It is official: Democrat Congressman Brain Baird [D - Washington] is my favorite Congressman and a modern day Mr. Smith. He has courageously spoken out on behalf of Palestinians while most stay silent not because they disagree but simply because of cynical political interests.

Baird is different. Shortly after Israel withdrew from Gaza, he visited the Strip after Israel’s massacre that killed over 1,300 people - including over 400 children. He spoken about what he saw in a packed Capital Hill event and released a joint statement with Congressman Keith Ellison who visited Gaza along with him.

“The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering” said Baird, “Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, schools completely leveled, fundamental water, sewer, and electricity facilities hit and relief agencies heavily damaged. The personal stories of children being killed in their homes or schools, entire families wiped out, and relief workers prevented from evacuating the wounded are heart wrenching – what went on here, and what is continuing to go on, is shocking and troubling beyond words.”

“If this had happened in our own country, there would be national outrage and an appeal for urgent assistance. We are glad that the Obama administration acted quickly to send much needed funding for this effort but the arbitrary and unreasonable Israeli limitations on food and repair essentials is unacceptable and indefensible. People, innocent children, women and non-combatants, are going without water, food and sanitation, while the things they so desperately need are sitting in trucks at the border, being denied permission to go in” said Baird and Ellison.

The Congressmens’ concerns about treatment of Palestinians were not limited to Gaza. They also visited Palestinian hospitals that treat patients from East Jerusalem and the West Bank. There they met with doctors, nurses and hospital directors who described how official Israeli policies and restricted border checkpoints make it exceedingly difficult and expensive for patients, nurses, medical technicians, and other essential personnel to reach the hospital to receive or provide care.

“It’s hard for anyone in our country to imagine how it must feel to have a sick child who needs urgent care or is receiving chemotherapy or dialysis, then be forced to take a needlessly lengthy route, walk rather than drive, and wait in lines as long as two hours simply to get to the hospital. As a health care professional myself, I found this profoundly troubling, no, actually it’s beyond that, it is outrageous,” said Baird.

Few Congressman speak like this. And recently he demonstrated his inspiring and great courage again. The U.S. Congress - no doubt compelled by the famed (or infamous) Israel lobby - has passed a resolution condemning a United Nations report - by South African judge Richard Goldstone - accusing Israel (and Hamas) of war crimes. The report concluded that Israel deliberately attacked Palestinian civilian infrastructure and civilians.

Israel refused to cooperate with the report and wasted no time in seeking to delegitimatize it. The United States no longer thinks on its own when it comes to anything Israel related and the resolution denounced Goldstone without refuted any of its claims.

The vote was held last week, and while Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of the resolution, a fair number voted against it. The vote was 344-36, and an additional 22 voted present (in other words they wanted to vote No but were to afraid of the Israel lobby). It may not seem like a lot, but to get over 50 members to vote either No or present on anything pro-Israel is quite a big deal. So improvement.

Congressman Baird voted No and gave an excellent speech-for-the-history-books before the vote:

Before House Members vote on H.Res. 867, regarding the U.N. Goldstone report on the Gaza conflict, there are a few questions worth asking.

First, why are we bringing this resolution to the floor without ever giving former South African Constitutional Court Justice Richard Goldstone a hearing to explain his findings? Have those who will vote on H.Res. 867 actually read the resolution? Have they read the Goldstone report? Are they aware that Justice Goldstone has issued a paragraph-by-paragraph response, available on my Web site at baird.house.gov, to H.Res. 867 pointing out that many of its assertions are factually inaccurate or deeply misleading?

Since scarcely a dozen House Members have actually been to Gaza , what actual firsthand knowledge do the rest of the Members of Congress possess on which to base their judgment of the merits of H.Res. 867 or the Goldstone report?

What will it say about this Congress and our country if we so readily seek to block “any further consideration” of a human rights investigation produced by one of the most respected jurists in the world today, a man who led the investigations of abuses in South Africa, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Kosovo, and worked to identify and prosecute Nazi war criminals as a member of the Panel of the Commission of Enquiry into the Activities of Nazism in Argentina?

As one of the first two American officials, along with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), to enter Gaza shortly after the conclusion of major bombing from “Operation Cast Lead,” then again several months later, I have seen firsthand the devastating destruction of hospitals, schools, homes, industries and infrastructure. Much of that devastation was wrought using U.S. manufactured and paid for weaponry. I have also spoken with health workers, average Gazans, nongovernmental organization relief workers and many others.

In addition, I have been to the Israeli town of Sderot , which has been the target of repeated rocket attacks, and to a number of Palestinian towns and Israeli settlements in the West Bank . Colleagues who have not been to the region may wish to view some of the images and interviews from these visits on my Web site.

With the information from these personal visits and on-the-ground knowledge, I read with care and interest the Goldstone report in its entirety, and my firm conclusion is that, although the findings may be unpleasant and troubling, they are, unfortunately, consistent with the facts and evidence. In my judgment, far from meriting the obstruction called for in H.Res. 867, the Goldstone report is without question worthy of further investigation.a

I know this conclusion is not easily accepted, and I know it raises serious charges against entities and individuals on both sides of this conflict, Israel and Hamas. But if our own country is truly to stand for human rights and the rule of law, and if facts matter, how can we do other than insist that legitimate questions and evidence are followed by further investigation and, if necessary and warranted, appropriate consequences?

H.Res. 867 is very serious business. If, as Goldstone asserts and the evidence I have seen supports, there were in fact gross violations of international law and human rights on all sides, we cannot in good conscience support H.Res. 867.

This is about much more than just another imposed political litmus test that we are all too often asked to perform. This is about whether we as individuals and this Congress as an institution find it acceptable to drop white phosphorous on civilian targets, to rocket civilian communities, to destroy hospitals and schools, to use civilians as human shields, and to deliberately destroy nonmilitary factories, industries and basic water, electrical and sanitation infrastructure. This is about whether it is acceptable to restrict the movement, opportunities and hopes of more than a million people every single day.

At the end of the day, this is also about our own domestic security. If we are seen internationally as condoning violations of human rights and international law, if our money and our weaponry play a leading role in those violations, and if we reflexively obstruct the findings of someone with the credentials, history and integrity of Justice Goldstone, it can only diminish our international standing and our own security.

One of the most moving moments of his speech is when compared his own children to three children killed by Israel in Gaza:

Many members of Congress agree with Baird but are afraid of speaking out. That makes them worse than those who disagree, because the former know Evil and it is cowardice that leads them to stay silent.

The Israel lobby is not all powerful. It needs to be restrained and decency restored to American debate on Israel.

I said it before: Baird deserves the Noble.