FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2006
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD URGES ALL TO ACT NOW TO PROTEST AND END ISRAEL'S CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY & BRUTAL AGGRESSION AGAINST PALESTINE AND LEBANON
Israel's violence and aggression against the people of Palestine and Lebanon has already cost the lives of hundreds of
people and may provoke a horrific regional or global war. The recent devastation in Palestine and Lebanon magnifies the
ever-present reality of the brutal, violent, and racist occupation of Palestine and continued aggression against
Lebanon. It is imperative for all people of conscience to stand in solidarity with our Palestinian and Lebanese brothers
and sisters in their struggle against Israeli and U.S. occupation, aggression and imperialism. It is also imperative
that we continue to fight for an end to the U.S. occupation in Iraq.
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) encourages local chapters to hold Press Conferences, Teach-Ins, Vigils and other
activities in their cities and/or law schools to bring attention to the deadly Israeli military attacks on Palestine and
Lebanon and to organize for the National Emergency March to Defend the People of Palestine and Lebanon on August 12th in
Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The August 12th March is organized by the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to
Stop War and End Racism) coalition, and the National Lawyers Guild has officially endorsed this action.
We suggest that you invite Palestinian and Lebanese members of your communities to speak and participate in your events
so that their voices can be heard. We further suggest that in the events you promote the following actions items and
immediately begin organizing support for the August 12th protest in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Chicago.
Let us collectively speak up, act up, and refuse to let international silence in the face of occupation and aggression
contribute to the continued injustice of war and occupation!
TAKE ACTION NOW:
1. CONTACT ELECTED OFFICIALS: Call and write to your elected officials, and demand that they call upon the United States
to immediately introduce a resolution before the U.N. Security Council demanding that Israel halt its illegal and brutal
aggression against Palestine and Lebanon. Demand that your elected officials hold Israel accountable for its war crimes
and crimes against humanity committed using weaponry and technology sold to Israel by the United States and funded by
U.S. tax money. You can find out who your elected officials are at the following web link: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has also provided a direct link to sending a letter to elected
officials:
2. TALKING POINTS: For ideas and talking points to help you in speaking out about Israel’s aggression, you may want to
refer to (1) the NLG statement on Gaza, issued on July 6, 2006; (2) sample talking points from an on-line petition for
Lebanon organized by various NLG members; and (3) other additional sources for talking points, all of which are included
below.
3. ON-LINE PETITION: Sign on to the on-line petition, “Take Action to Stop the Crisis in Lebanon and Gaza (http://www.petitiononline.com/hurriyeh/petition.html) and forward widely for additional sign-ons.
4. JOIN WITH LOCAL SOLIDARITY GROUPS TO ORGANIZE ACTIONS: Join with Palestine, Lebanon, anti-war and anti-occupation
solidarity groups in your area, and organize teach-ins, demonstrations, protests, and awareness-raising events. For
actions and demonstrations in your area, please check out the following websites:
***National Council of Arab Americans (NCA) (www.arab-american.net)
***ANSWER Coalition (www.internationalanswer.org)
***Al-Awda – The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (www.al-awda.org)
***U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (www.endtheoccupation.org)
5. AUGUST 12 DEMONSTRATION FOR PALESTINE AND LEBANON: PLAN NOW to take part in the National Emergency March to Defend
the People of Palestine and Lebanon on AUGUST 12, in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Organize
contingents from your local area to attend the demonstration, and organize surrounding activities (teach-ins, flyering
to publicize the protest, awareness-raising activities). For more information, check out the A.N.S.W.E.R. website at www.internationalanswer.org.
