January, 05 2009, 11:00am EDT
UN Security Council Must Not Fail Civilians Caught in Gaza Conflict
Amnesty International today urged the UN
Security Council to take firm and decisive action to address the
increasingly grave situation in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel.
WASHINGTON
Amnesty International today urged the UN
Security Council to take firm and decisive action to address the
increasingly grave situation in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel.
"Civilian casualties and destruction in Gaza are on an unprecedented
scale. The UN Security Council must not remain silent. The Council can
and must act and it should do so without further delay," said Malcolm
Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa
Programme.
There are growing concerns about the safety of the civilian populations
in the area, particularly the 1.5 million Palestinians who are trapped
in the Gaza Strip and facing a spiralling humanitarian crisis amid
continuing Israeli attacks and after many months of blockade.
"The UN Security Council has a key responsibility to help ensure
that the parties to the conflict respect international human rights and
humanitarian law," said Malcolm Smart. "It is imperative that the
Council urgently adopt a strong resolution condemning attacks against
civilians by both Israel and Hamas and demanding that such attacks
cease immediately."
Amnesty International said the UN Security Council should urge
Israel to lift restrictions on the passage of humanitarian aid into
Gaza -- medicines, food, fuel and other necessities urgently required
to alleviate civilian suffering -- and to allow humanitarian and human
rights workers and journalists unfettered access to Gaza.
"With only a few exceptions, humanitarian workers and journalists
have been barred from Gaza by the Israeli military since early
November," said Malcolm Smart. "Their presence now is urgently required
to independently assess humanitarian needs and report on the situation
on the ground, including abuses of international law."
Amnesty International also urged the UN Security Council to consider the deployment of international monitors.
"Civilians on both sides continue to pay a heavy price, which might
be alleviated if international monitors were to be deployed whose
functions should include verifying compliance with international law by
both Israel and the Palestinian administration in Gaza," said Malcolm
Smart.
Background
More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes and
other attacks since 27 December. Those killed include more than 100
unarmed civilians, including scores of children, as well as some 165
civilian police taking no part in the conflict. More than 2,000
Palestinian civilians have been injured. While many Israeli attacks
have targeted and killed Palestinian combatants, including leaders of
Hamas, other attacks have been directed at civilian buildings not being
used for military purposes. They have targeted civilians such as police
cadets, or have been disproportionate, recklessly endangering civilians
and causing a mounting toll of civilian casualties. The number of
civilian casualties is expected to increase further as a result of the
ground incursion by Israeli forces which began on 3 January and the use
of heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas.
In the same period, five Israelis have been killed, including three
civilians killed in rocket attacks launched by Palestinian armed groups
from the Gaza Strip.
Those killed in Israeli air strikes include:
* Eight-year-old Abed Rabbo al-Astal, his 12-year-old brother
Muhammad and their 10-year-old cousin 'Abd-al-Sattar, killed on the
afternoon of 2 January while playing near their home in al-Qarara
village, east of Khan Yunis (southern Gaza).
* Thirteen-year-old Sujud Dardsawi was fatally wounded on 2 January while in her home in the Shaja'iya district of Gaza City.
* Ihab al-Madhoun, a medical doctor, and Muhammad Abu Hasida, a
paramedic accompanying him, were killed on 31 December as they were
trying to evacuate people wounded in an earlier attack in eastern Gaza
City. The air strike also damaged their ambulance.
* A night watchman/guard was killed on 3 January when the International
School (commonly known as the American School, though it has no link to
the US government), in the north of Gaza, was destroyed by an Israeli
air strike. Known as one of the best private educational institutions
in Gaza, the school provided education to hundreds of children from
kindergarten to age 12.
As well as air strikes, Israeli forces have also used artillery -
which is notoriously inaccurate and should never be used in densely
populated areas - including from gunboats ranged along the Gaza coast.
Leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft over Gaza have warned residents to
leave the area, although they are physically prevented from doing so,
causing panic and confusion among the population. Like the telephone
calls made by the Israeli military to Palestinians warning them to
leave their homes to escape attack, the leaflets seem to be random and
dropped all over Gaza.
One Gaza resident, a supporter of the Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Amnesty International:
"My children see the leaflets and go crazy with fear, they want to
leave home; but we have nowhere to go. My family and my wife's family
live close to the border, in even more dangerous areas; and we can't
just stay outside, it is equally dangerous, children have been killed
walking or playing in the street. There is no electricity, we can't
even find food, and we are not safe even in our homes. We have nothing
to do with Hamas, I've been detained and harassed by Hamas, but the
Israeli bombardments are indiscriminate. No one is safe"
The last two weeks of fighting have increased the humanitarian crisis
caused by Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, in force continuously
since June 2007. The UN and international aid agencies report that
there is an acute shortage of food and most basic necessities.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
Israeli bombardments have damaged water supply lines making it
difficult for some families to obtain access to safe drinking water,
and hospitals are running short of key medicines and depend on
unreliable generators for their power. The Gaza Pediatrics' Hospital
reported that most of its windows have been smashed by the blasts and
plastic sheets are being used to block the cold. An air strike on 2
January damaged a pipe supplying water to 30,000 residents of Nuseirat
Refugee Camp, south of Gaza City. Continuous Israeli strikes also make
attempts to carry out repairs extremely dangerous.
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.
LATEST NEWS
Texas State Troopers in Riot Gear Crack Down on UT Students' Gaza Protest
"Why do we even have these institutions of higher learning if we won't let students speak their conscience and protest?" said one University of Texas professor.
Apr 24, 2024
This is a developing story... Please check back for possible updates...
Civil rights advocates on Wednesday expressed alarm at a rapid escalation by Texas state troopers who descended on a student-led protest at University of Texas at Austin, which was organized in solidarity with Gaza and other U.S. college students taking part in a growing anti-war movement.
UT students gathered on campus at midday and were promptly given two minutes to disperse by state troopers, who had already been called to the scene.
The troopers were equipped with riot gear, with some carrying assault rifles and several stationed on horses.
Erick Lara, a 20-year-old sophomore, told The Dallas Morning News that the nonviolent protest transformed "within minutes" after the police began arresting demonstrators.
"I didn't think it would escalate this far," he told the outlet. "And I didn't think there would be this much police intervention from what's supposed to be a peaceful protest. Not very peaceful when there's a bunch of aggressors around, especially on horses."
The organizers called the gathering "The Popular University" and said it was aimed at pressuring UT to "divest from death."
The protesters walked out of their classes to demand UT divest from weapons manufacturers in order to end its complicity in Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 34,262 Palestinians.
Student-run newspaper The Daily Texanreported roughly 50 state troopers were deployed to stop the initial protest of about 150-200 people.
Ryan Chandler, a reporter for NBC affiliate KXAN-TV and UT alum, reported that there were at least 10 students detained.
"Went here for four years, never saw anything like this," said Chandler, posting a video of a group of police pushing one student to the ground and arresting them.
Joseph Pierce, a Stony Brook University professor who attended graduate school at UT, also said the escalation was an unusually "drastic response to students advocating for an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people."
"It is a response that did not occur when in 2005 we protested the anti-gay marriage bill; in the late 2000s when we protested anti-immigration bills; in the 2010s when we protested the open-carry bill," Pierce said. "It is a clear attempt at silencing Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jewish voices."
The students faced the state troopers in a standoff on the university's main street.
"This violence against peaceful student protesters at UT Austin is absolutely horrifying—and should be condemned in the strongest terms by every politician and mainstream journalist," said former New Yorker editor Erin Overbey.
UT media and Middle East studies professor Nahid Siamdoust said the university "brought out everything but the kitchen sink to make sure" students couldn't erect an anti-war encampment like students at Columbia University, New York University, and other schools across the U.S. have in recent days.
The university had informed organizers with the on-campus Palestine Solidarity Committee on Tuesday that exercising their First Amendment rights in support of Palestinians in Gaza would "violate our policies and rules."
"The freedom to protest is integral to our democracy," said the ACLU of Texas Wednesday amid reports of the crackdown. "UT Austin students have a First Amendment right to freely express their political opinions—without threats of arrest and violence."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Endorsing Biden, Building Trades Union Slams Trump as Lackey for 'His Billionaire Buddies'
"He does not care about anybody in this world except Donald Trump," said the president of North America's Building Trades Unions. "His dark side is very, very dark."
Apr 24, 2024
The leadership of a union that represents more than 3 million building trades workers in the U.S. and Canada endorsed President Joe Biden's reelection bid on Wednesday, slamming presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump for catering to the needs of billionaires like himself during his first four years in the White House.
"When Trump was elected, we took him at his word that he would have a worker-centered agenda and deliver on long-stalled issues such as infrastructure investment," said Sean McGarvey, president of North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU), whose governing board voted to endorse Biden on Tuesday.
"Instead of delivering," McGarvey added, Trump "aligned himself with his billionaire buddies to enact tax cuts that raised costs for our members. Simply put, he failed to deliver. Given our experience and knowing his track record, the choice is clear."
Building trades unions and their rank-and-file members are generally seen as more conservative and pro-Trump than other elements of the U.S. labor movement. In 2017, McGarvey celebrated Trump's effort to advance construction work on the Keystone XL pipeline, a massive fossil fuel project that Biden effectively killed in 2021 after years of organizing by environmentalists and Indigenous tribes.
But NABTU's leadership endorsed Clinton over Trump in the 2016 presidential election and Biden over Trump in 2020.
In a five-minute ad released Wednesday, the union highlights Trump's pledge to be a dictator on "day one" and condemns the former president as a dangerous egomaniac.
NABTU called for Trump's resignation after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
"Donald Trump, he's not a good man. He's not a good person. He does not care about anybody in this world except Donald Trump," McGarvey says in the new ad. "His dark side is very, very dark."
