[WCUSP] Fwd: [womeninblack] Ceasefire and the Gaza Campaign
Odile Hugonot Haber
odilehh at gmail.com
Mon Nov 27 14:12:59 CST 2006
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky at netvision.net.il>
Date: Nov 27, 2006 12:33 PM
Subject: [womeninblack] Ceasefire and the Gaza Campaign
To: Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky at netvision.net.il>
Friends,
Yes, the ceasefire is a good thing. Let's hope that it will be
maintained and then expanded into full-fledged negotiations for peace.
The ceasefire, however, does nothing to relieve the ongoing, terrible
siege of Gaza.
The siege began some six months ago in response to the election of
Hamas. In an effort to cut off the financial resources of the Hamas
government – to avoid funding terrorism, as it is usually termed - the
international community isolated Palestine by placing an embargo on
trade and banking and by severely reducing international aid. Israel
tightened the noose by further constraining travel within Palestine,
curtailing almost all entry to and exit from the Gaza Strip, and
withholding the taxes that it collects for the Palestinian authority.
The result has been chaos, violence, and poverty, and these have
fueled each other. The Israeli army rained shells down upon the
Gazans, while Palestinian militants increased the barrage of Qassam
missiles into nearby Israeli towns. In the last four months alone,
some 400 Gazans were killed by Israeli firepower, two Israelis were
killed by Palestinian firepower, and children on both sides are now
traumatized for the rest of their lives.
So while a ceasefire is a blessing, the siege remains in force,
withering the Gazan economy: 80% of Gazans now live in poverty on
less than $2 a day. In a shocking reversal of "economic growth", the
World Bank predicts a drop of 27% in this year's gross domestic
product: "a one year contraction of economic activity equivalent to
a deep depression"
(http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/wbgs/oPt_WorldBank_update_April2006.pdf
).
International Campaign – 78 cities!
The international campaign to end the siege of Gaza is now in full
swing. We know of 78 cities that are holding solidarity events in the
coming days – from Amsterdam to Zurich. Let us know if we failed to
mention you:
Amsterdam, Netherlands *** Ankara, Turkey *** Armidale, Northern NSW,
Australia *** Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Barcelona, Spain ***
Berkeley, CA, US *** Bergamo, Italy *** Berlin, Germany *** Bern,
Switzerland *** Biel/Bienne, Switzerland *** Bologna, Italy ***
Boston, MA, US *** Brighton, UK *** Caen, France *** Cambridge, MA, US
*** Canberra, Australia *** Cape Town, South Africa *** Cardiff, Wales
*** Chicago, IL, US *** Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand ***
Cologne, Germany *** Como, Italy *** Dallas, TX, US *** Des Moines,
Iowa, US *** Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Everett, WA, US ***
Geneva, Switzerland *** Grenoble, France *** Honolulu, HI, US ***
Keswick, UK *** Kingston, NY, US *** Lausanne, Switzerland *** Leuven,
Belgium *** Liverpool, UK *** London, UK *** Louisville, KY, US ***
Lucerne, Switzerland *** Madison, WI, US *** Marseille, France ***
Milano, Italy *** Montreal, Canada *** Muenster, Germany *** Napoli,
Italy *** New York, NY, US *** Oakland, CA, US *** Oslo, Norway ***
Padua, Italy *** Palma de Mallorca, Spain *** Paris, France ***
Parksville/Qualicum, BC, Canada *** Philadelphia, PA, US *** Phoenix,
AZ, US *** Portland, OR, US *** Ravenna, Italy *** Rome, Italy *** San
Francisco, CA, US *** San Luis Obispo, CA, US *** Santa Cruz, CA, US
*** Santandar, Spain *** Saugerties, NY, US *** Savona, Italy ***
Schio, Italy *** Seattle, WA, US *** Sevilla, Spain *** Strasbourg,
France *** Torino, Italy *** Toronto, Canada *** Treviso, Italy ***
Udine, Italy *** Valencia, Spain *** Vancouver, BC, Canada *** Verona,
Italy *** Vicenza, Italy *** Vienna, Austria *** Washington, DC, US
*** Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Woodstock, NY, US *** Zurich,
Switzerland
And look into our special campaign website for further information
about the activity nearest you:
http://gazasiege.net/partners.html
You will also find materials that may help you in your own activity,
including an information leaflet and poster.
In Israel, we will be holding our demonstration in Tel Aviv on
Saturday, December 2. We'll keep you posted.
The Petition Strategy
As this is being written, over 3,700 people have already signed our
petition calling for an end to the siege of Gaza. If you have not
signed, now is the time:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SaveGaza/petition.html
Signatures continue to flow; this petition is now third place (!) in
the list of the current 'most popular petitions'. [We are attaching
translations of the petition into Spanish and Italian.] We are trying
to remove the few crank signatures from these listings; don't allow
them to put you off from signing this document.
Here's the petition strategy: In Israel, we will present the signed
petition to Israeli officials and to American and European ambassadors
here. We want to encourage you to do the same to political leaders in
your own cities –elected leaders and Israeli ambassadors & consuls.
(We still have to figure out how to get these printed out.)
What is amazing is the cumulative effort being made all over the
world. We know there are many critical causes vying for your
attention, and we appreciate the efforts you are making during this
month-long campaign on behalf of Gaza. Our joint campaign has begun
to place the Gaza Siege on the agenda of many political leaders who
had not previously thought about it.
With your help, we can break the siege, and enter into full-bodied
negotiations to begin to bring peace to the region.
Shalom / Salaam,
Gila Svirsky, Jerusalem
Debby Lerman, Tel Aviv
Background Material
16 November, 2006
Gaza Humanitarian Crisis:
A Joint Statement by Israel's Leading
Human Rights Organizations
Nine Israeli human rights organizations issued an unprecedented joint
call to the international community to ensure human rights in the Gaza
Strip. The statement comes in light of the dire humanitarian situation
there:
· Some 80% of the population is extremely poor, living on less
than $2 a day. A majority of the population is dependant on food aid
from international donors.
· In the past four months, the Israeli military has killed over
300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Over half of those killed were
unarmed civilians who did not participate in the fighting. Among the
dead, 61 were children.
· About 70% of Gaza's potential workforce is out of work or without pay.
· On 28 June, Israel bombed Gaza's only independent power
station, which produced 43% of the electricity needed by the residents
in Gaza. Since then, most of the population has electricity between 6
and 8 hours each day, with disastrous consequences on water supply,
sewage treatment, food storage, hospital functioning and public
health.
· The Gaza Strip is almost entirely sealed off from the outside
world, with virtually no way for Palestinians to get in or out.
Exports have been reduced to a trickle; imports are limited to
essential humanitarian supplies.
Israel cannot shirk its responsibility for this growing crisis. Even
after its Disengagement in 2005, Israel continues to hold decisive
control over central elements of Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip:
1. Israel continues to maintain complete control over the air
space and territorial waters.
2. Israel continues to control the joint Gaza Strip-West Bank
population registry, preventing relocation between the West Bank and
Gaza, and family unification.
3. Israel controls all movement in and out of Gaza, with
exclusive control over all crossing points between Gaza and Israel,
and the ability to shut down the Rafah crossing to Egypt.
4. Israeli ground troops conduct frequent military operations inside Gaza.
5. Israel continues to exercise almost complete control over
imports and exports from the Gaza Strip.
6. Israel controls most elements of the taxation system of the
Gaza Strip, and since February has withheld tax monies legally owed to
the PA, and amounting to half of the total PA budget.
The broad scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip creates a strong
case for the claim that Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip
continues, along with an obligation to ensure the welfare of the
civilian population. Regardless of the legal definition of the Gaza
Strip, Israel bears legal obligations regarding those spheres that it
continues to control. Israel has the right to defend itself. However,
all military measures taken by Israel must respect the provisions of
international humanitarian law.
The following Israeli human rights organizations call on the
international community to ensure that Israel respects the basic human
rights of residents of the Gaza Strip, and that all parties respect
international humanitarian law:
B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the
Occupied Territories * Association for Civil Rights in the Israel
*Amnesty International–Israel Section * Bimkom: Planners for Planning
Rights * HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual * Gisha:
Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement * Physicians
for Human Rights-Israel * Public Committee Against Torture in Israel *
Rabbis for Human Rights
For the full three-page statement, see www.btselem.org
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