6. ARM YOURSELVES WITH INFORMATION: Don’t believe the hype! Mainstream media’s racist and one-sided portrayal of the
occupation in Palestine and aggression in Lebanon reflects imperialist U.S. foreign policy and the politics of
aggressors and occupiers. The situation is not as “complicated” as people make it out to be. It is, at its core, an
issue of occupation and oppression. Read alternative informational sites about the history and current violence in
Lebanon and Palestine. Challenge misinformation and disinformation where and when you see it. Write letters and
editorials to media sources in support of good reporting and challenging erroneous or problematic reporting. Important
web links include the following:
• ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism): http://www.internationalanswer.org
• Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights: http://www.mezan.org/site_en/resource_center/mezan_publications/detail.php?id=147
• Palestine Center for Human Rights: http://www.pchrgaza.org
• Al-Awda – The Palestine Right to Return Coalition:http://www.al-awda.org/
• Stop the Wall – Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Campaign: http://www.stopthewall.org/
• Addameer: Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association: http://www.addameer.org/index_eng.html
• Sumoud – Political Prisoner Solidarity Group: sumoud.tao.ca
• Defense for Children International – Palestine Section: http://www.dci-pal.org/
• The Electronic Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml
• Electronic Lebanon: http://www.electronicLebanon.net
• Palestine Remembered: http://www.palestineremembered.com/
• Palestine Land Society: http://www.plands.org/
• SHAML – Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre: http://www.shaml.org/zshaml/site/
• BADIL – Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights: http://www.badil.org
• Labor for Palestine: http://www.laborforpalestine.org/
• National Lawyers Guild Middle-East Sub-Committee website: http://www.nlg.org/mideast/index.shtml (with information on
NLG positions and links to NLG reports)
7. GET OTHERS INVOLVED: Forward this information widely and encourage your friends, colleagues, co-workers, family to
GET INVOLVED.
In solidarity and towards the continued struggle,
The National Lawyers Guild
# # #
ATTACHMENTS FOLLOW
NLG STATEMENT ON GAZA (Issued July 6, 2006) (also available at www.nlg.org)
The National Lawyers Guild Strongly Condemns Israel's Crimes Against Humanity and Demands Israel Immediately Halt Its
Siege on Gaza and End Its Efforts at Toppling the Democratically Elected Palestinian Legislative Council
The National Lawyers Guild calls upon the international community to join us in our strong condemnation and call for
sanctions against Israel for its on-going occupation and crimes against humanity meted-out against the Palestinians.
Israel has recently intensified its relentless saturation bombing against the Palestinian civilian population. On June
27, 2006, Israeli F-16's directly targeted Palestinian civilians by bombing and destroying three vital bridges,
ministerial buildings, universities, scarce water supplies, and electricity stations. As a direct consequence, over
two-thirds of the Palestinian population in Gaza have been and continue to be denied access to water and electricity.
Magnifying the deadly impact of Israel's actions is the fact that well before Israel's recent military incursion,
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank were already facing a lethal humanitarian crisis stemming from extensive
shortages of food, medicine, clean drinking water, and lack of access to public utilities— Israel's admitted "starvation
diet" campaign.
A single snapshot of Israel's ruthless bombardment reveals Palestinians trapped in Gaza—the most densely populated
region on Earth—suffered through one of the most ferocious days of bombing, on June 29, 2006, when Israel's Occupation
Forces (IOF) launched over 400 artillery shells throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip. Further intensifying
Israel 's willful and ever-increasing violations of international law, Israel has drastically increased its kidnapping
of Palestinian leaders, "arresting" more than 64 elected Palestinian Legislative Council members, city mayors, cabinet
ministers, and lawmakers.
Currently, the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster faced by Palestinians continues uninterrupted while Israeli
tanks and armed forces have now returned to Gaza under the cover of sustained bombing raids by Israeli F-16 jets and
relentless shelling by Israeli artillery.
Accordingly, the National Lawyers Guild:
1) Demands Israel immediately cease all military attacks and lift the economic embargo imposed on Palestinians in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
2) Demands Israel immediately and unconditionally releases the recently kidnapped Palestinian parliamentary officials as
well as all Palestinian Arab political prisoners and detainees.
3) Urges the international community to pressure Israel, the United States, and Europe to lift the deadly economic
embargo unjustly imposed against the Palestinian people following the democratic election of a new Palestinian
Legislative Council.
