Below are a series of letters Kevin Zeese has written to Rep. Ben Cardin concerning Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. Zeese is urging Cardin, a long-time, ardent supporter of Israel, to stop the sin of silence and speak out against Israel's illegal actions against the Palestinian people.
July 11, 2006
Rep. Ben Cardin 2207 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Via email
Re: Israel’s invasion of Gaza and your continued ‘sin of silence’ on the matter
Dear Rep. Cardin:
This is the third letter I have written to you urging you to speak out against Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. More than fifty Palestinians have been killed so far, including women and children, homes have been bombed as has the electric station and government buildings. Elected officials have been kidnapped and Israel has threatened political assassination. Prime Minister Olmert promises this will continue for at least three months, but maybe even longer. This is all being done with money and equipment provided by U.S. taxpayers. You have voted to provide these resources to Israel and now you remain silent as Israel misuses them. The sin of silence in the face of the destruction of a group of people needs to come to an end.
Does your silence mean you approve of Israel’s actions? Or, does it merely mean you will not criticize Israel? Or, does it mean you raise too much money from the hard right Israeli lobby and therefore will not criticize Israel despite their abuse of the Palestinian people? Don’t you think that as a candidate to represent the State of Maryland you should let the voters know where you stand on this issue?
Israel is now preventing Palestinian Americans from entering the Palestinian territories. Surely, you do not approve of Americans being forbidden to travel to their home country? Further, Israel is walling of Bethlehem, the town of Jesus’ birth, as a result it is very difficult for Christians to visit this important town that is the birthplace of Christianity. Surely, this is not something you condone?
More and more Americans of Jewish Faith and Israeli Jews are speaking out against the Israeli government’s actions. A few examples of many are excerpted below with the full statement attached:
Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun, writes in a column entitled “Israel has Crossed a Moral Boundary that,
“. . . it’s impossible as a Jew and as an American to not notice that a new human rights violation by Israel has taken place which manages to surpass many of its previous violations in cruelty and in the outrage it has generated.
”Anyone has ever faced the crippling heat of the desert-like conditions of southern Israel or the Gaza strip knows the desperation for water that comes each summer. So when Israel bombed and destroyed the electricity system for 1.2 million Gazans and thereby made all electric pumps inoperable, they inflicted a collective punishment on the entire Gazan population.
”The alleged justification was a desire to punish Palestinians for electing a Hamas government, and more immediately to retrieve a soldier who had been “kidnapped” (the quotes because this was not a civilian but a soldier in uniform, so if Israel sees itself as at war with Hamas, then the only possible description is that their soldier was captured by the other side). The Hamas government, however, has publicly urged the ‘kidnappers’ whom it does not control to free the captured soldier.
”Moreover, the outrage in Israel about this ‘kidnap’ reflects a huge level of systematic denial going on in the consciousness of Israelis and many who support its policies—because virtually every human rights group including the various Israeli human rights organizations has chronicled tens of thousands of acts of ‘kidnap’ of this sort by the IDF against Palestinian civilians, who are then kept in detention for as long as six months without a trial, often facing brutal torture, and then released without ever having been charged with any crime.”
Haaretz, perhaps the most respected newspaper in Israel, wrote an editorial entitled “The government is losing its reason” shortly after the invasion, beginning by saying:
“Bombing bridges that can be circumvented both by car and on foot; seizing an airport that has been in ruins for years; destroying a power station, plunging large parts of the Gaza Strip into darkness; distributing flyers suggesting that people be concerned about their fate; a menacing flight over Bashar Assad's palace [President of Syria] ; and arresting elected Hamas officials: The government wishes to convince us that all these actions are intended only to release the soldier Gilad Shalit.
“But the greater the government's creativity in inventing tactics, the more it seems to reflect a loss of direction rather than an overall conception based on reason and common sense.”
A more recent editorial by Haaretz entitled “Diplomacy is the only way out,”
concludes:
“It has been more than two weeks since Gilad Shalit was abducted, and it does not appear that the military operation, the siege and the severe collective punishment of Gaza residents have produced results. The army hasn't even managed to stop the Qassams. Now it looks like the only way to handle the crisis is through diplomacy. And the Egyptian proposal - together with Haniyeh's call for a cease-fire - mark a way out of the crisis.”
While the U.S. media seems to put the blame on the Palestinians, describing them as the violent ones when Israel has killed 50 people and one Israeli soldier has died (and that may have been from ‘friendly Israeli fire’) those in Israel who have followed the long-term illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, see it differently. In a column by Gideon Levy entitled “Who started?” the author states:
“Israel is causing electricity blackouts, laying sieges, bombing and shelling, assassinating and imprisoning, killing and wounding civilians, including children and babies, in horrifying numbers, but ‘they started.’”
* * *
“So, who really did start? And have we ‘left Gaza?’
”Israel left Gaza only partially, and in a distorted manner. The disengagement plan, which was labeled with fancy titles like ‘partition’ and ‘an end to the occupation,’ did result in the dismantling of settlements and the Israel Defense Forces' departure from Gaza, but it did almost nothing to change the living conditions for the residents of the Strip. Gaza is still a prison and its inhabitants are still doomed to live in poverty and oppression. Israel closes them off from the sea, the air and land, except for a limited safety valve at the Rafah crossing. They cannot visit their relatives in the West Bank or look for work in Israel, upon which the Gazan economy has been dependent for some 40 years. Sometimes goods can be transported, sometimes not. Gaza has no chance of escaping its poverty under these conditions. Nobody will invest in it, nobody can develop it, nobody can feel free in it. Israel left the cage, threw away the keys and left the residents to their bitter fate. Now, less than a year after the disengagement, it is going back, with violence and force.”
These comments show that Israeli has gone way beyond the acceptable bounds of civilized behavior in their harsh attack on the Gaza Strip. As Jewish Voice for Peace says “The U.S. has the power to stop the invasion of Gaza.” Your silence, however, is not the way to do so, you and others in the Congress need to speak out.
I urge you to introduce a Resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives decrying Israel’s actions and expressing the Sense of Congress that such actions are unacceptable and if they continue future funding from the United States will not be likely. The U.S. taxpayer can no longer be complicit in Israel’s illegal and brutal occupation.
Stop the sin of silence!
Sincerely,
Kevin B. Zeese
Israel has Crossed a Moral Boundary Rabbi Michael Lerner
In 2003 I was prevented from speaking at a large demonstration protesting the impending war in Iraq because I was deemed too pro-Zionist by one of the sponsoring organizations. My sin then, as now, is that I believe that both sides have acted with insensitivity and have been oblivious to the needs of the other, and both sides need to repent.
I still believe that now, and as late as last week was calling on the tens of thousands of readers of www.tikkun.org to insist to the Palestinians that they would be far more effective if they were to adopt the non-violent strategies of Gandhi, King, and Mandela rather than to imagine themselves capable of militarily defeating Israel. And just as I’ve critiqued the state terrorism against civilians that the IDF brings to the West Bank occupation, so I’ve always critiqued the terrorism of some sectors of the Palestinian population.
But this week it’s impossible as a Jew and as an American to not notice that a new human rights violation by Israel has taken place which manages to surpass many of its previous violations in cruelty and in the outrage it has generated.
Anyone has ever faced the crippling heat of the desert-like conditions of southern Israel or the Gaza strip knows the desperation for water that comes each summer. So when Israel bombed and destroyed the electricity system for 1.2 million Gazans and thereby made all electric pumps inoperable, they inflicted a collective punishment on the entire Gazan population.
The alleged justification was a desire to punish Palestinians for electing a Hamas government, and more immediately to retrieve a soldier who had been “kidnapped” (the quotes because this was not a civilian but a soldier in uniform, so if Israel sees itself as at war with Hamas, then the only possible description is that their soldier was captured by the other side). The Hamas government, however, has publicly urged the “kidnappers” whom it does not control to free the captured soldier.
