Gaza update & actions from IFPB

Here is an update on the Gaza situation from our partners at Interfaith Peace-Builders. (Focused on peace and justice in Israel/Palestine, IFPB was founded as a program of FOR-USA. Since 2006, IFPB has been an independent organization in partnership with and with financial support from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.)

Interfaith Peace-Builders is saddened and shocked as the death-toll continues to mount in Israel’s latest assault on the Gaza Strip. We urge our friends and supporters to take action today to protest this needless loss of life, call for an immediate cease-fire, a complete end to the siege of Gaza, and an opening of its borders to humanitarian supplies, commercial goods, and people.

Interfaith Peace-Builders fosters a network of informed and active individuals who understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the United States’ political, military, and economic role in it. Our delegations to the region emphasize listening to, learning from, and advancing the work of Israelis and Palestinians committed to nonviolent struggle and peace with justice. We seek to empower delegation participants to educate their local communities and the media, counter unfair or inaccurate stereotypes, and advocate for a more just US foreign policy.

As an extension of this mission, we encourage our friends to seek out voices from the region for updates and on-the-ground reporting and analysis””and to take action in your communities to educate media, politicians, and neighbors about the situation.

The fighting, death, and destruction are awful; we need to seize this moment when more attention is focused on the region to:

1. Provide alternate voices of reporting and analysis ””those of Israelis and Palestinians committed to justice ”” that challenge mainstream media and government spokespeople.
2. Explain the context and history (so often lacking) of the conflict.
3. Enlarge our movement for peace with justice in the Middle East.

To help meet these goals and respond to the crisis, IFPB staff have collected and updated resources for you to learn more and several ideas for taking action.

The following action ideas focus on building our capacity to make long-term change while not losing sight of the need to respond at this moment. Several of these actions appear in action alerts circulated by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a coalition of over 200 peace and justice groups including Interfaith Peace-Builders.

Action Ideas:

• Speak to your political representatives: Set up emergency meetings with your Members of Congress. Demand from your Representative and Senators an unconditional, immediate cease-fire; full humanitarian access to Gaza and a lifting of Israel’s siege; and accountability for Israel’s misuse of U.S. weapons to kill Palestinian civilians. Send your letter today from the US Campaign’s web site by clicking here.
  
  Assemble a delegation of concerned constituents and request an immediate meeting with your representative or her/his staff in your district office. For contact information, click here. For tips on how to arrange a meeting, click here.
  
  
• Join us in Washington on February 1 and 2: In addition to your emergency meetings, join Interfaith Peace-Builders on February 1 and 2 for the Grassroots Advocacy Training and Lobby Day. The most effective congressional work focuses on building a lasting relationship with your congressional representatives. Let them hear from you as much as possible! Click here for more information and to register.
  
  
• Send a Message to Barack Obama: Go to www.change.gov to let the Obama transition team hear your voice. Once you log into change.gov, you can ask President-Elect Obama a question about U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine; or you can log into change.gov and vote on other people’s questions, indicating your stance on issues like the attacks on Gaza, U.S. military aid, and Israeli apartheid policies.
  
  
• Contact your local media: Write letters to the editor and submit op/eds. Call in to radio and television talk shows. Make sure the public has the proper information and understands the situation. To download the US Campaign’s talking points for the media, click here. To find contact information for your local media, click here.
  
  
• Educate your community: Participate in public demonstrations in your community. The US Campaign has compiled a list of events taking place in the United States and Canada to protest Israel’s attacks on the occupied Gaza Strip. More than 100 protests in more than 30 states and 65 cities are scheduled to take place across the United States to end Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Check the US Campaign’s website to join a protest near you.
  
  Download a flyer by clicking here and a factsheet by clicking here and make copies to pass out in your community. Sign up as a volunteer organizer to challenge military aid to Israel by clicking here and The US Campaign will send you an organizing packet with fact sheets, petitions, and the postcards below.

In all your work, resources are key. Detailed tips on taking action are available through IFPB’s resources page. We have also compiled several sources on the current crisis in Gaza which you should find helpful.

Resources:

• The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has put together these talking points, this factsheet and this short flyer.
• Harvard Economist Sara Roy’s commentary in the Christian Science Monitor provides background information on the siege and Gaza’s economy.
• The Electronic Intifada has published a short synopsis and catalogued all their articles on the latest attacks. See the “Diaries” section for on the ground reports from the Gaza Strip.
• B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories details the legal status of the Gaza Strip and Israel’s obligations as an occupying power in this background information.
• Other Voice is a group of Israeli residents living in Sderot and surrounding areas that have been targeted by Palestinian missile fire from the Gaza Strip. The group is calling for an end to the violence — both Palestinian and Israeli — and is one of the organizations which Interfaith Peace-Builders meets with regularly in Sderot. View their website by clicking here. One of the Other Voice organizers also co-writes this blog with a friend in Gaza and was interviewed by National Public Radio on January 6.
• Gazan bloggers in and out of the Strip are writing about their experiences. Because Israeli bombing and shelling has greatly damaged power plants, electricity lines and telecommunications systems in Gaza, many bloggers are not able to update their sites regularly. However, some blogs to watch include: www.a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com; www.fromgaza.blogspot.com; www.sunshine208.blogspot.com; www.nagyelali.blogspot.com; www.kabobfest.com/2009/01/for-tenth-night-in-row-israeli.html.