[WCUSP] Fwd: Gaza: Stop the Siege - Stop the War! NZ info
Odile Hugonot Haber
odilehh at gmail.com
Mon Nov 27 09:01:51 CST 2006
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: WILPF Aotearoa <wilpf at xtra.co.nz>
Date: Nov 27, 2006 2:53 AM
Subject: Gaza: Stop the Siege - Stop the War! NZ info
To: wilpf-news at wilpf.ch
FYI
Kia ora,
this message is primarily about the international Gaza: Stop the
Siege - Stop the War! campaign that has been running through November
and will culminate in demonstrations around the world on Saturday, 2
December. There are five sections below:
1) background information on the campaign;
2) the international online petition, the text and how you can add your name;
3) related events, and some other protests, in Aotearoa New Zealand
before and on 2 December;
4) contact details and draft letters for NZ government and other
politicians; and
5) links to more information including the new UNRWA report, Gaza:
Stop the Siege - Stop the War! campaign material, and a draft letter
to send to the Israeli Prime Minister, Chief of Staff, and Defense
Minister, as well as contact details for them.
This alert is available online at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/gaza06.htm
1) Background information on the campaign
The situation in Gaza has reached emergency levels – inadequate
water, electricity, and medicine; widespread hunger, poverty, and
unemployment; schools and other services out of operation; and
constant bombardments and attacks by the Israeli military. Since the
Palestinian elections, parts of the international community and the
Israeli government are holding sanctions against the Palestinian
Authority. Israel has tightened its siege and military attacks on Gaza
since the soldier Gilad Shalit was taken hostage. If this siege
continues, we will see spreading disease, malnutrition, and anarchy.
Turning Gaza into a prison is a cruel policy which endangers its
residents and the residents of Israel, especially the ones in the
south.
The community of peace organizations in Israel has gathered together
in a coordinated, major campaign calling on the Israeli government and
on the international community to end the siege on Gaza and to embark
upon negotiations with the elected Palestinian leadership.
The month of action will culminate in demonstrations around the world
on 2 December. Please join us in this humanitarian and political
effort. The campaign was initiated by the Coalition of Women for Peace
with its 9 member organizations (Bat Shalom, The Fifth Mother, Machsom
Watch, Noga, NELED, Women In Black, New Profile, TANDI - Movement of
Democratic Women for Israel, and the Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom). Other active organizers are Anarchists against the
Wall, Gush Shalom, Hadash, High School Seniors Letter, Rabbis for
Human Rights, University Student Coalition, Yesh Gvul, Ta`ayush,
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and The Students
Coalition – Tel Aviv. More information about the month of action is at
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/letter_1106 and in
the 'links to more information' section below.
The month of action includes the UN International Day of Solidarity
with the Palestinian People, information about the observance of the
Day in previous years is at http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/palestinian/
an information note about this year's Day is at
http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/47d4e277b48d9d3685256ddc00612265/e7006fc8692bd19a8525720d006a1bc5!OpenDocument
and the UN Division for Palestinian Rights site is at
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/qpalnew/overview.htm
2) The international online petition
Gaza: Stop the Siege! Stop the War! To Israeli Government and World
Leaders - "The situation in Gaza has reached emergency levels -
inadequate water, electricity, and medicine; widespread hunger,
poverty, and unemployment; schools and other services rendered
inoperative; constant bombardments and attacks by the Israeli
military. This humanitarian catastrophe is man-made: It was brought on
by the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel and the sanctions
imposed by the international community on Palestine, made worse by
repeated IDF attacks. If this situation continues, we will see
spreading disease, malnutrition, and more violence. Under these
conditions, negotiations - the only way to reach peace between both
peoples - also become an impossibility. We call upon Israeli leaders
to end the siege of and war on Gaza. We call upon world leaders to end
the political and economic sanctions of Palestine. The siege and
sanctions are sowing chaos and death in Gaza. They must come to an
end." You can add your name to the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveGaza/petition.html
3) Related events, and other protests, in Aotearoa New Zealand before
and on 2 December
* Auckland
- Tuesday, 28 November: Protest Israeli War Criminal Moshe Ya'alon's
Visit To Auckland! "The Palestine Human Rights Campaign and Students
for Justice in Palestine will be protesting the visit of Lieutenant
General (Ret) Moshe Ya'alon, former Chief of Staff Israeli 'Defence'
Force 2002-2005, to Auckland. Ya'alon, otherwise known as the "Butcher
of Qana", is responsible for a number of human rights violations and
war crimes, including the IDF's deliberate shelling of the United
Nations compound at Qana in southern Lebanon, on the 18th April 1996.
