MEDIA ALERT, DEMONSTRATION AGAINST GAZA WAR—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                        Friday, July 25, 2014, 11:30 AM – 2 PM

The demonstration takes place Friday morning in front of the Israeli consulate, all welcome. Demonstrators are asked to dress in dark clothing. Please do not bring flags.

Demands      Ceasefire Now and End Blockade of Gaza

• LA Jews for Peace demands a cease-fire now to stop the killing of civilians.  As of July 22, Israeli has killed almost 600 Palestinians in Gaza through attacks from air, ground, and sea.  According to the UN, most of those killed are civilians, including women and children (http://www.imemc.org/article/68429 ).  Two Israeli civilians have been killed. 

Palestinian rockets must stop — they are aimed at civilian targets and are a war crime.

Israeli bombardment of civilian targets must stop because they, too, are war crimes.  LA Jews for Peace concurs with B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights NGO, that Israel must “immediately cease the bombardment of inhabited homes, neighborhoods and areas in the Gaza Strip” (http://www.btselem.org/20140721_btselem_calls_on_government_to_cease_bombardment ).  Bombing houses and hospitals with people in them is a war crime, and issuing a warning does not make an attack on civilians acceptable in either international or Jewish law.

• LA Jews for Peace also demands that Israel and Egypt end its blockade of the Gaza Strip.  Over seven years, the blockade has destroyed the Gaza economy by preventing the free movement of people and the import and export of agricultural and manufactured goods. The blockade is the root cause of Palestinian frustration that underlies the primitive rocket attacks on Israel. 

President Obama wrote to the Haaretz Israel Conference on Peace earlier this month that “Peace is the only path to true security for Israel and the Palestinians” (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-peace-conference/1.603324).  Ending the blockade of Gaza is a critical step to peace, and in the short run give hope to the people of Gaza so they will not attack Israel in frustration.

• LA Jews for Peace demands an end to the U.S. government’s unconditional diplomatic, financial, and military support of Israel that enables the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza.  Israel’s use of American supplied weapons, like F-16 jets and Apache helicopters, in its aggressive war on Gaza civilians violates United States laws – namely the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act.  It also time for the Obama Administration to finally support a binding United Nations Security Council resolution to end both the fighting and the siege of Gaza.