As today we receive news that the Israeli military has bombed the headquarters of the United Nations’ Works and Relief Agency in Gaza, as well as part of a hospital, and the offices of two foreign news agencies, we are reminded of the need for urgent action from global civil society to pressure our governments to bring about an immediate end to this war.
There are many ways one can help. The first list of resources comes from Yara El-Ghadban’s Tropismes. The second item below features a campaign launched by Aavaz.org (Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making….Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva.)
••••••• ••••••• •••••••
GAZA: BE ENGAGED (Yara El-Ghadban)
Some of these suggestions are oriented more toward a Canadian audience, while others are of more general usefulness.
AIDE FINANCIÈRE / DONATIONS:
UNRWA: http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/donation/index.html
MAP: http://www.mapcan.org/
IRFAN: http://www.irfan.ca
HCI: http://www.humanconcern.org
IDRF: http://www.idrf.ca
Islamic Relief: http://www.islamicreliefcanada.org/
Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec: Sponsor a Palestinian Child
Buy Palestinian Olive oil. Click on ZEITOUNA for INFO on the product and where to buy it in Quebec at the following link: http://mapcan.org/english.html
EDUCATE AND INFORM. FACT-SHEETS / FICHES-INFO:
A FACT-SHEET ABOUT VIOELNCE IN GAZA AND THE CANADIAN RESPONSELE MÊME SITE, CLIQUER SUR “FRANÇAIS” DANS LE COIN DROITE EN HAUT DE LA PAGE) (EN FRANÇAIS AUSSI SUR
THE FACTS ABOUT ISRAEL’S WAR ON GAZA
Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle-East: In English et en français (Choose language in the upper right hand corner)
PETITIONS / LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN:
Express your frustration with the Conservative position on Israel-Gaza:
http://www.cjpme.ca/action_cons_gaza_2009_01.shtml
Express your frustration with the Liberal position on Israel-Gaza:
http://www.cjpme.ca/action_libs_gaza_2009_01.shtml
- Call the NDP to go further in their statement on Israel-Gaza:
http://www.cjpme.ca/action_ndp_gaza_2009_01.shtml
Express your frustration with the Bloc Quebecois statement on Israel-Gaza:
http://www.cjpme.ca/action_bq_gaza_2009_01.shtml
US citizens click here FOR PETITION :
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/index.php
Another Petition has been established (FOR EVERYONE WHEREVER YOU ARE):
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/98.php?cl_tf_sign=1
WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER: Sample letter – lettre prototype ici
Canadians: Les adresses de vos députés – your representative’s address is here
BE A WITNESS / SOYEZ TÉMOINS:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/diaries.shtml
http://faresakram.livejournal.com/
••••••• ••••••• •••••••
SIGN THE PETITION
Gaza is dying — the battle has moved deep into its cities, jam-packed with 1.5 million civilians lacking food, medicine or water. President Bush undermined last week’s United Nations ceasefire resolution and over 1000 people are now dead. The borders remain closed — journalists can’t get in, and desperate civilians can’t get out.
But the global movement to end this war is building — as we spread the word the petition is at 430,000 signatures and rising, it has been delivered to top leaders at the EU, UN and Arab League, our US members are flooding their representatives with phone calls, and Avaaz members worldwide have donated over $120,000 to an ad campaign in key newspapers.
The pressure is working — so we’re ratcheting it up with hard-hitting US ads pressing Barack Obama personally for an immediate change of tack, face-to-face petition deliveries to European leaders this week to get them to act, and working with Palestinians and Israelis to plan bold actions on the ground. But every one of these actions becomes stronger as more of us join the campaign. We need to reach 1 million signatures this week — thank you for signing the petition already, let’s all of us now take a moment to forward this to all our friends and family so they can join us and be heard:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace
Voices for a ceasefire are finally being heard in the Israeli cabinet and media, Hamas is signalling it could accept a deal including Turkish forces and EU monitors, but the sides are too far apart to end this themselves.[3] That’s why action by world powers is critical to break the deadlock — and global citizens’ voices can make all the difference if we raise an unstoppable voice calling on incoming President Obama, the EU and Arab and Muslim states to guarantee a fair and lasting ceasefire.
This week we are lobbying European and Muslim states for a more effective international initiative to end the violence, protect civilians on all sides and make normal life possible again in Gaza, while reaching out to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who is in the Middle East working for a deal (we met him last year to deliver our food crisis campaign). Meanwhile we’re challenging contacts on both sides to think creatively and accept a fair, internationally-overseen agreement.
We’ve already run member-funded ads in the influential Washington Post and Roll Call, the US Congress newspaper — on the day of his inauguration this coming Tuesday, we will press Barack Obama to abandon Bush’s failed policies and act immediately to end this war, using his own words alongside hard facts to make the case in ads, US media debates and directly lobbying his team.
