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2006-07-31: Condemnation is Not Enough ... BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS NOW!!!

Condemnation is Not Enough …. BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS NOW!!!

NYC, July 31, 2006 

 

 On July 30, 2006 Israel bombed a building where 100 civilians had taken shelter, massacring at least 58 Lebanese civilians, including 38 children, in the city of Qana.  Israeli missiles struck just after one in the middle of the night, leveling a three-story building where two extended families had taken refuge in the basement from heavy Israeli bombardment in the area.  Palestinian father with baby

   

 

France, Britain, Spain, the European Union, the United Nations and countries throughout the world condemned the Israeli attack on Qana.  Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora denounced the attack as a "war crime," demanding an immediate ceasefire in a conflict that has now killed more than 750 Lebanese people, more than half of which were children, and has left a trail of destruction across the country since July 13, 2006.  

This is not the first time Israeli attacks are condemned by the international community. On July 23, 2006 the United Nations relief coordinator Jan Egeland condemned the devastation caused by Israeli air strikes in Beirut describing it as 'horrific' and terming it 'a violation of humanitarian law’.  On May 8, 2002 the United Nations General Assembly condemned Israeli attacks on Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.  From 1955 – 1992, 66 United Nations resolutions against Israel were passed.  

Israel’s response to these condemnations is quite simply to ignore them.  Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has already stated that despite the international condemnation of the massacre perpetrated by Israel in Qana “we will not stop the offensive”.  Not only has the US government provided Israel with the weapons, including illegal phosphorous and cluster bombs, with which it is now bombarding Lebanon, it has also provided virtually unlimited financial, military, political and diplomatic support to Israel.  Israel had been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance for almost 30 years, and since 1985 has received about $3 billion in military and economic aid each year.  Your tax dollars pay for Israeli war crimes.

Condemnation is not enough.  Israel’s impunity for its crimes against humanity, its violations of international law, its attacks on Arab nations and its massacres of civilians must come to an end.  It is time for action. The only method of placing real pressure on Israel is through a concerted campaign of boycott, divestments and sanctions until Israel abides by international law, ends its occupation, stops its attacks on Lebanon, respects the rights of Palestinian refugees to return and respects the rights of Palestinians living inside Israel.   

As Americans we must demand that our tax-dollars stop being sent to Israel.  As individuals we must stop buying Israeli products.  As organizations, churches, unions, universities, we must divest money from companies that support Israel.  As a movement of people of conscience we must raise our voice and demand that our government upholds international law, humanity and morality by carrying out sanctions against Israel.

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2006-07-29: Stop US Sponsored Israel Terror

Stop US Sponsored Israel Terror

July 29, 2006 

Stop the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon

·       Over 400 Lebanese civilians have been killed, including entire families, by the Israeli military bombardment that began on July 12, 2006. In targeting civilians, including the injured in ambulances and cars carrying Lebanese refugees attempting to escape the bombing, Israel is in direct violation of international humanitarian law.

·       20% of the Lebanese people have been displaced.  Once again the state of Israel has created a grave refugee problem displacing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and villages.

·       $4 billion of Lebanese civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, and entire neighborhoods have been flattened.  Bombardment by the Israeli army has caused widespread damage to bridges and roads, hospitals, schools, residential housing, electricity plants, airports, and seaports, especially in southern Lebanon.

·       A UN observer post was destroyed on July 25, 2006 by a deliberate Israeli air strike, which killed 4 UN officials.  ·       This cannot be justified as a response to the capture of two Israeli combatants.  Pursuing military targets is not a violation of international law.  Collective punishment of a civilian population is.

·       Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and occupied Lebanon in 1982 for nearly 18 years.  Thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon were massacred by the Israeli occupation forces in Lebanon in 1982 alone.

End the Occupation of Palestine

·       Israel is illegally occupying the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and has created illegal Jewish-only colonies and Jewish-only roads in occupied territory.  In 2002 Israel began building an apartheid Wall on occupied Palestinian territory, confiscating and destroying Palestinian farmland and trapping Palestinians in ghettos.  These actions have all been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in a July 9, 2004 Advisory Opinion.

·       Israel is a colonial and occupying state that has left 2/3rd of the 9 million Palestinians as refugees or displaced people.  Israeli has done this through a systematic process of ethnic cleansing, land grabs, and attacks on civilians.  By not allowing Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, Israel is in direct violation of UN Resolution 194.

·       Israel’s most recent attacks on the Gaza Strip has included the killing of over 120 Palestinians, a large number of them women and children, continued bombing of civilian homes, a missile strike on a university, the destruction of Gaza’s only power plant, the arrest of Palestinian government officials, and economic strangulation. The United Nations has warned of a widespread “humanitarian crises” in Gaza. 

·       Israeli’s actions cannot be justified as a response to the capture of one soldier. Palestinians attacked a military target, legitimate resistance under international law. Israel is targeting civilians, strictly prohibited by international law.

·       Israel is currently in violation of over 66 UN Resolutions.

Stop US Aid to Israel

·       Not only has the US government provided Israel with the weapons including illegal phosphorous and cluster bombs with which it is now bombarding Lebanon, it has also provided virtually unlimited financial, military, political and diplomatic support to enable - even encourage - Israel to continue its illegal attacks on the civilian populations of Palestine and Lebanon.

·       In violation of the US Arms Export Control Act, the US continues to provide Israel with military aid including accelerated delivery of aviation fuels, bombs and munitions all funded by US taxpayers.

·       This makes the US complicit in Israeli war crimes.   This makes US taxpayers complicit as well.

Free Arab Political Prisoners

·       While Israel demands the release of its three military army soldiers, Israel is holding 10,000 Arab political prisoners.  The demand of Hamas for the release of the Israeli soldier was the release of 130 Palestinian women and 388 Palestinian children being held illegally in Israeli jails.  The demand of Hizballah for the release of the two Israel soldiers it captured was the release of Lebanese political prisoners being held illegally in Israeli jails.

·       To date, there have been three prisoner exchange deals between Israel and Hizballah and several prisoner exchanges between the Palestinians and Israel.

·       According to Amnesty International, B’tselem, and other human rights organizations, Israel’s use of administrative detention, imprisonment without due process, imprisonment inside Israel, and torture is illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.

What you can do? Stop being complicit! Start Acting NOW!

·       Write to the media asking them why they are not covering the destruction and devastation being carried out by Israel on the civilian population in Lebanon and Palestine.

·       Write or visit your congressman – go to the US Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation for talking points and more information: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/

·       Boycott Israeli products.  Look for the Israeli code 7290.  Look for products made in Israel.  Tell friends and family to join the boycott.  Work on divestment campaigns in your churches, unions, and organizations.  Wide spread boycott and divestment campaigns are the most principled, non-violent means to force Israel to abide by international law.  For more information on boycott and divestment go to: http://www.bigcampaign.org/boycott.html; www.pacbi.org.  

Ad-Hoc Coalition for Justice in the Middle East – protectpalestine@gmail.com

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