Democratic Palestine : 31 (ص 52)
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- Democratic Palestine : 31 (ص 52)
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power over Congress by the Democrats
can be seen as somewhat of a victory.
This is because questions such as aid to
the contras, military intervention and
cutting needed domestic programs can
be checked by a Democratic Congress,
despite the wishes of a Republican
president. It is also a sign that through
popular voting (unlike the presidency
where the electoral college decides),
Americans were intent on the re-
election of Democratic representatives
and unwilling to have a straight
Republican ticket in power.
REFERENDUMS ON
PALESTINE
On November 8, 1988, Americans in
four cities voted on _ referendums
relating to the Palestinian cause. In
Berkeley, California, a proposition was
placed on the ballot requesting Berkeley
to adopt, as its sister city, Jabalia
refugee camp in the occupied Gaza
Strip. The proposal was originally
brought up to the Berkeley City Coun-
cil several months ago by coun-
cilwoman Maudelle Shirek who had
recently returned from a delegation to
the occupied territories. After heated
town meetings, the proposal was voted
down 5 to 2. This initiative was
defeated on November 8th by a high-
financed, frantic campaign.
Across the bridge in San Francisco,
an alliance of hundreds of organiza-
tions and individual religious, peace,
Jewish and Arab activists was formed.
Maudelle Shirek
ve
as
They were able to get over 18,000
signatures in order to put on the ballot
a referendum entitled «Peace and
Justice in the Middle East» calling for
mutual recognition, and the Palesti-
nians’ right to self-determination and
the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state in the occupied West
Bank and Gaza Strip. After the pro-
Israeli lobby spent over two million
dollars to foil this referendum, the
measure was defeated.
However, in Cambridge and Somer-
ville, Massachusetts, a resolution was
passed condeming US support for the
Israeli occupation and calling for an
independent Palestinian homeland.
According to Kathryn Silver, an
organizer of the referendum, the
referendum demanded from the Presi-
dent and members of Congress to exert
pressure on ‘Israel’ in order to put an
end to its human rights violations
against the Palestinian people, and to
end the occupation of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip in order to establish an
independent state there. The organizers
of the referendum advocated that
pressure be put upon ‘Israel’ by cutting
American financial support to the
Zionist entity. They utilized the results
of recent polls concerning the Palesti-
nian question, in order to gain support
for the referendum. In fact, one poll
revealed that approximately 41% of
Americans support a Palestinian state
and approximately 23% oppose.
Likewise, 41% called for a cut in
financial support to ‘Israel’ while 7%
called for an increase in aid. The results
of a New York Times poll revealed that
50% of American citizens support a
Palestinian state.
The value of these initiatives is not so
much whether they passed or failed;
rather they are important because they
are actions taken to familiarize the
average American citizen with the
Palestinian question. The discussion
which evolved has raised consciousness
about the Palestinians’ situation among
Americans, and has threatened the
Zionist lobby’s aspirations to keep
North Americans ignorant on _ the
question of Palestine.
*Trilateral Commission: began functioning in 1973
and represented a fresh attempt by world im-
perialism to find solutions for its economic and
political crisis. It includes men representing the
acme of power. - هو جزء من
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