Press Release: On Friday, January 16, "We Refuse to Be Enemies" and other groups opposed to the attacks on Gaza and to last week’s US government full and unconditional support of Israel in this adventure, will conduct a non-violent demonstration and march from the Federal Building on Main St. in Hartford to Congressman John Larson’s Hartford office.We Refuse to Be Enemies is a locally-based coalition of Jews, Muslims, and Christians working for peace and justice in the Middle East.
Our three goals are as follows:
1) To speak against the totally uneven situation of violence in Gaza, and against the 18-month humanitarian crisis there, about which almost all the world’s leaders except our own have expressed outrage.
2) To educate the public about the fact that both houses of Congress, including our entire CT delegation, voted last week, with no debate, and hardly any media coverage, strongly and without question to take Israel’s side, refusing to even consider that there could be a Palestinian perspective that also needs to be taken into account. In fact, Rep. John Larson was a co-sponsor of the House version of the bill, which some congressional staffers are referring to as “the AIPAC bill.”
3) To affirm our commitment to refusing to be enemies, and to urge our government to demand an immediate cease-fire on both sides, including the release of Gaza from the strangling blockade it has endured for 18 months.
Note from Rafik Beekun:
If your lands are stolen from you, if you suffer ethnic cleansing, torture and imprisonment, if you are under occupation for 60 years, if you are blockaded and starved, if your water is stolen from you, if no supplies are let in, if you cannot trade, if hundreds of millions of dollars of your taxes are withheld by occupiers, if you are hemmed in into a walled ghetto, and periodically bombed, if any protest is brutally repressed, if your children are slaughtered without remorse, if you have to go through all kinds of gates to get outside, and if these gates can be closed on a whim, then it is wrong for you to defend yourself, and you are the attacker while the occupier with its F-16s, its tanks, its missiles, its nuclear arsenal and submarines, its phosphorus and cluster bombs is “defending itself”, and the US stands by your occupier 100%.
Start: Jan 16 2009 - 3:00pm
March & Vigil to Rep. John Larson's Hartford Office.
Friday, January 16, 2009
3 PM - Gather at Federal Building
450 Main Street
Bring Signs, Props, Photos of the Israeli Massacre of Gaza.
March and Process to Rep. Larson's Office, 221 Main Street
* Deliver Open Letter to CT's Congressional Delegation (currently in process)
*
* Set up meeting with Rep. Larson
We Refuse to Be Enemies is calling for a mass nonviolent protest march and vigil from the federal building in Hartford to Rep. John Larson's office on Friday, 1/16 from 3-4PM.
Larson was the house co-sponsor of the "AIPAC Resolution" passed Jan. 9 that blames Hamas and justifies the Israeli govt for the Massacre in Gaza.
When our entire Congressional Delegation co-signs the Massacre, we must refuse to be silent, we must refuse to allow this heinous propaganda to go unanswered.
Sponsored by:
We Refuse to be Enemies
Co-Sponsored by:
Middle East Crisis Committee
Council on American Islamic Relations -CT
Islamic Center of New London
ANSWER CT
Socialist Action
Queers Without Borders
American Friends Service Committee
Hartford Catholic Worker
People of Faith CT
Other co-sponsors in formation.
Facebook Link
4 comments:
Nice piece of absolute garbage. Funny how no mention is made of the fact that Egypt blockades its side of gaza. But yep it's all the Jews fault. Not mentioned is the fact that all of gaza's misery can be laid at hamas's feet. No rocket attacks, no retaliation, no suicide bombings, no blockades. Also not mentioned is the FACT that billions have gone to palestinians in both gaza and the west bank, and it has not been spent on the palestinian people, WHY???? As to the deaths of palestinians timely forgotten is that arab syria killed 5,000 a couple decades ago, guess because it doesn't fit the nazi anti israeli agenda it doesn't get mentioned, as neither does arab jordan crushing the old plo back when hussein was king of jordan again not mentioned because arabs killing palestinians MUST be swept under the rug. In both cases the arab countries involved did so because the plo was committing terrorist acts in those countries and the military eliminated the threat. Funny how when Israel defends it's citizens it gets villified.
"...Egypt blockades its side of gaza."
The difference is the Egypt is ANOTHER COUNTRY! They have every right to secure their border with Gaza, as well as other parts of Israel's border.
And the U.S. blackmails nations into following our disastrous Middle East policy.
I didn't know Ehud Olmert was George Bush's boss, but he apparently has the power to yank W away from a speech he was giving and order him to abstain from the UN Security Council vote.
Which I find highly offensive as an American.
I could honestly write a book on how misleading and inaccurate that note is. Since I don't have that kind of time, I'll talk about something else- why is it considered an Israeli Massacre? Obviously Israel has gone into Gaza, but when Hamas hides among civilians, they're luring the IDF into killing innocents. Why is the war room for Hamas in underground housing beneath a hospital? Win-win. They know Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties (Israel has spent a lot of time/money dropping leaflets and making phone calls) and in all likelihood won't attack a hospital. If they do (highly doubtful), the world will condemn Israel. Hamas should stop putting innocent Palestinians at risk and start fighting "like men." (I don't like the phrase, but I think you get the message I'm trying to get across).
If a bad guy robs a bank and holds hostages, would anyone complain if the cops threw a few hand grenades into the bank to kill the robber? Yes, some innocents get killed, but at least the bad guy won't rob any more banks and risk hurting anyone else.
Now, you should explain to me why the cops have the right to protect everyone from the bad guy, and the dead innocents wouldn't have been killed if the bad guy didn't decide to rob the bank.
That makes about as much sense as the current situation in Gaza.
Granted, it's a very simplistic comparison, but the general moral equivalence is absolutely valid.
Post a Comment