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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Thank you, Advocacy and Steering Committee for a well-crafted statement which can be used effectively when making calls to our U.S. representatives and senators, the White House and the Obama Transition team. Jim McGown
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steering Committe, for this well drafted and passionate statement. I will be visiting 3 congressional offices tomorrow and will bring copies with me to hand out. I will also send the statement to my church newsletter.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this strong statement, and balanced too (although Israeli partisans will not think so). Both sides persist in perpetrating a military fight, hoping to win approval from their constituencies. After all, we have to be "strong" against the enemy, dont cha know? When will the tide turn in US opinion against these atrocities? Let's keep the pressure on! JRK
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ReplyDeleteI think this lastest war of Israel's will rip off yet more of the mask - just as the 2006 lebanon war was bad PR for them. The arc of history bends toward justice, as said by MLK - we may not see the arc completed, but i trust in God that it will get there....
ReplyDeleteYesterday Israel bombed the UN Headquarters building in Gaza. All of their emergency food and medical supplies were destroyed. Israel claimed that Hamas was sending rockets from the UN Building, although the news today says that an IDF soldier privately told a journalist that the rockets were coming from some distance away from the building. I hope this outrageous act finally moves the U.S. government to come out strongly against Israel's actions.
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