Moreover, the outrage in Israel about this “kidnap” reflects a huge level of systematic denial going on in the consciousness of Israelis and many who support its policies—because virtually every human rights group including the various Israeli human rights organizations has chronicled tens of thousands of acts of "kidnap" of this sort by the IDF against Palestinian civilians, who are then kept in detention for as long as six months without a trial, often facing brutal torture, and then released without ever having been charged with any crime. Of course, and I thank God for this because I care for the well being of the people of Israel , and as a Jew I am deeply tied to the success and safety of this particular Jewish society, the Palestinians have never been able to punish hundreds of thousands or millions of Israelis collectively for these systematic violations of human rights. To the extent that they do so through acts of terror, I condemn those acts.
This is a defining moment in our relationship with Israel for all Americans of whatever faith. Just as we need to make clear to our own government that its human rights violations in Guantanamo and Iraq are unacceptable, so we need to communicate to the Israeli people that the mass punishment of a million people for the acts of a few is as unacceptable when it comes from a democratic society as when it comes from the willful oppression of entrenched authoritarian dictators. Even if, God forbid, the captured soldier is murdered by the lunatics who captured him, it is only they and their conscious sponsors who should be punished, not random Palestinians, unless you think it equally appropriate to some day punish the entire American public for the three million Vietnamese killed by American action in Vietnam or for the horrendous acts which continue in Guantanamo and Iraq even today.
Unfortunately, we can’t count on our U.S. government to convey this sentiment without qualifying its concerns in ways that essentially communicate that Israel can do whatever it wants and we won’t interfere.
So the onus is upon us as ordinary citizens to act and act decisively. We need to communicate our concerns to legislators and media. We need to organize demonstrations in front of the offices of our elected officials, and also outside Israeli consulates and those Jewish institutions which continue to use their influence to support Israeli policy even at this moment (there are a few which have spoken out in critique, but very very few). And we need to write to those in power in Israel, starting with Prime Minister Olmert, telling them that even those of us who love Israel and will never let it be destroyed find this particular action unconscionable, demand that Israel immediately rebuild the electricity system, and that Israel stop trying to impose its will with military might but instead sit down with the Palestinians and negotiate a lasting peace.
Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine, the largest circulation liberal/progressive Jewish magazine in the world. He is rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue in San Francisco, national chair of The Network of Spiritual Progressives , and the author of ten books, most recently a 2006 national best-seller The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right.
Bombing bridges that can be circumvented both by car and on foot; seizing an airport that has been in ruins for years; destroying a power station, plunging large parts of the Gaza Strip into darkness; distributing flyers suggesting that people be concerned about their fate; a menacing flight over Bashar Assad's palace [President of Syria] ; and arresting elected Hamas officials: The government wishes to convince us that all these actions are intended only to release the soldier Gilad Shalit.
But the greater the government's creativity in inventing tactics, the more it seems to reflect a loss of direction rather than an overall conception based on reason and common sense. On the face of it, Israel wishes to exert increasing pressure both on Hamas' political leadership and on the Palestinian public, in order to induce it to pressure its leadership to release the soldier. At the same time, the government claims that Syria - or at least Khaled Meshal, who is living in Syria - holds the key. If so, what is the point of pressuring the local Palestinian leadership, which did not know of the planned attack and which, when it found out, demanded that the kidnappers take good care of their victim and return him?
The tactic of pressuring civilians has been tried before, and more than once. The Lebanese, for example, are very familiar with the Israeli tactic of destroying power stations and infrastructure. Entire villages in south Lebanon have been terrorized, with the inhabitants fleeing in their thousands for Beirut. But what also happens under such extreme stress is that local divisions evaporate and a strong, united leadership is forged.
In the end, Israel was forced both to negotiate with Hezbollah and to withdraw from Lebanon. Now, the government appears to be airing out its Lebanon catalogue of tactics and implementing it, as though nothing has been learned since then. One may assume that the results will be similar this time around as well.
Israel also kidnapped people from Lebanon to serve as bargaining chips in dealings with the kidnappers of Israeli soldiers. Now, it is trying out this tactic on Hamas politicians. As the prime minister said in a closed meeting: "They want prisoners released? We'll release these detainees in exchange for Shalit." By "these detainees," he was referring to elected Hamas officials.
The prime minister is a graduate of a movement whose leaders were once exiled, only to return with their heads held high and in a stronger position than when they were deported. But he believes that with the Palestinians, things work differently.
As one who knows that all the Hamas activists deported by Yitzhak Rabin returned to leadership and command positions in the organization, Olmert should know that arresting leaders only strengthens them and their supporters. But this is not merely faulty reasoning; arresting people to use as bargaining chips is the act of a gang, not of a state.
The government was caught up too quickly in a whirlwind of prestige mixed with fatigue. It must return to its senses at once, be satisfied with the threats it has made, free the detained Hamas politicians and open negotiations. The issue is a soldier who must be brought home, not changing the face of the Middle East.
Diplomacy is the only way out By Haaretz Editorial
Although the exact details of the Egyptian proposal to resolve the Gaza crisis have not been officially published, its general lines are well known. They include the immediate release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit, followed by the release of a series of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian sources speak of freeing veteran prisoners who have been incarcerated for more than 20 years, women, youths under age 18 and prisoners who are ill. The proposal also includes an arrangement for a cease-fire, which Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has already announced a willingness to accept, and of course, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the senior Hamas officials who were arrested recently.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' comments last week make it quite clear that he favors such an arrangement. "There is a clear Israeli promise to President Hosni Mubarak to release prisoners," Abbas said, hinting to Hamas that it should accept the Egyptian idea.
Israel's government is currently refusing the proposal because it ties the release of the soldier directly to the release of Palestinian prisoners. In principle, Israel is not willing to effect a prisoner exchange and is at most agreeable to making a prisoner-release gesture in the future - after Shalit is freed. Hamas rejects this, demanding that the prisoner release be conducted in parallel with and as direct compensation for freeing the soldier.
Clearly, a deal involving swapping prisoners for the return of Shalit will constitute an enormous victory for Hamas in the eyes of the Palestinian population. Israel shouldn't make too much of this. Hamas won the election and has increased its power in the current crisis. Essentially, the movement is now the central political entity among the Palestinians and it is the only one that can resolve the crisis. Such a solution could open the door to political contacts between the PA and the government of Israel on more stable arrangements.
The backdrop to Hamas' willingness to compromise is clear. It is tied to the so-called "prisoners' document" that was accepted by the movement. In addition to indirect recognition of Israel, it says: "The resistance to Israeli occupation (in other words, terror) will be confined to areas conquered in 1967." Hamas spokesmen, including Haniyeh, see this phrase as a clear-cut commitment to end Qassam fire into Israel.
There is no reason for Israel to reject such a proposal out of hand. Indirect negotiation with Hamas is better than a total boycott and certainly than a military campaign with no clear purpose.
Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip will almost certainly not topple the Hamas government. Furthermore, a severe crisis in Gaza could lead to the complete collapse of the PA, not just that of the Hamas regime. And responsibility for it would then fall on Israel.
It has been more than two weeks since Gilad Shalit was abducted, and it does not appear that the military operation, the siege and the severe collective punishment of Gaza residents have produced results. The army hasn't even managed to stop the Qassams. Now it looks like the only way to handle the crisis is through diplomacy. And the Egyptian proposal - together with Haniyeh's call for a cease-fire - mark a way out of the crisis.
July 10, 2006
Haaretz
Who Started?
By Gideon Levy
"We left Gaza and they are firing Qassams" - there is no more precise a formulation of the prevailing view about the current round of the conflict. "They started," will be the routine response to anyone who tries to argue, for example, that a few hours before the first Qassam fell on the school in Ashkelon, causing no damage, Israel sowed destruction at the Islamic University in Gaza.
Israel is causing electricity blackouts, laying sieges, bombing and shelling, assassinating and imprisoning, killing and wounding civilians, including children and babies, in horrifying numbers, but "they started."
They are also "breaking the rules" laid down by Israel: We are allowed to bomb anything we want and they are not allowed to launch Qassams. When they fire a Qassam at Ashkelon, that's an "escalation of the conflict," and when we bomb a university and a school, it's perfectly alright. Why? Because they started. That's why the majority thinks that all the justice is on our side. Like in a schoolyard fight, the argument about who started is Israel's winning moral argument to justify every injustice.
So, who really did start? And have we "left Gaza?"
Israel left Gaza only partially, and in a distorted manner. The disengagement plan, which was labeled with fancy titles like "partition" and "an end to the occupation," did result in the dismantling of settlements and the Israel Defense Forces' departure from Gaza, but it did almost nothing to change the living conditions for the residents of the Strip. Gaza is still a prison and its inhabitants are still doomed to live in poverty and oppression. Israel closes them off from the sea, the air and land, except for a limited safety valve at the Rafah crossing. They cannot visit their relatives in the West Bank or look for work in Israel, upon which the Gazan economy has been dependent for some 40 years. Sometimes goods can be transported, sometimes not. Gaza has no chance of escaping its poverty under these conditions. Nobody will invest in it, nobody can develop it, nobody can feel free in it. Israel left the cage, threw away the keys and left the residents to their bitter fate. Now, less than a year after the disengagement, it is going back, with violence and force.
What could otherwise have been expected? That Israel would unilaterally withdraw, brutally and outrageously ignoring the Palestinians and their needs, and that they would silently bear their bitter fate and would not continue to fight for their liberty, livelihood and dignity? We promised a safe passage to the West Bank and didn't keep the promise. We promised to free prisoners and didn't keep the promise. We supported democratic elections and then boycotted the legally elected leadership, confiscating funds that belong to it, and declaring war on it. We could have withdrawn from Gaza through negotiations and coordination, while strengthening the existing Palestinian leadership, but we refused to do so. And now, we complain about "a lack of leadership?" We did everything we could to undermine their society and leadership, making sure as much as possible that the disengagement would not be a new chapter in our relationship with the neighboring nation, and now we are amazed by the violence and hatred that we sowed with our own hands.
What would have happened if the Palestinians had not fired Qassams? Would Israel have lifted the economic siege that it imposed on Gaza? Would it open the border to Palestinian laborers? Free prisoners? Meet with the elected leadership and conduct negotiations? Encourage investment in Gaza? Nonsense. If the Gazans were sitting quietly, as Israel expects them to do, their case would disappear from the agenda - here and around the world. Israel would continue with the convergence, which is solely meant to serve its goals, ignoring their needs. Nobody would have given any thought to the fate of the people of Gaza if they did not behave violently. That is a very bitter truth, but the first 20 years of the occupation passed quietly and we did not lift a finger to end it.
Instead, under cover of the quiet, we built the enormous, criminal settlement enterprise. With our own hands, we are now once again pushing the Palestinians into using the petty arms they have; and in response, we employ nearly the entire enormous arsenal at our disposal, and continue to complain that "they started."
We started. We started with the occupation, and we are duty-bound to end it, a real and complete ending. We started with the violence. There is no violence worse than the violence of the occupier, using force on an entire nation, so the question about who fired first is therefore an evasion meant to distort the picture. After Oslo, too, there were those who claimed that "we left the territories," in a similar mixture of blindness and lies.
Gaza is in serious trouble, ruled by death, horror and daily difficulties, far from the eyes and hearts of Israelis. We are only shown the Qassams. We only see the Qassams. The West Bank is still under the boot of occupation, the settlements are flourishing, and every limply extended hand for an agreement, including that of Ismail Haniyeh, is immediately rejected. And after all this, if someone still has second thoughts, the winning answer is promptly delivered: "They started." They started and justice is on our side, while the fact is that they did not start and justice is not with us.
July 3, 2006 Rep. Ben Cardin 2207 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Via email
Re: Speak Out Against Israeli Terrorism Dear Rep. Cardin:
On June 26 I wrote you to urge you to use your voice to protest the mass violence about to occur in the Gaza Strip. (See letter below.) At the time, the Israeli military was lining up tanks, artillery, soldiers and other military equipment on the Gaza border. Sadly, there has only been silence, and neither your campaign nor congressional website mentions the issue. (The most recent comment you’ve made on Israel was from April 2006 urging Saudi Arabia to lift its boycott of Israel.)
The actions of Israel have worsened since my last letter to you. Sadly, Israel’s actions are complicating the release of the Israeli soldier who was captured. Indeed, Israel’s actions, military attack, group punishment of civilians and refusal to negotiate, increase the likelihood of his death more than his release. Israel is intentionally terrorizing the civilian population to pressure the Palestinian government. In doing so, Israel is creating a likely health catastrophe that will result in the deaths of civilians. Sadly, this is being done with weapons paid for by U.S. taxpayers – weapons and funding for which you have consistently voted. Please your voice to speak out strongly against Israeli terrorism.
Of particular concern are: - An Israeli missile destroying a crucial power station in Rafah on Tuesday – a power plant that provided for half of Gaza’s daily energy needs, residents are now left without power for much of the day. This also means residents are without water. Hospitals and clinics are now without power, causing a health emergency. It will take up to six months to repair the power station made more difficult by the bombing of all four access roads to the plant.
- The destruction of bridges and roads preventing civilians from moving to avoid the coming Israeli onslaught.
- The arrest of 64 elected members of the Palestinian government including at least eight cabinet members (half the cabinet) among them Nasser Shaer, the Palestinian deputy prime minister, Finance Minister Omar Abdal Razeq, Social Affairs Minister Fakhri Torokma and Prisoners' Affairs Minister Wasfi Kabha some were led away blindfolded and in handcuffs. Also, the mayor of the West Bank town of Qalqiliya and his deputy were detained.
- Aerial bombardment of the heavily populated Gaza Strip, with 30 aerial campaigns on Thursday. This has included targeting government buildings including a school in Gaza City, the office of Palestinian Prime Minister, the Interior Ministry, the office building of the Auxiliary Force as well as the offices of government officials. More actions are being planned as the Israeli military prepares for a ground assault on parts of Gaza. Prime Minister Olmert has “ordered the army and security forces to act with all their might. . .” The trapped Palestinian population has been terrorized further by leaflets drooped from the air warning them of further attacks. Remaining silent as this horror unfolds is a silent approval of these terror tactics by Israel.
Israel is being condemned by human rights organizations for violating international law and the basic human rights of Palestinians. Human rights groups are criticizing Israelis actions:
- The Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, sent an urgent request to Israel’s Defense Minister Amir Peretz to instruct Israeli forces to refrain from bombing or deliberately damaging in any way facilities that supply indispensable services to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Further, they said Israel must refrain from using measures which contravene International Humanitarian Law, which categorically prohibits all sides to a conflict from attacking “objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.” B’Tselem pointed out that “Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip today included Air Force bombing of Palestinian civilian infrastructure. Among the facilities hit was the central electricity relay station south of Gaza City, which caused a widespread blackout. Damage to electricity facilities is liable to severely impair the provision of indispensable services, such as water supply and health care.” See: http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_releases/20060628.asp
B’Tselem was also critical of the nightly sonic bombs over civilian neighborhoods, saying:
“The sole purpose of these sorties is to prevent the residents from sleeping and to create an ongoing sense of fear and anxiety. Regarding the sonic booms, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that, ‘thousands of residents in southern Israel live in fear and discomfort, so I gave instructions that nobody will sleep at night in the meantime in Gaza.’ The clear intention of the practice is to pressure the Palestinian Authority and the armed Palestinian organizations by harming the entire civilian population.
“Children, in particular, suffer from the sonic booms. In the past, the Gaza Community Mental Health Center reported that the supersonic sorties caused fear among many children, which led to a loss of concentration, loss of appetite, bedwetting, and other disorders. The Center also reported that sonic booms caused headaches, stomach aches, shortness of breath, and other physical effects that appeared among both children and adults. Sonic booms also cause property damage, primarily shattered windows.
“The use of sonic booms flagrantly breaches a number of provisions of international humanitarian law. The most significant provision is the prohibition on collective punishment. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is intended to protect civilians in time of war, categorically states that ‘Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.’ The article also states that, ‘Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.’ Air force supersonic sorties also breach the principle of distinction, a central pillar of humanitarian law, which forbids the warring sides to direct their attacks against civilians.” See: http://www.btselem.org/english/Special/20060703_Supersonic_booms.asp.
- Amnesty International called on Israel to put an end to the wanton destruction and collective punishment being carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. A press release issued by Amnesty International (see: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150572006) said: Amnesty International is also increasingly concerned by the excessive use of force and wanton destruction of civilian property and infrastructure by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. Since 27 June, when Israel began Operation Summer Rain, which it says is aimed at releasing Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army has deployed large numbers of troops in the South of the Gaza Strip and carried out large-scale wanton destruction. This includes the bombardment and destruction of three bridges and electricity networks across the Gaza Strip. These measures have left half the population of Gaza without electricity and have reportedly also adversely affected the supply of water.
In recent days the Israeli authorities have also closed the Rafah crossing into Egypt, the only point of entry/exit for the 1.5 million of Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip. Several hundred Palestinians who were returning from abroad have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing for up to a week and are prevented from returning to their homes. Those wishing to leave the Gaza Strip are likewise prevented from leaving.
The wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure and property and the disproportionate restrictions imposed on civilians by Israeli forces amount to collective punishment on the entire population of the Gaza Strip, a violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits punishing protected persons for offences they have not committed.
Amnesty International reiterates its call on the Israeli authorities and army to put an end to the excessive and disproportionate use of force against densely populated residential areas and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including frequent artillery shelling and air strikes which endanger the lives of Palestinian residents.
Since the beginning of this year Israeli forces have killed some 150 Palestinians, including some 25 children, and Palestinian armed groups have killed close to 20 Israelis, including two children.
- Israel's destruction of Gaza's only electrical plant needlessly punishes the civilian population and has created the potential for a serious humanitarian crisis, according to Human Rights Watch. Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch said: “Israel must minimize the harm to Gaza's civilian population during any military operation to rescue the corporal, and that includes not destroying vital power plants.” Human Rights Watch also expressed concern about the intentional and frequent use of sonic booms by Israeli military aircraft over Gaza, which has caused great fear among the civilian population, particularly among children. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits “measures of intimidation” against the civilian population. As there appears to be no military justification for the use of the sonic booms, other than the prohibited practice of intimidation, Human Rights Watch urges Israel to immediately halt the practice. This practice has been criticized in the past in November 2005, by Physicians for Human Rights- Israel and the Gaza Community Mental Health Center.
- The civil rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement: “Mild rebukes for the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure in Gaza will not stop Israeli missiles. The Bush administration should condemn these war crimes and demand that Israel stop using American taxpayer-funded weapons to carry out attacks that will only serve to intensify the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” The complaints Israel makes of the Palestinians show the hypocrisy of their policies as they are guilty of the same actions. Norman Finkelstein, professor of Political science at DePaul University in Chicago and author of “Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History,” made this point recently in a debate with a representative of AIPAC: “I think it is useful to begin with what the human rights groups have to say about this. Let's leave aside the background for a moment and look narrowly at the incident that triggered the Israeli invasion. Let's see what Hamas did not do, what the Palestinian militants did not do. Number one, they did not liquidate the corporal, which Israel routinely does, namely its political assassinations. That's a war crime under international law. Israel routinely does that. Hamas did not do that to the corporal.
”Number two, they didn't kill the corporal while trying to arrest him. Israel routinely does that. If you look at July 2005, B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, they put out a very hefty report entitled "Take No Prisoners." And the report shows Israel routinely, during so-called arrest operations, kills Palestinians, documents a case of a Palestinian who was wounded, on the ground, no weapon. Israel killed him. Hamas didn't do that to the corporal.
”It said . . . that they took him hostage, they kidnapped him. Okay. Israel routinely takes Palestinians, Lebanese hostage. In fact, Israel was the only country in the world, in 1997, which legalized hostage-taking. The liberal head of the Israeli High Court, Aharon Barak, he said it's legal, legitimate, under international law to take what he called bargaining chips in order to get prisoners, Israeli prisoners being held by the Lebanese. The decision was reversed in 2000, but Israel continued to hold Lebanese hostages until 2004. So, at worst, Hamas is being accused of what Israel legalized and routinely does.
”And finally, let's talk about those 9,000 Palestinians who are effectively hostages being held by Israel. 1,000 of them are administrative detainees. . . Administrative detainees who are being held without any charges or trial. And the other 8,000 are being held after military courts have convicted them, almost always on the basis of confessions which were extracted by torture. So if we're going to look simply at the numbers, we have one hostage on the Palestinian side, and effectively we have about 9,000 on the Israeli side.” While Israel promises to hold elected officials in the Palestinian Territory responsible for the actions of non-governmental organizations – including openly threatening the assassination of elected officials – should the Palestinian government hold Israel responsible for the killing of civilians? For the bombing of civilian areas? For the destruction of utilities, roads and bridges? For terrorizing civilians? Should Prime Minister Olmert be held personally responsible for these violations of international law, as he promises to do to Palestinian officials?
More military action by Israel is promised in the Gaza Strip. Further, Israel is threatening to widen the attack beyond the Gaza Strip into Syria. Four Israeli military airplanes entered Syrian airspace and flew low-altitude flights over the seaside home of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad near the Mediterranean port city of Latakia in northwestern Syria. The Israeli military and Syria confirmed Israeli warplanes entered its airspace.
As a long-term supporter of Israel, your voice can make a difference. Please speak out against Israeli terrorism and violation of international law.
Sincerely,
Kevin B. Zeese
June 26, 2006 Rep. Ben Cardin 2207 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Via email
Re: Use Your Voice to Stop the Mass Violence About to Occur in the Gaza Strip
Dear Rep. Cardin:
You have been a staunch supporter of Israel. As you know I am a candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland, an office you are also seeking. At recent candidate forums your wife and other spokespersons for your campaign (speaking for you since you were not present), have noted how you tell any country who wants to trade with the United States that they must trade with Israel and they note your consistent support for Israel. Indeed, I cannot ever recall you criticizing the actions of Israel in your nearly two decades in Congress.
Your voice is needed now. Israel is amassing a massive military force on the border of the Gaza Strip in reaction to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. The Prime Minister has ordered a “comprehensive and ongoing military action.” This is sure to be a bloody attack that will result in widespread civilian casualties. Please use your voice to urge Israel to negotiate rather than add to the violence.
While I am opposed to Palestinian violence, as it is counterproductive to the goal of a viable Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution, certainly you are aware that Israeli violence against Palestinians has led to this point. Hamas had kept a promise of no violence for 18 months until recent Israeli killings of civilians. Surely you aware of the state-based terrorism of Israel against the Palestinian people that led to this escalation of violence, including:
- The weeks of shelling by the Israeli army in Gaza. This has included the firing of hundreds of missiles into the crowded Strip resulting in the destruction of Palestinian lives and property, and terrorizing the civilian population.
- The killing of more than 30 Palestinian civilians, and dozens of injuries to Palestinian civilians, in the past few weeks at the hands of the Israeli military, including three children killed in an air strike last week, as well as a pregnant woman and her brother, a doctor, killed a day later as a missile slammed into the room where they were eating dinner.
