Soldiers Stop! Black Flag Of War Crime Is Flying

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - www.gush-shalom.org/

Soldiers Stop! The black flag of war crime is flying

[1] Daily protest and joint mobilization for Friday
[2] Why are we again so few?
[3] Please, continue flooding politicians and embassies with protests
[4] B'Tselem on High Court Decision on Rafah Demolitions: The Rule of Law Ends at the Border
[5] Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble, House demolition and destruction of land and property

[1] Daily protest and joint mobilization for Friday

Many hundreds of letters against the Rafah house demolitions were sent by protesters worldwide as fax or as email, in answer to the Gush Shalom call a few days ago. But now, with Rafah cut off from the rest of the Gaza Strip, we face a situation of more than thousand people having lost their homes and belongings, and 20 Palestinians who got killed during the last day alone .

On Monday we stood at the call of Courage to Refuse outside the Defense Ministry, holding black flags and crying out: Soldiers Stop! - and on Tuesday morning the Bat Shalom women took the lead and held a protest vigil at the Sufa Checkpoint, the nearest to Rafah which Israeli peace seekers can get. There were dozens of people, from all over the country, joined by members of nearby kibbutzim who provided logistical support. It was decided to establish a continuous presence, day and night. Gush Shalom and Ta'ayush are preparing a big mobilization for a demonstration there on Friday.

Bat Shalom asks women AND men to come and join them for a while at any time until then. Bus no. 362 (6th floor, platform 633) from central bus station in Tel-Aviv leaves at 9:00 a.m. and goes to Machsom Rafah (Sufa).

You can also catch it at the central station in Ashkelon at 10:00. There is a bus from Jerusalem to Ashkelon that leaves the central station at 8:00 (bus no. 437 at platform 10). To arrive by car you should drive to Ofakim, f rom there take road 241 and then road 232 till the Cholit junction, and there take a right to the Sufa checkpoint.

If you have room in your car, or need a ride, please contact Bat-Shalom at 02-5631477 or 02-563622 or at info@batshalom.org (please indicate phone no.) and after office hours contact Jessica at 065-679478. There is a poss ibility for organized transport on Thursday, from Jerusalem and/or Tel-Aviv depending on demand.

In Haifa a vigil will be held on Wednesday, at 6pm in the corner of elJabal st (shderot hazionut) and Shabtai Levi st. (For more details: Abir: 054-743723 / Iris: 054-420806)

For organized transportation on Friday:

If you want to travel by bus from Tel-Aviv please phone the Gush Salom office (03-5221732 ) and leave on the answering machine your phone number and the number of seats. Ta'ayush info at: 03-6914437 . The exact details w ill come later.

From Jerusalem a minibus will leave at 10.30; it will leave to return to Jerusalem at approximately 18.00. Limited places! Reserve in advance with Pnina at (02) 563-7798.

For direct contact with the women at the checkpoint call: Hot Line Against the Occupation (Hannah) 066-300144 or Lili 053-966281.

[2] Why are we again so few?

Why are we again so few - after the enormous rally on the Rabin Square just days ago? That demonstratiobn addressed only the internal Israeli and utilitarian aspects of the army's presence in Gaza. Among the speakers w as even the former general Yom Tov Samiya, who during his term in charge of the Gaza Strip actually intitiated the monstrous plan to extend the “Phildelphi Route” (Israeli-controlled wedge along the Egyotian border) and thus destroy hundreds of Palestinian hoimes at Rafah... no moral condemnation from him.

Though we may not be able to match the 150,000 turnout of the Tel-Aviv event, it is the time to sound our clear and different message: to demand that the government and army immediately stop the destruction and the killin g, stop the cruelty towards the inhabitants of the refugee camps, stop the expulsion and the war crimes.

[3] Please, continue flooding politicians and embassies with protests

Please, continue flooding the government offices and Israeli embassies throughout the world with protest messages. We hear on the Israeli news how the embassies have it hard to "explain." Today the call is renewed by Gila Svirsky (to which we add the embassies url).

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Tue, 18 May 2004 17:50:12 +0200
From: Gila Svirsky
Subject: Emergency right now in Gaza

Friends,

We need your help.

There is an emergency situation right now in the Gaza Strip and the town of Rafah, in particular, with scenes that bring to mind Israel's invasion of Jenin and Nablus in the spring of 2002. So far today, 18 Palestinians were killed, but the action continues. Last weekend, 116 homes were destroyed, making over a thousand people homeless (www.btselem.org).

Hundreds more are slated for destruction. Amira Hass, filing dramatic daily repor ts from inside Rafah, describes the scenes of people grabbing their children and whatever comes to hand and fleeing their homes, anticipating the entry of the bulldozer-tanks (www.haaretzdaily.com). Even Yossi Sarid from the Yahad Party (formerly called Meretz), normally a staunch defender of the IDF, described actions in Rafah as "war crimes". My friend In'am called me from Gaza trembling with fear, and reported that the Palestinian news broadcaster broke down in tears as he spoke.

Many -- Israelis, internationals and Palestinians -- are desperately trying to halt the bloodshed. The Israeli women's peace movement just placed an ad in Ha'aretz calling for an immediate halt to the violence and renewa l of negotiations for a peace agreement that will extract us from all the occupied territories ("True and enduring solutions," we wrote, "are attained by negotiation, not destruction, revenge or humiliation"). This morni ng, forty women drove to Gaza to see if they could intervene physically, but they are being prevented from entering Gaza by the army. The women have set up an encampment at the Sufa checkpoint and say they will not leave until the army stops its actions there. Other peace and human rights organizations have placed newspaper ads, and many are organizing a larger delegation to join the women on Friday.

