Author Sami Michael, ACRI's President, to Olmert and Barak:
Stop Indiscriminate Killing of Civilians in Gaza
Jerusalem - March 2, 2008 - Author Sami Michael, ACRI's President, sent an urgent letter today to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak, condemning the disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks on Gaza which have killed dozens of Palestinians,
many of whom are civilians, including at least 12 children. Hundreds more have been wounded in this latest round of
attacks, and Gaza hospitals are collapsing, unable to treat such a large influx of patients, among other reasons because
of the shortage of humanitarian goods allowed into the region. As such, ACRI has strong reason to believe that Israel is
committing severe breaches of International Humanitarian Law.
In the letter, Mr. Michael affirms Israel's right to defend its citizens and writes that the continuous firing of Kassam
rockets at civilian populations in Sderot and the Gaza-border area constitutes a war crime - according to International
Humanitarian Law.
Mr. Michael further emphasized that one war crime does not justify another, and called on Mr. Olmert and Mr. Barak to
stop the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza immediately.
The complete version of Mr. Michael's letter in Hebrew is attached to this e-mail.
The Association for Civil Rights (ACRI) in Israel is Israel's leading human and civil rights organization and the only
one that deals with the entire spectrum of rights and liberties in Israel and the Occupied Territories. ACRI works to
defend the rights of all through three parallel channels: litigation and legal intervention, education, and public
outreach.
ENDS