For thousands of years, Gaza has been an important seaport and trade community, exporting agricultural produce to other areas of historic Palestine and serving as a way station for traders traveling along the Egypt-Syria trade route. Located in the southwest most corner of historic Palestine, Gaza is home to a wealth of natural resources including fertile agricultural land, rich fishing grounds, and large offshore natural gas reserves. Gaza also has beautiful beaches, a rich history, and a moderate climate, all of which make it a potentially attractive tourist destination. Add to this a highly educated and youthful population (60 percent under the age of 18, and over 40 percent age 14 or younger), and you might expect that Gaza’s development prospects were positive.
Unfortunately this is not the case. Gaza’s wealth is largely unreachable as a direct result of Israel’s occupation and blockade. Most agricultural land is located in places declared closed military areas (“no go” zones) or has been destroyed during military attacks. Access to traditional fishing grounds is restricted by the Israeli navy. Development of the natural gas reserves is forbidden by the Israeli government. All of this while the movement of people into and out of Gaza is severely restricted and both the import of goods and the export of products from Gaza is strictly limited. Military attacks over the last 13 years have also resulted in the near complete destruction of Gaza’s business and manufacturing base. As a result, the unemployment rate among Gaza’s 1.7 million residents is over 35 percent and poverty rates are even higher. More than 80 percent of the population is now dependent on international assistance for survival. Yet the people of Gaza have not lost hope, continuing to dream about and work for a better future.
This paper provides additional information about Gaza and the impact of Israeli policies on the people living there...Read more
Today around 100 Atlantans gathered at Troy Davis Park (Woodruff
Park) and marched to the CNN Center to protest the recent revenge killings of
Palestinians by Israeli citizens and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). These
killings can be seen in the wider context of the ongoing brutality of Israel’s
military occupation, which has left six Palestinian children and twenty six
Palestinian adults dead in 2014 alone.
Now Israel and Israeli citizens are charging all
Palestinians, void of evidence, of killing three Israeli teenagers. This
purported crime against Israel has been used to justify dropping bombs on the
Palestinian population that is living in open air prisons. While Israeli citizens have autonomy to
travel openly, Palestinians are subjected to apartheid occupation and have very
little freedom of movement for things such as, travel or work. Sadly, we
continue to see Israel using collective punishment against an entire population
for crimes which have not yet been fully understood.
How is the conflict across the globe connected to Georgians?
Georgia tax dollars, to the tune of 10million per day, are used to fund mothers
dying of bombshells and children being beaten, abducted, and shot by IDF
soldiers. It is the responsibility of every American not only to care about
where their taxes are going, but to be morally indignant at such crimes against
humanity. Some of the F16’s the Israeli military uses are made in Marietta,
just outside Atlanta
Today’s march was organized by The Movement to End IsraeliApartheid-Georgia is an Atlanta-based group dedicated to the global campaign of
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel until it abides by
international law and human rights and supported by a number of groups
including American Friends Service Committee.
The attack, code named “Pillar of Defense”, began 14 November with the assassination of Hamas’ Gaza Military Commander Ahmed Jabari and coordinated attacks on 20 alleged Hamas targets throughout Gaza. These attacks have been followed by the continued shelling and bombardment of Gaza from the air, land, and sea. Gaza is home to 1.6 million Palestinians of whom fifty per cent are children under the age of 18.
There have already been over ten Palestinians killed, including young children, as a result of the attack. As violence usually leads to violence, Palestinians have retaliated resulting in Israeli deaths and injuries. The number of dead and injured on both sides will continue to rise as the violence continues.
It is likely that a great deal of attention will be paid to the question of who started the latest escalation. This attention will be misplaced: the roots of the current conflict are to be found in Israel’s ongoing occupation of the Gaza strip, its failure to recognize the results of the 2006 Palestinian elections, and the continued Gaza blockade.
In both the short and long term, military escalation and violence will do nothing to make either Palestinian or Israeli civilians safer. Rather, they will likely increase suffering by civilians on both sides of the conflict. There are striking similarities between the current situation and the events that immediately preceded Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” which began in December 2008 and during which over 1,400 Palestinians, including over 300 children, were killed. The world cannot sit by and allow a similar tragedy to occur.
The US government and the international community must immediately pressure Israel to completely end its assault on Gaza. The US government has a particular responsibility to ensure that the nearly $4 billion it provides to Israel annually in military assistance is not misused and it therefore must do more than simply “monitor the situation”.
