadian Friends of Sabeel from October 26-29 for an international conference on morally responsible investment to learn and discuss economic strategies for ending the Israeli occupation of internationally recognized Palestine and to promote nonviolent means for attaining a just peace for both Israel and Palestine. The Rev. Robert Assaly, coordinator for Canadian Friends of Sabeel in Ottawa stated that, "The event is in response to a growing movement among Christian churches around the world to adopt nonviolent measures that will influence corporate policy as it pertains to investments and operations in Israeli occupied areas." Sabeel, based in Jerusalem and with support groups in the U.S., Canada, and many European countries, advocates ending occupation through nonviolent means that are based on international law and existing United Nations resolutions.
“A Call for Morally Responsible Investment: A Nonviolent Response to the Israeli Occupation” will offer lectures and workshops by key figures in the Christian and Jewish peace movements, including a video message by Nobelist Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and key presentations by Methodist Bishop Frederico Pagura of Argentina who is a co-president of the World Council of Churches; Shamai Lleibowitz, an Israeli human rights attorney in Tel Aviv working with the Israeli peace bloc; Jeff Halper who coordinates the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; Amneh Badran, a former director of the Jerusalem Center for Women; and theologian Rev. Naim Ateek, who is director of Sabeel in Jerusalem. Ateek, author of “Justice & Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation” and of the study paper for which the conference is named, will address the serious ethical and moral issues confronting Christians that pertain to illegal military occupation. Other key presenters will be: Farid Esack, a theologian from South Africa; Salpy Eskidjian, former Program Executive, Middle East, of the World Council of Churches; and Josh Ruebner, Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
Official pronouncements from mainstream Protestant denominations on church investment strategies was initiated by the Presbyterian Church USA in its 216th General Assembly last year when it approved several measures opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine, including a call for its corporate witness office to begin gathering data to support a selective divestment of holdings in multinational corporations doing business in Israel/Palestine. That set a precedent for other others long frustrated by decades of Israel's violations of international law, its illegal military occupation and more recently its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, which includes the restructuring of the West Bank with bypass roads and settlement satellites, the ongoing construction of a separation wall that seizes 11% more of Palestinian land on the West Bank, and continued militarization of the Holy Land. That move by the Presbyterians strengthened the faith-based movement supporting a two-state solution in Palestine/Israel based on existing agreements and international law. There followed similar statements and resolutions from the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Consultative Council, the United Church of Christ, various conferences of the United Methodist Church, and others, which have established a new strategy for working for a just peace for western Christians.
The Toronto conference on morally responsible investment will be an opportunity for leaders within the various denominations to gather for lectures, discussions and workshops, non-denominational theological reflection and networking.
Co-sponsors of the event include: World Council of Churches; KAIROS (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives); Pax Christi USA; Common Global Ministries, United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Brothers of the Christian Schools, Christian Brothers Conference U.S./Toronto; Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; Episcopal Peace Fellowship; Americans for Middle East Understanding; American Friends Service Committee; Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America; and Jewish Voice for Peace. A current list of co-sponsors is available at the Canadian website www.sabeel.ca. The conference planning committee continues to seek co-sponsorships and donations from church-related organizations and others interested in conference leadership participation.
Registration for the conference is by application only. Rev. Assaly said that anyone working within an organization striving toward a resolution of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict may be interested in exploring morally responsible investment as a non-violent response to the Israeli occupation.
Conference application information is available online at: http://www.sabeel.ca |
Israel seeks seat on Security Council
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article314239.ece
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 22 September 2005
Israel is seeking to capitalise on what it sees as an increase in international contacts - including with Muslim countries - by seeking a place on the UN Security Council.
It has indicated that it wants to join other countries in being allocated a rotating place on the Security Council for the first time in the 57-year history of the state. The move follows contacts including an unprecedented meeting between the foreign ministers of Israel and Pakistan, which both countries said was partly in recognition of Israel's withdrawal of troops and settlers from Gaza.
