YEMEN-ANOTHER DISASTER FOR CIVILIANS The conflict in Yemen is a civil war that can only be resolved by political negotiations. Since the start of Saudi bombing, supported by the US, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced and hundreds have been killed. The United Nations, The European Union, Iran and Pakistan are calling for a diplomatic solution. Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen, killing and displacing innocent people and cutting off food supplies, water, and access to medicine. The United States is providing arms and bombs to Saudi Arabia. This must be stopped. Call President Obama at (202)456-1111. Tell him to: 1-Join with the UN, European Union and Pakistan to negotiate a political solution; 2-Call for an end to military intervention, and an arms embargo; 3-Assist with humanitarian help to the people of Yemen

Congress is now considering “fast track” trade authority for trade agreements. There are many reasons to oppose fast track. But Maryland Senator Ben Cardin and his allies have just added a new one. They are including in the Ryan-Hatch “fast track” trade bill a US negotiating objective to block European trade restrictions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. [1] This provision is opposed by J Street [2], Americans for Peace Now, [3], and JVP [4]. European efforts to uphold international law by limiting trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank are supported by Human Rights Watch. [5] Urge your Representative and Senators to vote NO on the Ryan-Hatch “fast track” trade bill by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/maryland-senator-ben-card_b_7118876.html 2. http://jstreet.org/blog/post/j-street-opposes-roskamvargas-trade-bill-that-undermines-us-and-israeli-interests_1 3. http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=11643 4. https://twitter.com/naiman/status/591318386245775362 5. http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/18/dispatches-israeli-supreme-court-upholds-anti-boycott-law

President Obama promised during his 2008 campaign that he would call the massacre of Armenians by the Turkish government during World War I a genocide. Since taking office he has not followed through on this campaign promise. April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide when 1.5 million Armenians were either brutally executed or forced marched into the desert and starved to death. As stated in April 22, 2015 Wall Street Journal, again President Obama will not use the term genocide when he commemorates this sad anniversary in order to appease the Turkish government. Full disclosure, I voted for Obama so this is not political for me. It is however political for him. Why should Turkey govern our moral standards? Standing up for crimes against humanity should never be a political decision. True leaders don't make popular decisions, they make morally correct decisions. By not speaking out, tragedies and crimes against humanity are repeated, as evidenced throughout history. When Hitler was preparing his Nazi leaders about his idea for the "final solution" for Jews he actually sited the Armenian genocide and told his team that the world never said or did anything then so why would they with what he planned? The Pope, Canada, France, EU and soon Germany have all spoken out and support the historical and fact based claim that there was an Armenian genocide. And today, Christians are being brutally murdered in the Middle East for beliefs alone, and again our President is silent. Its about time President Obama stands up not down to all these cowards, and speaks out! #Silence is acceptance.

UPDATE [4/27]: This language has been added to the trade bills by the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. Now we are working to remove the language. === Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) is expected to introduce an amendment to a bill in the Senate Finance Committee that would demand that the Obama Administration pressure Europe not to enforce policies against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The amendment is expected to be similar to S. 619 [1] which Cardin introduced March 2. Similar legislation (HR 825) was introduced in the House on February 10. [2] Both bills target actions to “limit commercial relations” with “territories controlled by Israel.” By equating “Israeli settlements in the West Bank” with “Israel,” these bills are endorsing the Israeli annexation of the West Bank. These bills are trying to pressure the European Union (EU), which is currently negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States, to reverse course on the steps it has taken in recent years to oppose Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These include new guidelines preventing entities operating in Israeli-occupied territory from receiving EU funding and a recent push to label settlement products entering the EU. Urge your Senator and Representative to oppose this legislation by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s619 2. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr825

The Illinois House and Illinois Senate may vote by April 24 on HB4011 [1] and SB1761.[2] These bills attempt to legitimize the de-facto Israeli annexation of the West Bank by cutting off state contracts with companies that boycott Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Boycotting Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a means of protesting the Israeli occupation has wide political support in the US and internationally, including by Peace Now (Shalom Achshav) in Israel and Americans for Peace Now in the US [3], and the Presbyterian Church [4], and United Methodist Church [5] in the US. Any private Israeli entity that wants to receive funding from the European Union must demonstrate that it has no links to the West Bank. [6] Urge your Representative and Senator in the Illinois legislature to oppose HB4011 and SB1761 by signing our petition at MoveOn. References: 1. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=88&GA=99&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=4011&GAID=13 2. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1761&GAID=13&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=88517&SessionID=88 3. http://archive.peacenow.org/entries/apn_joins_peace_nows_call_for_boycotting_settlements 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/us/presbyterians-debating-israeli-occupation-vote-to-divest-holdings.html 5. http://umc-gbcs.org/resolutions/opposition-to-israeli-settlements-in-palestinian-land 6. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.536155

The Philippines was tagged "The Sick Man of Asia" and "Zaire of Asia." If independence was ever going to work for the Filipino people, it would have done so by now. It clearly has not. Rather, the millions of Filipinos are needlessly suffering because of corrupt politicians despite the country's massive natural resources.

