54 representatives ask Israel to stop defending itself

Ha’aretz reports:

Fifty-four members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to ease the siege of the Gaza Strip.

The letter was the initiative of Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, both of whom are Democrats. Ellison is the first American Muslim to ever win election to Congress.

McDermott and Ellison wrote that they understand the threats facing Israel and the ongoing Hamas terror activities against Israeli citizens but that “this concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip.”

And at the end we learn:

In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.

Needless to say, MJ Rosenberg is thrilled that these Congressmen are “standing up to” AIPAC. (via memeorandum)

However as Sultan Knish shows, they are not standing up to AIPAC, they are standing up for CAIR.

It is of course no surprise that this list weighs heavily toward Minnesota and Michigan, where CAIR is strong. But it also includes twelve congressmen from California, 3 from New Jersey, 4 from New York and 6 from Massachusetts. These numbers are not mere statistics, they define the rising influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on American politics, state by state.

And it is instructive to note how many of the congressmen and congresswomen on the list are funded by CAIR money. Keith Ellison, John Conyers, Loretta Sanchez, Betty McCollum, Lois Capps, Bill Pascrell, Elijah Cummings, Bob Filner, Mike Honda, Barbara Lee, John Dingell, James Moran, Nick Rahall, Andre Carson, Mary Jo Kilroy, Carolyn Kilpatrick and Jim McDermott are among the top receivers of CAIR money in congress.

Remeber that the next time you hear that J-Street and APN are “pro-Israel and pro-peace.”

Also given that the vast majority of those signing this letter are Democrats – comprising roughly 1/6 of the Democrats in Congress – remember that the next time someone tells you that the Democratic Party is the natural home of American Jews.

UPDATE: The Astute Bloggers have the dishonor roll of those signing the resolution. It appears to be only Democrats as Daryl Issa is not on the list. But with 54 Democrats signing the resolution and 255 Democrats in Congress, that means that over 20% of Congressional Democrats were involved.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.