Middle East Christians - Part 2

Middle East Christians - Part 1

We Will Not Go Down in Gaza Tonight

please post a comment on this video.

We Will Not Go Down in Gaza Tonight

This is the same song as the above post but with pictures of protests around the world.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE MISSION NETWORK STATEMENT ON GAZA

The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) condemns in the harshest terms possible the Israeli massacre of Palestinians now underway in Gaza.  This long-planned and all-too indiscriminate slaughter of hundreds of civilians, the wounding of thousands, and the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, mosques and economic infrastructure cannot be justified in the name of Israeli national security.

The numbers simply do not add up:  In the past eight years 20 Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets while in the past three years over 1700 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military, including the 600 men, women and children who have died so far in this most recent attack.  Hundreds more have died as a result of the Israeli embargo on medicine, food and fuel.  The sheer disproportion of death and destruction is an affront to the conscience of humanity.  This blatant collective punishment mocks international law as well as the Geneva Conventions.  It is morally repugnant to us and the rest of the world.

Despite the usual “blaming” justifications given for this incursion, there are other truths about Israel’s actions that need to be told:  

1)    Israel, not Hamas, broke the truce*, and has long used its own missiles to assassinate Palestinian leaders, often with family-destroying “collateral damage.”

2)    The attacks on Gaza coincide with a heated Israeli political campaign in which the leaders of the Labor and Kadima Parties must appear to the electorate to be as tough as the Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

3)    The current United States government has become complicit in this tragedy by supporting Israel’s justifications for its actions and by—alone in the nations of the UN Security Council—blocking the international demand for a ceasefire.

4)    The timing reflects a desire to limit the restoration of human rights and international diplomacy promised by the incoming Obama Administration.

The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), in accordance with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, stands with the victims of this atrocious massacre.  We condemn violence committed by both sides, but cannot turn a blind eye to the disproportionate amount of suffering on the Palestinian side of this equation.  The simple fact is that the firing of the most lethal, hi-tech weapons on earth into an embargoed, walled-in Gaza by Israeli forces is tantamount to what is crudely known as “shooting fish in a barrel.”

We call upon the government of the United States of America to support an immediate cease-fire within the United Nations and independently.  We also call for a multi-national peacekeeping force to be installed as soon as possible, which is the standard that has been set anywhere else in the world following such a tragic humanitarian disaster.  We call upon the Israeli government to allow UN peacekeeping forces with humanitarian assistance to enter into Gaza immediately.

• * “CNN Finally Confirms Israel Broke Ceasefire First” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KntmpoRXFX4)
• * “NPR News Monday, January 5, 2009”   (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june09/gaza_01-05.html)

 

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Happy New Year!

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The Illusion of Victory

If Hamas is destroyed, a more radical group will replace it. Israel's security depends on wiser action

Daniel Barenboim

The Guardian

Thursday 1 January 2009

 

I have just three wishes for the coming year. The first is for the Israeli government to realise once and for all that the Middle East cannot be solved by military means. The second is for Hamas to realise that its interests are not served by violence, and Israel is here to stay. And the third is for the world to acknowledge that this conflict is unlike any other in history. It is uniquely intricate and sensitive - a conflict between two peoples who are both deeply convinced of their right to live on the same very small piece of land. This is why neither diplomacy nor military action can resolve this conflict.

READ the rest here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/01/israel-gaza-bombings-hamas

• Daniel Barenboim is a pianist and conductor, and a UN messenger of peace danielbarenboim.com