Pressure to end the immediate violence should be complimented by a diplomatic offensive that targets both Israel and all Palestinian factions and that has as its goal ending the occupation and realizing a just peace. The only way to truly end the violence of the conflict is to end the occupation, respect international law, and ensure equal rights for all.
We are gravely concerned that the response of the Obama administration and Congress to the Palestinian quest for statehood recognition at the United Nations will further fuel violent conflict in the Middle East. Rather than punish Palestinians for pursuing an international forum for addressing their right to self-determination, the United States should welcome this non-violent approach and use its diplomatic influence and resources to leverage the political opening toward securing a comprehensive and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Obama administration’s plan to veto Palestine’s anticipated U.N. membership application regrettably signals the continuation of U.S. policy that obstructs Palestinian self-determination and undermines prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Many members of Congress are proposing the elimination of development and humanitarian assistance for Palestinians and the withholding of all funding to U.N. programs that recognize any upgrade to the status of the Palestinian mission. Threats to unjustly punish Palestinians and possibly even the entire U.N. system in response to decisions by U.N member states on Palestine will only undermine security for Israelis and Palestinians and amplify the voices of extremists on all sides of the conflict.
Palestinians’ Turn to the U.N. Reflects Failure of U.S.-led Negotiations
As a matter of international law and practice, the Palestinians, like any other aspiring peoples seeking statehood recognition, have the right to present their case to the international community. The legitimacy of this effort was referenced a year ago by President Obama himself when he stated forthrightly before the U.N. General Assembly the goal of securing “an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel”.
Unfortunately, the U.S.-brokered process for resolving the conflict has failed to reach this goal, and in fact, led to further deterioration of the conflict over the past year. Negotiations collapsed only a month after President Obama’s speech at the U.N., and Israeli settlement expansion has continued at an alarming rate, claiming de facto territory that under international law and longstanding U.S. policy should belong to a future Palestinian state. With negotiations stalled and settlements expanding, the Palestinian leadership has chosen to take its case for statehood to the United Nations.
Nonviolence Should Be Welcomed, Not Punished
Millions of peoples across the Middle East and North Africa are employing nonviolent means to bring about widespread, far-reaching reforms in support of more transparent, democratic selfgovernance. Nonviolent approaches to Palestinian self-determination at the U.N. and in both the Palestinian territories and Israel should similarly be encouraged.
In this context, we urge the U.S. to use its voice and vote at the U.N. to welcome the Palestinian initiative for its nonviolent approach to self-determination and conflict resolution.
While Palestinian civil society leaders and the Palestinian Authority have committed to a path of nonviolence in September, the specter of violence in the aftermath of decisions at the U.N. looms large. We are opposed to the use of violence by all parties, and are deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military has permitted the use of violence to confront unarmed, Palestinian demonstrators at protests expected to coincide with U.N. deliberations on Palestine.
Next Steps for the U.S.: Seize Opportunity to Take Bold Steps for Peace
The Obama administration and Congress should craft any U.S. policy response in ways which uphold the U.S. commitments to international law, self-determination, and the continued search for justice and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Recommendations for the Obama administration:
Use U.S. voice and vote at the U.N. to welcome the use of nonviolent approaches rooted in international law to resolve conflict. A lone U.S. veto in the Security Council would be a sharp rebuke to Palestinian nonviolence and would undermine the rising forces of democracy and nonviolence throughout the Middle East.
Call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint in the aftermath of the deliberations at the U.N. on Palestine.
Invest in high-level diplomatic energy to press for comprehensive negotiations in good faith between Israel and a unified Palestinian government, encouraging rather than impeding Palestinian reconciliation efforts.
Recommendations for Congress:
Reject H.R. 2829, The United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2011 introduced by Representative Ros-Lehtinen, which unjustly punishes not only Palestinians, but the entire U.N. system and all those around the world who benefit from its life-saving programs.
Reject cuts to U.S. development and humanitarian aid for Palestinians, which would only increase the potential for further violence in the region.
Toward a Just and Lasting Peace
We urge the Obama administration and Congress to avoid retaliatory measures against the Palestinians that would increase political despondency at this critical juncture, and instead demonstrate U.S. leadership to press for a comprehensive negotiated settlement that offers a path toward lasting peace and security for all.
