American Muslims for Jerusalem 16 December 2003
While there have been no Palestinian attacks inside Israel for ten weeks, Israeli attacks against Palestinians have not stopped for a single day.
In the last two weeks alone, Israel has killed 21 Palestinians and injured 55 others.
In an attack on Palestinian civilians and property yesterday, the Israeli military completely destroyed 18 homes in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, leaving 25 families (178 Palestinian civilians) homeless. In addition, homes belonging to 6 Palestinian families (approximately 40 civilians) were damaged so heavily that they are now uninhabitable.
Some of the most recent victims of Israeli occupation
December 16: Israeli occupation troops seriously wound 12-year old Ahmed Ismail when he hurled stones at troops who raided his town
December 13: Israeli occupation troops fire at a taxi, killing Kamilah Mohammad Asaad al-Shouli, a mother of two, and injuring the taxi driver
December 13: Five Palestinians, including three children and a 45-year-old woman wounded when Israeli tanks shell the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip
December 11: Israeli occupation troops kill five Palestinians, including a medic and a 17-year old
December 9: Israeli occupation troops kill 16 year old Faris Jimzawi from Qalandia refugee camp with a bullet to the eye as he and other young boys tried to remove part of the wall Israel is building around them
Furthermore, not for a single day has Israel stopped building its Apartheid Wall inside the West Bank. Palestinians in the West Bank are being quietly but systematically trapped by walls, barbed wire, fences, and electronic sensors. Israel continues its plan of locking Palestinians up and throwing away the key ñ all the while speaking of “peace.” Once the wall is completed, the West Bank will become a prison like Gaza.
According to Miftah, a Jerusalem organization founded by Hanan Ashrawi, Israel is introducing remote controlled machines that will allow Israel to shoot down Palestinians trying to move past the walls and fences that encircle them. For more on the remote control weapons Israel has designed to keep the Palestinians in cages: http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=2842&CategoryId=3
Action Requested
What Israel has been doing to the Palestinians is more than a tragedy. It is a crime. Please take a few minutes every day for the next few days and demand that our government take immediate action to stop these crimes!
1. Contact the President, Secretary of State, and your members of Congress and demand that our government move past rhetoric and act
immediately to stop Israel’s assaults on Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied territories.
2. Help educate the public about Palestinian life under Israeli occupation by writing to your local media using the talking points below.
Contact Information
President Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington DC, 20500
Phone: (202)-456-1111
Fax: (202)-456-2461
Email: president@whitehouse.gov
Secretary of State Powell
Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Phone: (202) 647-6575
Fax: (202) 647-6040
To find contact information for your members of Congress, go to
http://www.amjerusalem.org/govwatch.htm and enter your zip code or call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and the House Switchboard at (202) 225-3121
2. Share these facts with your local media with a letter to the editor or an op-ed. To find contact information for your local media, go to
http://www.amjerusalem.org/govwatch.htm and click on “Contact the Media.”
Talking Points
1. In the last two weeks alone, 21 Palestinians have been killed and 55 injured. As Israel’s main financial and military provider, the U.S. must immediately use its leverage to demand that Israel stop killing and injuring Palestinians.
2. Our government’s consistent failure to back up its statements of concern for the humanitarian disaster Israel has created has led Israel to believe that the administration’s concerns should not be taken seriously.
3. Israel’s construction of a Wall surrounding Palestinians is a clear indication that Israel is not serious about peace and has no intention of ending its military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as called for by President Bush and the US-sponsored road map.
4. Israel’s Wall and settlements undermine the chances for a just peace and security. The Wall will confiscate 40-50 percent of the West Bank and annex approximately 91% of all West Bank settlements and 98% of all settlers.
5. The daily killings of Palestinian civilians, along with Israel’s construction of the Wall and settlements, are creating a humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian people.
6. The Administration’s expressions of concern about Palestinian human rights are not enough. The Administration must move past rhetoric and take concrete action to ensure that Israel abide by its obligations to end its military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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