4) Strongly condemns Israel's use of brutal psychological warfare on the over 1.4 million Palestinians living in the
Israeli occupied Gaza Strip to weaken and destroy the democratically elected Palestinian Legislative Council.
5) Strongly condemns Israel's actions designed to achieve its threat that it "will not allow the Palestinian government
to survive."
6) Calls upon the international community to join in our strong condemnation of Israel's belligerent crimes against
humanity and gross violations of international law, including Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting
collective punishment and Article 48 forbidding military actions against civilian populations and infrastructure.
7) Emphasizes the international community must continue to insist Israel immediately implement other international laws
including U.N. Resolution 194.
8) Stresses while condemnation of Israel's most recent crimes against humanity is critical, the international community
must weave together, and not isolate, the snapshots of Israel's gross violations of international law.
9) Further stresses the full-picture revealed by weaving together Israel's unbroken pattern of crimes against humanity
plainly uncovers the following reality: for nearly six decades Israel has been engaged in well-planned, systematic, and
continuous campaign intended to destroy the Palestinian people, culture, civil society and the infrastructure of life
itself (see In the Name of Security: Israel and the Destruction of Palestinian Culture & Civil Society, Preliminary Report of The National Lawyers Guild's Emergency Delegation to the West Bank May 16-24,
2002)
10) Calls upon the international community to expose the myth that Israel has "disengaged" from Gaza despite Israel's
continued control of Gaza's airspace, sea space, land borders, public services (including water, sewage, electricity,
and telecommunication networks).
11) Calls upon the international community to send immediate aid to Palestinians, including food, water, and medicine.
12) Urges the international community to step-up its efforts to boycott, sanction, and divest from Israel.
SAMPLE LETTER/PETITION ON LEBANON:
This text is part of an online petition, available at: http://www.petitiononline.com/hurriyeh/petition.html
We strongly urge the U.S. Congress to call upon the United States to immediately introduce a resolution before the U.N.
Security Council demanding that Israel halt its attacks on Palestine and Lebanon.
Israeli bombs and shells have killed more than 100 Lebanese civilians in the last few days and more than 89 Palestinians
since June 25, 2006 while injuring hundreds more civilians in both countries;
Israel has bombed buses and cars carrying desperate civilians in Lebanon;
Israel has declared that “no place is safe” in Lebanon;
Israel has destroyed every road and bridge from the South to Beirut;
Israel has bombed the international highway between Damascus and Beirut as well as the airport and vital civilian
infrastructure;
Israel has destroyed vital infrastructure including power plant, bridges and municipal
facilities in Gaza;
Israel has arrested and is detaining at least 65 elected Palestinian government officials;
Well before Israel's recent military incursion, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank were already facing a lethal
humanitarian crisis stemming from extensive shortages of food, medicine, clean drinking water, and lack of access to
public utilities—Israel's admitted "starvation diet" campaign;
These Israeli crimes constitute collective punishment against both the Lebanese and Palestinian
populations and are grave breaches of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention;
The U.S. veto of last week’s U.N. Security Council resolution to demand that Israel halt its attacks on Gaza encouraged
and approved Israel’s continued assault on Gaza and paved the way for its deadly attacks on South Lebanon;
The U.S. and all High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention are obligated to respect and insure respect
for the convention under all circumstances;
THUS, WE STRONGLY URGE THE U.S. CONGRESS TO CALL UPON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AS A HIGH CONTRACTING PARTY TO
HONOR ITS OBLIGATION UNDER THE FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION AND HUMANITARIAN LAW BY INTRODUCING A RESOLUTION BEFORE THE
SECURITY COUNCIL DEMANDING THAT ISRAEL CEASE ITS ATTACKS ON LEBANON AND PALESTINE AND THAT ISRAEL BE SANCTIONED FOR ITS
GRAVE BREACHES.
ADDITIONAL TALKING POINTS FROM OTHER SOURCES:
For examples of additional talking points, see the following links: