from the middle east desk

as many of you know congress has been debating how exactly to proceed with the new palestinian government following the strong electoral showing by hamas. HR 4681 will be voted on tuesday and while the progressives have been fighting there is still some bad stuff in the bill.
steve masters and rob levy of brit tzedek v'shalom have put out an action alert:

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote TUESDAY on HR 4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, introduced by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Tom Lantos (D-CA). Though improvements have been made since its introduction, HR 4681 forfeits the U.S. role in bringing Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table and directing them to a two-state resolution of the conflict. Its sanctions and restrictions weaken moderate pro-peace Palestinians and embolden extremists, tie the President's hands in dealing with emergency security crises, and drastically cut critical US assistance to the Palestinian people. Call your Representative now!

i hope you have a chance to call your representative.
i have yet to figure out a good bracha (blessing) to say after you make the call. thoughts?

update: you can use the capitol switchboard for your calls (202) 224-3121.