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Dec. 30th, 2009
Thirty people of Ithaca NY, including children gathered on the main artery Rt. 13, to protest the Israeli attacks on Gaza, holding banners as thousands of cars passed during rush hour in frigid weather for hours this afternoon. Many passed honking in support of the protesters and their message for Israeil to stop the slaughter of over 370 people, including children. Over 1500 have been injured.
Here is some more independent web coverage of our demo:
http://thephilistine.org/2008/12/30/locals-showing-their-support-for-gaza-and-humanity/
http://www.tcswarm.org/main/content/silence-not-option-say-protesters
Ithaca, NY Protest against the Israeli War on Gaza Statement
Who called this demonstration?
- We are called by the children of Gaza whose homes, schools and little bodies are being bombed and destroyed. We join our brothers and sisters in Palestine and around the world who cannot sleep while these war crimes are being committed.
- We are called locally by the Central New York Campaign to End the Occupation of Palestine:
- We are apart of a national protest involving more than sixty locations; in New York State demonstrations in Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, New York City; coordinated by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
- We are also supporting civil disobedience at the Israeli Embassy, in DC, where two Ithacans were arrested: Clare and Ellen Grady and Heidi Schloegel of the Bronx.
What are we protesting?
- We call for the immediate end to the Israeli government’s air strikes on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which began on Saturday, December 27, and end to Israel’s mobilization for a land invasion of this densely populated territory, which has already been devastated by strict sanctions. Israel has called up 6500 troops to prepare for this invasion.
- We oppose the use of our tax dollars to help massacre to Palestinian people in Gaza. The U.S. provides the Israeli military with the F16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and naval gunboat used in the attacks on Palestinians, who have no air force. We call on the United States to end its aid to the Israeli military, which is acting both against international law and moral principles by enabling and justifying Israel’s war crimes. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the collective punishment of civilian populations.
- We call for an end to the inhumane and illegal blockade on the Gaza Strip. Israel has deliberately impoverished the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip (80 % are refugees and half are children) and caused a humanitarian disaster of dire proportions by prohibiting the delivery of food, medicine, fuel, and electricity.
- We call for a just peace based on human rights, international law, and equality. Such a policy is the only way to ensure the legitimate security needs of all peoples and can only be achieved by engaging in dialog with all interested parties. A just and lasting peace includes the complete end of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip; a resolution to the Palestinian refugee issue consistent with international law and UN resolutions, including the right of return and/or compensation; and full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
- We call on the media to stop reporting the siege and air strikes on Gaza primarily from the perspectives of the Israeli attackers and its US supporters.
What about Israel’s security? Aren’t Israelis the victims of constant rocket fire? Didn’t Hamas break the ceasefire?
- All human beings, include Palestinians and Israelis, deserve secure lives.
- In democratic elections in early 2006, the Hamas political party won. Israel, with the support of the U.S. began placing Gaza under a blockade, which has continued to tighten, leading to extremely low supplies of food, medicine, water, electrical power, and all other basic necessities of life. This blockade can only contribute to desperation, which cannot provide a path to peace for anyone.
- In June of 2008 the Hamas government in Gaza established a cease-fire with Israel. The agreement was to end the firing of homemade rockets into Israeli territory and living the siege on Gaza. The blockade never ended and Israel continued to come into Gaza territory to assassinate Palestinians. In November 2008, 14 Palestinians were killed by Israeli assaults. It was these assassinations and the continuing blockade that made the ceasefire agreement moot. During this period some rocket fire continued from militants who were not linked with Hamas, but there were no Israeli deaths caused by Palestinian rocket fire from the beginning of the ceasefire until the day of the Israeli invasion. The airstrikes, which stoke the Palestinians anger and desire for revenge, in no way contribute the security of Israelis. Ceasefires are more effective.
What can people do to end the Israeli war on Gaza?
- Organize protests and rallies.
- Contact the White House, the State Department, your Representatives and Senators, and the Obama Transition Team to protest Israel’s war on Gaza and demand an immediate ceasefire.
- Call in to talk shows and write letters to the editor to express your opinion.
Ideas for signs
(Some precautions: People may not even know where Gaza is. Signs must show that Palestinians live there. People may not know the violence being carried out—offer examples.
