Get the Facts Newsletter, October 2005
NEWS ITEMS OF NOTE
-- Israel Redraws the Roadmap
-- Why We Shouldn't Compare Our Constitution and Iraq's
EYE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
-- This Month's Focus: Sri Lanka
WEB SITES I LIKE
-- Progressive Majority of Washington
-- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees
BOOKS I'M READING
-- In the Shadow of the Law: A Novel
-- Mark Twain: A Life
TAKE ACTION:
-- Join the American Values Team
-- Make a Donation
FEEDBACK
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Despite all the optimism I felt after my trip to the Israel and Palestine last month, I've since read some very discouraging news. A recent report by Chris McGreal of the Guardian explains that "As foreign leaders, including Tony Blair, praised Mr. [Ariel] Sharon for his 'courage' in pulling out of Gaza last month, Israel was accelerating construction of the West Bank barrier, expropriating more land in the West Bank than it was surrendering in Gaza, and building thousands of new homes in Jewish settlements."
He quotes David Shearer, head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem, as saying, "The access the Palestinians have enjoyed to their places of worship, to some of the best schools, to hospitals is now going to be severely restricted."
In this peace process, it seems that for every step forward, there are two steps back. Yet, I refuse to give up on the idea that there will be peace in my lifetime. There were simply too many encouraging signs during my visits with Israeli Minister of Housing Isaac Herzog and Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan Dr. Marwan Muasher for me to toss all optimism aside.
-- Read the Guardian article
-- See photos of my visits with Ministers Herzog and Muasher
WHY WE SHOULDN'T COMPARE OUR CONSTITUTION AND IRAQ'S
It's not often that you'll see me quote conservative columnist George Will, but occasionally we do see eye to eye on an issue. In a recent editorial, he explained how the Iraqi's recent vote in favor a new constitution is not necessarily a sign of progress. He writes that "The administration's theory … is that there could not have been a bad outcome from [the October 15] vote: The mere fact of voting, by drawing Iraq's tribal factions into politics, enmeshes them in the democratic process and its civilities."
Will goes on to explain that there is strong evidence that the Iraq constitution as it's currently envisioned could cause more problems than it solves, despite the clear influences it derives from our own constitution. He writes, "The salient difference is this: America's Constitution was written to strengthen the central government for a remarkably homogeneous society. Iraq's constitution was written to make a strong central government impossible for a violently tribal society. The constitution's basis—federalism based on ethnicity—replicates the condition that contained the seeds of America's Civil War: The deepest political cleavages coincide with regional cleavages."
-- Read the full article
Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of tenuous peace talks that could quickly dissolve back into civil war depending on the outcome of that country's presidential election on November 17.
Since 1983, the Sri Lankan government has been battling the Tamil Tigers, a violent separatist group fighting for independence for the Tamil people, a political and ethnic minority. Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a Tamil himself, was assassinated in mid-August. He opposed negotiations with the Tigers, and many suspect that the Tigers are behind his assassination.
That suspicion puts the party of outgoing president Chandrika Kumaratunga—a consistent supporter of peace talks—on the defensive. A loss by her party could signal the end of three-year-old ceasefire agreement and a resumption of civil war.
Despite her support of the negotiations, President Kumaratunga is not exactly a prizewinner when it comes to peacemaking. Amnesty International reports that Sri Lankan security forces "have been responsible for tens of thousands of 'disappearances' in connection with … the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)." In addition, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued a joint call for an independent investigation of the ransacking and burning of the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on October 12.
-- Read the BBC article "Killing Puts Sri Lanka Peace At Risk "
-- Read " Why Sri Lanka and Iraq Have a Lot in Common" in the Khaleej Times
-- Find weekly news updates on Sri Lanka
-- Take action
Here are just a couple of the Web sites I rely on to get the facts.
-- Progressive Majority of Washington: http://www.progressivemajoritywashington.org/
-- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: http://www.dccc.org/
In the Shadow of the Law: A Novel
By Kermit Roosevelt (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2005)
Those of you who have been reading this section of my newsletter for a while know I don't read many novels. In fact, this one, by a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk who now teaches law at UPenn, is the first novel I've read in a long time—and I could not put it down! The plot revolves around two gut-wrenching cases—one about the death penalty in Virginia and one about dozens of workers killed at a chemical plant explosion in Texas—and the effects of these cases on the lawyers involved.
-- Get more details
Mark Twain: A Life
By Ron Powers (Free Press; 2005)
Perhaps it's because I'm in the heat of the fall congressional session, but I didn't just read fiction this month: I read some nonpolitical stuff too! This new biography about Mark Twain is a peek behind the curtains at the great and powerful American satirist. And the man behind the myth does not disappoint. It was a real treat to spend a few long plane flights with one of the great minds of the last century.
-- Get more details
-- Join the American Values Team
-- Make a donation
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Revision date: November 29, 2005
