Monday, December 29, 2008

FPA Staement 3 on the Massacre in Gaza


The FPA is issuing these consecutive statements on the ongoing Gaza massacres to call for action and to focus a light on some of the critical aspects of what is occurring. We call on all to seek or start protests in their respective areas and to join in the National Day of Action on Tuesday, December 30, called for by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, MAS Freedom Foundation, the Free Palestine Alliance, the National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda.

Read previous FPA statements here.
To see a listing of actions and demonstrations and learn more, go here.

As of the writing of this statement, more than 345 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,650 have been injured as a result of the ongoing Zionist massacre in the Gaza Strip. Early this morning, a mother and her five children were murdered in Jabalia. Such are the victims of this Zionist monstrosity - mothers, fathers and children, besieged in hunger, starved for life, and killed on live television before the world to see. And that is not enough for Zionist leaders. In fact, Israel is now preparing for a ground assault that will increase the carnage and drive the pain and suffering that much deeper.

But why wouldn't Israel have an open season on the Palestinian people. Barak Obama is quiet, with indications that he supports the attacks. We ask, where is your "change and sense of justice", Obama – does it stop at the doorstep of the Arabs? The Bush administration is in full support, economically, militarily, and diplomatically. Arab despotic leaders, who are functionaries for Israel and the US, are doing their best to tighten the siege and maximize the damage. The Palestinian Authority blames Hamas, and is still trying to figure out how to maintain its grip over the Palestinian people. "Bunker busting" massive bombs and missiles, the latest F-16 fighter jets, and other high technology weapons of mass destruction are being sent to Israel by the US to be used against the Arab people, as is the case today in Gaza.

This was the same complicity of conspirators that occurred in July 2006 when Israel attacked Lebanon, only to be defeated soundly despite the carnage it left behind. Such is certain to be the case today in Gaza.

To counter this alliance of colonial interests and lethal impact, here is what must happen immediately: The Rafah border with Egypt in southern Gaza must be opened by the Egyptian people. Arab and international support must be brought into Gaza through this crossing, including food, ambulances, medicine, and all related necessities. All Israeli ambassadors must be expelled from Arab lands, and all relations with the Zionist polity must be ended immediately. The boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against Israeli interests must become a central program for all institutions, organizations, and individuals worldwide, particularly in the United States. And most importantly, all people must take to the streets in protest and solidarity in every corner of the globe. And all must demand the Obama takes a stance for real change in the atrocious US policy in the Middle East.

To the dismay of the US administration and Arab dictators, and to the callous disregard of a hateful Zionist political establishment, people around the globe in fact did take to the streets in outrage. The Arab masses are increasingly expressing their indignation of their imposed despots and are taking to the streets in every city and town. Europeans in many nations from Turkey to Spain, Britain, France and more are in the streets demanding an immediate halt to the massacre. The Egyptian people are demanding that the Rafah border be opened. The Jordanian people and members of their parliament are taking a powerful stance inside and outside the halls of government. Libya is sending planes and ships of food and medicine, despite being turned away by the complicit and criminal Egyptian government. Yemenis, Iranian, Iraqis, Lebanese, Syrians, Moroccans, Mauritanians, Qataris, Omanis, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Sudanese, Algerians, Tunisians, and many more are in the streets daily.

Here in the US, the protest is growing and spreading. A National Day of Action is awaiting us tomorrow (Tuesday) to fill the streets of the US from coast to coast. Only yesterday in Los Angeles, thousands took to the streets in anger and protests, as many others joined impromptu demonstrations in cities across the US. The Los Angeles protest set s a powerful lead for what is to follow this Tuesday in solidarity and outrage.

At all times, we must remain hopeful and steadfast that we, the people of the world, who yearn for justice and freedom, for a living wage and dignified home, are indeed the salt of this earth and the makers of our destiny. Despite hunger, death and pain, we can come together in mutual solidarity. We can show that it is us, the recipients of the wrath of war, who can lead the world to justice and away from colonial hate and bigotry.

The people of Gaza are us. They are an inseparable part of the Palestinian Arab people, who time and again continue to rise above the wound to defy the mightiest of armies. The starvation and mayhem felt today in Gaza City, Rafah, Jabalya, Khan Younis, Beit Hanoun, and every corner of the Gaza Strip, must and should be turned into seeds of liberation and d ecolonization. The despots and dictators must and will leave. Arab wealth must and will be the fuel to a progressive and hopeful future. Refugees must and will return. And friendship between nations must and will be the thread to bind us together.

We call on all to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the Palestinian Arab people, and in support of the heroic mothers, fathers, and children as they bury their dead in Gaza.

For only ours together is the future.

The Free Palestine Alliance
December 29, 2008

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