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Stop the Assault on Rafah Camp
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Progressive Portal
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May 17, 2004 18:10 PDT
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PLANNED ASSAULT IS LATEST MOVE IN CALCULATED STRATEGY
THAT HAS LEFT THOUSANDS HOMELESS SINCE 2001
[From Gush Shalom <http://www.gush-shalom.org/english> and Citizens for
Fair Legislation <http://cflweb.org>]
Given a green light by Israel's highest court on Sunday, 16 May 2004,
the Israeli military is on the brink of a major new assault on the Gaza
Strip city and refugee camp of Rafah. Israeli forces have already
destroyed some 1,800 homes in Rafah over the last 3.5 years, including
116 just during the weekend of 15-16 May 2004, according to the Israeli
human rights group B'Tselem.
In a statement issued on 14 May 2004, United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan strongly condemned the demolitions, describing them as
"tantamount to collective punishment and a clear violation of
international law." In recent days, United States Secretary of State
Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice have
criticized them. In response to a petition from the Palestine Center for
Human Rights in Gaza, one judge on Israel's High Court of Justice had
even issued an injunction preventing further demolitions, but that
ruling was quickly overturned by the full court, which required only
that the army show "an immediate and definitive military need" to
justify demolitions.
Israeli officials usually claim the Rafah demolitions are intended to
uncover tunnels to nearby Egypt, which the Palestinians are said to use
to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip. In fact, some such tunnels have
been uncovered, but demolishing homes by the hundreds is a roundabout
and not very effective way to deal with that issue.
The real motive for the demolitions, critics believe, is to widen an
existing strip of destruction known as the "Philadelphia road" so it can
serve as a permanent Israeli-controlled buffer between the Palestinians
and Egypt. This objective was acknowledged as far back as September 2001
by Israeli Gen. Yom Tov Samiya, then commander of the Israeli Defense
Forces Southern Command. Speaking on Israeli radio about Rafah abutting
the Egyptian border, he told Israeli radio, "The IDF must raze all the
houses within a strip of 300-400 meters in width.... After each incident
,another 2-3 rows of houses must be razed.... We must employ this very
extreme instrument; it is workable."
Gen. Samiya complained in the interview that the demolition campaign was
being carried out "sadly, in steps which are too small. It must be done
in one big operation." Now, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is
evidently on the verge of launching that large operation. A massive
outpouring of indignation directed at both Washington and Tel Aviv may
is needed to stop it.
Take Action
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1. Send a message to your Congressional representatives, Bush, Cheney,
and Powell at:
http://www.cflweb.org/congress_merge_.htm
(From the "Choose a Letter" popup menu, choose "Alert 5/13/04 - 1100
Palestinians made homeless in ten days," then personalize the text.)
2. Send a copy of your letter or a separate message directly to Israeli
government officials by fax (ideally) or by e-mail to:
Prime Minster Ariel Sharon:
fax (from U.S. dial 011 first) 972-2-670-5475
e-mail pm_eng-AT-pmo.gov.il and dover-AT-pmo.gov.il
(replace "-AT-" with "@")
Defense Minster Saul Mofaz:
fax (011) 972-3-691-6940
e-mail sar-AT-mod.gov.il and info-AT-mail.idf.il
Foreign Minster Silvan Shalom:
fax (011) 972-3-691-6940
e-mail sar-AT-mofa.gov.il and dover-AT-mfa.gov.il
Israeli embassies and consulates: follow the links at:
http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/israel1.htm
(that's "israel" followed by numeral "1" then ".htm")
More Information
-----------------------------------
Background on Rafah:
http://rafahtoday.org
http://www.btselem.org/English/Houses_and_Fields_Destruction/Index.asp
http://www.mideastfacts.com/halper_rafahdemoltn_012002.html
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/268.shtml
http://www.labournet.net/world/0310/rafah7.html
http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-mcgreal281003.htm
Information on the impending Israeli assault:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/428404.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/428156.html (Amira Hass)
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/2004/040515.asp
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2676.shtml
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2665.shtml (Jeff Halper)
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23768
Statements of Kofi Annan and other U.N. officials:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10748&Cr=palestin
Links to more news and information from sources opposing and favoring
Israeli policy:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/links/
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