- Massacre in Gaza: U.S. and Israel Guilty
- Stop the Massacre of Palestinians in Gaza
- Death Count: 370 Palestinians in Gaza: 4 Israelis in South Israel
- Injuries: 1,500 Palestinians: 138 in in South Israel
- Stop bombing Palestinian children
- Israel and U.S. Kill Democracy in Gaza
- Let Gaza live
- Stop U.S. military aid to Israel Now. Stop U.S. Taxes to Massacre and Starve Palestinians.
- Why did Israel bomb a Palestinian University?
- Arrest Israeli leaders for war crimes in Gaza
- End blockade of Gaza
- Open Gaza Borders
- Palestinian Blood on our Hands
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Mary Anne // Jan 1, 2009 at 10:37 am
New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2008
Thanks to all of you who came out in the bitter cold yesterday for the
suffering people of Gaza!! You folks were great. It warmed our hearts
to see so many and especially the little ones. Thanks to Finian,
Layla and Francis! Thanks, too, to Grace who is expecting. Thanks Cris
for all the filming and editing of our event this time and all the other times
you’ve been there for us. Theresa, thanks for putting this on your Democratic
Socialists of America show next Tues. evening on Public Access, Ch.13.
Thanks to all the older veterans of peace actions and the younger ones!
Fred, Linda, Sally & Bob, Pat, Howie, Asma & Ulysses,
Dave, Lisa, Beth, Cris, Ed, Maryanne, Marty, Nevine, Brian, Sam,
Katie, Don, Jessica, Martha, Theresa & Wayles, Fernando and family
who jumped out of their car to join us!, Petra & Richard, and anyone else that I may be forgetting…please forgive me! Now how to reach you all to let you know all the gratitude we feel. /That’s the next hurdle. Help me if you can by forwarding this.
Good News…..Clare and Ellen are home with rest of the Ithaca community that
went to DC to protest at the Israeli Embassy after protesting at the Pentagon.
The mothers have to appear in DC Superior Court on Jan 29,2009. Our witness yesterday was apart of a global effort, with over 100 cities in the US, with many thousand protesting through out NY alone. We heard many positive horns honking in support here in Ithaca and I’ll never forget the look on a woman’s face who stopped at the traffic light. She and her husband were of Middle East descent. There was such a heart felt moment of meeting of the eyes, acknowledgment that this is what we should be doing at this grave moment. Anyone who has any consciousness of what is happening is hurting deeply watching the unnecessary suffering in Gaza. The people of Gaza are determined to be a free people. We will be out there again soon. We need to hold our government accountable for its unflinching support of Israel’s military
aggression. We say no to the occupation of Palestine, no to the bombing by our planes and helicopters and no to an Israeli ground incursion in Gaza.
Let us stay in touch. Please call and numbers below to let me know your contact
info and email me so we can get out there again….with hand warmers and feet
warmers next time. If you are interested in joining our
Central NY Campaign to End the Occupation of Palestine, please get
in touch with us. This was a great witness considering the short notice & timing
of so many being away for the holidays. Thanks to all of you who are
traveling and wrote notes of solidarity as well. Stay warm and safe.
Abrazos (hugs) and Happy New Year!
A big thanks on behalf of Nevine Sabet, Beth Harris
and myself, Mary Anne Grady Flores
Remember to check the web sitees listed below for updates on the situation in Palestine.
–
Mary Anne Grady Flores
514 N. Plain St., Ithaca, NY 14850
1-607-273-7437/ 1-607-280-8797
Ithaca Catholic Workers
“If you think one person can’t be effective, you’ve never been in bed
with a mosquito”-War Resister’s League
http://www.electronicintifada.org
http://www.hebronorphans.blogspot.com
http://www.puertoricotopalestine.org
http://www.stpatricksfour.org
http://www.democracynow.org
http://www.cpt.org
2 Patrick Hutchinson // Jan 7, 2009 at 5:43 am
Stop the Massacre of Palestinians in Gaza
The whole world watches as the Palestinians in Gaza are being massacred. The justification for watching the slaughter is that Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas rocket attacks on Israelis. But what of Palestine’s right to defend itself against further incursion by Israeli tactics? The massacres of non-combatant women, children, aid workers, medical staff, United Nation refuge workers etc. are excused away as inevitable and acceptable casualties of war.
If all the nations of the world were to apply these justifications for their military actions, the whole world would become lawless, unsafe and barbaric. It would be a world ruled by bullies. The strongest would dominate and dictate to the rest of the world.
The footprints of the ongoing slaughter in Gaza are all too obvious. America attacks by bombing incessantly and obliterating their opponent’s civilian infrastructure before sending in their invading forces. The Clinton administration did this in Yugoslavia and Bush has done it in Iraq. Today’s Israeli invasion of Gaza follows the American military strategy.
