Largest U.S. Peace Coalition Calls for Ceasefire and Negotiations

[IndianaGreen]

American politics is on the brink of getting uglier than ever with new alliances being made, and old ones broken, on the basis of one's stand on the Middle East War.

For Immediate Release

Antiwar Movement Voices Alarm at Escalating Crisis in Middle East

Condemning All Attacks on Civilians, Largest U.S. Peace Coalition Calls for Ceasefire and Negotiations

19 July 2006, New York, New York -- As the crisis in the Middle East escalates, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the largest antiwar coalition in the United States, urgently calls on the Bush administration and Congress to pressure Israel to immediately halt its assaults in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip; work with international partners to broker an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel; and commence negotiations to peacefully resolve the crisis.

Many of those who have been prominent in organizing against the Iraq war are speaking out now against Israel's assaults on Lebanon and Gaza. For more information or to arrange interviews with UFPJ spokespeople, contact (redacted).

Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of UFPJ, today said, "UFPJ condemns all attacks on civilians, and calls for the release of prisoners held on all sides in this conflict, including the Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah. But while Hezbollah violated international law by attacking Israel and then firing missiles at Israeli cities, there are vast differences in the scope and scale of its actions and Israel's clearly disproportionate response. Israel's bombing raids are an act of collective punishment of the Lebanese population -- a grave violation of international law."

Rania Masri, a former member of UFPJ's Steering Committee currently teaching at University of Balamand in northern Lebanon, commented, "Every Lebanese airport has been attacked and rendered unfit for travel. Every seaport has been attacked. Several major gas stations and electrical stations have been destroyed. The major bridges in the country have been destroyed. The main arteries of the country have been destroyed -- from the south to the north -- making travel between main cities throughout Lebanon -- and therefore escape from Israel's bombs -- physically impossible."

Phyllis Bennis, a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy U.S. Power, said "Hezbollah's attack was a border skirmish -- something common on borders all over the world all the time and hardly new on the Israel-Lebanon border. A border skirmish is not the beginning of a war unless one side wants it to be. The Israeli government wanted it to be."

Mitchell Plitnick, Director of Education and Policy for Jewish Voice for Peace said, "George Bush is giving a green light to Israel's use of force, which is being conducted in part with U.S.-supplied weapons. The Bush administration's trampling of international law and national sovereignty in its war on Iraq has also emboldened Israelto disregard international condemnation of its behavior as well as the well-being of its own citizens. Just as in Iraq and Gaza, there is no military solution to the current crisis. The only real and lasting solution is to resolve the source of conflict by negotiating a resolution based on freedom from occupation and equal rights for all as enshrined in international law."

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is the largest U.S. peace and justice coalition with more than 1,400 member groups under its umbrella. Since its founding in October 2002, UFPJ has spurred hundreds of protests and rallies around the country, including the two largest marches against the Iraq war. http://www.unitedforpeace.org

From United for Peace and Justice

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/3850/1/199/

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

[unkachuck]

1. and it should get uglier....

....me thinks more and more Iraq-itization of the ME, IS our goal....it IS the end game....the idea being to keep all heavy-weight oil sucking nations away from our god-given-oil through war....we will deal with the Islamic fundamentalist adhoc, then use our military to secure and remove oil between skirmishes....

....he who controls the oil, controls the forseeable future....

....Lebanon (Hezbollah), Syria, Iran are a pain in Israels ass, which means Washingtons ass....so, tear up their countries, create turmoil for the respective regimes and reduce their ability to interfere with us taking oil....

....perpetual turmoil with perpetual war and we alone will be free to syphon the oil between uprisings in the ME, South America or where ever oil is to be found....

[IndianaGreen]

2. United for Peace and Justice Talking Points on Israel-Lebanon War

Suggested Talking Points:

"Israel has been demolishing the civilian infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon, targeting power plants, commercial airports and bridges. While Hezbollah violated international law by attacking Israel and then firing missiles at Israeli cities, there are vast differences in the scope and scale of these actions. As the French Foreign Minister described it, Hezbollah's seizure of the soldiers and firing rockets into northern Israel were 'irresponsible acts'; Israel's bombing of the Beirut international airport was 'a disproportionate act of war.' It is an act of collective punishment of the Lebanese population -- a grave violation of international law. That is unacceptable and an even greater crime."

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3326

BACKGROUND

Bush says repeatedly that "Israel has a right to defend herself," both with respect to Gaza and to the new assault on Lebanon.

If, as it appears, last Wednesday's attack was Hezbollah's initiative in crossing Israel's border, it constitutes a violation of international law, despite its claimed intention of aiding the Palestinians and helping achieve the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. However, it was a border skirmish -- something common on borders all over the world all the time and hardly new on the Israel-Lebanon border. A border skirmish is not the beginning of a war unless one side wants it to be. The Israeli government wanted it to be.

Israel could have responded by negotiating a prisoner swap with the Palestinians and Lebanese, as it has frequently done. Instead, it chose to attack Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, along with Gaza's, and it has killed more than 196 Lebanese civilians. These aren't defensive acts; they are acts of aggression.

Every Lebanese airport has been attacked and rendered unfit for travel. Every seaport has been attacked. Several major gas stations and electrical stations have been destroyed. The major bridges in the country have been destroyed. The main arteries of the country have been destroyed -- from the south to the north -- making travel between main cities throughout Lebanon -- and therefore escape from Israel's bombs -- physically impossible. The Israeli army has been calling upon villages in South Lebanon to evacuate, yet they have destroyed the roads on which people can travel and have bombed two vehicles full of civilians attempting to leave.

Israel's reckless actions have endangered not only Palestinian and Lebanese citizens, but also their own people. By straining the delicate balance among Lebanon's ethnic and religious groups, Israel also risks igniting a new civil war.

Worse, the possibility that Israel's assault on Lebanon will trigger a full-scale regional war grows daily. Even before Israel's assault Bush's occupation of Iraq has destabilized the region and inflamed Arab and Muslim opinion. Now Israel has attacked near the Syrian border; Hezbollah is supported by Syria and Iran; Syria says it will defend itself if attacked; and Iran warns that if Israel attacks Syria, Tehran will retaliate against Israel. Then Bush would have a pretext for bombing Syria and Iran. (See Matthew Rothschild's excellent piece on the Progressive's website.)

But if Israel could not defeat Hezbollah during its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, neither can it do so now with air strikes, blockades, and buffer zones, nor even with another occupation. For four decades Israel has tried to deny Palestinians a meaningful state -- using a military occupation to take their land, and responding with excessive force whenever it is attacked itself. But security for Israelis seems as far away as it was in 1967. Just as in Iraq, there is no military solution to the current crisis. The only real and lasting solution is to resolve the source of conflict by negotiating a resolution based on freedom from occupation and equal rights for all as enshrined in international law.