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) has worked for more than a century to promote a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. FCNL and AFSC are national Quaker organizations that are committed to pressing the United States to play a more constructive role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. QUNO represents the global community of Quakers at the United Nations in New York. Our work is rooted in historic Quaker testimonies on peace and equality and longstanding Quaker witness in the region.
I've been looking forward to a vacation for a while, especially this one. Four years ago a very close friend of mine moved to Europe and this vacation was an opportunity to visit. It just so happens that he's been staying in Prague, Czech Rebulic for over a year now. I've heard nothing but great things about the city and I frankly need a break from Atlanta to regain my breath. Within the first day of arriving in this beautiful city I became aware of Gaza attack on the Flotilla. I was honestly quite shocked, equally shocked to hear US and some international press promoting Israel's excuses for boarding these boats on international water in the middle of the night and killing unarmed peace activists. The wildest accusation was that folks on the Flotilla had links to terrorist, simple lie created out of thin air, I personally know some of these folks and am very familiar with the organizations involved. I appears the only terrorism aboard that ship was at the hands of the heavily armed Israeli military personel, which we know killed at least nine people with 30 bullets, harmed an additional 82 people, 30 of whom were shot with bullets.
One of the first things I did when I got to a computer was google Flotilla attack+Prague demonstration. I immediately found Eva Adams, a local organizer with International Solidarity Movement. Her group had been working with another local group, Friends of Palestine, to organize a series of demonstrations against Israel's attack of the Flotilla. On my second day in Prague, a city I really knew little about, I found myself in front of the Israeli embassy holding a sign that said, "End the Blockade, Freedom not Occupation." We marched to the Turkish embassy and organizers spoke with a representative and left flowers in remembrance of their fallen. I met several very nice folks who helped me find my way around the city, none more helpful then a young man named Ondra. Ondra made sure I had directions to each demonstration and offered to meet me at the metro stations to insure I wouldn't get lost.
After online correspondence with Eva she asked if I would be willing to speak at their upcoming demonstration in Wenceslas Square, which is the place Prague goes when there's social unrest. I was surprised as it was clear that I do not speak Czech. Eva thought it would be good to have one english speaker, as many in the country speak english, and it might be good to hear from someone who personally knew someone on the Flotilla. There were actually several people at the demonstration who knew folks on the Flotilla, including Eva. In fact there was one man from the Czech Republic that was actually on the Flotilla, and he was able to join us. After several people spoke I took the stage and spoke briefly of what I had heard from the Flotilla, and what my Gaza co-workers had reported from the ground on the local reaction to the international response to the attack. I spoke about the Movement to End Israeli Georgia and the need to build and link a global movement to cut cultural and economic ties with Apartheid Israel. We then marched to the embassy again through the busy streets of Prague, very exciting.
My experience here in Prague had affirmed the idea that we need not wait for our world leaders to lead us to peace and justice, perhaps they never will. At this point the stakes are to high to wait around for them to save the world. We are going to have to be the agents of change if things are to change. We must build a movement beyond borders, bigger then governments, bolder then they could expect. We must unite struggles against racism, militarism, and economic injustice. No where do these evil's converge on one spot as they do in Palestine right now, and as an American, I'm aware of the intimate connection I have with the gears of this conflict.
Some links related to this post:
International Solidarity Movement: http://palsolidarity.org/
The Movement to End Israelis Apartheid Georgia: www.meiag.org
American Friends Service Committee's Statement on the Flotilla attack: http://afsc.org/newsroom/afsc-responds-attack-humanitarian-shipment-gaza
Local Prague Media on the Event(In Czech): http://www.mediafax.cz/domaci/3051509-Asi-250-aktivistu-demonstrovalo-v-Praze-proti-izraelske-blokade-Gazy
Unfortunately this is not the case. Gaza’s wealth is largely unreachable as a direct result of Israel’s occupation and blockade. Most agricultural land is located in places declared closed military areas (“no go” zones) or has been destroyed during military attacks. Access to traditional fishing grounds is restricted by the Israeli navy. Development of the natural gas reserves is forbidden by the Israeli government. All of this while the movement of people into and out of Gaza is severely restricted and both the import of goods and the export of products from Gaza is strictly limited. Military attacks over the last 13 years have also resulted in the near complete destruction of Gaza’s business and manufacturing base. As a result, the unemployment rate among Gaza’s 1.7 million residents is over 35 percent and poverty rates are even higher. More than 80 percent of the population is now dependent on international assistance for survival. Yet the people of Gaza have not lost hope, continuing to dream about and work for a better future.
