Father Manuel Musallam, the Parish Priest of Gaza wrote to The International Body of Christ. His letter was made public in January 2009. In November 2006, Father Manuel, the parish priest at the Latin Church and school in Gaza wrote:
"Gaza
cannot sleep! The people are suffering unbelievably. They are hungry,
thirsty, have no electricity or clean water. They are suffering
constant bombardments and sonic booms from low flying aircraft. They
need food: bread and water. Children and babies are hungry...people
have no money to buy food. The price of food has doubled and tripled
due to the situation. We cannot drink water from the ground here as it
is salty and not hygienic. People must buy water to drink. They have no
income, no opportunities to get food and water from outside and no
opportunities to secure money inside of Gaza. They have no hope...
"Without electricity children are afraid. No light at night. No oil or candles...
"Thirsty
children are crying, afraid and desperate...Many children have been
violently thrown from their beds at night from the sonic booms. Many
arms and legs have been broken. These planes fly low over Gaza and then
reach the speed of sound. This shakes the ground and creates shock
waves like an earthquake that causes people to be thrown from their
bed. I, myself weigh 120 kilos and was almost thrown from my bed due to
the shock wave produced by a low flying jet that made a sonic boom...
"Gaza
cannot sleep...the cries of hungry children, the sullen faces of broken
men and women who are just sitting in their hungry emptiness with no
light, no hope, no love. These actions are War Crimes!"
READ what Fr. Manuel wrote January 2009: http://www.amostrust.org/downloads/From_the_Church_of_God_in_Gaza.pdf
In May 2007, I wrote:
Injustice is unsustainable and in 2007 the world as we know it, Could very well change because of People Power Verses the Empire... International Law requires the occupiers to be responsible for the welfare of those they occupy. The
Israeli government has been arguing in domestic courts that it no
longer occupies the Gaza Strip, where 1.4 million Palestinians endure
in an open air prison. The
Disengagement from Gaza in September 2005, when thousands of Jewish
settlers were removed and the Israeli Army was redeployed was hailed
internationally as a step toward peace, although Israel maintained all
control over Gaza borders. Israel's
stronghold on Gaza has intensified since the January 2006 democratic
and transparent election of Hamas to run the Palestinian Authority. Injustice is unsustainable and we the people have power in solidarity...
"The
Islamic movement derives much of its political power from Gaza, and
keeping the strip's rising militancy from spreading to the West Bank
has become a top priority for Israeli security officials."- http://www.freegaza.org/pages/media/WashPost_03_21_07.html "In
court filings over the past year, the government has asserted that
"with the abolition of the military government in Gaza and in light of
the current security situation, the State of Israel bears no
responsibility to take care of the various interests of Gaza residents."
"Israel
likens Gaza to a country such as Syria, with which Israel has
maintained a hostile calm since 1973, and argues that "the
responsibility over the economic situation in Gaza lays with the
Palestinian Authority." "The
question goes to who is responsible for what is happening in Gaza,"
said Ruth Lapidoth, professor emeritus of international law at Hebrew
University and a former government legal adviser. "In my view, only in
the areas that Israel has not given up its responsibility does the
occupation continue." [IBID] The United Nations continues to designate Gaza as occupied territory. Samir
Hulileh, a Palestinian economist who has been involved in negotiations
with Israel for more than 15 years has affirmed that Israel is trying
to push the regions apart to prevent a viable Palestinian state.
Residents of Gaza are only allowed into Israel each year for brief
medical visits, the Israeli government bars them from entering the West
Bank, which remains a closed Israeli military zone. Israel pledged in
the 1993 Oslo accords to treat Gaza and the West Bank as "a single
territorial unit" pending the creation of a Palestinian state. [IBID] This June 9th, marks forty years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Olmert and Bush share historically low popularity and a lack of trust from their respective citizens.
The
good news is, that global nonviolent support is growing and in the
summer of 2007, we the people of the world for justice and peace are
rising up [intifada] and doing something. International,
Palestinian and Israeli civilians will sail to Gaza to challenge
Israeli control and isolation of the 1.4 million Palestinians enduring
in the world's largest open air prison. Gaza is the poorest area in the
entire Middle East and the average family lives on less than $2.00 a
day and unemployment is over 60%.
