As published in Pricneton Packet:http://www.centraljersey.com/opinion/the_princeton_packet/counterpoint-a-vote-for-bob-menendez-is-not-a-vote/article_7a93c483-aaf8-5531-a3df-049d67f34ec5.html
In an October 3rd letter, Rev. Moore urged voters who care about peace to vote for Senator Menendez. I disagree
Senator
Menendez is the largest recipient of campaign contributions from AIPAC and
NORPAC, the nation’s two strongest pro-Israel PACs.
No
coincidence, then, that Senator Menendez never criticizes the Israeli
occupation of Palestine. Since March 2018 almost 200 Palestinians, including
women, children, journalists and medics, have been killed by live sniper fire,
simply for protesting the conditions of the occupation.
Senator
Menendez refuses to advocate for blocking U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia to
use in Yemen, saying he “needs more information,” about the brutal war, dubbed
by many as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. This even after 40 Yemeni
school children were killed by a bomb made by Lockheed Martin.
Menendez
may have voted for a new nuclear arms control treaty in 2010, but he also
accepted, without criticism, the plan supported by President Obama to spend
$1.7 trillion over 30 years to create a nuclear arsenal bigger and more
powerful than at the height of the Cold War.
Nor
has the Senator advocated for the U.S. to sign and ratify the International
Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons developed by 122 nations in July 2017.
Lastly,
Senator Menendez supported the last two military budgets -standing at around
$700 billion annually.
How
can this be a profile of a Senator who cares about peace?
There
are truly only two ways to vote for peace in NJ in 2018:
Voting
for Green Party candidates Madelyn Hoffman who directed NJ Peace Action for
decades (recently retired) for US Senate and Diane Moxley for the 7th
Congressional District seat – both of whom play critical roles in New Jersey in
organizing against US warfare.
Bob
Witanek
Founder NJ Anti-War
Agenda