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MIFTAH calls for international solidarity with the Palestinian people
Ramallah (4 November, 2006): The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) urges the international community to take immediate action to end Israel’s military aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. In particular, we call upon members of civil society institutions, global human rights organizations, and the relevant United Nations bodies to take concrete steps to pressure the Israeli Government to stop its ongoing assaults against unarmed Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. Since the early hours of last Wednesday, 1 November, 2006, Israeli military forces have brutally murdered a total of 42 Palestinians and wounded 200, 30 of whom are reported in critical conditions. The attacks, part of Israel’s military operation “Autumn Clouds,” constitute a grave escalation in Israel’s premeditated offensive campaign against civilian population centres in the Gaza Strip since June 2006, during which 300 Palestinians have been killed. We utterly condemn the horrendous atrocities being committed by Israel against our civilians in the Gaza Strip, and are equally dismayed with the continued silence of the international community towards these crimes; this lack of intervention will only provide Israel with the convenience to continue its violation of international and humanitarian law. In light of these alarming developments, and with a sense of urgency and desperation, MIFTAH calls for the international community’s solidarity and support to protect the Palestinian people from further Israeli military assaults. We call for the immediate suspension of diplomatic relations with the state of Israel until Israeli military forces are withdrawn from areas within the Gaza Strip, and military campaigns are unconditionally stopped. We call for a concerted and collective effort by the member states of the United Nations to boycott the Israeli Government, and take concrete action to bring Israel to abide by the provisions of international law, most notably the 4th Geneva Conventions of 1949, which unequivocally stipulate the protection of civilians in times of conflict. We also reaffirm our position that Israel’s various pretexts for attacking civilian centres in the Gaza Strip are a short-sighted attempt to mislead the international community into accepting/absorbing its aggression against the Palestinians. ---END The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH, is a non-governmental, non-partisan Jerusalem-based institution dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance within Palestinian society through promoting public accountability, transparency, the free flow of information and ideas and the challenging of stereotyping at home and abroad.
For further information, please contact:
http://www.miftah.org |