In November 2006, Father Manuel, the parish priest at the Latin Church and school in Gaza wrote: "Gaza
cannot sleep! The people are suffering unbelievably. They are hungry,
thirsty, have no electricity or clean water. They are suffering
constant bombardments and sonic booms from low flying aircraft. They
need food: bread and water. Children and babies are hungry...people
have no money to buy food. The price of food has doubled and tripled
due to the situation. We cannot drink water from the ground here as it
is salty and not hygienic. People must buy water to drink. They have no
income, no opportunities to get food and water from outside and no
opportunities to secure money inside of Gaza. They have no hope... "Without electricity children are afraid. No light at night. No oil or candles... "Thirsty
children are crying, afraid and desperate...Many children have been
violently thrown from their beds at night from the sonic booms. Many
arms and legs have been broken. These planes fly low over Gaza and then
reach the speed of sound. This shakes the ground and creates shock
waves like an earthquake that causes people to be thrown from their
bed. I, myself weigh 120 kilos and was almost thrown from my bed due to
the shock wave produced by a low flying jet that made a sonic boom... "Gaza
cannot sleep...the cries of hungry children, the sullen faces of broken
men and women who are just sitting in their hungry emptiness with no
light, no hope, no love. These actions are War Crimes!" http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=296&Itemid=126
The
summer of 2007, Internationals, Palestinians and Israeli justice and
peace activists intend to awaken the conscience of the nations of the
world, who have turned their backs on a voiceless oppressed occupied
people who have been denied human rights, and whose welfare and very
existence are being sacrificed by politicians seeking hegemony and
empire. Israel claims they no longer occupy Gaza yet
the have persisted to deny Palestinians access to jobs, travel,
visitors, commerce, education, health, medical care via Israel's
military control over land, sea and air borders.
Internationals,
Palestinians and Israeli justice and peace activists have come together
because we can no longer wait for the United Nations to enforce its
resolutions, or for the world to do its humanitarian duty, or for
Israel to respect human rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention. Internationals, Palestinians and Israeli justice and peace activists have chosen to not just declare our solidarity with the Palestinian people, but to do something.
We cannot remain idle and apathetic while Israel besieges Gaza and denies Palestinians control over their own borders.
We
cannot accept that the 1.4 million people of Gaza are trapped and
starved, surrounded by thirty foot high concrete walls and electrified
fences.
We cannot stand by as innocent children, mothers and
fathers are daily terrorized by bombings, incursions, and abductions by
one of the strongest most well equipped armies the world has ever known
dominates, oppresses and occupies them.
The
summer of 2007, Internationals, Palestinians and Israeli justice and
peace activists will go by boat to the open air prison of Gaza and
challenge Israel for imprisoning Palestinians. The
summer of 2007, Internationals, Palestinians and Israeli justice and
peace activists in solidarity with nonviolent civil resistance will
disturb the status quo of the empire to prove that anyone and everyone
can participate in resisting injustice. By
the sixth century before Christ, the conflicts in the land we call
holy, the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah warned, "I hear violence and
destruction in the city, sickness and wounds are all I see."-Jeremiah
6:7 For
every misunderstanding, every condemning thought, every negative
vibration, every tear torn from a heart, every time one grabbed and
wouldn't let go, and they only did it because they did not know:
The Divine is within all creation and within all women and men. And
every tiny kindness you have ever done, every gentle word spoken, every
time you held your tongue, every positive thought, every smile freely
given, every helping hand that opens, helps bring in the kingdom.
And the kingdom comes from above and the kingdom comes from within. IMAGINE a kingdom of sisterhood of all creatures and all men.
We
the people for justice and peace, invite you to join the summer of
people power this springtime for, "the future must enter you long
before it happens."-Rilke BREAK THE SIEGE on the boat to Gaza, for in solidarity "we have it in our power to begin the world again."-Tom Paine Injustice
is unsustainable and in 2007 the world as we know it, could very well
be the summer of people power and the beginning of a new world.
PLEASE
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