It’s amazing what we can do when hundreds of thousands of us come together around the world — and if we raise our efforts to another level this week, we could help to finally end the Gaza horror. Follow the link below to take the first step by signing the petition, then spread the word so others can do the same:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace
With hope and determination,
Paul, Graziela, Alice, Ricken, Luis, Brett, Ben, Iain, Paula, Veronique, Milena and the whole Avaaz team
P.S. For a report on some of Avaaz’s other campaigns so far, see: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2
Sources:
1. “White House behind US volte-face on ceasefire call”:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/gaza-us-security-council-abstention
“Israeli PM Ehud Olmert claims to be able to order Bush around”:
http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-claims-to-be.html
2. Washington Post: Israelis Push to Edge of Gaza City:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011100616.html
3. Haaretz, “Olmert ignoring calls from Barak, Livni for immediate Gaza truce”:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055214.html
Other Voice – Sderot and Gaza residents calling for a ceasefire:
http://www.othervoice.org/welcome-eng.htm
On Hamas acceptance of a Turkish force, first reported in the Arabic Al-Hayat newspaper, see:
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10771766.asp?scr=1
“Gaza bloodshed continues despite UN calls for ceasefire”, 9 January 2009:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/gaza-fighting-un-ceasefire
“Reigniting Violence: How Do Ceasefires End?” (6 January 2009) is a statistical analysis by an MIT professor, based on Israel’s own data for rocket fire (which it shows stopped for four months) and on which side struck first. It provides useful factual background for how the Israel-Hamas truce effectively collapsed in November well before it expired (facts poorly reflected in some news reporting):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kanwisher/reigniting-violence-how-d_b_155611.html
International Crisis Group’s Ending the War in Gaza report (5 January 2009):
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5838&l=1
This Rasmussen Reports poll from the US is of interest: Only 31% of Democrats support offensive, most prefer a diplomatic solution:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/americans_closely_divided_over_israel_s_gaza_attacks
“Gaza: outlines of an endgame”, Ghassan Khatib (6 January 2009)
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/gaza-outlines-of-an-endgame
Jerusalem Post: “Israel must get out of Gaza now”, 8 January 2009: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231167305710&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Reuters: “Hamas seeks truce but says lifting siege a must” (5 January 2009) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L5111105.htm
The US Army War College has just released a substantial report supporting the view that Hamas can and must be brought into negotiations and is capable of sustaining a long-term truce, or even peace with Israel. Linked via:
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/node/10703
The inside story of the civil strife between Fatah and Hamas and the Bush administration’s involvement in this debacle is best-told in The Gaza Bombshell, an investigative article published in the leading US magazine Vanity Fair in April 2008:
http://www.vanityfair.c om/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804
_______
Sphere Related Content
Pamthropologist
15 January 2009
Thank you, Max. In the limited time I have this week, I am busy signing petitions. Thanks to you it is easier. Thank you for your hard work.
Pam
Maximilian Forte
16 January 2009
Many thanks to you too Pam, both for visiting and commenting.
single_fighter
24 January 2009
THE DOGS FROM ISRAEHELL
“Oh, God! I have never seen such a terrible scene,” cried Kayed Abu Aukal.
The emergency doctor could not believe himself seeing the remains of what was days back Shahd, a full-fleshed 4-year-old Palestinian girl.
She died when an Israeli shell was fired at the backyard of her home in the Jabalya refugee camp northern Gaza strip, where she was playing.
When her parents attempted to rush to the rescue of their kid, who fell to the ground amid a pool of her blood, rains of Israeli bullets kept them a distance.
For the next five days Shahd’s which was left lying in the open left for dogs to tear out.
“The dogs did leave one single part of the poor baby’s body intact,” said a tearful Abu Aukal.
“We have seen heart-breaking scenes over the past 18 days. We picked up children whose bodies were torn or burnt, but nothing like this.”
For five days Shahd’s brother, Matar, and cousin, Mohamed, tried in vain to reach her body. They were fired at by the Israeli occupation forces every time.
Seeing the body of the little angel torn to piece by the assaulting dogs, the two made one final attempt, and it was their last.
They were showered by Israeli bullets before they could reach Shahd’s body, joining a long list of more than 920 Palestinians killed by Israel since December 27.
LORD OF THE DOGS
Omran Zayda, a young neighbor, said the Israelis knew very well what they were doing.
“They chased her family and prevented them from reaching to her body, knowing that the dogs would eat it,” he said.
“They are not just killing our children, they are intentionally doing so in the most heinous and inhuman ways.”
Zayda said words, and even cameras, can not describe the horrific scene.
“You can never imagine what the dogs have done to her innocent body,” he said, fighting back his tears.
Many Palestinians insist Shahd was not the first or only such case.
In Jabalya, when Abd Rabu’s family was trying to bury three of its dead, the Israeli forces started firing at them, witnesses said.
They then released their dogs at the bodies, deserted by mourners who sought shelter from the Israeli gunfire, they added.
“What happened was awful and unthinkable,” Saad Abd Rabu, the deceased uncle, told IOL.
“Our sons died before our eyes and we were even prevented from burying them,” he cried.
“The Israelis just released their dogs at their bodies, as even they have not done enough.”
(Gaza City – http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1231760488574&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout)
ISRAEHELL GOD’S LOVE PALESTINIAN SO MUCH
God’s chosen IsraeHell planning the slaughter of Lebanese (2006) and Palestinian again & again (2009).
“It is permissible for Israel defense force to attack in the course of warfare a civilian population that is ostensibly innocent of wrongdoing. The law of Torah is to have no mercy upon them and save our civillians and our soldiers, and this is the true morality of the Torah of israel…”
(Rabbi Dov Lior, Chairman of the Council of Rabbis of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, in “Settler Rabbi; Killing Civillians Permitted”, Forward, New York, 28th May 28 2004, p,,5)
“And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them…” (Deuteronomy 7 : 16)
“One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail”.
(Israeli Rabbi Yacoov Perrin (Daily News, New York, 28th February 1994, p,6)
“Killing Palestinian is comand of God, don’t let anyone breathe, although man or woman, old man or children, human or animal, kill them all…!!!”
(Deuteronomy 20:16-17 | Joshua 6:21 | Joshua : 10:28)