[WCUSP] WILPF Int'l Statement 16 July 06

Mon Jul 17 00:47:45 CDT 2006

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Regina Birchem <regbirchem at earthlink.net>
Date: Jul 16, 2006 9:39 PM
Subject: WILPF Int'l Statement 16 July 06

*Reference:  International WILPF Statement on the Bombing of Lebanon, Gaza,
and Israel
*

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are shocked, concerned, and grieved about the events that have rapidly
unfolded since Thursday, 13 July,  in Lebanon and ongoing in Gaza.
With the continued strikes, retaliation and re-retaliation of the last 5
days, the death toll and destruction rise in Lebanon, continue in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially Gaza, and in Israel.

With the help of Odile Haber (Convener of the International Middle East
Committee), Cynthia  Minster (Convener of the US Section Program Committee
and the US WILPF Section Women Challenge US Policy: Building Peace on
Justice in the Middle East Campaign), and others,  I have drafted a
statement addressing the situation based on our past agreements and our
WILPF Aims and Principles.

Consulting with those who were able to respond in drafting a statement in
this short time has been very difficult.  We welcome your comments and
suggestions.  I find, myself, that in this apparently tedious and
time-consuming process of finding the "words",  I learn much about the world
of the other person, awakened through an understanding of their language,
reality and experiences.

The sequence of events of the last five days has complexities and
implications we have not addressed in the one page statement.  It is not the
last word.  There is more to be said and revealed about the politics, what
is behind all this, and the  military plans.

There is much that we know is true and yet difficult to express in a common
statement.  We need to understand each others words, understand what is
expressed and not expressed.  We need to speak strongly and honestly.  We
need to give space to each one to say what she has experienced, what is in
her heart and find ways to create new ways of being.   We have many ways of
speaking our truth other than this statement.

The events of the last five days did not come overnight,  unplanned like a
summer thunderstorm.  The events are built on a history of repression,
dishonesty, greed, power and racism.  Our goal is a different world, a world
not only possible, but necessary, for our survival.

We note also, our WILPF sisters in other countries are dealing with
difficult situations.  We are aware of the alarming increase in human rights
violations recently in El Salvador and on-going in Colombia.  Sri Lanka
again experiences more civil violence and conflict where the death toll is
high.   Sometimes our sisters in other countries, the small island states,
the Indigenous Peoples often feel they are forgotten because they are not so
much in the international spotlight.

A Russian peasant after the Great War is reported to have responded to the
question "How did you manage?  How did you survive the war, the isolation,
the starvation, the winter? "  His reply:  "We held each other up."  Let's
hold each other up. Let's support each other; let's find a route to peace
and justice; there is no other way to manage.

In peace and wishes for health and safety for all of you,

Regina Birchem
WILPF International President

Acknowledgement of consultation with Hanan Awwad (WILPF Palestine), Roula
Zoubiane (WILPF Lebanon), Edith Ballantyne (Switzerland)

*Women's International League for Peace and Freedom *

*Denounces Escalation of Military Aggression in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza*

                  The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
deplores the escalation of violence in Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, especially Gaza, and in Israel.

                  We condemn the targeting of civilians and destruction of
civilian infrastructure by all parties and, in particular, the excessive
disproportionate military retaliation by Israel as violations of
international law.  The widespread bombing in Gaza and Lebanon; the air, sea
and land blockade of Lebanon; the destruction of electricity and water
supplies in Gaza; and the missile attacks on Israeli cities make the
possibility for solutions more difficult as hostilities spiral out of
control.  We denounce the use of force.  There is no military solution to
the problems in the region.

              We recognize that the current dangerous and volatile situation
is the direct result of Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian lands
and its relentless destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, particularly
in Gaza where a humanitarian crisis is growing among the 1.4 million
inhabitants.

              Therefore, we call upon the United States to join the rest of
the international community in denouncing Israel's escalation of this
conflict.

                  We call for an immediate ceasefire and halt to the
retaliatory bombing, killing and destruction. We appeal to all parties to
return to the political process and earnestly negotiate permanent solutions.

                  We appeal for cooperation with the UN special Advisors
team sent to the region by the UN Secretary General and for adherence to UN
Resolutions and international and humanitarian law especially relating to
the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

              Women's International League for Peace and Freedom appeals to
Israel to cease the military stranglehold on Gaza and to allow humanitarian
aid into Gaza, to end the blockade and stop the siege of Lebanon and the
destruction of civilian infrastructure.  We appeal to all parties to accept
a ceasefire, to release illegally held Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners
and Israeli soldiers, and to begin negotiating a just and lasting peace that
will bring safety to the civilian populations of Israel, Palestine and
Lebanon.

              We call for an international peace conference convened by the
United Nations and that is based on the recognition of the sovereign state
of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders established by the 1947 cease fire
agreements with eventually mutually agreed adjustments.

              We call on the Palestinian National Authority, the United
States, the British, Israeli, Iranian and Syrian governments, the Arab
League, and the European Union to search for peaceful solutions that protect
the lives of all people in the Middle East Region and world-wide.

* *
*
*

*--Article 33, Fourth Geneva Convention:**  **"No protected person may be
punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed."*

* *

*--Article 50, Hague Convention:**  **"No general penalty, pecuniary or
otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of
individuals for which they cannot be regarded as jointly and severally
responsible."*
*   ***

*Women's International League for Peace and Freedom **
**16 July 2006*
*1 rue de Varembe, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.**  ***
*www.wilpf.int.ch *
* *

--------------------
C.J. Minster, Program Chair
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Make Peace a Reality - Join WILPF!
http://wilpf.blogspot.com

Social Upheaval
~current affairs blog~
http://www.socialupheaval.com

angelheaded hipster
~cultural affairs blog~
http://www.angelheadedhipster.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/wcusp_wilpf.org/attachments/20060717/0d1a98f8/attachment-0001.html 