United States Congressional Representative Gwen Moore of Milwaukee’s 4th Congressional District, was one of only five representatives to vote against a resolution recognizing Israel’s “right to act in self-defense to protect its citizens against Hamas’s unceasing aggression,” among other things (see sidebar, "Resolution 34"), on Jan. 9.
Several members of the Jewish community contacted The Chronicle to protest Moore’s vote and to criticize Jewish community relations organizations for what they said was a failure to achieve those organizations’ goals.
Moore spoke to The Chronicle by telephone from her office in Washington, D.C., last Friday to talk about the war in Gaza, the resolution and her vote.
As she also said in a pre-vote statement, which was read into the Congressional Record, Moore expressed her belief that Israel is “a strong ally for our country” and “has a right to defend itself,” a right she has supported in many past Congressional votes.
“I have voted for all appropriations for military aid to Israel. I’m a strong supporter of the peace process and the two-state solution. And I am concerned about humanitarian issues of both of those peoples in the region,” Moore told The Chronicle.
And, she noted, she will return to Israel with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in February.
While Moore condemns Hamas as a terrorist organization, she said she is concerned about the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom are children.
She is disturbed by “the horror unfolding on CNN,” and information coming from such organizations as the World Food Program, which she said, “reports that 80 percent of the population of Gaza is currently in need of urgent food assistance and of the 1.5 million people in Gaza, 800,000 have no access to water.”
But, Moore, said, concern for the Palestinians does not mean she favors the Palestinians over the Israelis. “I’m for human rights and Israelis are not the only ones with human rights. I want to be a fair broker.
“I don’t accept the Faustian choices that I’ve got to agree to Israel cutting off electricity to all the hospitals, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. And if I don’t believe that, if I vote against that, then I’m somehow against Israel. I don’t accept that,” Moore said.
She believes that a lasting solution to the crisis must come about through the international community and that if the U.S. is to be an honest broker for peace, it is not helpful to put out resolutions that are unbalanced in favor of Israel. She voted against this resolution because she saw it as negative and unbalanced against the Palestinians, she said.
Without the force of law, these resolutions accomplish nothing. “The U.S. is going to become irrelevant by putting out these resolutions. I don’t want to be a part of that,” she said.
Moore, a Christian, noted that her brother converted to Judaism and she has four nieces and nephews who are practicing Jews. “Honestly, I love Israel. It’s a beautiful place. It’s the Holy Land in my tradition.
The situation there is a sad one, Moore said. “I would love to win the Noble Prize for coming up with the solution to it.”
West side resident Gerald Glazer, who lives in Moore’s district, told The Chronicle in a telephone interview that he was surprised and disappointed to learn that his representative was one of the five who voted against the resolution.
“Her vote stands out like a sore thumb,” he said, because, unlike the other four, “she really does have a Jewish constituency.”
Glazer said he contacted Moore’s office through her Web site and received her pre-vote statement in reply. Though that statement explained her vote, he said, it did not satisfy him.
“Hamas started the war. That is all the difference. Once country A attacks country B, we must side with country B. Hamas was the aggressor. They welcome martyrs and they want to take as many with them as they can. They would like for [victims] to be Israelis and Jews, but they don’t mind if they are Arabs too,” Glazer said.
“I don’t want to be neutral. I don’t want the U.S. to be neutral. And I don’t want my congressional representative to be neutral,” he said.
“[Hamas] may have a reason why they started the war but that doesn’t excuse them from starting the war.”
Glazer said that Moore has enough support in her district that she doesn’t need the votes of her Jewish constituents to win re-election, and added that he would take this vote into consideration when she runs again.
This, however, is just one vote, Glazer said. “There is a lot of opportunity for [Moore] to make this up to us on many other votes. Before I make a decision I would want to see what her record is on Israel and on other issues.”
Paula Simon, executive director of the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, said that she was disappointed in Moore’s vote, but pointed to Moore’s pre-vote statement, her appearance as the only Congressional representative who attended last year’s “Walk for Israel” and her voting record as evidence that she is not against Israel.
Rather, Simon said, Moore “used this opportunity to make a statement about the resolution and about the growing number of innocent civilian casualties on both sides.”
“That statement is one piece of an ongoing dialogue and an opportunity to have a conversation with [Moore]. That’s what community relations is about,” Simon said.
Simon added that the council is pursuing a number of avenues for having that conversation. Both the council and local AIPAC representatives plan to meet with Moore soon.
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