- Congressman Barney Frank
- 2252 Rayburn H.O.B.
- Washington, DC 20515
-
- Dear Barney Frank,
-
- While you were espousing the freedom of speech and democratic
principles of Israel to the House of Representatives on June 18, 2006,
were you thinking of Hedy Epstein, the 84 year old Holocaust survivor and
American who recently travelled to Israel and visited with Palestinians
there? In your proclamation about the freedom in Israel which you mistakenly
represented as the only democracy in the Middle East, were you thinking
of how it felt for Hedy to be approached by Israel's security force when
she was leaving the country to return to the US and told she is a terrorist.
Were you thinking of how the guards had turned their badges around so that
she could not get their names while they forced Hedy to undress, while
they penetrated her body, because she is a terrorist, because she met with
Palestinians, because she listened to them. Is that the freedom you wish
to applaud? To hear how it felt from Hedy herself, if you care, try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC37pFQ8tyg
.
-
- I know you were not thinking of Professors like Nadera
Shaloub Kevorkian, a noted scholar from Hebrew University, awarded for
her outstanding research, a recipient of the Golda Meir award even though
Golda Meir told us that "there are no Palestinians." I know you
were not thinking of her and how she is subjected to dehumanized searches,
seen her children's photos trampled on by the security, her undergarments
twirled like flags in the air for all to see, had her computer and cell
phone seized each time she travels outside her country of birth to the
many lectures she is invited to give and for the numerous honors bestowed
on her. Of course, to Israel and therefore to the American government she
would be considered a terrorist. Why? because she is a Palestinian. That
is why I know you were not thinking of her when you were standing before
the US House of Representatives proclaiming Israel's democracy as a model
of freedom and diversity.
-
- The blatant overt racism against Palestinians I saw in
Israel harkened me back to the pre-civil rights US. The guilt-by-association
with Palestinians that is alive and thriving in Israel today recalls US
McCarthyism. Oh, it is true that women's rights in Israel have improved
and so have gay rights. But to treat that as diversity in the face of the
extreme racism that drives the county against Palestinians is for an American
Congressman not only dishonorable, but unjust and immoral.
-
- Have you lost your mind or have you just been bought
out by AIPAC? I stand with the multitude of Americans who look forward
to the day when you and other Representatives and Senators bought by AIPAC
discover that your loyalty is really to the United States and to global
justice. With all that you have stood for over the years, I expected so
much more from you.
-
- Sincerely,
-
-
- Kathleen Barry, Ph.D.
- Professor Emerita
-
- Kathleen Barry is Professor Emerita of Penn State University. A
feminist and sociologist, she is the author of Female
Sexual Slavery, Prostitution
of Sexuality: Global Exploitation of Women, and Susan
B. Anthony: A Biography of a Singular Feminist and is now completing
Expendable Lives, a new book on masculinity and war. She can be reached
at kathy.barry@comcast.net
-
- http://www.counterpunch.com/barry06282008.html
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