GAZA must live, appeal in English

[mary <humdrum2 at libero.it>]

Gaza must live!

Appeal to end a genocidal
embargo

In 1996 the Palestinians, voting massively for Fatah, expressed their
hope for a just peace with Israel. This hope has, however, been
frustrated by Israel’s systematic violation of the Oslo Accords, which
stipulated that Israel should withdraw its troops from and dismantle its
settlements on 90% of the Occupied Territories.

Having taken office after his provocative stride across the Aqsa
esplanade, Sharon stopped the withdrawal of the army and further
increased the pace of settlement construction ­ exacerbating a tendency
prevailing from the very beginning of the accords. Palestine became a
completely segregated country, where settlers armed to the teeth operate
as auxiliary militias for the Israeli army. Not satisfied, Sharon started
the construction of the Apartheid wall resulting in the annexation of a
further 7% of the Palestinian land.

Trying to crush the second Intifada, Israel pushed aside the Palestinian
Authority (PA) and attacked the Occupied Territories by fire and sword.
Thousands of Palestinians were killed or wounded, tens of thousands
arrested and kept in prison without trial. Thousands of houses were razed
to the ground. Dozens of leaders were murdered by so-called “targeted
killings”. Even president Arafat, after he was once again declared a
“terrorist”, was caught in his presidential palace, the Mukata’ah, which
was bombarded and reduced to rubble.

Therefore the reasons for the landslide electoral victory of Hamas (which
the U.S. and the E.U. meanwhile had included in their notorious black
list of terrorist organisations) in January 2006 are evident. More than a
protest against the endemic corruption in the ranks of Fatah, the
Palestinians cried out to the world that they cannot be asked a
humiliating “peace” imposed by lead and sealed with their own
blood.

Instead of listening to this cry for help by the Palestinian people, the
Western powers decided to punish them by imposing a total embargo on the
West bank and Gaza. Following once again a cue from Israel (which
immediately after the victory of Hamas unilaterally blocked the transfer
of tax and duty proceeds of which the PA is the legitimate owner), the
U.S. and the E.U. froze the financial aid, resulting in a veritable
humanitarian disaster in order to force an entire people to its knees and
abandon its resistance.

As its architects intended, this policy has caused, the most bitter of
consequences: a fratricidal battle within the Palestinian camp. Those who
lost the elections toppled the democratically elected government and
replaced it with an illegitimate one ­ with the barefaced support of
Israel and its Western allies.

Together with the Zionists, they unleashed a hunt against their
adversaries announcing the illegalisation of Hamas under the pretext of a
new law according to which only those who recognise Israel can run for
elections. The U.S. and the E.U. have justified this putsch and have come
to the help of this illegitimate government, lifting the sanctions on the
zones under their control but maintaining the stranglehold on
Gaza.

1.5 million human beings thus remain under siege, surrounded by barbed
wire and without being able either to leave or to enter. Locked up in a
concentration camp, they barely survive without food or water, deprived
of electricity and the most basic sanitary services. As if this were not
enough, the Israeli army continues to pound Gaza by nearly daily bombing
raids and incursions resulting in countless innocent civilian
victims.

Only one word can describe this slaughter house: genocide!

An immediate mobilisation is necessary to end this tragedy:

Lift the starvation embargo on the Gaza ghetto!
Recognise the democratic choice of the Palestinian people! 


TO SIGN OR FOR INFORMATION:
info at gazavive.com Please include
Name, Surname, City and Affiliation or title (if any).


First signatories

:: Gianni Vattimo - Filosofo ed ex parlamentare europeo :: Danilo
Zolo - Universita' di Firenze:: Margherita Hack - Astrofisica:: Edoardo
Sanguineti - Poeta, Universita' di Genova:: Gilad Atzmon - Musicista::
Franco Cardini - Universita' di Firenze :: Mara De Paulis - Scrittrice,
Premio Calvino:: Lucio Manisco - Giornalista, gia' parlamentare europeo::
Costanzo Preve - Filosofo, Torino :: Giulio Girardi - Filosofo e teologo
della Liberazione :: Giovanni Franzoni - Comunita' Cristiane di Base ::
Domenico Losurdo - Universita' di Urbino :: Marino Badiale - Universita'
di Torino :: Aldo Bernardini - Universita' di Teramo :: Piero Fumarola -
Universita' di Lecce :: Giovanni Bacciardi - Universita' di Firenze ::
Giovanni Invitto - Universita' di Lecce:: Alessandra Persichetti -
Universita' di Siena :: Bruno Antonio Bellerate - Universita' Roma tre::
Rodolfo Calpini - Universita' La Sapienza, Roma:: Ferruccio Andolfi -
Universita' di Parma:: Roberto Giammanco - Scrittore e americanista ::
Gianfranco La Grassa - Economista :: M. Alighiero Manacorda - Storico
dell'educazione:: Alessandra Kersevan - Ricercatrice storica, Udine::
Nuccia Pelazza - Insegnante, Milano :: Stefania Campetti - Archeologa::
Carlo Oliva - Pubblicista :: Gabriella Solaro - I.N.S. del Mov. di
Liberazione in Italia :: Giuseppe Zambon - Editore :: Bruno Caruso -
Pittore:: Vainer Burani - Avvocato, Reggio Emilia :: Ugo Giannangeli -
Avvocato, Milano :: Giuseppe Pelazza - Avvocato, Milano :: Bruno Caruso -
Pittore:: Vainer Burani - Avvocato, Reggio Emilia :: Ugo Giannangeli -
Avvocato, Milano :: Giuseppe Pelazza - Avvocato, Milano :: Hamza Roberto
Piccardo - Direttore
www.islam-online.it :: Nella
Ginatempo, Movimento contro la guerra, Roma :: Mary Rizzo - blog
Peacepalestine:: Tusio
De Iuliis - Presidente Ass. "Aiutiamoli a Vivere":: Cesare
Allara - Com. Sol. Palestina, Torino:: Angela Lano - Giornalista Infopal,
www.infopal.it:: Umar Andrea Lazzaro
- Coll. www.islam-online.it,
Genova :: Marco Ferrando - Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori:: Leonardo
Mazzei - Portavoce Comitati Iraq Libero:: Mara Malavenda - Slai Cobas,
Napoli:: Moreno Pasquinelli - Campo Antimperialista :: Marco Riformetti -
Laboratorio Marxista:: Maria Ingrosso - Colletivo Iqbal Masih, Lecce::
Antonio Colazzo - L.u.p.o. Osimo (Ancona):: Gian Marco Martignoni -
Segreteria provinciale Cgil, Varese :: Luciano Giannoni - Consigliere
provinciale Prc, Livorno :: Dacia Valent - Islamic Anti-Defamation League
:: Pietro Vangeli - Segretario nazionale Partito dei Carc:: Ascanio
Bernardeschi - Prc Volterra (PI) :: Fabio Faina - Capogruppo Pdci al
Cons. comunale di Perugia:: Roberto Massari - Editore, Utopia Rossa ::
Fausto Schiavetto - Soccorso Popolare