Manifestazione e petizione per chiedere la fine dell'assedio di Gaza

Ciao a tutti e tutte,
di seguito trovate la petizione preparata dalla coalizione dei pacifisti e dalle pacifiste israeliane per chiedere la fine dell'assedio di Gaza, assedio che, e' bene ricordarlo, non e' solo militare ma anche economico.
A seguire alcune informazione sulle iniziative di queste settimane.
La "Coalizione contro l'assedio di gaza" (http://gazasiege.net/) raccoglie la maggior parte delle realta' pacifiste israeliane e arabo-israeliane: Coalition of Women for Peace, Anarchists against the Wall, Gush Shalom, Hadash, Balad, High School Seniors Letter, Rabbis for Human Rights, University Student Coalition – Tel Aviv, Yesh Gvul, Ta'ayush, Maki, Banki, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, The High Follow-Up Committee for the Arab Citizens in Israel, Combatants for Peace, Alternative information center.

Nell'ultimo mese la coalizione ha intrapreso una serie di iniziative che sfoceranno nella grande manifestazione di sabato prossimo a Tel Aviv alla quale parteciperemo anche noi italiani con una delegazione di Action for Peace.
E' una grande occasione per il movimento pacifista israeliano di tornare nelle piazze e mostrare la parte migliore di questo paese, vi chiediamo di essere simbolicamente insieme a noi e di firmare la petizione online (richiede 2 minuti di tempo) facendola circolare ai vostri contatti, petizione che sara' consegnata ai rappresentanti del governo israeliano e delle istituzioni internazionali.

Salaam/Shalom
Associazione per la Pace
http://www.assopace.org


24 NOVEMBRE 2006
Al governo israeliano, ai leader mondiali:

La situazione a Gaza ha raggiunto livelli di emergenza -scarseggiano acqua, elettricità, medicine; regnano fame, povertà, disoccupazione; scuole e servizi in genere non funzionano più; sono costanti gli attacchi ed i bombardamenti da parte dell'esercito israeliano.

Questa catastrofe umanitaria è opera dell'uomo: causata dal perdurante assedio della Striscia di Gaza da parte di Israele e dalle sanzioni imposte dalla comunità internazionale sulla Palestina, è stata ulteriormente aggravata dai ripetuti attacchi dell'esercito israeliano. Se questa situazione continuerà, assisteremo ad una diffusione di malattie, denutrizione e di maggiori violenze. In queste condizioni diventano impossibili anche i negoziati - l'unica strada maestra per raggiungere la pace fra i due popoli.

Chiediamo ai leader israeliani di porre fine all'assedio e alla guerra contro Gaza. Chiediamo ai leader mondiali di porre fine alle sanzioni politiche ed economiche contro la Palestina.
L'assedio e le sanzioni stanno seminando caos e distruzione a Gaza. Essi devono cessare.

Per aderire alla petizione, clicka qui http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveGaza/petition-sign.html



Friends,

Yes, the ceasefire is a good thing. Let’s hope that it will be maintained and then expanded into full-fledged negotiations for peace.

The ceasefire, however, does nothing to relieve the ongoing, terrible siege of Gaza.

The siege began some six months ago in response to the election of Hamas. In an effort to cut off the financial resources of the Hamas government – to avoid funding terrorism, as it is usually termed - the international community isolated Palestine by placing an embargo on trade and banking and by severely reducing international aid. Israel tightened the noose by further constraining travel within Palestine, curtailing almost all entry to and exit from the Gaza Strip, and withholding the taxes that it collects for the Palestinian authority.

The result has been chaos, violence, and poverty, and these have fueled each other. The Israeli army rained shells down upon the Gazans, while Palestinian militants increased the barrage of Qassam missiles into nearby Israeli towns. In the last four months alone, some 400 Gazans were killed by Israeli firepower, two Israelis were killed by Palestinian firepower, and children on both sides are now traumatized for the rest of their lives.

So while a ceasefire is a blessing, the siege remains in force, withering the Gazan economy: 80% of Gazans now live in poverty on less than $2 a day. In a shocking reversal of “economic growth”, the World Bank predicts a drop of 27% in this year's gross domestic product: "a one year contraction of economic activity equivalent to a deep depression" (http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/wbgs/oPt_WorldBank_update_April20... ).

International Campaign – 78 cities!

The international campaign to end the siege of Gaza is now in full swing. We know of 78 cities that are holding solidarity events in the coming days – from Amsterdam to Zurich. Let us know if we failed to mention you:

Amsterdam, Netherlands *** Ankara, Turkey *** Armidale, Northern NSW, Australia *** Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Barcelona, Spain *** Berkeley, CA, US *** Bergamo, Italy *** Berlin, Germany *** Bern, Switzerland *** Biel/Bienne, Switzerland *** Bologna, Italy *** Boston, MA, US *** Brighton, UK *** Caen, France *** Cambridge, MA, US *** Canberra, Australia *** Cape Town, South Africa *** Cardiff, Wales *** Chicago, IL, US *** Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Cologne, Germany *** Como, Italy *** Dallas, TX, US *** Des Moines, Iowa, US *** Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Everett, WA, US *** Geneva, Switzerland *** Grenoble, France *** Honolulu, HI, US *** Keswick, UK *** Kingston, NY, US *** Lausanne, Switzerland *** Leuven, Belgium *** Liverpool, UK *** London, UK *** Louisville, KY, US *** Lucerne, Switzerland *** Madison, WI, US *** Marseille, France *** Milano, Italy *** Montreal, Canada *** Muenster, Germany *** Napoli, Italy *** New York, NY, US *** Oakland, CA, US *** Oslo, Norway *** Pad
ua, Italy *** Palma de Mallorca, Spain *** Paris, France *** Parksville/Qualicum, BC, Canada *** Philadelphia, PA, US *** Phoenix, AZ, US *** Portland, OR, US *** Ravenna, Italy *** Rome, Italy *** San Francisco, CA, US *** San Luis Obispo, CA, US *** Santa Cruz, CA, US *** Santandar, Spain *** Saugerties, NY, US *** Savona, Italy *** Schio, Italy *** Seattle, WA, US *** Sevilla, Spain *** Strasbourg, France *** Torino, Italy *** Toronto, Canada *** Treviso, Italy *** Udine, Italy *** Valencia, Spain *** Vancouver, BC, Canada *** Verona, Italy *** Vicenza, Italy *** Vienna, Austria *** Washington, DC, US *** Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand *** Woodstock, NY, US *** Zurich, Switzerland

And look into our special campaign website for further information about the activity nearest you:

http://gazasiege.net/partners.html


You will also find materials that may help you in your own activity, including an information leaflet and poster.

In Israel, we will be holding our demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday, December 2. We’ll keep you posted.

The Petition Strategy

As this is being written, over 3,700 people have already signed our petition calling for an end to the siege of Gaza. If you have not signed, now is the time:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SaveGaza/petition.html


Signatures continue to flow; this petition is now third place (!) in the list of the current ‘most popular petitions’. [We are attaching translations of the petition into Spanish and Italian.] We are trying to remove the few crank signatures from these listings; don’t allow them to put you off from signing this document.

Here’s the petition strategy: In Israel, we will present the signed petition to Israeli officials and to American and European ambassadors here. We want to encourage you to do the same to political leaders in your own cities –elected leaders and Israeli ambassadors & consuls. (We still have to figure out how to get these printed out.)

What is amazing is the cumulative effort being made all over the world. We know there are many critical causes vying for your attention, and we appreciate the efforts you are making during this month-long campaign on behalf of Gaza. Our joint campaign has begun to place the Gaza Siege on the agenda of many political leaders who had not previously thought about it.

With your help, we can break the siege, and enter into full-bodied negotiations to begin to bring peace to the region.

Shalom / Salaam,

Gila Svirsky, Jerusalem

Debby Lerman, Tel Aviv



Background Material
16 November, 2006

Gaza Humanitarian Crisis:
A Joint Statement by Israel's Leading
Human Rights Organizations


Nine Israeli human rights organizations issued an unprecedented joint call to the international community to ensure human rights in the Gaza Strip. The statement comes in light of the dire humanitarian situation there:
• Some 80% of the population is extremely poor, living on less than $2 a day. A majority of the population is dependant on food aid from international donors.
• In the past four months, the Israeli military has killed over 300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Over half of those killed were unarmed civilians who did not participate in the fighting. Among the dead, 61 were children.
• About 70% of Gaza’s potential workforce is out of work or without pay.
• On 28 June, Israel bombed Gaza's only independent power station, which produced 43% of the electricity needed by the residents in Gaza. Since then, most of the population has electricity between 6 and 8 hours each day, with disastrous consequences on water supply, sewage treatment, food storage, hospital functioning and public health.
• The Gaza Strip is almost entirely sealed off from the outside world, with virtually no way for Palestinians to get in or out. Exports have been reduced to a trickle; imports are limited to essential humanitarian supplies.
Israel cannot shirk its responsibility for this growing crisis. Even after its Disengagement in 2005, Israel continues to hold decisive control over central elements of Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip:
1. Israel continues to maintain complete control over the air space and territorial waters.
2. Israel continues to control the joint Gaza Strip-West Bank population registry, preventing relocation between the West Bank and Gaza, and family unification.
3. Israel controls all movement in and out of Gaza, with exclusive control over all crossing points between Gaza and Israel, and the ability to shut down the Rafah crossing to Egypt.
4. Israeli ground troops conduct frequent military operations inside Gaza.
5. Israel continues to exercise almost complete control over imports and exports from the Gaza Strip.
6. Israel controls most elements of the taxation system of the Gaza Strip, and since February has withheld tax monies legally owed to the PA, and amounting to half of the total PA budget.
The broad scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip creates a strong case for the claim that Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip continues, along with an obligation to ensure the welfare of the civilian population. Regardless of the legal definition of the Gaza Strip, Israel bears legal obligations regarding those spheres that it continues to control. Israel has the right to defend itself. However, all military measures taken by Israel must respect the provisions of international humanitarian law.
The following Israeli human rights organizations call on the international community to ensure that Israel respects the basic human rights of residents of the Gaza Strip, and that all parties respect international humanitarian law:

B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories * Association for Civil Rights in the Israel *Amnesty International–Israel Section * Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights * HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual * Gisha: Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement * Physicians for Human Rights-Israel * Public Committee Against Torture in Israel * Rabbis for Human Rights
For the full three-page statement, see http://www.btselem.org <http://www.btselem.org/>

www.assopace.org