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Dear Supporter,
Two years ago, we celebrated when President Obama issued Executive Orders banning torture. But this may not have been the end of state-sponsored torture. This week, the Senate is deliberating on a bill to allow a classified list of interrogation techniques to be used on terrorism suspects.
This opens the door to once again using waterboarding, extreme sleep deprivation, mock executions, and other abusive techniques on detainees.
Even worse: Because the list of accepted techniques will be classified, we will never know what is happening.
In 2008, more than 800 rabbis and thousands of Jewish community members joined with Rabbis for Human Rights-North America to demand an end to torture. Now, we need your help again to ensure that torture does not become legal again.
Torture is against both American and Jewish values. As Jews, we believe that every human being is created b'tzelem elohim, in God's image, and that human dignity is so essential that preserving it can override even a commandment from the Torah. Torture desecrates the image of God, and is humiliating to the highest degree. We cannot torture out of a misguided attempt to preserve our own safety, not even those people who wish to harm us.
Tell your Senators: Vote no on Senator Ayotte's amendment (SA 1068) to the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (S 1867). Tell them: No more torture. Not now. Not ever. Click here to take action today.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster
Director of North American Programs
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