Gaza On Our Minds

My friend Kathy wrote this, but I could have just as easily written it myself. I've been communicating with friends in Gaza via text messages and missed calls. The situation is very grim.

Tonight, we had a vigil in Ramallah at Al Manara Square. Here are the photos.

Please take action.




Dear Friends and Family,

For some time now the situation in Gaza has continued to worsen. Yesterday the Israeli authorities cut all electricity to Gaza. Al-Jazeera reported this morning that hospitals are running on emergency diesel fuel. Children in incubators in the hospitals will die when the emergency supply runs out and around 70 Gaza residents are waiting for kidney dialysis, just to name a few people and activities that are affected by this cutting of electricity. The temperature is cold in Ramallah and will feel even colder in Gaza due to the dampness of being beside the sea.

I tried to call friends in Gaza, but no one answers the phone. Of course the landlines are not working and people are trying to save their cell phones for emergencies.

What is happening in Gaza is a crime against humanity. When will the world wake up and realize this and do something about it? All of this is happening on the heels of the visit of US President George Bush and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier here last week.

Following is a statement released by Al-Haq just 30 minutes ago. Information from the statement can be used as talking points.
Following the Al-Haq statement is some information about a group of Israeli activists responding to the situation in Gaza.

PLEASE ACT TODAY.....

1. If you live in the US or are an American citizen living abroad:

WRITE and TELEPHONE THOSE WORKING FOR YOU IN WASHINGTON AND DEMAND THAT THIS SEIGE END!
President George W. Bush (202) 456-1414 president@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


2. If you live in Canada or are a Canadian citizen living abroad, in addition to contacting your elected representatives,
please e-mail Prime Minister Stephen Harper at: pm@pm.gc.ca

3. Everyone:
WRITE TO/CALL THE MEDIA AND DEMAND THEY COVER THIS HUMANITARIAN DISASTER AND THESE ONGOING WAR CRIMES.
Media contacts:
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/contact/media.asp
http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/media
Ask Journalists to interview Palestinians; there is no shortage of those (e.g. in the US, here is a listing of many Palestinian Americans: http://imeu.net/news/palestinian-americans.shtml ).



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AL-HAQ ACTION ALERT



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ref.: 01.2008E

21 January 2008



End the Siege of the Gaza Strip

On Sunday 20 January 2008, Israel's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip, including the blocking of fuel supplies, forced Gaza's only power plant to shut down, plunging over 800,000 Palestinians into darkness. According to the General-Director of the plant, the shortage of electricity caused by the lack of fuel will affect the provision of medical care and water and sanitation services. On Sunday morning, the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, which normally operates 130 wells as well as sewage treatment plants, stated that if the fuel supply is not restored by Tuesday, these services will cease to function throughout the Gaza Strip. Since Friday 18 January, Israel has also closed all Gaza's border crossings and blocked all humanitarian aid, except in exceptional circumstances. With some 80 percent of Gaza's population requiring food aid, the impact of these measures will be catastrophic. This escalation has also been accompanied by an intensifying of Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip in the first 19 days of 2008, costing the lives of 69 Palestinians, including four children and eight women, and the injury of over 190.

Israel 's current policy in relation to the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million inhabitants constitutes an unmitigated violation of international humanitarian law including, but not limited to, Israel's obligation as an Occupying Power to, at a minimum, ensure the basic needs of the population under its effective control, and the prohibitions on collective punishment, coercion and unlawful reprisals.



Israel 's current policy and recent actions have shown a casual disregard for the lives and dignity of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, treating their suffering and the violation of their fundamental rights as little more than an inconvenience that will earn gentle reprimand from the international community and Palestinian National Authority, but will otherwise be irrelevant. With the intolerable conditions and constant state of fear that the Gazan population is now forced to live under, it is time for this position to change. Israel must not be allowed to shield itself from the implementation of its international legal obligations, nor should the international community shy away from enforcing such implementation. Inarticulate fears of disrupting a "peace process" that exists only in vague declarations and diplomatic handshakes, that treats the Gaza Strip as separate from the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Palestinians as a divided people, cannot be an excuse for allowing the continued siege of the Gaza Strip. In fact, if any "peace process" is to succeed, the conclusion reached must embody a sense of justice. This requires, as an unavoidable starting point, that the fundamental rights of all parties be recognised and protected.



Al-Haq therefore calls upon,



Israel to immediately cease all military operations in the Gaza Strip and to end its policy of collective punishment, including the opening of border crossings to allow the movement of goods and people, and restoring the supply of fuel and humanitarian aid.



the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to establish Israel's obligations under international law in respect of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, including ending the collective punishment and ensuring access to essential medical services, food and water and sanitation, as an integral part of any negotiations.



regional organisations and individual states to take concrete measures, including economic and diplomatic sanctions, to ensure Israel's compliance with international law.



all international agencies, including the UN, present in the OPT to actively draw the attention of international decision makers to the impact of Israeli policies on the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip.



the UN Secretary-General immediately bring the situation in the Gaza Strip to the attention of the Security Council.



concerned individuals and civil society groups to raise Israel's violations of international law with elected officials in their home counties.



Palestinian armed groups to immediately cease the launching of rockets targeting civilian population centres in Israel.



- Ends –







Rabie Abulatifah

Media & Communications Officer
Al-Haq
P.O.Box: 1413
Ramallah - West Bank
Palestine
Tel.: + 972 (0)2 2956421
+ 972 (0)2 2954646
Fax.: + 972 (0)2 2954903
www.alhaq.org

************************************************************


FROM GUSH SHALOM


On Saturday January 26,

nobody stays home!