At the time, Ya'alon was a Major General and Head of Israeli Army
Intelligence. Knowing that displaced civilians were sheltering at the
compound, he planned, directed and authorised the attack which killed
over a hundred villagers who had taken refuge in the UN compound and
injured many others. Fijian soldiers assigned to the United Nations
were also injured. Ya'alon is currently facing a civil suit in US
Federal Court on charges stemming from his involvement in the Qana
attack. The class action lawsuit charges Ya'alon with war crimes,
extrajudicial killings, and crimes against humanity. Ya'alon is
touring New Zealand justifying the recent invasion and bombardment of
Lebanon and Israel's ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in the
Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. In 2002, in an interview
with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, he compared Palestinians with
cancer and commented "There are all kinds of solutions to cancerous
manifestations. Some will say it is necessary to amputate organs. But
at the moment, I am applying chemotherapy". Support the protest, war
criminals, like Ya'alon are not welcome in Aotearoa-New Zealand".
Picket starts at 6.45pm, AA (Alexander Astor) Hall, Kadimah College,
Greys Avenue, (opposite YMCA, near Pitt Street intersection),
Auckland; for more information contact email wakim.fam at xtra.co.nz
- Saturday, 2 December: Rally for Justice And Peace in Palestine and
commemoration of UN International Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian People (November 29th). Come and support justice and peace
based on: an end to Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank (including East Jerusalem), the right of return for Palestinian
refugees, and stopping Israel's annexation / apartheid wall in
occupied Palestine. Starts 2pm, QEII Square, Customs Street and Queen
Street intersection, outside Downtown Shopping Centre, Auckland.
Organised by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, for more information
contact email wakim.fam at xtra.co.nz
* Wellington
- Tuesday, 28 November: Vigil and Fast in Solidarity with the
Palestinian People - "Please join us for a lunchtime fast in
solidarity with the people of Gaza who are being starved, isolated and
bombed constantly. Gather for half an hour or longer outside the US
Embassy (as Israel's main backer) for accounts of what is happening in
Gaza and the occupied territories, speakers, discussion, Palestinian
poetry and music; a letter of protest will be presented to the US
Ambassador. Fasting has a long tradition as part of active non-violent
resistance, and is meant to indicate the commitment of the fasters,
show willingness to commit for the cause and question those in power
by the foregoing of something ordinary and necessary. In this case it
is aimed to link us with the deprivation being suffered by the
Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank." From 11.30am to 1.30pm,
US Embassy, Wellington; organised by the Wellington Palestine Group,
for more information contact email wpgnz at hotmail.com
- Wednesday, 29 November: Wellington Palestine Group Information
Stall to mark the UN International Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian People, the United Nations adopted this day in recognition
of the Palestinian's inalienable right as a people to self
determination. "On the 29th November 1947 the UN adopted Resolution
181 on the Partition of Palestine, which laid out the division of
Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. The Partition Plan
was accepted by the Jewish Agency but not by the Palestinians as they
objected to the dissection, partition or segregation of their country
or the giving of special or preferential rights to a minority. After
the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, most Palestinian
people were expelled from their land to live, up until today, in
refugee camps, in Palestine and around the Middle East. Since 1967
Israel has occupied all of historic Palestine and subjected the
Palestinian Population to a brutal military occupation reminiscent of
apartheid South Africa with the addition of expulsion and ongoing land
settlement." From 12 noon onwards at the bottom end of Cuba Mall,
Wellington, please feel free to come and help out at the stall during
the day; organised by the Wellington Palestine Group, for more
information contact email wpgnz at hotmail.com
- Saturday, 2 December: Silent vigil and presentation of letter to
the Honorary Consul of Israel, 11am at the Israeli Consulate, 54
Central Terrace, Kelburn, Wellington. Organised by Kapiti Quakers, for
more information contact c/o email pma at xtra.co.nz - please put 'For
Kapiti Quakers' in the subject line of your message.
