VIGIL FOR GAZA at Ha’penny Bridge, Dublin this Thursday, December 31st 2009 at 2.00pm followed by PROTEST AND LETTER HAND IN AT EGYPTIAN EMBASSY, 12 CLYDE ROAD AT 3.30PM (both organised by the IPSC) and other solidarity events around the country.
The Irish Anti War Movement (IAWM) called today for its members and supporters to attend the vigils and protests for Gaza one year on from the horrific military bombardment of Gaza by Israel and in solidarity with the Gazan people and the International Peace Convoy currently stranded in Egypt.
Claudia Saba, Secretary of the IAWM Steering Committee said:
"More than two years have passed since the land and sea blockade on Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants began, and one year since the deadly Israeli attacks in which 1,415 Palestinians were killed, over 5,000 were injured and 325,000 lost their homes. The military assault, which started just after Christmas 2008 showed up the brutal and militaristic nature of the Israeli state, as pictures of dead and wounded defenceless civilians, many of them children, were broadcast to the world.
VIGIL FOR GAZA at Ha’penny Bridge, Dublin this Thursday, December 31st 2009 at 2.00pm followed by PROTEST AND LETTER HAND IN AT EGYPTIAN EMBASSY, 12 CLYDE ROAD AT 3.30PM (both organised by the IPSC) and other solidarity events around the country.
The Irish Anti War Movement (IAWM) called today for its members and supporters to attend the vigils and protests for Gaza one year on from the horrific military bombardment of Gaza by Israel and in solidarity with the Gazan people and the International Peace Convoy currently stranded in Egypt.
Claudia Saba, Secretary of the IAWM Steering Committee said:
"More than two years have passed since the land and sea blockade on Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants began, and one year since the deadly Israeli attacks in which 1,415 Palestinians were killed, over 5,000 were injured and 325,000 lost their homes. The military assault, which started just after Christmas 2008 showed up the brutal and militaristic nature of the Israeli state, as pictures of dead and wounded defenceless civilians, many of them children, were broadcast to the world.
One year on from this horrific bombardment, no homes or schools have been rebuilt, hospitals are still lacking medicine and equipment, the water and sewage systems have not been repaired and people, especially children and the elderly, are still dying as a direct result of the blockade. According to the UN, Public Health Services are dangerously lacking, children die of basic illnesses such as diarrhoea and the population as a whole suffers from malnutrition."
Jim Roche of the IAWM Steering Committee said:
"While world leaders have ignored the plight of the Gazan people, civil society around the world has responded positively. The IAWM supports the 1400 Peace Activists from 42 different countries, who have converged in Egypt in order to cross in to Gaza to distribute vital humanitarian aid and to join the non-violent ‘Gaza Freedom March’ to the Gaza/Israeli border on New Year’s Eve.
It is vital that the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micháel Martin, makes a statement calling on the Egyptian authorities to open the border crossings between Egypt and Gaza, to allow the International Peace Convoy through, and to call for the Israeli Government to end the illegal blockade of Gaza for good. He should also call for the suspension of the Euro Med Association agreement that allows Israel favoured trading status with European countries."
The IAWM statement concluded: "We must stop this ongoing misery for the Palestinian people: the siege of Gaza must end and the borders must be opened. Governments have failed to act – we must act instead."
For more info contact:
Richard Boyd Barrett, Chair Steering Committee IAWM Tel. 087 6329511
Claudia Saba, Secretary Steering Committee IAWM Tel. 087 228 9514
Jim Roche, Steering Committee IAWM Tel. 087 6472737
