WAR ON GAZA (27 Dec 2008 - 19 Jan 2009)

Links to information and resources

Candle-lighting, floral offering and prayer for peace in Palestine. Organised by concerned agencies of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines in response to the Israeli assault on Gaza; held at Central UMC in Manila, Philippines, 18 January 2009.
(Source: www.arkibongbayan.org/2009/2009-01Jan18-umc/umc.htm)

RESPONSES from the faith community

Churches issue Middle East challenge to new US president Episcopal News Service, 21 Jan 2009 – In the wake of the temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant national church bodies based in Washington D.C., called on President Barack Obama to fulfill his recent statements to engage in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts “from day one” of his administration. (Read full article.)

Joint US Muslim, Jewish and Christian plea for Gaza peace Ekklesia, 17 Jan 2009 – “A group of 60 Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders in Boston, USA, have issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, asserting their common humanity and recognising the intense pain of the conflict.” (Read full article, and the statement, An Interfaith Declaration for Peace.)

US Rabbis Urge Obama to Push for Gaza Ceasefire
Democracy Now!, 15Jan 2009 – “A coalition of American rabbis and other religious, cultural and community leaders bought a full-page ad in the New York Times on Wednesday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for President-elect Barack Obama to convene an international Middle East peace conference...” Rabbi Michael Lerner spoke about the initiative on Democracy Now! (Read full article, including rush transcript of the interview and audio/video links.)

Christians rally for end to Gaza violence, join Muslims on aid
Ecumenical News International, 14 Jan 2009 – “Churches and associated groups around the globe have mobilised to send aid and assistance to those affected by Israeli attacks on Gaza and to lobby their governments for a cease-fire in the tiny territory where 1.5 million Palestinians live....” (Read full article and a related WCC news release, plus reports of church-related advocacy in some 20 countries.)

Pax Christi International letter to UN Secretary General on Gaza
7 Jan 2009 – Pax Christi International condemned the violence in Gaza as it joined the worldwide call for an immediate ceasefire; it urged the UN to act against violations of international law, and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza while exploring regional approaches to peace and paying consistent attention to the roots of the conflict.
(Read full statement.)

WCC invites prayers and advocacy for peace in Gaza
World Council of Churches, 7 Jan 2009 – “Reiterating its call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the World Council of Churches has appealed to Christians everywhere to pray for peace and to advocate with their governments for a just peace in Israel and Palestine....”
(Read full article, and text of the WCC general secretary letter to member churches in the Middle East.)

A Call for Cessation of Hostilities in the Gaza Strip All Africa Conference of Churches, 7 Jan 2009 – “Covenanting for human rights, African Churches meeting under the auspices of AACC in December 2008... affirmed their belief that the advancement of Gods Kingdom is a trumpet call to work towards peace and the entrenchment of human rights. Human rights as given by God are inviolable and inalienable. The war in the Gaza strip is a serious violation of peoples human rights.” (Read full statement.)

Pope, World Council of Churches call for halt to Gaza campaign
Ecumenical News International, 5 Jan 2009 – “Pope Benedict XVI and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, have condemned violence in Gaza, calling for its immediate cessation following an intense bombing campaign by Israel there....” (Read full article.)

Jerusalem Christian leaders seek day of prayer, halt to Gaza violence
Ecumenical News International, 31 Dec 2008 – “The heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem have denounced continuing hostilities in the Gaza Strip as well as “all forms of violence and killings from all parties” and have called for a world day of prayer for peace in the Holy Land....” (Read full article.)

Statement by the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem
30 Dec 2008, Jerusalem – “We, the Patriarchs, Bishops and the Heads of Christian Churches in Jerusalem, follow with deep concern, regret, and shock the war currently raging in the Gaza Strip and the subsequent destruction, murder and bloodshed, especially at a time when we celebrate Christmas, the birth of the King of love and peace....”
(Read full statement.)

RESOURCES

Situation Report on the Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip - No. 16
(23 Jan 2009, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA]) – Released 5 days after the January 18 ceasefire. For updated information on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, see OCHA’s Gaza Situation Reports, and ReliefWeb’s oPt page for other updates on Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory

Statement by Rev. Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, president of the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, to the 32nd Plenary Meeting of the 10th Emergency Special Session on the Illegal Israeli Actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the Rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 Jan 2009)

How the system of occupation and control leads to extreme exposure to violence (13 Jan 2009, Arab Educational Institute-Open Windows) – Examines the “system of interlocking practices of control developed by Israel over years of occupation and siege” that has culminated in “the violence to which Gazans are presently exposed”

Call for creation of United Nations War Crimes Commission (8 Jan 2009) – The International Progress Organization called upon the UN to establish a War Crimes Commission that will investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Gaza, and help prepare indictments in conformity with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention

The Gaza Massacre in Perspective (31 Dec 2008, Chandra Muzaffar) – “... the media has failed to tell the public the whole truth about why Hamas ended the truce and how Israel is largely responsible for the underlying conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and other Arabs. There are at least five dimensions to the larger context shaping the conflict that have not been highlighted in the media....”

