Press releases

NEWS ADVISORY
Dec. 30, 2008
Contact: Kevin Akin 951/787-0318 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.peaceandfreedom.org

Peace and Freedom Party decries 'brutal' Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza, and encourages its members to protest

The Peace and Freedom Party today urged activists and members to join in demonstrations, phone and e-mail campaigns directed at US and Israeli officials, and other efforts to stop the "brutal intentional bombing of civilian targets in Gaza."

According to Kevin Akin, California State Chair of the party, it is the Israeli government, as the dominant military power in the region, that has the obligation to refrain from causing civilian casualties, noting: "Unfortunately, the Israeli military has been instructed to attack such civilian targets as a university, local government offices, densely populated neighborhoods, and even medical facilities. And they are using US-provided weapons to do it, with hardly a whimper of protest from US officials of either of the parties of big business."

Akin said all the candidates who sought the nominations of any party in 2008, none of the Democrats and only one Republican have spoken out against the attacks by the Israeli government. But, he said, all of the candidates who sought the Peace and Freedom Party nomination, including nominee Ralph Nader, have publicly condemned the raids.

Akin released this statement:

"Money makes the difference. The big-money parties represent the richest of the rich, who largely control the US government and the government of Israel as well. The billionaires have no interest in protecting the interests or the lives of American working people, or Israeli working people either. And they are happy to see Palestinians forced to live in powerless poverty, a condition they constantly seek for American and Israeli workers as well.

"A blockade is an act of war. Violence against the people of Gaza has been constant for many months, even when the US-made bombs were not falling. The blockade has killed many hundreds through malnutrition, missing medical supplies and electrical interruptions that kill patients reliant on machines. The government that the people of Gaza have chosen is certainly not perfect, but the proclaimed intention of the Israeli government to overthrow it by this bloody war is against international law.

"Israeli refusal to negotiate has been the key to the worsening situation, and it was an Israeli decision, not one by any Palestinians, that started the offensive of the last few days. To compare the largely futile missiles sent into the Israeli desert from Gaza to carefully-aimed fire against the cities of Gaza is absurd. The Israeli government needs to cease fire, stand down, and negotiate with the actual chosen leaders of the people of Gaza. Peace could be so close, but every bomb makes it less possible. As for the United States, our government should immediately cut off all military aid to the Israeli government. Our money should not be paying to massacre children and other civilians in Gaza."

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