Sylvan Shalom, the Israeli Foreign Minister, told the UN General Assembly in New York this week that a seat on the Security Council would help Israel "take its rightful place as a country with full and equal rights in this institution". Israel was not a member of any voting bloc because of the hostility of Arab countries in the region until 2000, when it was admitted to the "west European and others group".
Although the group has been allowed to have a vice-president of the General Assembly for the first time - its UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman - membership of the group was conditional on it not having a seat on the Security Council. This was to ensure that the frequency with which the existing members took their seats was not reduced.
Mr Gillerman has just become the first Israeli to chair a session of the General Assembly since Abba Eban in the early 1950s. Mr Shalom said he had met counterparts from more than 10 Muslim and Arab countries this week - something he said would have been unthinkable even two years ago.
The highest profile foreign figure to back the bid is the controversial US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. Mr Bolton told Jewish leaders in New York that it was no longer tenable to have a single UN member which was ineligible to be a Security Council candidate.
Mark Regev, a foreign ministry spokesman, said yesterday that "in a new climate and atmosphere" Israel judged that the right time had come to signify its desire to be a candidate for council membership.
Israel is seeking to capitalise on what it sees as an increase in international contacts - including with Muslim countries - by seeking a place on the UN Security Council.
It has indicated that it wants to join other countries in being allocated a rotating place on the Security Council for the first time in the 57-year history of the state. The move follows contacts including an unprecedented meeting between the foreign ministers of Israel and Pakistan, which both countries said was partly in recognition of Israel's withdrawal of troops and settlers from Gaza.
Sylvan Shalom, the Israeli Foreign Minister, told the UN General Assembly in New York this week that a seat on the Security Council would help Israel "take its rightful place as a country with full and equal rights in this institution". Israel was not a member of any voting bloc because of the hostility of Arab countries in the region until 2000, when it was admitted to the "west European and others group".
Although the group has been allowed to have a vice-president of the General Assembly for the first time - its UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman - membership of the group was conditional on it not having a seat on the Security Council. This was to ensure that the frequency with which the existing members took their seats was not reduced.
Mr Gillerman has just become the first Israeli to chair a session of the General Assembly since Abba Eban in the early 1950s. Mr Shalom said he had met counterparts from more than 10 Muslim and Arab countries this week - something he said would have been unthinkable even two years ago.
The highest profile foreign figure to back the bid is the controversial US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. Mr Bolton told Jewish leaders in New York that it was no longer tenable to have a single UN member which was ineligible to be a Security Council candidate.
Mark Regev, a foreign ministry spokesman, said yesterday that "in a new climate and atmosphere" Israel judged that the right time had come to signify its desire to be a candidate for council membership. |
President's Remarks at Republican Jewish Coalition 20th Anniversary
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050921-1.html
Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
Washington, D.C.
12:00 P.M. EDT
* note: Google search — Bush Family and Nazis
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thanks for the warm welcome. Thank you. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm honored to join you in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Republican Jewish Coalition. The RJC has been a powerful voice for the values of limited government, free enterprise, and a strong national defense. I want to thank you for your patriotism; I want to thank you for the devotion to our country. Because of your efforts, I really believe America is a stronger and better place. (Applause.)
President George W. Bush addresses an audience, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005 at the Republican Jewish Coalition's 20th Anniversary Celebration in Washington. White House photo by Paul Morse I'm particularly pleased to be invited to help pay tribute to one of the founders of this organization, Max Fisher. (Applause.) He was a trusted advisor to many presidents, starting with Ike. He has been a friend of my family's. I was honored to count him as a wise counselor. I'm honored to know his wife, Marjorie, who is with us today. Max Fisher was a man of generosity and accomplishment, a patriotic American, a friend of Israel, and a champion for peace. And he's going to be greatly missed. (Applause.)
