[WCUSP] Fwd: Weds 5 - 7:30 See Rep Dingell's rep at the AA Library

[Odile Hugonot Haber]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: anner <agr1 at mac.com>
Date: Jan 20, 2008 9:19 PM
Subject: Weds 5 - 7:30 See Rep Dingell's rep at the AA Library
To: Art <abublitz at comcast.net>
Cc: IDAP



Friends,
This could be a good first step for Ann Arbor groups and individuals
who want to ask for an end to the "collective punishment" of the 1.5
million Gazans (half are children).  We can meet Rep. Dingell's
representative this Wednesday, 5 - 7:30 at the main library.


Here is the Dingell info sent this evening by Shirley Zempel:


This Wednesday, Jan. 23, you can send a message to Rep. Dingell that
you oppose any more funding for war. His field representative will
hold an open forum for his constituents to find out what is on our
minds. My thought is to fund education, health care, and peaceful
resolution of our differences with sovereign nations. It's a good bet
most people out there would like to let him know how our government
has let us down. Let's do it!  The representative will be at the Ann
Arbor Main Library, 5th Ave. and William Sts., from 5-7:30 on
Wednesday. Participants can go in to speak or leave a message, or you
can stand outside (on the public walk, not Library property) and carry
a sign or pass out fliers telling others what you would like to see
from our government.


Some new Gaza concerns arrived today via Prof. Qumsiyeh, in New Haven.
 He speaks of Combatants for Peace, who memorably spoke at the JCC
here last year:


Yesterday in Connecticut, we had the honor to hear from the father,
mother, and sister of 10-year-old Abir Aramin who was murdered by the
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in occupied Anata, Jerusalem,
Palestine.  We also heard from Israeli refusenik Yonatan Shapira.
Abir's father Bassam Aramin was jailed in Israel starting at age 17.
When released he and Yonatan co-founded Combatants for Peace which
combined Israelis and Palestinians who now advocate nonviolence and
justice. He and others continued with the group even after his
daughter was murdered in front of her school and while walking with
other classmates, friends, as well as her sister (who gave us a
heart-wrenching account of what happened and who spoke movingly about
how Palestinian Children want to live like other children).


Qumsiyeh reports that 92 children have been killed by Israeli security
forces since Abir's death exactly a year ago, and most were in Gaza.
He notes that a major catastrophic situation is unfolding in the Gaza
Strip (home to 1.5 million Palestinians, 70% of them refugees). A
short message from a Gaza resident says:


"Dear all: This is going to be short, as short as possible: At least
80% of Gaza under darkness. Not only the lights but every thing
related to electricity. It is expected to have hundreds or even
thousands of people dead if this situation continues..... Bassam M.
Nasser, Gaza, Palestine"...


Qumsiyeh adds:
Read about the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza
http://www.freegaza.ps...


WRITE and TELEPHONE THOSE WORKING FOR YOU IN WASHINGTON AND DEMAND
THAT THIS CARNAGE END!


President George W. Bush (202) 456-1414 president at whitehouse.gov
 White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111 Fax: (202) 456-2461
 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (202) 647-6575
 Any Senator (202) 224-3121
 Any Representative (202) 225-3121
 E-Mail Congress: visit http://www.congress.org

Embassy of Israel, 3514 International Dr., NW, Washington, DC 20008
(202) 364-5515
 ...
========
 Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
 http://qumsiyeh.org
 http://justicewheels.org


Finally, Helen Fox forwarded this report on the loss of power in Gaza,
as reported by Al Jazeera, which gives information here not readily
available in the US.

 Residents in the Gaza Strip are facing the closure of the territory`s
only power plant as Israel continues a shutdown of its border
crossings.

 The plant shut down one of its two working turbines on Sunday because
of a fuel shortage following the blockade, which Israel says is in
response to Palestinian rocket attacks.

 UN, EU and Palestinian officials have said the second turbine would
cease operation within hours.

 `There is no fuel coming in and we have no reserves,` Kanaan Abeid,
deputy chairman of the Palestinian energy authority in the Gaza Strip,
said.

 Power outages have become commonplace in the Gaza Strip in recent
months after Israel declared the area a `hostile entity` and began
restricting fuel supplies.

 However, Arye Mekel, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said
that supplies of petrol used in cars, as well as diesel, had been
halted but not fuel oil and cooking gas.

 `The ball is in their court,` Mekel said. `If they stop the rockets
today, everything would go back to normal.`

 He suggested the power plant`s shutdown was unnecessary saying: `They
have an interest in exaggerating`.

No fuel, no water

 Al Jazeera`s Jacky Rowland, reporting from Gaza, said that
electricity was running out fast.

 `The only power station in Gaza has already closed down half its
power generating capacity. The final generating unit is set to close
in a matter of hours,` she said.

 `No fuel coming in means no power generation, it also means no fuel
for the generators that fuel the water pumps - a lot of the water in
Gaza is deep beneath the surface, and it has to be pumped to the
surface - so no fuel can also mean no water.`

 As fuel runs out, residents are scrambling for basic necessities.

 People are stocking up on fuel and food before prices spike and
supplies run dry.

 `People are shopping feverishly, fearing products will vanish from
the shelves soon,` Jihad Abu Anwar, a grocery store owner, told the
Reuters news agency.

 Basim Naeem, the Hamas-appointed health minister, said that the
already crumbling health system was in danger of collapsing and
patients` lives were increasingly at risk due to the fuel cuts.


`Humanitarian standards`


UNRWA, the UN organisation supporting Palestinian refugees, warned
that the shortages would drastically affect hospitals, sewage
treatment plants and water facilities.

 `The logic of this defies basic humanitarian standards,` Christopher
Gunness, UNRWA spokesman, said.

Hospitals are able to operate using generators when the power goes
out, but they will have to cut back on activities like laundry, waste
incineration and sterilisation, hospital officials said.

 The UN has said Israel should not collectively punish Gaza`s
population while responding to security threats.

 The organisation has criticised Israel`s decision to close border
crossings into Gaza, preventing aid deliveries to the 1.5 million
people living in the territory, saying on Saturday that the move could
provoke a humanitarian crisis.

 `Such action cuts off the population from much-needed fuel supplies
used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and hospitals,`
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said.

 Ban also urged an immediate end to violence in Gaza and Palestinian
sniper and rocket attacks into Israel.

 He called for `maximum restraint on the part of the Israeli defence forces`.

International condemnation

 Al Jazeera`s Rowland said that the international condemnation
highlighted the need for Israel to stop its collective punishment of
residents in Gaza.

 `Fighters make up about one per cent of the population,` she said.

 `There are over one million people that live in the Gaza Strip, and
it is unacceptable that they are all suffering for the actions of a
small minority.`

 Zeev Boim, an Israeli cabinet minister, said that rather than
condemning Israel`s move, the UN should condemn Palestinian rocket
attacks.

 `I don`t hear the UN`s voice,` he said.

 Israel has continued to push ahead with its military offensive
against Palestinian fighters in both Gaza and the West Bank.

 On Thursday, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said in a
statement that his country was at `war` against fighters in the Gaza
Strip.

 The Israeli military has particularly intensified its operations in
Gaza, with at least 32 people killed during the past week. In
response, Hamas has begun firing rockets at Israel for the first time
in months.

 Around 230 rockets and mortars have been fired over the border since
Tuesday, the Israeli military said

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ECA56EC5-ED9B-4878-B386-3C4A132940EE.htm