* Christchurch
- Saturday, 2 December: Vigil and petition signing - "the situation
in Gaza has reached disaster levels with widespread hunger and
unemployment and the bombing of schools, hospitals and power stations.
Israeli human rights groups, including many women's groups have
organised a month of protest and called for people throughout the
world to join them. Come to the cathedral for even a few minutes,
light a candle for peace in Gaza, make a prayer or sign a petition to
Israeli leaders to stop the bombing and lift the siege of the tiny
patch of land called the Gaza strip; "do not be like a disciple
watching from afar", Bishop Riah, Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem." From
1pm to 3pm, Christchurch Cathedral, Square; organised by Christian
World Service in conjunction with Christchurch churches, for more
information contact email mary.cavanagh at cws.org.nz A poster
advertising this event is available at
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/gaza06.pdf
* Dunedin
- Saturday, 2 December: Gathering to call for an end to the siege and
the war in Gaza - "Speakers will include a spokesperson for Amnesty
International; Rev Peter Matheson; Rt Rev George Connor; Father Mark
Chamberlain; Christina Gibb, recently returned from the West Bank, and
others. There will be letters to the NZ PM and other cabinet ministers
and MPs, and a petition to the Israeli PM, and others in authority
there, for people to sign; these will also be outside the Dunedin
Farmers Market during the morning". Gathering from 12 noon to about
1pm, in the Queens Gardens, opposite the Settlers Museum; for further
details and wet weather venue contact Christina Gibb tel (03) 471 0263
or email cgibb at ihug.co.nz
4) Contact details and draft letters for NZ government and other politicians
a) Contact details for politicians: Helen Clark, Prime
Minister, email pm at ministers.govt.nz or fax (04) 473 3579; Winston
Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs, email wpeters at ministers.govt.nz
or fax: (04) 471 2042; letters to any MP should be posted to
[whoever], Freepost Parliament, PO Box 18-888, Wellington; contact
details for all MPs are available online at
http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/5858C8A5-ACDF-4B35-8D7A-3ABB7B19ACDB/46008/listofmembers21112007.pdf
or by phoning Parliament tel (04) 471 9999.
b) Draft letter for individuals to send (draft letter for groups below)
Dear
I am writing to urge you to take immediate action in relation to the
Israeli siege of and attacks on Gaza.
The situation in Gaza has reached emergency levels - very inadequate
water, electricity, and medicine; widespread hunger, poverty, and
unemployment; schools and other services out of operation; and
constant bombardments and attacks by the Israeli military. The problem
is the siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel and the sanctions imposed by
the international community, made worse by ongoing IDF attacks,
continuing since 25 June. As this siege continues, we see spreading
disease, malnutrition, and anarchy, together with a growing total of
deaths and injuries.
The community of peace organizations in Israel has joined together in
a coordinated, major campaign to end the siege of Gaza and call upon
Israel to embark upon negotiations with the Palestinian legitimate
representative. They invite all people of goodwill worldwide,
including Governments and other bodies with international
responsibilities, to act vigorously to end this desperate emergency.
In particular, I ask that the New Zealand Government:
- as a friend of Israel, urge the Israeli Government to end the
current siege of and attacks on Gaza;
- renew action to bring the matter before the United Nations Security Council;
- renew relations with the democratically elected Palestinian
Authority, abandoning the current financial and economic sanctions,
and urge other Governments to end these measures which inflict such
suffering on the civilian population, nearly half of whom are aged
under 14.