As well, we mourn the passing of a great hero for freedom, Simon Wiesenthal. Simon Wiesenthal was a survivor and a witness, who served -- who seared the horror of the Holocaust in the collective memory of the world. He's one of these leaders that refused to back down. He spoke with clarity. He insisted that we remember the lessons of the crime. He insisted that we remember that hatred prepares the way for violence, and the failure to expose and confront intolerance can lead to atrocities beyond imagining.
* note: Google search — Bush Family and Nazis
As we saw in the recent desecration of the synagogues in Gaza, the ancient hatred of anti-Semitism still burns in the hearts of men. And the best way we can honor Simon Wiesenthal's memory is to expose and confront anti-Semitism wherever it is found. (Applause.) By condemning this hatred at home and abroad, we stand with the victims of the Shoah and declare to the world: Never again. (Applause.)
I want to thank my friend, Sam Fox. I appreciate your friendship, you and Marilyn. I want to thank you for your leadership. I want to thank Matt Brooks. (Applause.) A smattering of applause out there for old Matty. (Laughter.)
I see some of the members of my administration here. I thank you all for coming. (Applause.) Don't linger too long, get back to work. (Laughter.) I appreciate the members of the United States Congress who are with us. I see senators and congressmen -- thank you all for coming. I know we got -- (applause.) We've got some statehouse folks here.
I think my friend Haley Barbour is here. He was looking for a meal -- he told me that on the plane yesterday. (Laughter.) Anyway, he's doing a fine job as the Governor of Mississippi. (Applause.) Governor Romney is here with us today. I appreciate him being here. (Applause.) Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele is with us -- Michael -- from Maryland. Thank you for coming. (Applause.) Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie from Vermont is with us. Brian, thank you for being here. (Applause.)
President George W. Bush gestures as he addresses an audience, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005 at the Republican Jewish Coalition's 20th Anniversary Celebration in Washington. White House photo by Paul Morse How about your Master of Ceremonies? Good to see you, Ari. Thanks for coming. How's the kid? (Applause.) Huh? Good. Good man and a good friend, Ari Fleischer.
I want to thank my friend, Lew Eisenberg, for being one of the chairmen of the luncheon; and Elliott Broidy. Appreciate you all taking this assignment on. (Applause.) You're honoring good people today. Bernie Marcus -- I appreciate the spirit of your corporation, Bernie. Or your -- your corporation during these tough times. It's remarkable. And I want to thank you for the outpouring of compassion you and your folks have shown.
Shelly Adelson -- congratulations, Shelly. It's good to see you. (Applause.) And of course, the man who is doing a fantastic job at the RNC, Ken Mehlman. (Applause.) I appreciate the fact that the Israeli Ambassador to the United States is with us today. He's a good man -- Danny Ayalon. Good to see you, Danny. (Applause.)
When I first came here, I looked around, I thought it might have been the ex-ambassadors club. (Laughter.) Former Ambassadors Bernstein, Price, and Sembler are with us. Thank you all for serving our nation, proud you're here. (Applause.)
We are a strong and resilient nation. I've seen that strength and I've seen that resiliency firsthand. One of the things that I hope you take comfort in knowing is that throughout our history, we've been challenged a lot, and every time we've been challenged, we have emerged a stronger and better nation. (Applause.) There is no challenge to man or nature that our citizens cannot overcome.
And we're facing some challenges these days. At this moment, our fellow citizens along the Gulf Coast are recovering from one of the worst natural disasters in this country's history. Hurricane Katrina caused immense destruction -- you cannot imagine what that countryside looks like down there. This storm swept away homes, it destroyed entire communities, it uprooted lives. And today, we've got another hurricane -- headed for Texas and Louisiana. I spoke to Governor Perry, I spoke to Governor Blanco yesterday about the preparations being made for this storm. Federal, state, and local governments are coordinating their efforts to get ready. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for New Orleans and Galveston. I urge the citizens to listen carefully to the instructions provided by state and local authorities, and follow them. We hope and pray that Hurricane Rita will not be a devastating storm, but we got to be ready for the worst.
The scenes we witnessed in the past three weeks in Alabama and Mississippi and Louisiana have touched our hearts, and moved this nation to action. I'm not talking about just government, I'm talking about the whole country. (Applause.) There has been an amazing outpouring of support all across America, and it's sent a clear message to the victims of Hurricane Katrina: This nation cares about you -- you're not alone.
I made a pledge to the people of Alabama and Mississippi and Louisiana that we're going to stay as long as it takes. We'll do our job to help you recover. People need to hear that loud and clear. (Applause.) And I outlined our strategy for reconstruction on the Gulf Coast -- it rests on three commitments.
First, we're going to help meet the immediate needs of those whose lives were turned upside down. You got to understand, thousands of people had to leave their homes, and left all their possessions behind, and went to shelters all throughout America. We have a duty to help them. So far we've mailed checks to 600,000 -- 600,000 evacuee families to help them pay for food and clothing and other essentials. We helped them register for other aid that will be available because of laws on the books.
Second, we're going to help the citizens get their lives back together. We've got housing assistance going to evacuees. We understand they can't live forever in shelters -- we've got a strategy to help them go from shelter to apartment, or shelter to home. We've sent doctors and nurses to the region to help.
You know, an amazing thing that's happened is a lot of states have accepted the families -- the kids of these families into their schools. What a fantastic gesture of compassion and decency. In our own state of Texas, school district after school district has said, if you have a child that's school age, bring them to us, we'll help educate them. The federal government has an obligation to reimburse those school districts, and I'm going to work with Congress to make sure we fulfill that obligation. (Applause.)
And third, we're going to help ensure that the communities emerge stronger and better. The storm caused huge suffering, as I told you, but it's an opportunity to bring new life to neighborhoods that were suffering before the storm. So I've proposed some interesting ideas, and I want the United States Congress to listen carefully to these ideas. First, I believe we ought to create Gulf Opportunity Zones up and down the devastated areas to provide tax incentives and tax breaks to get business and jobs back in that area as quickly as possible. (Applause.)
If you want to grow something, you shouldn't tax it. If you want to encourage small business growth, we ought to incent it to grow in that part of the world. (Applause.) Somebody said the other day, well, that's a tax break. That region is going to have zero income anyway. There's nothing there, in many parts of it. It makes sense to provide economic incentive, create economic incentives for jobs to exist. We want people heading back there for good, decent, good-paying jobs. (Applause.)
I've proposed Worker Recovery Accounts to help evacuees be prepared for the jobs that are going to exist in that part of the world. Listen, there's going to be a construction boom down there. We want people from that part of the world being prepared to take on those jobs. And so these Worker Recovery Accounts will help with job training.
I believe in urban homesteading. That says we're going to identify federal property and provide lots for low-income citizens that they'll have for free, so long as they build a house on there with a mortgage or with the help of a charitable organization like Habitat For Humanity.
We've got a fantastic chance as we rebuild. See, when those streets are open, we want them to be lined with businesses, including businesses owned by minorities. When those houses are rebuilt, we want more owners and less renters. When reconstruction is complete, we ought to look back at Hurricane Katrina and say that this country grew not only in prosperity, but in character, as well. (Applause.)
There's a federal role to play, and we'll play it. We'll do our duty. But there's also a state role, and a local role. I believe as the vision of New Orleans emerges, it ought to be planned by people from New Orleans. And as the vision of that Gulf Coast of Mississippi emerges, it ought to be planned by the people in Mississippi. And we're going to help them. We'll help them make right choices. But we've got to remember that perhaps the greatest engine for change and growth will be the private sector. So as Congress thinks through its strategy, let's encourage the private sector to come in and help build those jobs and rebuild those lives. (Applause.)
We'll make sure your money is spent wisely. We're going to make sure we make tough choices and set priorities here in Washington, D.C. And we're going to make sure that the money is spent honestly by sending a team of inspector generals [sic] down there to review all expenditures. That's what the people of this country expect, and that's exactly what we're going to do. (Applause.)