One might ask why a small nation like Israel would dare to defy the Secretary General of the United Nations and almost all civilized nations on the planet by continuing the slaughter. The obvious answer is that Israel has the support of America in this activity. That is, Israel dares its massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza because the Bush administration condones and/or has orchestrated it. But, does Israel have the same support from President-elect Barack Obama?
Obama’s silence on the issue of the slaughter can be construed as tacit approval of the Bush policy. Today, he has finally spoken out and was reported in the Guardian News and Media Limited to have said:
The loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20, I’m going to have plenty to say about the issue.
Is the issue of ongoing killing of innocent civilians not pressing enough to speak out now? Is this because the lives of the goyim are being taken at a ratio of 100 for each Israeli killed? The casualties on both sides are not acceptable! They need to be stopped now! Were 100 Israelis dying for each Palestinian killed, what would Obama’s response be?
Many of the Arab leaders are maintaining silence about the Israeli targeting of schools, hospitals and UN refuge centres as they slaughter Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This massacre cannot go on. Cowardice will not be rewarded. The quiet ones are slaves to their bully masters. Their nations could be the next targets of Israeli/American aggression, or that of other nations. Hamas leaders have now declared that it is open warfare on Israeli schools, hospitals and refuge points. Whilst it is understandable for Hamas to feel that way, it would be wholly unacceptable for them to carry out their warfare in that manner just because the Israelis have. Then their behaviour would be the same as Israel’s. This war has terrorized the civilians on both sides – it must stop now!
Those responsible for destroying Iraq and spilling blood are now rewarding themselves with the highest civilian honour that can be bestowed by the American government. This just proves yet again that to the victors go the spoils. After Yugoslavia was destroyed by the West, Milosovich, who must have believed that he was trying to defend his own country, was being tried as a war criminal when he conveniently died in a Western prison. Saddam Hussein was tried, convicted and gruesomely executed for being a war criminal. Hussein must have also believed that he was defending his country. Were the vanquished to have been the victors, would Blair, Howard and Bush be tried, convicted and executed for war crimes?
The media has been silenced on the Gaza war. Israel has denied foreign journalists access to the war zone. The New York Times has expressed its concern over this, but Ethan Bronner’s January 7, 2009 article, “Israel Puts Media Clamp on Gaza,” has clearly been restricted. Reading between the lines, he is declaring that Israel is antagonistic to free speech and the Western press. One Australian journalist for the Seven Television Network claimed that things are so horrendous in Gaza that he would not show pictures or discuss the horrific scenes that he had witnessed.
The BBC has reported that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has finally stated:
This is a humanitarian crisis. This is the darkest moment yet for the Middle East and it affects the whole of the world.
How could it have taken Brown so long to speak out? How could it take Obama so long to object?
Whilst Obama could be viewed as only tacitly complicit in the massacre, this excuse is obscene. Obama is actively responsible for what is occurring. He has spoken publicly on many other issues, yet remained silent on the Gaza slaughter, claiming there is only one president at a time. His latest stance of wait until “after January 20” is even more appalling than his prior silence. In effect, he is saying that the massacre can continue for two more weeks! It can wait because the humanitarian crisis is not important enough to worry about now!
However, Obama has not only tacitly condoned Bush’s approval of the slaughter, he is very actively involved, because Obama has selected Robert Gates as his proposed Secretary of Defence. Gates is Bush’s Secretary of Defence! Bush and Obama are of opposing political parties! To realize the absurdity of this, imagine the outrage if Gordon Brown removed Labour member John Hutton from Secretary of State for Defence from his Labour cabinet and appointed Tory Leader David Cameron to the post! By choosing the opposition party’s Secretary of Defence, Obama is proclaiming that there is not a single Democrat suitable for taking the position, and therefore he must take the opposition’s choice to fill this cabinet position. This means not only does he approve of Bush’s war policies, but that he also intends to continue along the lines of his predecessor.
The growing anger directed at Israel for this ongoing massacre is boiling over. Since there are no strong stances being taken by world leaders to stop this incursion, one shudders to think at the escalation this is inviting. Fury is mounting against Israel, which is putting innocent civilians in Israel and around the world in severe danger.
The political hypocrisy is exposed to the world.
The mounting suffering must stop now!
W.B.W. Light-Rider
January 7th, 2009
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