International relations with the Palestinian Authority have been
distorted by the labelling of Hamas as a "terrorist organisation",
rather than as a nationalist resistance body which has suspended
suicide bombings for the last year in favour of political involvement.
Hamas has stated its willingness to enter into a long-term truce with
Israel - a de facto recognition.
Please take urgent action.
Yours sincerely,
c) Draft letter for groups to send (draft letter for individuals above)
Dear
In urgent concern for the people of Israel and Palestine, we urge you
to take every action within your power to relieve the current
desperate situation in Gaza.
The situation in Gaza has reached emergency levels - very inadequate
water, electricity, and medicine; widespread hunger, poverty, and
unemployment; schools and other services out of operation; and
constant bombardments and attacks by the Israeli military. The problem
is the siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel and the sanctions imposed by
the international community, made worse by ongoing IDF attacks,
continuing since 25 June. As this siege continues, we see spreading
disease, malnutrition, and anarchy, together with a growing total of
deaths and injuries.
The community of peace organizations in Israel has joined together in
a coordinated, major campaign to end the siege of Gaza and call upon
Israel to embark upon negotiations with the Palestinian legitimate
representative. They invite all people of goodwill worldwide,
including Governments and other bodies with international
responsibilities, to act vigorously to end this desperate emergency.
In particular, we request that the New Zealand Government:
- as a friend of Israel, urge the Israeli Government to end the
current siege of and attacks on Gaza;
- renew action to bring the matter before the United Nations Security Council;
- renew relations with the democratically elected Palestinian
Authority, abandoning the current financial and economic sanctions,
and urge other Governments to end these measures which inflict such
suffering on the civilian population, nearly half of whom are aged
under 14.
International relations with the Palestinian Authority have been
distorted by the labelling of Hamas as a "terrorist organisation",
rather than as a nationalist resistance body which has suspended
suicide bombings for the last year in favour of political involvement.
Hamas has stated its willingness to enter into a long-term truce with
Israel - a de facto recognition.
Please give this matter your most urgent attention. We are writing
similarly to the Prime Minister.
Yours sincerely,
5) Links to more information
* 'Financial boycott sends Palestinian poverty numbers soaring, finds
UN report', 24 November 2006: "More than 1 million Palestinians, or
one in four inhabitants of the occupied territories, are now mired in
deep poverty as living standards deteriorate dramatically following
the economic boycott of the Palestinian Authority this year, according
to a United Nations report released today." - UN news report at
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20725&Cr=Palestin&Cr1 =
The full UNRWA report is at
http://www.un.org/unrwa/news/SocioEconomicImpacts_Nov06.pdf
* 'Civilians in Israel, Palestine bear brunt of abuses, UN rights
chief says', 23 November 2006: "Wrapping up a visit to the Middle
East, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour
said today that Palestinian and Israeli civilians were the primary
victims of the alarming deprivation of human rights in the region." -
UN news report at
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20709&Cr=Palestin&Cr1 =
* A Joint Statement by Israel's leading human rights organizations on
the Gaza humanitarian crisis -
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/letter_1106/statements/israel_human_rights_orga
* Question and answer sheet about the current situation in the Gaza Strip -
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/letter_1106/questions_answers
* Statement by the European Jews for a Just Peace -
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/letter_1106/statements/ejppc_gazastmt
* Sample letter addressed to Israeli decision makers -
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/letter_1106/sample_petition
* Email addresses, fax numbers and other contact info for Israel's
PM, Defense Minister and Chief of Staff -
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/letter_1106/contact
* Coalition against the Siege on Gaza web page -
http://gazasiege.net/Campaign_info_eng.htm
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Peace Movement Aotearoa (PMA)
the national networking peace organisation
PO Box 9314, Wellington 6141, Aotearoa New Zealand
Tel +64 4 382 8129, fax 382 8173 email pma at xtra.co.nz
PMA website - http://www.converge.org.nz/pma
Not in Our Name - http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nionnz.htm
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