The American people have got a role to play in this effort. And since this storm, our nation's armies of compassions [sic] have rallied and have come to the aid of people who are in desperate need of help. Our charities, and houses of worship, and idealistic men and women across this country have opened up their homes, their wallets, and their hearts -- there's been an amazing, amazing outpouring of help. And the Jewish community of this country has been on the forefront of the efforts.
At Tulane University, the Director of the Chabad, Rabbi Rivkin, brought teams of students to New Orleans, and southern Mississippi, and other communities hit by the storm. He called in folks to help. He didn't say, head away from the storm; he said, let's take it right to the middle of the storm area to help people. They helped rescue stranded people; they distributed bottled water and self-heating kosher meals; they cleaned up and helped salvage homes; they provided spiritual support for those who lost loved ones. And one of those rescued from New Orleans put it this way: In the days after Katrina hit, Chabad saved lives." (Applause.)
Rabbi Stanton Zamek of the Temple Beth Shalom Synagogue in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, helped an African American couple displaced by the storm track down their daughter in Maryland. When Rabbi Zamek called the daughter, he told her, "We have your parents." She screamed out, "Thank you, Jesus!" (Laughter.) He didn't have the heart to tell her she was thanking the wrong rabbi. (Laughter and applause.)
Jewish organizations have thus far raised $17 million to help the victims of Katrina. (Applause.) Our citizens are answering the call of the Prophet Isaiah: "If you give what you have to the hungry, and fill the needs of those who suffer, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like the brightest time of day." People are hearing that call all across the country. And there's more work to be done. I urge you to continue to pay attention to the folks down there by contributing to the Red Cross, or the Salvation Army, or the United Jewish Communities, or B'nai B'rith International, or the American Jewish Committee. (Applause.)
It's important. We got a lot of work to do. But when it's all said and done, people are going to realize that this country can respond to crises and help a neighbor in need. This country has got enormous heart and enormous compassion. After it's all said and done, because of the compassionate outpouring of our people, the country's heart, collective heart, is going to be stronger and better.
You know, something we -- I've been thinking a lot about how America has responded, and it's clear to me that Americans value human life, and value every person as important. And that stands in stark contrast, by the way, to the terrorists we have to deal with. You see, we look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break. They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people. It's a war on terror. These are evil men who target the suffering. They killed 3,000 people on September the 11th, 2001. And they've continued to kill. See, sometimes we forget about the evil deeds of these people. They've killed in Madrid, and Istanbul, and Baghdad, and Bali, and London, and Sharm el-Sheikh, and Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Around the world they continue to kill.
They have a strategy. They want to achieve certain objectives. They want to break our will. They want the United States of America and other freedom-loving nations to retreat from the world. Why? Because they want safe haven. They want to topple government. Just think Taliban in Afghanistan. That's their vision. And we can't let them do that. We have a solemn duty as a United States government to protect the American people from harm. (Applause.)
We have a solemn duty to remember there are generations coming behind us. We have a solemn duty to stay on the offense against these people, to defeat them in other lands so we don't have to face them here at home. And we have a solemn duty to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. (Applause.)
Iraq is the central battlefront in the war on terror. It's not the only place we're fighting the terrorists, but it's the central front right now. You see, the terrorists want to turn that country into what Afghanistan was. Imagine a place like Iraq, where they've got safe haven to plot and train. That's what they want. That's why they're pouring in there. That's why they're going into the country. That's why they're trying to create instability. They got a powerful weapon -- these car bombs that end up on our TV screens. They got the capacity to affect our conscience because we value every life. Every person matters to the United States -- people of the United States of America. It doesn't matter whether it's a -- living in Iraq, or right here at home, we care, deeply. And they know that. And they're trying to get us out of there, is what they're trying to do, for a strategic objective. They want to be able to continue their war against freedom-loving people, with Iraq as the base.