Wow. You may have seen a short version of the North America Building Trade Union ( @NABTU) video endorsement of Biden. The full video is incredible and absolutely devastating for Trump. They did not hold back. A must watch till the end. pic.twitter.com/stL7b7JazP
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 24, 2024
In his statement Wednesday announcing NABTU's endorsement, McGarvey cites the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act as key legislative achievements that "brought life-changing, opportunity-creating, generational change focused on the working men and women of this great country who have for far too long been clamoring for a leader to finally keep their word."
"In the coming months," he added, "we will continue to engage our membership and their families directly, member to member, door to door, and jobsite to jobsite, with an unprecedented field program in key battleground states, to tell them how important President Biden and his policies have been to them, their economic security, and their freedoms."
But McGarvey said in an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday that the union does not intend to "waste a lot of time talking to every American that supports Donald Trump" or "some of our members that support Donald Trump, because we're not gonna change their minds."
Speaking at NABTU's annual legislative conference on Wednesday, Biden welcomed the union's endorsement and said that "Donald Trump's vision of America is one of revenge and retribution, a defeated former president who sees the world from Mar-a-Lago, who bows down to billionaires and looks down on union workers."
NABTU is the latest major union to back Biden as he prepares for his high-stakes rematch with Trump in November. In January, Biden secured the support of the emboldened United Auto Workers, whose president called Trump a "scab" who "stands against everything we stand for as a union."
"Donald Trump is a billionaire," said UAW president Shawn Fain, "and that's who he represents."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Tennessee GOP Shuts Down Debate, Passes Bill Allowing Handguns for Teachers
"Instead of protecting kids," said one Democratic lawmaker, "they've protected guns again."
Apr 24, 2024
A Democratic leader in the Tennessee House on Tuesday warned that a bill pushed through by Republicans to permit teachers to carry concealed handguns was "nothing but a bad disaster and tragedy waiting to happen," after the GOP cut off a debate and refused to include amendments that aimed to add safety measures to the legislation.
House Bill 1202 passed in a 68-28 vote, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has never vetoed legislation, is expected to sign it, clearing the way for the state to require school districts to allow teachers to carry firearms without notifying students' parents.
According toThe Tennessean, the legislation does not allow schools or school districts to opt out of the program and requires administrators "to consider every individual who wants to carry."
The legislation was passed just over a year after a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville killed six people, including three children.
"Our children's lives are at stake," said House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons (D-55).
After last year's shooting, the Tennessee Legislature garnered national attention when Republicans voted to expel expel state Reps. Justin Jones (D-52) and Justin Pearson (D-86) for joining outraged students in a chant for gun control during a protest. Jones and Pearson were soon reinstated.
Following Tuesday's vote on arming teachers, Republicans voted to bar Jones from speaking in House proceedings for two days after he was accused of committing three rules violations, including recording on the chamber's floor—something a GOP member was also accused of doing.
Jones applauded Tennessee residents for speaking out against H.B. 1202 in the House chamber.
"Despite my Republican colleagues' best effort, the power of the people cannot and will not be stopped," said the lawmaker.
The GOP ended the debate over the legislation after one teacher, Lauren Shipman-Dorrance, cried out from the viewing section. Shipman-Dorrance was removed by state troopers on orders from House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-25).
After the bill passed overwhelmingly—despite four Republicans who joined the Democrats and three who abstained—the remaining protesters chanted, "Blood on your hands!" before the GOP ordered state troopers to remove them.
Sarah Shoop Neumann, whose children attend Covenant Day School, delivered a letter with more than 5,300 signatures to the House on Monday demanding that lawmakers defeat the bill and warning that the legislation "ignores research that shows the presence of a gun increases the risks posed to children."
Shoop Neumann toldThe Tennessean that the bill's passage was "disgraceful."
"We worked with the Senate and representative sponsors of this bill to make it even a little bit safer—anything, really—and I'm utterly disappointed that that was not taken into consideration," she told the outlet.
Kris Brown, president of gun violence prevention group Brady, pointed out that "multiple teachers were armed at [the Covenant School], yet that was not enough to stop six children and school employees from being murdered."
"The Tennessee Legislature has just dishonored all who were killed at the Covenant School shooting last year by choosing to promote the proliferation of firearms in classrooms," said Brown. "H.B. 1202 is especially egregious as it has no safe storage requirements, meaning firearms could potentially fall into a child's hands."
"If we want to be free of this uniquely American crisis, we cannot continue to perpetuate the deadly norms that got us here by adding more unsecured firearms in spaces where children should be safe to learn and grow," she added. "We urge Gov. Lee to veto this bill and ask him to work alongside us, teachers, and gun safety advocates to craft meaningful reforms across the Volunteer State."
Democrats proposed amendments to require that teachers lock up their handguns and only remove them during a security breach, that teachers be held civilly liable for using their guns, and that schools inform parents if guns are on campus, but the GOP rejected all of the proposals.
"I can assure you these people have never experienced an actual working high school classroom or they wouldn't be passing this nonsense," said one Tennessee teacher. "A child will die because of this."
Pearson said the passage of the bill marked "an awful day for Tennessee, our kids, our teachers, and communities."
"Instead of protecting kids," said the lawmaker, "they've protected guns again."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular