Didn’t they learn anything last time?
In 2008, the Israeli military invaded Gaza, claiming they were going to destroy Hamas. They didn’t destroy Hamas – politically, they made it stronger – but they did kill a thousand Palestinian civilians and destroy a lot of Palestinian civilian infrastructure, some of which was never fully rebuilt due to the Israel-Egypt-US blockade of Gaza.
Now Israel is attacking Gaza again. The stated reason is rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. Of course, that’s not the complete story. [1] But more violence from Israel into Gaza isn’t going to end rocket fire from Gaza. It hasn’t in the past and won’t in the future. The violence can only end with a political agreement to stop all violence across the Israel-Gaza border. The first step is an immediate cease-fire. This should lead to a political agreement that guarantees a permanent end to armed attacks across the border from both sides and permanently ends the siege of Gaza’s economy and people.
Urge President Obama and Members of Congress to work towards an immediate ceasefire and a political agreement that permanently ends the violence and ends the blockade. You can use the following link:
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gaza-ceasefire
Thank you for all you do to help bring about a more just foreign policy,
Robert Naiman, Chelsea Mozen, Sarah Burns and Megan Iorio
Just Foreign Policy
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References:
1. See, e.g.,
“Who Started the Israel-Gaza Conflict?” Robert Wright, The Atlantic, November 16, 2012, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/who-started-the-israel-gaza-conflict/265374/
“Israel’s Shortsighted Assassination,” Gershon Baskin, New York Times Op-Ed, November 16, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/israels-shortsighted-assassination.html