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Petition
To US White House
and State
Department:
Condemn Israeli
Aggression in Gaza
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African Americans for Justice
in the Middle East and North Africa Statement
Regarding the Aggression Against Gaza
Rather
than taking a stand against Israeli’s onslaught and issuing an
unambiguous demand for an end to the bloodshed, the Obama
administration has condemned alleged Palestinian terrorism, repeating
the dishonest line that this violent attack is merely in defense of
Israel (a position reinforced by the one-sided coverage of the
corporate news media).African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa
(AAJMENA) strongly condemns Israeli aggression against the Palestinian
people in Gaza. The arguments offered by the Israeli government for its
attack on Gaza are nakedly cynical in both form and content. That a
truce had been negotiated, with the assistance of the Egyptian
government, between Israel and Hamas only to be broken by the Israeli
assassination of Hamas military commander Ahmad Jabari clearly
indicates that the Netanyahu government is not interested in peace.
Israel is responsible for the escalating violence and for this epic
breach of human rights.
This crisis underscores a stunning power imbalance. Nuclear-armed
Israel, by far the most powerful military force in the Middle East (and
among the mightiest in the world), has unleashed its immense war making
capacity on Gaza’s captive population, mobilizing warships and tanks
and launching more than 1,000 F-16 airstrikes since the attack began.
The use of such weapons on civilians is a flagrant violation of the
U.S. Arms Export Control Act.
The aggression against Gaza must be understood as the latest act in the
decades-long oppression of the Palestinian people at the hands of the
Israeli government. Blockaded Gaza has been plunged into misery by the
Israeli-U.S. effort to thwart the democratic will of the Palestinian
people as demonstrated in their 2006 legislative elections. When a coup
was attempted against Hamas—and failed—the Israelis sealed Gaza,
spinning events to make it appear that those not interested in peace
were the Palestinians. As a result, Gaza is the largest open-air prison
in the world, with 1.5 million people locked into a roughly
140-square-mile strip of land. This latest humanitarian crisis has
caused the disproportionate death and suffering of Palestinians, but
casualties on both sides will be the consequence of Israeli aggression.
The aggression against
Gaza must be understood as the latest act in the decades-long
oppression of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli
government.Rather than taking a stand against Israeli’s onslaught and issuing an
unambiguous demand for an end to the bloodshed, the Obama
administration has condemned alleged Palestinian terrorism, repeating
the dishonest line that this violent attack is merely in defense of
Israel (a position reinforced by the one-sided coverage of the
corporate news media). This represents a massive failure on the
administration’s part. For all Obama’s denunciation of the Assad regime
in Syria, it appears that his administration regards the outright
slaughter of civilians in Palestine as acceptable. It is crucial that
we recognize the extent of U.S. complicity in the bloodshed; our tax
dollars ($8.5 million a day) enable Israeli militarism at a time when
those funds are desperately needed to fill gaps in services and
infrastructure back home.
As African Americans and people of African descent in the U.S. from
academia, activism and various social movements, we cannot remain
silent. We call upon all people of good will to:
1. Endorse this statement.
2. Communicate with the White House and the U.S. Department of State to
request that President Obama demand that Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF cease the bombardment of Gaza and
withdraw their armed forces immediately. Insist that the U.S. condition
aid to Israel on compliance with U.S. and international law.
3. Contact the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. and demand that
Israel withdraw its forces and end the blockade.
4. Send your local media outlet a “letter to the editor” expressing
outrage against the provocative and murderous acts of the Israeli
government.
5. Join protests against Israeli aggression.
6. Support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (www.bdsmovement.net)
and U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (www.usacbi.org),
and back the efforts of labor unions and student groups to compel their
employers and administrators to divest from companies that do business
in Israel.
Please spread the word far and wide about this petition.
Click here to sign the petition at Change.org and view
the names of those who have already signed it.
Click here to invite all of your facebook friends to the
"event" to sign the petition.
If you are on twitter, click here to sign the petition and pass it around.
In solidarity and peace,
BlackCommentator.com
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If you send
us an emaill message we may publish all or part of it, unless you tell
us it is not for publication. You may also request that we withhold
your name.
Thank you very
much for your readership.
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| Nov 29, 2012 - Issue 496 |
 is published every Thursday |
| Est. April 5, 2002 |
Executive Editor:
David A. Love, JD |
Managing Editor:
Nancy Littlefield, MBA |
Publisher:
Peter Gamble |
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