Will the Middle East devolve into more and expanded wars now that Israel is relentlessly bombing Gaza? At this point, over a thousand are dead or wounded, and Gaza hospitals can’t keep up with the injured. Watching CNN International most of the day has been very frustrating because CNN has a definite pro-Israel bias, but its international news team is a little more fair. They even interviewed Diana Buttu tonight. She is the speaker in the video above, on her speaking tour, Separate Is Never Equal: Stories of Apartheid from South Africa to Palestine. This is a national speaking tour featuring a South African reverend and Palestinian lawyer started off at the Palestine Center on Monday, 10 November 2008. The tour, sponsored by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (www.endtheoccupation.org), draws on the parallels between the South African and Israeli systems of apartheid.
Buttu is a political analyst and the former legal advisor to the PLO, and she was very harsh in her words for Israel when interviewed on CNN. She blamed the attacks on their politics and upcoming election, and she also said that the line from Israel, that this is in “self-defense, ” was “precisely a lie” and cover for their political goals. She also described the seige and that Gaza has been treated badly by Israel for a long time. Buttu didn’t have a chance to describe more or give out statistics, but she was given at least a few minutes to talk. (You can also see Butto on Democracy Now talking about Israel’s long blockade of Gaza here.)
The U.S. media has never been fair to Palestinians, and has always been pro-Israel. We were actually told over the last few days that Gaza broke the ceasefire with no supporting evidence of that, and that Gaza refused to extend it, also with no evidence or supporting testimony. This bias will probably not change any time soon, but everyone who has a website can help by publishing things on their sites the defend Palestinians when possible, when fair and when accurate. The inaccuracy about this in American news media is really criminal. CNN devoted most of its coverage to giving various Israel-friendly sources most of their speaking time.
The White House position is the same as always: Israel has a right to defend itself, but Palestinians don’t. Obama’s position is unknown and he has basically refused to take a definite stand on this, saying the standard line that there is only one government at a time.
There is a lot of outrage both outside of the U.S. and inside the U.S. towards Israel’s attacks today. Their brutality is disturbing, but even worse is the fact that they are massing tanks and soldiers on the border, and Tzipi Livni, who has completely disappointed me in the last few weeks, said today on CNN that they will keep all options open for possibly invasion. If Israel invades Gaza yet again, they will lose the support of many people in the West. It’s becoming more clear every day that their intentions and actions are not fair or justified. It’s all in proportional response, a concept both Israel and American politicians don’t seem to understand. First, a few pleas for peace and action from various groups, and then there will be more news here on this situation. Many demonstrations have already occurred on December 28th, but some are still coming up. Please read and see if you can help to end this situation, or contribute in some way.
As of this writing, Israeli Air Force attacks today on the occupied Gaza Strip killed an estimated 200 or more people and injured hundreds more. These Israeli attacks come on top of a brutal siege of the Gaza Strip, which 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.
While the scope of civilian casualties in today’s attacks is not yet clear, it is unmistakable that Israel carried out these attacks with F16 fighter jets and missiles provided by the taxpayers of this country. (The U.S.) From 2001-2006, the United States transferred to Israel more than $200 million worth of spare parts to fly its fleet of F16’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.
In short, Israel’s lethal attack today on the Gaza Strip could not have happened without the active military and political support of the United States. Therefore, we need to take action to protest this attack and demand an immediate cease-fire.
TAKE ACTION
1. Contact the White House to protest the attack and demand an immediate cease-fire. Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to comments@whitehouse.gov.
2. Contact the State Department at 202-647-6575 or send an email by clicking here.
3. Contact your Representative and Senators in Congress at 202-224-3121 or find contact info for your Members of Congress by clicking here.
4. 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.
5. Organize a local protest or vigil and tell us about it by clicking here.
6. 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.
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