The awful bloodshed in Gaza is escalating as diplomats argue -- over 700 are
now killed, almost half of them civilians, and well over 100 children
dead.[1] As Israeli tanks, airplanes and artillery bombard targets in
thickly populated urban areas, thousands more have been injured and 1.5
million terrified civilians have no escape from this prison-like enclave --
the borders are sealed. Hamas too continues to fight and fire rockets at
Israel, killing 5 Israeli civilians.
We can make a difference -- even Israel's own foreign minister admits that
intense international pressure could force a ceasefire. To that end, we've
delivered our 300,000-strong petition to top officials of the UN, EU and
Arab League. But at the UN, US President Bush is outrageously blocking a
serious international resolution -- trying instead to impose a skewed
alternative that would legitimize the suffocating blockade of Gaza, which
Hamas cite as reason for their rocket attacks.[2] With leaders deadlocked
and issuing toothless statements, the violence only worsens.
Enough is enough. We're launching a targeted ad campaign in influential US
political papers, including Roll Call, the paper of the US Congress, and The
Washington Post -- the Post ad costs $32,057, so if just 1000 of us donate
$32 (Euro 24) each, we can fund it together and if we raise more, we can
expand these efforts. It's amazing how some of the most sensible arguments
and basic facts about this crisis are not carried by US media. Follow the
link below now to view the ad, and let's chip in together to get a decent
voice for peace into the US debate:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/gaza_peace_ads
Proposals for an immediate ceasefire are now coming from many states in
Europe and the Middle East. But blocking a UN resolution, Bush's
behind-the-scenes "ceasefire" proposals reportedly seek to exclude Hamas
from any ceasefire deal and leave Israel a free hand, a disastrous approach
that would fan the flames of hatred and guarantee that the violence
continues.[3] Bush faces relatively little opposition to his outrageous
position at home, mainly because US voices for peace have not been active
enough. In a poll, a majority of US Democrats opposed this war at its
outset -- but even if Barack Obama does want to change America's approach,
it will be difficult unless peace advocates speak up loudly and clearly
first. Such voices are emerging, including new progressive groups within the
American Jewish community. Our ad campaign will strengthen their call for a
sane approach to this conflict that ensures the security of civilians in
both Israel and Palestine.[4]
To be lasting, a ceasefire must protect civilians and end all attacks --
Israeli bombings and incursions as well as the rockets Palestinian factions
fire into southern Israel. International supervision is desperately needed
at the borders, to reopen Gaza's borders and crossings for food, fuel,
medicine and goods, to prevent weapons-smuggling (which has only grown under
the blockade), and to monitor and enforce the ceasefire on both sides.[5]
Sources say Israel could agree to such a ceasefire, and Hamas, which won
elections in 2006 and now runs Gaza, has suggested it could do so too.[6]
Both should be challenged to abide by a fair deal. There is no military
solution for either side -- it's time for world powers to step up and broker
a ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides and let them live their lives
in peace and security, and it's time for the world to engage with the US in
a real dialogue about what it means to be part of the solution in the Middle
East, instead of part of the problem. Follow the link to see our first ad
for the Washington Post, donate to the campaign, and together let's raise an
unstoppable worldwide voice for peace:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/gaza_peace_ads
With hope and determination,
Paul, Graziela, Alice, Ricken, Luis, Brett, Ben, Iain, Paula, Veronique,
Milena and the whole Avaaz team
P.S. We wrote to European, US and Arab leaders last week about our campaign,
and received responses -- now we need to escalate the pressure. For a report
on many of Avaaz's other campaigns so far, see:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2
Sources:
1. Daily Telegraph (UK): "Gaza medics describe horror of strike which killed
70":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4162193/Gaza-medics-describe-horror-of-strike-which-killed-70.html
Associated Press: "Israel Shells Near UN School, killing at least 30" (5
January 2009)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95HTJE00
Yediot Aharonot, "Cabinet: Gaza op to continue, Israel has not yet accepted
the Egyptian-French ceasefire initiative", 7 January 2009:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3652371,00.html
2. The Guardian: "Gaza diplomatic efforts near deadlock" (8 January 2009):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/gaza-israel-hamas
Reuters: "US haggles with Arabs over UN action in Gaza" (8 January 2009):
http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN08482098
Yediot Aharonot: "Israel examining international treaty to isolate Hamas" (5
January 2009)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3650522,00.html
3. E.g. see Yediot Aharonot article above, and this from the Israeli site
DEBKA:
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5830
4. Rasmussen Reports poll, 31 December 2008: 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
Major Jewish lobby groups such as the Israel Policy Forum and JStreet are
supporting a pro-peace line -- e.g. see this JStreet action for a ceasefire
and end to the blockade:
http://action.jstreet.org/t/3251/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=508
5. These parameters are advocated by a broad range of experts and
policymakers. See for example International Crisis Group's Ending the War in
Gaza report (5 January 2009):
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5838&l=1
6. "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
Strikingly, 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.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804
"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 and on which side struck first. It provides useful factual
background for how the Israel-Hamas truce collapsed, poorly reflected in
some news reporting:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kanwisher/reigniting-violence-how-d_b_155611.html
Fwd by
John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm>
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