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For Immediate Release
December, 30 2008, 02:39pm EDT
Contact:
Phone: (212) 868-5545
Take Action to Protest Israeli Attack on Gaza
Nationwide
Mid-morning
Saturday, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched a series of deadly air
strikes on the occupied Gaza Strip. As we write this, an estimated 275
people have been killed. Hundreds of innocent people have been wounded.
According to news reports today, Israel plans to keep these attacks
going and has brought scores of tanks to the border with Gaza.
These
Israeli attacks come on top of a brutal siege of the Gaza Strip which
has been going on for years and has created a humanitarian catastrophe
of dire proportions for Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinian residents by
restricting the provision of food, fuel, medicine, electricity, and
other necessities of life. All of this is happening in the most densely
populated and one of the poorest areas of the world.
Israel
is carrying out these attacks with F-16 fighter jets and missiles
provided by U.S. taxpayers. From 2001-2006, the United States
transferred to Israel more than $200 million worth of spare parts to
fly its fleet of F-16's. In July 2008, the United States gave Israel
186 million gallons of JP-8 aviation jet fuel. Last year, the United
States signed a $1.3 billion contract with Raytheon to transfer to
Israel thousands of TOW, Hellfire, and 'bunker buster' missiles.
Israel's
lethal attack on the Gaza Strip could not have happened without the
active military and political support of the United States. We need to
take action now to protest this attack and demand an immediate
cease-fire.
The U.S. Campaign to End the Israel Occupation (a member group pf UFPJ) has issued an action alert with these suggestions -- we urge you to take action today!
- Contact
the White House to protest the attacks and demand an immediate
cease-fire. Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to
comments@whitehouse.gov. - Contact the State Department at 202-647-6575 or send an email by clicking here.
- Contact your Representative and Senators in Congress at 202-224-3121 or find contact info for your Members of Congress by clicking here.
- Contact
your local media by phoning into a talk show or writing a letter to the
editor. To find contact info for your local media, click here. - Organize a local protest or vigil and tell us about it at congress@endtheoccupation.org.
- Sign
our open letter to President-Elect Obama calling for a new U.S. policy
toward Israel/Palestine and find out other steps you can take to
influence the incoming Administration by clicking here.
In
addition, the Middle East Children's Alliance (another member group of
UFPJ) is working with health organizations in Gaza to procure the
most-needed medicines and send them directly to Gaza with the help of
the Free Gaza Movement. You can make a secure online contribution now.
Background Information
Below are three articles you may want to read for background information and reports on the Gaza crisis.
'If Gaza Falls...',
Sara Roy, Professor at Harvard's Center For Middle Eastern Studies and
author of 'Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict'.
'Gaza Massacres Must Spur Us To Action',
Ali Abunimah, Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of 'One
Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse'
(Metropolitan Books, 2006).
'Report on Gaza', Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Update December 22, 2008.
United for Peace and Justice was founded, in 2003, to build a coalition of local and national peace and justice organizations to prevent the War on Iraq. The conflicts raging around the world today make it clear that the need to work for peace remains more important than ever. That is why UFPJ reorganized, in 2008, as a network and now operates with an all-volunteer Coordinating Committee, supported by one part-time staff member who assists with UFPJ action alerts, campaigns, and organizing. They meet weekly to manage the ongoing communication and administrative requirements of the network.
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