http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_6/?cl=595259575&v=6425
Subject: Gaza aid attack
Dear friends, The world is reeling from Israel's assault on an aid
flotilla trying to reach Gaza. *It's time for a full investigation to begin
-- and for the siege of Gaza to end.* Sign the worldwide petition, then
forward this message:
[image: Take Action Now!]
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_1/?cl=595259575&v=6425
*Israel's deadly raid on a flotilla of aid ships headed for Gaza* has
shocked the world.
Israel, like any other state, has the right to self-defence, but this was an
outrageous use of lethal force to defend an outrageous and lethal policy --
Israel's blockade of Gaza, where two thirds of families don't know where
they'll find their next meal.
The UN, EU, and nearly every other government and multilateral organization
have called on Israel to lift the blockade and, now, launch a full
investigation of the flotilla raid. But without *massive pressure from their
citizens, world leaders might limit their response to mere words* -- as they
have so many times before.
Let's make the world's outcry too loud to ignore. Join the petition
for an *independent
investigation into the raid, accountability for those responsible, and an
immediate end to the blockade in Gaza* -- click to sign the petition, and
then forward this message to everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_1/?vl
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_1/?cl=595259575&v=6425
The petition will be *delivered to the UN and world leaders,* as soon as it
reaches 200,000 names -- and again at every opportunity as it grows and
leaders choose their responses. A massive petition at a moment of crisis
like this one can demonstrate to those in power that sound bites and press
releases aren't enough -- that citizens are paying attention and demanding
action.
As the EU decides whether to expand its special trade relationship with
Israel, as Obama and the US Congress set next year's budget for Israeli
military aid, and as neighbours like Turkey and Egypt decide their next
diplomatic steps -- let's make the world's voice unignorable: it's time for
truth and accountability on the flotilla raid, and it's time for Israel to
comply with international law and *end the siege of Gaza*. Sign now and pass
this message along:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_1/?vl<http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_1/?cl=595259575&v=6425>
Most people everywhere still share the same dream: for two free and viable
states, Israel and Palestine, to live side by side. But the blockade, and
the violence used to defend it, poisons that dream. As a columnist wrote to
his fellow Israelis today in the newspaper Ha'aretz, "*We are no longer
defending Israel. We are now defending the siege*. The siege itself is
becoming Israel's Vietnam."
Thousands of pro-peace activists in Israel today protested the raid and the
blockade in demonstrations from Haifa, to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem -- joining
demonstrations around the world. Regardless of which side threw the first
punch or fired the first shot (the Israeli military claims it did not
initiate the violence), Israel's leaders sent helicopters of armed
storm-troopers to raid a convoy of ships in international waters bringing
medicine and supplies to Gaza, and some now lay dead.
Their lives cannot be brought back. But *perhaps, together, we can make this
dark moment a turning point* -- if we arise with an unshakable call for
justice, and an unbreakable dream of peace.
With hope,
Ricken, Alice, Raluca, Paul, Iain, Graziela and the rest of the Avaaz team
SOURCES:
Live coverage from Al Jazeera:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/05/31/live-coverage-israels-flotilla-raid
Live coverage from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/may/31/israel-troops-gaza-ships
"The Second Gaza War: Israel lost at sea" - Bradley Burston, Ha'aretz
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/a-special-place-in-hell-the-second-gaza-war-israel-lost-at-sea-1.293246
Analysis of violence from IDF's perspective from Debka, reporters with ties
to Israeli intelligence:
http://debka.com/article/8824/
70% of Gazans suffer from food insecurity - 2008 ICRC report, cited by al
Jazeera:
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/05/20105319333613851.html
Analysis of possible political consequences of the flotilla attack:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtowfFjiFD4HYdHuYgxydKNwVRDwD9G2B3880
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