ACTION ALERT: Stop Israel's Attacks on Gaza & Lebanon
BACKGROUND: Israel is using
weapons supplied by the United States to target Palestinian & Lebanese
civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in violation
of the US Arms Export Control Act and the Geneva Conventions.
* On July 12th, Israel killed 23 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with missiles
fired from aircraft and shells fired from tanks. Israel killed 9 members of one
family in a missile strike on a house near Gaza City.
* On July 12th, Israel launched a massive invasion of Lebanon. Israeli
aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure, including bridges,
roads, a mosque, a community center, and the Beirut International Airport, and
the Israeli navy is blockading Lebanon's ports. Israel has killed at least
50 Lebanese civilians and injured more than 100, including entire Lebanese
families of 10 and 7 people killed in the villages of Dweir and Baflay.
* On June 27th, Israel launched a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli
aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts
of collective punishment, Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip's
only electricity generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering
Palestinian human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and
freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the
purpose of these measures is to "apply pressure" to the civilian
population of the Gaza Strip.
* On June 20th, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an
extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City.
The missile missed its intended target and killed three Palestinian
children and wounded 15.
* On June 13th, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial
assassination of two Palestinians in Gaza City. A second barrage of
missiles fired shortly afterward killed nine Palestinian bystanders.
* On June 9th, Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and
injuring 32. At the site of the killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence
of a 155mm artillery shell consistent with those fired from an Israeli M-109
Self-Propelled Artillery.
Israel's human rights violations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon are being
committed with US weapons financed by US tax dollars:
The Israeli air force fighter squadrons are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I
Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire US-manufactured AMRAAM,
Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. From 2000-2005, the United States
licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts, engines, and missiles
for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.
>From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to the Israeli navy more than
$572 million worth of patrol boat, ship, and submarine components and spare
parts, torpedoes, and sonar equipment.
>From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel more than $348 million
worth of tanks, components, and spare parts.
>From 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109
spare parts and 155mm artillery shells.
(Statistics for US weapons licensed to Israel are compiled from the State
Department's annual report to Congress pursuant to Sec. 655 of the Foreign
Assistance Act. For more information, click here: http://pmddtc.state.gov/
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=152555712&url_num=2&url=http://pmddtc.state.gov/>
)
Israel's summer of killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in
the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that Israel remains the occupying power of
the Gaza Strip despite last year's "unilateral disengagement". Living
under military occupation, the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are
"protected persons" under the terms of the Geneva Conventions. Israel's
targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon
is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes war crimes.
In addition, by using US-supplied weapons to commit these atrocities, Israel is
violating the terms of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance
Act. The Arms Export Control Act restricts the use of US weapons to
legitimate self-defense and internal policing; US weapons cannot be used to
attack civilians in offensive operations. The Foreign Assistance Act
prohibits US aid of any kind to a country with a pattern of gross human rights
violations.
TAKE ACTION: Hold Israel to
account for its killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure
in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
1. Contact the White House, State Department, and your Members of Congress to
demand that Israel is held accountable for its violations of the US Arms Export
Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act and urge that military aid to Israel be
cut off as required by law. Click here to send an email: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=152555712&url_num=3&url=http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460>
2. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed for your local newspaper and call your
local talk radio stations to protest Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip and
Lebanon and highlight US support for these actions. For contact information for
your local media, click here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=152555712&url_num=4&url=http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/>
Letters to the editor should be short, punchy, and clear. They MUST refer
to actual coverage of that particular paper, either naming a particular article
or referring to trends (as below). Be sure the text of the letter does in
fact respond to the particular article or trend you reference. Be sure to
include full name, address, contact phone numbers and (for some, not for others)
name of the organization.
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Call and Email Congress, White House, State Department and Media about Escalating Israeli Attacks on Lebanon and Gaza
http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8906581&type=ML
<http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8906581&type=ML>
Contact Congress, the White House and US State Department to express your
outrage over the escalation of Israeli attacks against Lebanon and Gaza.
This full-out military assault on civilians and infrastructure is
another example of Israel’s use of collective punishment in violation of
international law. Many of these Israeli attacks on civilian populations are
with US weapons.
Contact your Members of Congress, President Bush, and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice asking the United States government and the United
Nations immediately intervene and bring political calm to this situation.
President George W Bush:
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1414
Fax: (202) 456-2461
[email protected]
Congress:
Contact your Members of Congress call the number below and ask for their offices
by phoning the Capitol Switchboard:
(888)
355-3588 (toll-free).
Enter your zip code here to determine your representatives in the
House and Senate:
http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/officials/
United States
Department of State
Call the Public Liaison office at: (202) 647-6575
Use this
link to email Secretary Rice:
http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8906581&type=ML