Complete Disconnect

Our representative democracy operates on the premise that we elect people to represent our interests and values in a deliberative body thousands of miles away from where we live. Our task, and individuals being represented, is to stay in touch with our representatives to ensure that they know our needs and interests so that they can be properly represented.

What happens when we send messages to our representative and they respond with a message that doesn’t respond to the issue we present to them?

I’ve mentioned before that our government continues to support the bombing of Gaza, which has largely been referred to as a genocidal act, with our tax dollars and with weapons made in the United States,

Last week I wrote to both of my Senators from Washington State with the same message:

Dear Senator,

I’m very disappointed that you voted today, February 13, to provide more than $14Billion more military aid to foreign countries, including billions to Israel.

No more military aid should be provided to Israel as it continues to attack Palestinians in Gaza and beyond. What Israel is doing to Gaza is against international law, U.S. law, any sense of morality, and is an insult to me as a human and a Jew.

I ask that you join your colleagues in calling for conditioning aid to Israel and immediately work for a permanent ceasefire.

A week later I received a reply from Senator Maria Cantwell,

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about the challenging and tragic situation in Israel and Gaza. I appreciate hearing from you about this important matter.

The shocking October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians were heinous and reprehensible and unleashed a terrible cycle of violence and recrimination. That’s why I continue to support President Biden’s vigorous efforts to facilitate the return of Israeli hostages and avoid a wider regional war.

The international community should also be doing everything it can to protect and get aid to innocent Palestinian civilians. The Biden Administration has already announced it will provide $121 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank specifically in the context of the ongoing war.  The Senate also recently passed a funding package that delivers vital support to our democratic allies Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as well as desperately-needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza and Ukraine. This funding is critical to America’s immediate and long-term national security which is why I hope the House of Representatives will quickly consider and approve the Senate-approved package. 

You may also be interested to know that, in response to Senate debate surrounding the funding package, the President issued a National Security Memorandum on February 8, 2024, that lays out the standards that any country receiving U.S. weapons must adhere to. These standards include abiding by international law, facilitating the delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the weapons are not being used in a way that is not consistent with best practices for reducing civilian harm.

Despite the horrors of the ongoing war, I believe that Israelis and Palestinians must continue to strive for an enduring peace that recognizes and respects the rights and dignity of both peoples.  That is why I support Senator Brian Schatz’s legislation that reaffirms that the policy of the United States, going back to the time of President Harry Truman three quarters of a century ago, is to support a two-state solution. 

Finally, it is incumbent on all of us to try and prevent the hostilities in the Middle East from fueling hate here in the United States. In the face of the alarming increase and growing intensity of anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic incidents, we must continue to reject and condemn violence and discrimination against any person because of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. Thank you again for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,
Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

This form letter from my Senator is written so well it’s hard to disagree with any of it, and just as hard to agree with any of it. I know it’s a form letter because more than one friend has received the exact reply, although I’m not sure what message they sent.

None of the reply actually addresses what I asked of the Senator. I asked specifically for her to condition aid to Israel and to call for a permanent ceasefire. If she had replied “Sorry, I won’t condition aid to Israel or call for a ceasefire” I’d know where she stands. But she didn’t indicate whether she would or wouldn’t do either or these, although it’s quite clear that she no interest in conditioning aid to Israel – much less ending the bombing of Gaza – or a permanent ceasefire.

Today I was listening to Dr. James Zogby‘s weekly “Coffee and Chat”. There’s great conversation every week about democracy and politics. One of the questions he responded to was what we should do when representatives respond with form letters that don’t address our needs. His answer was continue to message them.

It can be depressing to send messages to representatives and get no response, and just as aggravating when then respond with useless jargon that ensures they won’t take any action. But they’ll never take any action unless they continue to hear from us.