The following is a message from Abir Elzowidi to Just Foreign Policy supporters.
My name is Abir Elzowidi. I work in Los Angeles for a small NGO called “Oasis of Peace” promoting peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians, Christians, Muslims and Jews.
A few days ago, five members of my family—including two small children—were killed in my village of Beit Hanoun in Gaza. A few days before, several other family members were told to leave their homes and made to stand by and watch as members of the Israeli Defense Force bombed their homes. They are now homeless, including my 93 year-old grandmother. Now I am afraid for the safety of my mother, my sister, my brother and their children in Gaza City as they are bombing randomly all around them. They, like others in Gaza, have nowhere safe to go.
I am grieving but I need your support. Together, we are not powerless. We can use our voices in this country to say enough is enough: stop the bombing, stop killing innocent children!
Thursday, July 24, will be a national day of action on Gaza. Here are two things you can do to help stop the violence:
- Sign my petition calling on the Obama Administration and Congress to use all the tools at their disposal to end the violence and lift the blockade of Gaza.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gaza-end-war-end-blockade - Sign up to deliver petition signatures to your Representative or Senator’s local office. We’ll help you every step of the way. Just fill out our quick form to let us know you’re interested.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gaza-petition-delivery
As of Monday, July 21, at least 550 Palestinians have been killed and 3,350 wounded since the new round of violence started two weeks ago in Gaza. Twenty-seven Israelis, including 25 soldiers and two civilians, have been killed.
The US, Israel and Egypt put together a ceasefire agreement last week, but what they proposed did not address a root cause of the violence: Israel’s seven year-old economic blockade of Gaza. We need to stop the killing now, but we also need to prevent more killing in the future. Lifting the siege is the only way to stop the killing long-term—and keep more people like me from losing family members in the future.
Please help me stop the killing in Gaza. Sign the petition telling the Obama Administration and Congress to stop the violence and lift the blockade of Gaza.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gaza-end-war-end-blockade
Thanks for all you do to help end the violence,
Abir “Abby” Elzowidi
Just Foreign Policy
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