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 News from Around the Americas | July 2006 
Anti-War Movement Voices Alarm at Escalating Crisis in Middle East
 t r u t h o u t
| | A man carries roses and a Lebanese flag during a protest against Israel's military offensive in Lebanon outside of the United Nations Organization (ONU) in Mexico City, Mexico, Thursday, July 20, 2006. (AP/Eduardo Verdugo) |
Condemning all attacks on civilians, largest US peace coalition calls for ceasefire and negotiations.
New York, New York - As the crisis in the Middle East escalates, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the largest antiwar coalition in the United States, urgently calls on the Bush administration and Congress to pressure Israel to immediately halt its assaults in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip; work with international partners to broker an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel; and commence negotiations to peacefully resolve the crisis.
Many of those who have been prominent in organizing against the Iraq war are speaking out now against Israel's assaults on Lebanon and Gaza.
Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of UFPJ, today said, "UFPJ condemns all attacks on civilians, and calls for the release of prisoners held on all sides in this conflict, including the Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah. But while Hezbollah violated international law by attacking Israel and then firing missiles at Israeli cities, there are vast differences in the scope and scale of its actions and Israel's clearly disproportionate response. Israel's bombing raids are an act of collective punishment of the Lebanese population - a grave violation of international law."
Rania Masri, a former member of UFPJ's Steering Committee currently teaching at University of Balamand in northern Lebanon, commented, "Every Lebanese airport has been attacked and rendered unfit for travel. Every seaport has been attacked. Several major gas stations and electrical stations have been destroyed. The major bridges in the country have been destroyed. The main arteries of the country have been destroyed - from the south to the north - making travel between main cities throughout Lebanon - and therefore escape from Israel's bombs - physically impossible."
Phyllis Bennis, a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy U.S. Power, said "Hezbollah's attack was a border skirmish - something common on borders all over the world all the time and hardly new on the Israel-Lebanon border. A border skirmish is not the beginning of a war unless one side wants it to be. The Israeli government wanted it to be."
Mitchell Plitnick, Director of Education and Policy for Jewish Voice for Peace said, "George Bush is giving a green light to Israel's use of force, which is being conducted in part with U.S.-supplied weapons. The Bush administration's trampling of international law and national sovereignty in its war on Iraq has also emboldened Israel to disregard international condemnation of its behavior as well as the well-being of its own citizens. Just as in Iraq and Gaza, there is no military solution to the current crisis. The only real and lasting solution is to resolve the source of conflict by negotiating a resolution based on freedom from occupation and equal rights for all as enshrined in international law."
United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ)(http://www.unitedforpeace.org) is the largest U.S. peace and justice coalition with more than 1,400 member groups under its umbrella. Since its founding in October 2002, UFPJ has spurred hundreds of protests and rallies around the country, including the two largest marches against the Iraq war. |
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