End the Siege!

Relief convoy to our neighbors in Gaza

Does it help the children of Sderot when we force the children of Gaza to drink polluted water? It seems the government of Israel thinks so (if they think).



Gaza is under siege! Hundreds of commodities needed for maintaining daily life are not allowed into the Strip, by order of the Government of Israel. Even the entry of water filters - vital for purifying the water drawn from Gazan wells, which are heavily polluted by brine, oil and sewage - has already been prevented for over half a year. The Israeli media doesn't succeed (and doesn't even try always) to convey to the public a true impression of how severe the situation is. But anyone who has talked to Gazans in the past months understands that the situation has long since developed into a regional disaster, which puts us, too, in danger.



As is well known, the Gaza Strip is a small, poor, overcrowded territory even in "ordinary" times. The occupation of the Strip did not end with the "Disengagement"; on the contrary, passage of persons and goods, in and out of the Strip, was made far more difficult by the Israeli authorities, and no one can enter or leave, by land, sea or air, except by permission from the Israeli security services. As far as Gazans are concerned, Disengagement brought no liberty, but just made occupation that much worse!



However bad the suffering is of the residents of Sderot, Ashkelon and the kibbutzim and moshavim in the area under the barrage of Qassam missiles, mortar shells and sniper bullets, it is in no way a justification for a cruel siege which severely harms a million and half civilians - men, women and children. The siege is an immoral act and a violation of International Law - and from a practical point of view, increasing the bitterness and suffering in Gaza leads to an intensification of attacks on the Israeli side, not to their end. Unlike what we have been made to believe, residents of Sderot and residents of Gaza are not to be seen as opponents: both are victims of a stupid and vicious policy of the Government of Israel.



In the convoy, departing from all over Israel on Saturday January 26, 2008, we will take with us a large quantity of water filters and firmly demand of the military authorities that they be allowed into the Strip where they are urgently needed, together with basic foodstuffs - flour, rice, oil, salt, lentils, beans - for distribution to residents driven to extreme poverty and despair by the siege.



On the border of the Strip we will conduct a protest rally, simultaneously with a rally held by our Palestinian friends on the other side. Together, we will demand of the Government of Israel to remove the siege of Gaza forthwith! We intend to hold the rally where we can have eye contact with the Palestinians, at a distance of no more than one kilometer.

Our friends on the Palestinian side, peace and human rights activists of the Palestinian International Campaign To End The Siege such as the well-known psychiatrist Dr. Eyad Sarraj, will go to the border area despite the great difficulty and risk, in order to greet and support us. It is far easier for us to go towards them and support them. In a joint Israeli-Palestinian action on both sides of the border we will present a true alternative to the continuing escalation, to the shooting and killing, destruction and suffering, missiles and tanks. An alternative of ceasefire, of a true end to direct and indirect occupation, an alternative of peace and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians, for Sderot and for Gaza.



The convoy will include both buses and private cars. It is very important to arrive with a car, if you have

one, in order to create a long and highly visible convoy. If at all possible, let us know in advance, even before

Monday Jan. 21, to Ya'akov 050-5733276 or Teddy 052-5017141. It is especially important to let us know as soon as

possible if you can come with a car - so that we can make better preparations.



Donations to help buy products for the convoy, and defray other expenses, can be transferred via POB 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033, Israel, or handed to our activists during the convoy itself (checks should be made out to Gush Shalom, and prominently marked 'For Gaza Convoy').



We have made considerable and lengthy efforts to coordinate this activity. The convoy will depart from organized rendezvous points at predetermined hours, in order to arrive together and create a long convoy. The rendezvous points are as follows:



Haifa: Solel Boneh Square (buses & private cars) 7:45



Tel-Aviv: Arlozorov Railway Station (buses) 8:15

Reading Parking Lot (private cars, joined by the buses from Arlozorov 8:30



Jerusalem: Liberty Bell Park (buses) 8:30

Teddy Parking Lot (private cars, joined by the buses from Liberty Bell 8:45



Be'er Sheba: University Gate (buses & private cars) 10:15



Signs, posters and cloth banners for the buses will be available at the rendezvous points. Please arrive in time to 'decorate' the cars. Everybody is asked to bring from home commodities needed in Gaza (milk powder, mineral water [not of Eden Springs], oil, flour, school supplies [satchels, pens and pencils etc.] and cigarettes) as a family package for a Gazan family. If you want you can add a personal letter in Arabic or English to the recipients.



Those who arrive in their cars are asked to tie a symbolic aid package to the roof of the car (if you were not able to do it before arriving, please bring the products and a rope with you, and we will help you tie them at the rendezvous).

We also ask all of you to bring drums, whistles, and those who have them - a shofar, in order to make a huge outcry of breaking down the wall of the siege. Please bring food and drink for a whole day.



Registration for Tel-Aviv and Haifa:

taliashiff@gmail.comTalia Shiff 052-3738832



Registration for Jerusalem and Be'er Sheba:

moshepesach@yahoo.es Moshe Pesach 050-9702338



Participating organizations:

Gush Shalom, Combatants for Peace, Coalition of Women for Peace, ICAHD - The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Bat Shalom, Bat Tzafon for Peace & Equality, Balad, Hadash, Adalah, Tarabut-Hithabrut, Physicians for Human Rights, Alternative Information Center, Psychoactive - Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights, ActiveStills, Student Coalition Tel-Aviv University, New Profile, Machsom Watch, PCATI - Public Committee Against Torture.

Details on the Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege to which we are allied:

http://www.end-gaza-siege.ps/IndexEn.htm