House Democrats are playing and will play a key role in whether the Obama Administration can get a deal with Iran. Under the Corker-Cardin deal on the Corker Congressional review legislation, we need at a minimum at least a third of the Senate or a third of the House to be willing to sustain a Presidential veto of Congressional legislation against the deal. Given that Republicans are likely to oppose the President, that means we need at least 2/3 of House Democrats to support the President. [1] Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky is circulating a letter in support of the talks. [2] Some House Democrats, like Florida Representative Alan Grayson, are attacking the talks by trying to introduce issues that are outside the scope of the talks and by setting an impossible standard for a “good deal.” [3] Urge House Democrats to stand with Rep. Jan Schakowsky in support of the talks by signing the Schakowsky letter, by signing and sharing our petition. If your House Representative is a Democrat, please call them in support of the Schakowsky letter and report your call here: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/schakowsky-letter References: 1. Robert Naiman, “What Did Democrats Win in the Cardin Compromise on the Corker Bill?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/what-did-democrats-win-in-cardin-compromise_b_7073264.html; J Street, “J Street Welcomes Compromise on Iran Agreement Review Bill,” http://jstreet.org/blog/post/j-street-welcomes-compromise-on-iran-agreement-review-bill_1 2. http://www.niacouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/scorecard///Schakowsky-Doggett-Price.pdf 3. “Correspondence with Rep. Alan Grayson About the Iran Talks,” http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1597

Republicans in Congress are going into overdrive trying to undermine President Obama's efforts to get a diplomatic agreement with Iran. To block these Republican efforts, we need Democrats to stand together. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is standing with President Obama. [1] Unfortunately, Florida Democratic Representative Alan Grayson, who has a national profile as a progressive Democrat, is not yet standing with President Obama and Leader Pelosi. Grayson has attacked the framework deal with Iran that the Administration and European allies negotiated with Iran, while well-known Iran hawks like Rep. Brad Sherman concede that the Administration won significant concessions from Iran in the deal. [2] Urge Rep. Grayson to stand with President Obama and Leader Pelosi on Iran diplomacy by signing our petition. 1. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/238272-pelosi-comes-out-against-iran-bill 2. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/237903-obama-officials-launch-full-court-press-against-iran-legislation

There were 73 decrees to wipe out Yezidis through murder and forced conversion over the past 700 years, which led to the loss of 22 million Yezidis. Please help us to stem the tide of this 74th attempt to wipe out the Yezidis. Yezidis International works to raise consciousness about the Yezidi crisis in Northern Iraq. The Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, California is also sponsoring an effort to raise consciousness about the plight of the Yezidis.

US diplomats have secured a historic, breakthrough: a framework that will ensure Iran can only have a peaceful nuclear program through rigorous inspections and verification.[1] This is perhaps the most significant foreign policy accomplishment of the Obama presidency, and offers the promise of a peaceful path with Iran, rather than a rush into an unnecessary war. But Republican war hawks—and too many Democrats who are siding with them—are continuing their crusade against the president and trying to sabotage this deal. We need all members of Congress to recognize that the alternative to diplomacy is war, and that they must reject the Corker-Menendez bill (Senate Bill 615), the Kirk-Menendez bill (Senate Bill 269), and any other legislative attempts to blow up the diplomatic process. References: 1. "Iran and E.U. Announce Framework for Nuclear Accord," The New York Times, April 2, 2015 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-talks.html

The Syriza party won Greek parliamentary elections on January 25 on an anti-austerity program [1], after 6 years of depression [2] that were prolonged and exacerbated by Eurozone authorities (including the European Central Bank, European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund [IMF]). On February 4 -- just 10 days after the Syriza government was elected -- the ECB cut off the main source of financing for Greek banks [3]. There was no reason to do this other than bullying; it was more than three weeks before the deadline for the decision. This and other threats and statements by the ECB have driven tens of billions of dollars from the Greek banking system. The ECB has also refused to lift a cap on the amount that Greek banks can lend to the government, an action that it did not take against the previous government. The ECB’s actions have already contributed to serious damage to Greece’s nascent economic recovery: the Greek economy was projected to grow by 2.9 percent this year, but partly as a result of this instability stoked by the ECB, this forecast has been cut in half. On April 1 the Greek government put forward a detailed and credible reform plan [4] to increase revenues, so as to ensure that it can make its debt payments. The Greek government has negotiated in good faith; the ECB should not be pushing the Greek government to the brink of default, and undermining the economy, in order to gain advantage in these negotiations. The ECB should immediately lift the cap on Greek bank lending to the government, and the restore the government’s ability to borrow from the Central Bank that the prior government had before the elections. Urge President Obama to press European authorities to end their destabilization of the Greek economy to undermine democracy by signing our petition. References: 1. http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/3/destroying-the-greek-economy-in-order-to-save-it.html 2. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-greek-economy-which-way-forward 3. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/greece-ecb-kicks-syriza-in-the-face-syriza-turns-the-other-cheek 4. http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/55b27a7e-d87c-11e4-ba53-00144feab7de.pdf

Her opinion will matter. As a potential candidate for President, she owes it to the public to speak out in support of this now --- especially when the enemies of the agreement are dominating the air waves.