International figures have begun to speak out, but we need more, and quickly. Can you please take a moment to write a letter (email or fax) or make a phone call to any or all of the list below? A sample letter is append ed.

Please take a minute to try to save someone's life or home. Imagine that you had to walk out the door of your home at this very moment, with nothing but what your arms can carry, and you would never see your home or its contents ever again. Please make a couple of calls.

Gila Svirsky

**********************************
Coalition of Women for Peace:
http://www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org
**********************************

Sample letter text:

There is an emergency situation in the Gaza Strip right now. Please demand that Prime Minister Sharon halt the death and destruction wrought there by the Israeli army. The cycle of bloodshed must end.

Contact people (First try the US, European and UN officials. All the fax numbers work):

(1) President George W. Bush -- Tel (202)-456-1111; Fax (202) 456-2461.

(2) Secretary of State Colin Powell -- Tel (202) 261-8577; Fax (202) 261-8577.

(3) US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer -- Tel in Israel: (+972-3) 519-7575 webmaster@usembassy-israel.org.il

(4) Your member of Congress: Call the Capital switchboard toll-free: 1-800-839-5276 and ask to be connected to your member of Congress.

For your information, you can send a free fax by internet (to certain places only, but definitely area code 202 in the US) at http://www.tpc.int/sendfax.html. Note that this is a service provided for free, but is not to be used for bulk fax mailings because they can only handle a relatively limited number of faxes at once. [Thanks, Mike Wolfson, for this info.]

(5) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, coi@un.org

(6) Council of the European Union, public.info@consilium.eu.int (7) European Union, civis@europarl.eu.int

(8) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Fax (+972 2) 670-5361 pm_eng@pmo.gov.il

(9) Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz, Fax (+972 3) 691-6940 sar@mod.gov.il (10) Minister of Justice Yosef Lapid, Fax: (+972 2) 628-5438 sar@justice.gov.il

(11) Look for the nearest Israeli Embassy at: http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/israel1.htm

Thanks for doing this -- but please don't send me a copy of your letters, or I'll be flooded (I hope...). Gila

[4] B'Tselem on High Court Decision on Rafah Demolitions:
The Rule of Law Ends at the Border

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Sun, 16 May 2004 17:01:11 +0200
From: "Noam Hoffstater"

May 16, 2004

Press Release

High Court Decision on Rafah Demolitions: The Rule of Law Ends at the Border

This morning’s ruling of Israel’s High Court of Justice allows the IDF to continue its mass house demolitions in Rafah, and gives the IDF full discretion as to when to allow a court hearing prior to demolition.

In issuing this ruling, the Court has shirked its obligation to balance security considerations with the rights of Palestinian civilians who are not involved in the hostilities.

When addressing events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Court consistently disregards its obligations regarding human rights and international law, and uncritically adopts the position of the security establishment.

Since the beginning of the Intifada, the IDF has demolished some 1,800 homes in the Rafah Refugee Camp. Since the beginning of 2004 alone, 284 homes have been demolished in Rafah, leaving 2,185 Palestinians homeless. House demolition on such a massive scale cannot be justified as “urgent military need.”

B’Tselem calls on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to immediately cancel the plans for further demolitions, discussed by Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon in this morning’s cabinet meeting. In addition, the organization calls on the Israeli government to compensate families who lost their homes and to provide them with alternative housing.

For the results of B’Tselem’s investigation on the IDF action in Rafah this weekend, see www.btselem.org

For additional information, contact Noam Hofstatter, B’Tselem’s Spokesperson, at 050-387230, 02-6735599, or at noamh@btselem.org

[5] Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble,
House demolition and destruction of land and property

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Subject: Amnesty International NEW REPORT
From: eastmed@amnesty.org
Date sent: Tue, 18 May 2004 10:19:42 +0100

Amnesty International is launching a report today entitled Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property. In this report, the organization analyses the main p atterns and trends of forced eviction, house demolition and destruction of property by the Israeli army and security forces in Israel and in the Occupied Territories in the light of international human rights and humanita rian law.

You can find the report as well as a web action on AI's website:

The report: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004

Press release: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150502004

Stop destruction of homes and land by Israeli army - take action! http://web.amnesty.org/pages/isr-180504-action-eng

Slideshow: http://www.amnesty.org/resources/slideshow/slideshow-detect.htm?id=isr-180504-eng

# Boycott List of Settlement Products
newly updated - at www.gush-shalom.org

Hebrew
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm

English
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm

# Sharansky and the New Antisemitism, by Adam Keller -
http://otherisrael.home.igc.org/sharansky.html

(more articles of The Other Israel May issue accessible via
http://otherisrael.home.igc.org/contents.html)

#Against the Wall
contact addresses daily struggle / eye-witness reports

#Refusniks (prisoner addresses & links to constantly updated sites)
updated refusniks lists / support to five long-time incarcerated

#Against the Wall

*
ðåëçåú éåîéåîéú áëôøéí îàéîéí ò"é äçåîä ìúàí òí
àééáé 064-604172 isichel@netvision.net.il
àøé÷ 050-607034 info@rhr.israel.net

Day to day presence at villages threatened by route of wall.
Contact:
Ivy Sichel 064-604172 isichel@netvision.net.il
Arik Asherman 050-607034 info@rhr.israel.net

*
Daily eye-witness reports from the Occupied Territories:
http://www.machsomwatch.org
(Israeli women monitoring the checkpoints)
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pressreleases/pressreleases.php
(internationals throughout OT)

#Refusniks

Constantly-updated refusniks lists:

English - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/prison/

English - http://www.newprofile.org/default.asp?language=en
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.newprofile.org/

For the latest news about the five:
http://www.refuz.org.il/News.html

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