Statement by Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Territories, on the crisis in the Gaza Strip (27 Dec 2008)

External links:

Israeli Military Offensive on the Gaza Strip – press releases, up-to-date reports, photos and testimonies from the Gaza Strip compiled by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

Inter-Palestinian Human Rights Violations in the Gaza Strip (3 Feb 2009, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights) – PCHR Special Report, February 2009

ICC Investigating Israel War Crimes Charges (3 Feb 2009, Daniel Luban, Inter Press Service) – The International Criminal Court begins to look into charges of war crimes against Israel, but “whether the ICC has jurisdiction in Gaza is expected to be a highly contentious legal issue, and the ICC investigation comes at a time of heightened debate over the legality of Israel’s Gaza campaign under international law....”

Song for Gaza: “We Will Not Go Down” (Jan 2009) – Composed and recorded by Michael Heart. The song has received unprecedented worldwide public support, becoming an anthem in protest actions all over the globe. (Download the audio file (mp3) or watch the video.)

Ceasefire Broken From Day One (26 Jan 2009, Eva Bartlett, Inter Press Service) – “At 7.30 am Jan. 22, five days after Israeli authorities declared a ‘ceasefire’ following their 22-day air, land and sea bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Israeli gunboats renewed shelling off the Gaza city coast, injuring at least six, including four children.”

Another War, Another Defeat (26 Jan 2009, John J. Mearsheimer, The American Conservative) – “...The actual purpose [of Operation Cast Lead] is connected to Israel’s long-term vision of how it intends to live with millions of Palestinians in its midst. ... The Palestinians would have limited autonomy in a handful of disconnected and economically crippled enclaves, one of which is Gaza.... The key to achieving this is to inflict massive pain on the Palestinians so that they come to accept the fact that they are a defeated people....” (Article may also be downloaded in PDF format.)

Israel wanted a humanitarian crisis (20 Jan 2009, Ben White, guardian.co.uk) – “... I would like to suggest three alternative purposes for Israel’s Operation Cast Lead that go beyond the usual perspectives, and presuming with Yale professor David Bromwich that ‘if Israel in 2009 reduces to rubble a large portion of the Gaza Strip and leaves tens of thousands homeless, there is a strong chance that this was what it intended to do’....”

Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: The conflict in Gaza: A briefing on applicable law, investigations and accountability (19 Jan 2009, Amnesty International) – In this briefing, which includes examples of attacks that appear to violate international law, AI recommends subjecting to international enquiry the conduct of hostilities by all parties and prosecuting those found perpetrating crimes under international law. (The full report may be downloaded in HTML or PDF format.)

Gaza invasion: Powered by the U.S. (16 Jan 2009, Robert Bryce, salon.com) – “Over the past few decades, the U.S. has provided about $53 billion in military aid to Israel. What’s not well known is that since 2004, U.S. taxpayers have paid to supply over 500 million gallons of refined oil products—worth about $1.1 billion—to the Israeli military....”

The Israeli War on the Gaza Strip: “The Birth Pangs of a New Palestine/Middle East” (15 Jan 2009, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Global Research) – “What is taking place in the Palestinian Territories is related to what is taking place across the Middle East and Central Asia, from Lebanon to Iraq and NATO-garrisoned Afghanistan, as part of a broader geo-strategic objective. All the events in the Middle East are part of a mammoth geo-political jigsaw puzzle....”

Chomsky Condemns U.S. and Israel For Civilian Deaths in Gaza Strip (14 Jan 2009, The Tech Online Edition) – At a talk held by the MIT Center of International Studies, Noam Chomsky “chastised the United States for enabling the Jewish state to carry out these actions with impunity....” (Also view the video stream or download audio of the talk.)

U.S. Weaponry Facilitates Killings in Gaza (8 Jan 2009, Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service) – “The devastating Israeli firepower, unleashed largely on Palestinian civilians in Gaza during two weeks of fighting, is the product of advanced U.S. military technology. The U.S. weapons systems used by the Israelis... have been provided by Washington mostly as outright military grants....”

The Media and the Deportation of Richard Falk (26 Dec 2008, Chandra Muzaffar) – “It is an utter disgrace that the mainstream media has given so little attention to the deportation of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Professor Richard Falk, from Israel on 15 December 2008. Even those that provided some coverage like the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune were clearly biased against Falk.....” (Also see, My expulsion from Israel by Richard Falk, guardian.co.uk, 19 Dec 2008)

U.S. Aid and the Israel/Palestine Conflict – Summarises and provides links to studies on the role of U.S. Aid to the Israel-Palestine conflict, published by If Americans Knew. The site’s homepage also features statistics graphically showing the disparity of the conflict’s impact on Palestinians and Israelis.

What are Usually Missing in Emergency Response? Mainstreaming Gender in Gaza Crisis Response (PDF) (16 Jan 2009) – Prepared by GenCap Advisor with the support of UN Inter Agency Gender Task Force, Occupied Palestinian Territories

The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion (March 2008) – A joint agency report by Amnesty International UK, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Medecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK and Trocaire. (Download the full paper in PDF format.)