assedio gaza: manifestazione a Tel Aviv

["assopace.nazionale at assopace.org" <assopace.nazionale at assopace.org>]

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
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/>

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