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The Middle East

janfeb_09_26

Stop the Siege and Blockade of Gaza!

Send a letter to Bush and Congress: End U.S. Aid to Israel!

Statement by A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), December 2008

The humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people in Gaza has reached an especially grave level. The deprivation of food and water is the deliberate purpose of the U.S.-backed Israeli government’s decision to close border crossings into Gaza.

All crossings for goods coming into the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, are closed. The Palestinians are completely blockaded. A United Nations report issued today states that the blockade and siege of Gaza, which began 18 months ago after the democratic election of the Hamas government, has now resulted in a 49 percent unemployment rate for the citizens of Gaza. Gaza City residents are without electricity for up to 16 hours a day and half the city’s residents receive water only once a week for a few hours. The UN report added that 80 percent of Palestinians living in Gaza are obliged to drink polluted water.

The United National Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has been forced to suspend food distribution for both emergency and regular programs. The Agency has run out of flour and has now suspended food deliveries to 750,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

The Israeli Occupation Forces have escalated their military attacks on the people in Gaza. Civilians have been killed and Palestinian houses and other civilian premises have been targeted for destruction. This is a deliberate policy to starve and strangle a whole people by depriving them of food, water, fuel and medical supplies.

The U.S. government is bankrolling the Israeli government and its criminal actions. Israel receives $15 million dollars a day and is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid in the world. The U.S. Military Industrial Complex and the leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties support Israel because they view the Israeli government as an extension of U.S. power in the Middle East. The Palestinian people deserve the support and solidarity of people around the world. They deserve our support not only in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but in their struggle for self-determination including the right to return to their homes from which they were evicted by the forces of colonial occupation.

Join with people around the country and around the world who are demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel. This is an urgent situation and we must all act now. You can send a letter demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel at the Internet link below. Without U.S. aid, the Israeli siege and blockade of Gaza could not be continued.

To send an Internet letter to the State Department and elected officials in Congress demanding “End U.S. Aid to Israel NOW!” log on to: answer.pephost.org