We got our own strategy. We got a strategy for victory. Our troops -- we've got incredibly brave troops -- are hunting these people down and bringing them to justice. We're training the Iraqis so they can fight -- take the fight to the enemy alongside of us. Our motto is this -- it's important for you to understand -- as Iraqis stand up, we stand down. That means as they become more and more capable. It's up to them to take the fight to the enemy, with our help. It's up to them to be on the front lines of dealing with these people.
We're also going to defeat the enemy because they have no vision for the future that's positive. You can't be successful in convincing people to follow you if your vision is so dark and so dim as that of the terrorists. They have nothing to offer except violence.
We've got something to offer, and that's freedom. And freedom is powerful. I believe this -- (applause.) I believe this. At the heart of my belief is, one, there's an Almighty; and two, that freedom is a gift from the Almighty God to each man and woman in this world. That's what I believe. (Applause.) Freedom is not exclusively American; freedom is universal. And last January, the people of Iraq showed the universality of that freedom. It seems like a decade ago, doesn't it, since those 8.5 million people went to vote, but it wasn't all that long ago. And a lot of people around the world didn't believe that there was this great desire to be free. And yet, 8.5 million people showed up to the polls. They said, we want to be free. We want something other than the dark vision of these cold-blooded killers, people who kill our children, and kill police, and kill aid workers, and try to kill coalition forces.
And now the people have come together in difficult circumstances, and written a constitution. And it's a good constitution. It's a constitution written with compromise, not with guns. It's a constitution where they're trying to overcome years of brutality because of a tyrant. And then the people are going to go to the polls again and vote for a government. No matter how many car bombs there are, these terrorists cannot stop the march of freedom in Iraq. (Applause.)
But that march of freedom is not contained to Iraq only. I don't know if you paid attention to it the other day, this past weekend, but the Afghan people went to the polls again. They had a successful presidential election; now they voted for the parliament. It's amazing progress in a country that not all that long ago was a safe haven for Osama bin Laden and his plotters, that plotted the September the 11th attacks.
But freedom isn't -- the march of freedom isn't contained in Afghanistan alone. We saw the march of freedom take place in Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Georgia. These examples of freedom are inspiring others. Freedom is universal; people want to live in freedom, and the more the world becomes free, those who live in darkness will demand the light of freedom. And as freedom advances, we're laying the foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren. (Applause.) Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you.
This isn't easy work. I see the members of Congress are still here, halfway through the speech. (Laughter.) I want to remind you it's not easy, what we're doing. But it's necessary. It's the calling of our time. It's an opportunity to say, we've done our duty. It's an opportunity to say we made this country safer, and we made the world better.
I got a partner in peace in Ariel Sharon. I've been impressed by his leadership. Sam mentioned the time when the RJC flew four governors -- and I happened to be one -- to the Holy Land. And we went to a briefing by the government of Israel then, and one of the Cabinet members was Ariel Sharon. And after the briefing he introduced himself. He said, would you like to go on a helicopter ride and take a look at the West Bank. I said, "Are you flying?" No -- (laughter.) I said, you bet.
It's interesting how history works, isn't it? In 1998, fall of 1998, the future President of the United States and the future Prime Minister of Israel were flying across the -- across that country, with him describing to me how to keep Israel secure. A couple of lessons I took away from there -- is, one, you know, how tiny the country is. You know, a guy from Texas, we got a lot of space there -- there's not a lot of space there. How vulnerable Israel can be. I also came away with the strong impression about how strong the people there -- not only want to defend themselves, but how much they love democracy, that democracy is a critical part of their existence.
Ariel Sharon has shown great leadership, and he made a tough and courageous decision. He decided to withdraw from Gaza. I'll never forget when he came and told me that. My immediate reaction was, this is a bold step for peace, Mr. Prime Minister, and I support you. (Applause.) He saw it, and I think I did, too, at the time, that such a decision would really force the world to recognize that only true peace will come when we defeat terrorism and establish democracy.
And so now there's an opportunity. And the opportunity rests with the Palestinian people to show that they can govern themselves in a peaceful way.
The policy of this government is to streamline the security forces so there's only one authority with security forces, and that's the authority that campaigned based upon a peace platform. The policy of this government is to help entrepreneurship flourish, to help small businesses start. The Arab world needs to help right now. They need to step in and help the peaceful democratic forces within the Palestinian -- within Gaza, to thwart those whose stated objective is the destruction of Israel.
The United States of America is firmly committed to defending the security and the well-being of our ally, Israel. (Applause.) And we'll work with our friends in the region and throughout the world to achieve the peace that all want. My hope is that someday there will be two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace. (Applause.)
These are historic times, and they're challenging, but I've got to tell you, I've got great hope, too, for the future. You know, in our response to terror and tragedy, we have seen how great suffering can awaken an even greater love -- and we've been reminded there is no evil from which our Creator cannot draw forth greater good. You know, the attacks of September the 11th really causes us to be more determined than ever to defend our way of life. And it also gave us an opportunity to advance the cause of freedom that were previously unthinkable. And out of the horror of Katrina is going to come a rebirth for parts of our country that -- that will mean people down there will be able to live with greater hope and prosperity -- the hope of prosperity -- than ever before.
It's such an honor to be the President of a country that not only deals with our adversity, but is able to create good out of the adversity we face. And the reason why we're able to is we've got a indomitable spirit, and we've got a land full of people that are incredibly generous and strong and compassionate. And I appreciate being in a room full of such people.
I want to thank you for your friendship, thank you for the love of America. May God bless you all. |
Guidelines for entry of media personnel holding Israeli citizenship into the Gaza Strip
http://www1.idf.il/dover/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&from=hp&docid=42476.EN
Wednesday 21/09/2005 16:07
In light of the current situation in the Gaza Strip following the evacuation of all IDF forces and the security risk involved in entering the area, the presence of Israeli citizens inside the Gaza Strip is prohibited.
However, specific members of the public, allowed in the past to enter the territories in the Gaza Strip under PA jurisdiction may now submit requests for special entry permits. Media personnel holding Israeli citizenship may enter the Gaza Strip with advanced coordination with the IDF Spokesperson Office.
The IDF strongly emphasizes that those entering the Gaza Strip are endangering their personal safety, for which they are assuming complete responsibility.
In light of the abovementioned, bureau chiefs and media personnel holding an Israeli citizenship are required to sign a Letter of Warning, Undertaking and Indemnity.
For further information regarding entry into the Gaza Strip, please contact the IDF Spokesperson's foreign press desks:
North American Desk, at (972) 3-608031/8
European Desk, at (972) 3-6080234/5 |
This is my country...
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/19948
by Avraham Oz
(Wednesday September 21 2005)
"...While the evacuation of a few settlers from the occupied Gaza strip causes a political havoc, threatening to overturn the government which has democratically voted for it, millions are pumped into strengthening the majority of settlements on the occupied West Bank..."
This is my country:
As it is commonly known, "the only democracy in the Middle East."
This is my country:
Where conscientious citizens objecting to atrocities perpetrated in their name by generals, officers, and soldiers in active service and reserves, are pursuing their bringing to international justice for war crimes, since the Israeli justice system shuns its moral obligations. And where such citizens are threatened by a senior Likud MP Steinitz (a former colleague at my university - where else?) who attempts to legislate a "treason law," remindful of dark ages, whereby such conscientious citizens will be prosecuted and serve jail for their initiative.
This is my country:
Where not a single police officer of the many who shot into demonstrations of its Palestinian citizens, killing 13 and injuring many others, is found accountable as much as to be brought to court - not even for a minor negligence, let alone more serious offence - even though a very lenient and mild official investigation commission did find fault with police behaviour five years ago. Nor, probably, would any soldiers injuring almost daily demonstrators at Bil'in village against the building of the separation wall which makes the life of West Bank Palestinians misery. At the same time, a young woman, Tali Fahima, is serving jail for months and is standing trial for some mysterious allegations, boiling down to her choosing to serve as a human shield for a Palestinian resistance leader in his refugee camp during the notorious Jenin operation from becoming a direct target for killing by the Israeli security forces.
This is my country:
Where the alleged suffering of settlers evacuated from homes, lands, and water resources stolen from the Palestinians is staged dramatically all over the media, while the families of the Palestinians murdered and injured in cold blood by acts of terrorism perpetrated by settlers and their supporters, in protest against that evacuation, have no right to the regular compensation given to terror victims, since the letter of the law in my democratic country defines an act of terrorism as a crime directed against the State of Israel, whereas Jewish murderers are not considered such to whom that definition applies.
This is my country:
Where a bare building which used as a synagogue by the settles of an evacuated settlement (out of which all sacred relics have been officially taken out) is buried in the ground in a pagan-like military ceremony, and similar constructions, contrary to opinions of rabbis, not demolished to provoke the Palestinians after the evacuation, who don't see any reason to treat those empty constructions as sacred places; and while crying havoc on the "desecration" of such unholy buildings, I do remember very well our favorite playground when a little child, on a little hill by the sea in the north of town, where we little kids would find the occasional bone on the ground: our parents called that hill "the Moslem cemetery." Years later, I graduated from a university built on the ruins of an Arab village called Sheikh Muanis, and attempts to commemorate that village (by a women group called ZOCHROT - "remember" in Hebrew) are defamed as subversive.
This is my country:
One which brags being "the only democracy in the Middle East," but whose Prime Minister proclaims he will sabotage the democratic elections in the Palestinian Authority, because he resents the platform of one of the parties (objectionable as it may be) standing for elections.
This is my country:
Where a university, where classes on democracy are given, is opening a military program of studies for intelligence cadets to study on campus in uniform, appropriating a whole section of the students dormitories (far from answering the needs of Arab and needed Jewish students), to become military quarters of sorts (you guessed right, my own university); while still not recognizing the elected Arab students committee (representing about 20% of the students), nor the demand to put signs in Arabic (an official language in Israel) on campus, closing down its theatre for mounting plays in Arabic, or forbidding a Christmas tree to be placed near a HANUKKA lamp while the two religious holidays concur; and rather, using its dwindling budget to hiring private law firms to prepare the legal grounds why NOT to put such signs in Arabic, or to dispute a recent court ruling preferring transparency to privileged secrecy of proceedings (which grant immunity to administrators to get rid of faculty far from the public eye).
This is my country:
Where the expression "a state of all its citizens" is deplored by its official government, the "only democracy" in the region is suppressing school curriculum because they (marginally) contain some Palestinian writers such as Edward Said, Azmi Bishara, or Mahmoud Darwish, lest the idea that other than Jews could be equal citizens would spoil the proper education of its youth. And then cries of shock and bewilderment are heard whenever a youth thus officially educated to regard fellow citizens as unequal resorts to violence, even murder, on ethnic or religious grounds.
This is my country:
While the evacuation of a few settlers from the occupied Gaza strip causes a political havoc, threatening to overturn the government which has democratically voted for it, millions are pumped into strengthening the majority of settlements on the occupied West Bank: the government did not approve even the removal of sporadic "illegal settlements" (as if there were "legal" ones), building new roads leading to them and providing electricity; and a wall of hatred (just approved by the Israeli supreme court in spite of foreign decisions to the contrary) is built to separate Palestinian villagers from their lands, children from schools, and any hope for a lasting peace from reality.
This is my country, sometimes friendly reproached, regularly amicably patted as an enlightened democracy in the Middle East. I wonder whether this is the kind of lesson of selective democracy currently taught by the democratic world by force in my country's neighboring countries nowadays.
Source:
by courtesy & © 2005 Avraham Oz |
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