URGENT ACTION ON THE
VIOLENCE IN GAZA
We Need "Sustained, Determined Political Action"
As of this writing, a third
consecutive day of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed an
estimated 315 Palestinians and injured more than 1,400. According to
the UN, at least 51
of the victims were civilians and 8 were children. Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak has
vowed ominously "a war to the bitter end."
Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip are being carried out with F16
fighter jets, Apache
helicopters, and naval gunboats all given to Israel by the United
States with our tax dollars.
From 2001-2006, the United States transferred to Israel more than $200
million worth
of spare parts to fly its fleet of F16's and more than $100 million
worth of helicopter spare
parts for its fleet of Apaches. In July 2008, the United States gave
Israel 186 million gallons
of JP-8 aviation jet fuel and signed a contract to transfer an addition
$1.9 billion worth of
littoral combat ships to the Israeli navy. Last year, the United States
signed a $1.3 billion
contract with Raytheon to transfer to Israel thousands of TOW,
Hellfire, and "bunker buster"
missiles.
Make no mistake about it: Israel
's war on the Gaza Strip would not be possible
without the jets, helicopters, ships, missiles, and fuel provided by
the United
States.
Ali Abunimah, of The Electronic Intifada, wrote, "Palestinians
everywhere are asking for
solidarity, real solidarity, in the form of sustained, determined
political action." In light
of our country's enabling role in Israel 's war on the Gaza Strip, it
is the least we can do.
Here's how.
ACTIONS
1. Attend a Protest in Your Area.
We've compiled a list of more than 60 emergency
protests taking place in 25 states and the District of Columbia, many
of which are taking
place today or tomorrow. Find one near you and bring as many
people to it as you can.
See http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1773
If you know of a protest that isn't listed on our website, please send
us all the logistical
details and contact information by writing congress@endtheoccupation.org.
More events
are being posted all the time-
check back frequently for the latest updates.
2. Contact the White House, the State Department, your
Representative and
Senators, and the Obama Transition Team to protest Israel 's war on
Gaza
and demand an immediate cease-fire.
White House: 202-456-1111 or comments
@whitehouse.gov
State Department: 202-647-6575 or send an email by clicking here
Congress: 202-224-3121 or find contact info by clicking here
Obama Transition Team: send an email by clicking here
For more action ideas and updates, go to End the Occupation's website
by
clicking here.
-----
International
Witnesses Speak Out from Gaza
27th December 2008, Gaza, Palestine - Human Rights Defenders from
Lebanon, the UK,
Poland, Canada, Spain, Italy and Australia are present in Gaza and are
witnessing and
documenting the current Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Due to Israel's policy of denying access to international media, human
rights defenders
and aid agencies to the Occupied Gaza Strip, many of these Human Rights
Defenders arrived
in Gaza with the Free Gaza Movement's boats. FGM boats have broken
Israel's siege of Gaza
five times in the past four months.
By Natalie Abu Eid (Lebanon), International Solidarity Movement
"At the time of the attacks, I was on Omar Mukhtar street and
witnessed a last rocket hit
the street 150 meters away where crowds had already gathered to try to
extract the dead
bodies. Ambulances, trucks, cars -- anything that can move is bringing
injured to
the
hospitals. Hospitals have had to evacuate sick patients to make room
for the injured. I have
been told that there is not enough room in the morgues for the bodies
and that there is a
great lack of blood in the bloodbanks. I have just learned that among
the civilians killed
today was the mother of my good friends in Jabalya camp." - Eva
Bartlett (Canada),
International Solidarity Movement
"Israeli missiles tore through a children's playground and busy market
in Diere Balah,
we saw the aftermath - many were injured and some reportedly killed.
Every Hospital in
the Gaza strip is already overwhelmed with injured people and does not
have the medicine
or the capacity to treat them. Israel is committing crimes against
humanity, it is violating
international and human rights law, ignoring the United Nations and
planning even bigger
attacks. The world must act now and intensify the calls for Boycott,
Divestment and
Sanctions against Israel; governments need to move beyond words of
condemnation into
an active and immediate
restraint of Israel and a lifting of the siege of Gaza" - Ewa
Jasiewicz (Polish and British), Free Gaza Movement
"The morgue at the Shifa hospital has no more room for dead bodies, so
bodies and body
parts are strewn all over the hospital." - Dr. Haidar Eid,
(Palestinian, South African) Professor
of Social and Cultural Studies, Al Aqsa University, Gaza
"The bombs began to fall just as the children were on the streets
walking back from school.
I went out onto the stairs and a terrified 5 year old g irl ran sobbing
into my arms."- Sharon
Lock (Australian), International Solidarity Movement
"This is incredibly sad. This massacre is not going to bring security
for the State of Israel or
allow it to be part of the Middle East. Now calls of revenge are
everywhere." Dr Eyad
Sarraj - President of the Gaza
Community Mental Health Centre
"As I speak they have just hit a building 200 metres away. There is
smoke everywhere.
This morning I went to the building close to where I live in Rafah that
had been hit. Two
bulldozers were immediately attempting to clear the rubble. They
thought they had found
all the bodies. As we arrived one more was found." Jenny Linnel
(British), International
Solidarity Movement
"The home I am staying in is across from the preventive security
compound. All the glass
of the house shattered. The home has been severely damaged. Due to the
siege there is no
glass or building materials to repair this damage. One little boy in
our house fainted. An eight
year-old little boy was trembling on the ground for an hour. In front
of our house we found
the bodies of two little girls under a car, completely burnt. They were
coming home from
school. This is more than just collective punishment. We are being
treated like laboratory
animals. I have lived through the Israeli bombardment of Beirut and
Israel's message is the
same in Gaza as it was in Beirut -- the killing of civilians. There was
just another explosion
outside!"
Human Rights Defenders in Gaza:
Dr. Eyad Sarraj (Arabic and English)- +972 599400424
Ewa Jasiewicz, Free Gaza Coordinator in Gaza (Polish, Arabic, and
English) - +972 59 8700497
Dr. Haider Eid (English and Arabic) - + 972 59 9441766
Sharon Lock (English) - +972 59 8826513
Vittorio Arrigoni (Italian) - +972 59 8378945
Fida Qishta (English and Arabic) - +972 599681669
Jenny Linnel (English) - +972 59 87653777
Natalie Abu Shakra (Arabic and English) 0598336 328
For more information on the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) or the
International
Solidarity Movement (ISM) contact in the West Bank:
Adam Taylor (ISM) - 972 59 8503948
Lubna Masarwa (FGM) - 972 50 5633044