Portland Jews Speak Out Against Israeli Attacks on Gaza
Press Release, January 16, 2009: Portland Jews Speak Out Against Israeli Attacks on Gaza.
Portland Jews Issue Statement on the Crisis in Gaza
As Jews living in the Portland-metro area, we call for an immediate
cease-fire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli blockade. We call upon our
elected representatives in Washington to take action immediately to
bring a cease-fire into effect.
From the very beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza we have
spoken out, individually and through American Jewish organizations that
have called for a cease-fire and engagement, including Jewish Voice for
Peace, American Jews for a Just Peace, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, and many
others. We have been disheartened by the coverage of this issue in our
local broadcast and print media, which all too commonly shows Jews and
Jewish organizations supporting the Israeli assault and Palestinian or
Arab or Islamic organizations opposing it. This slanted and misleading
presentation serves only to enflame hatred and bigotry in our community.
We are Jews and we strongly condemn the Israeli attacks in Gaza
that as of this writing have killed well over 1,000 people and injured
many thousands more. At least 40% of the killed and injured are
civilians, enormous numbers of them children.
We condemn the targeting of civilians by both Israel and Hamas:
targeting civilians under any circumstances is a war crime. The
rockets, mortars and sniper fire that target Israeli civilians must be
stopped, but that imperative in no way justifies the massively
disproportionate violence that Israel has unleashed against a trapped
and defenseless population of 1.5 million people. The firing of rockets
from Gaza came almost to a halt during the recent six-month-long
cease-fire. That cease-fire could have been prolonged and strengthened
by addressing the Palestinians’ legitimate demand that the blockade of
Gaza be ended.
We call for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade and the other
restrictions on the free flow of goods, especially the relief and
medical supplies so acutely needed during the current crisis. The
blockade itself is an act of war and collective punishment against the
people of Gaza and has been in place since Hamas won parliamentary
elections in 2006.
We condemn the role that our country is playing in backing the
Israeli assault, both by supplying the military hardware used against
the people of Gaza, and by acting to prevent the United Nations from
effectively intervening to bring these hostilities to an end. The only
path to security in the region is through negotiation, not military
action. Unless and until the United States begins to play an
even-handed role through a renewed initiative for a comprehensive peace
plan and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, innocent people,
Palestinian and Israeli alike, will continue to suffer.
We call on our fellow citizens, Jews and non-Jews, to become
engaged with this issue. We ask them to call their representatives in
Washington to demand that they work for an immediate cease-fire and
make a just peace in Palestine-Israel a top priority for the incoming
Obama Administration. We reach out to our Palestinian brothers and
sisters, expressing our deepest sorrow for the terrible losses and
suffering of the people of Gaza, the West Bank and the Diaspora. Peace
can only come to the Middle East through justice for all. And we must
all work together to bring justice to the Middle East.
Signed,
Ned Rosch
Maxine Fookson
Sharon Stern – Jews for Global Justice
Duncan Baruch – Jews for Global Justice
Rachel McCarthy – Jews for Global Justice
Frank Krasnowsky – Jewish Voice for Peace / Brit Tzedek v’Shalom
Robin Fox – Jews for Global Justice
William Seaman – American Jews for a Just Peace / Jewish Voice for Peace
Judith Wild
John Blank – Jews for Global Justice
Greg Margolis- Jobs with Justice
Laurie King – Jews for Global Justice
Gerson Robboy
Bob Gross
Andrew Nimelman
Sara Packer – College Instructor
Gabrielle Buvinger-Wild
Joel Shapiro
Jeff Zucker
Dan Arquilevich
Betsy L. Zucker
Carol Mazer – Jews for Global Justice
Barbara Bernstein
Joe Uris – KBOO Talk Show Host / Portland State University Professor, Retired
Lowen Berman
Bill Resnick
Steve Goldberg
Peter Shapiro
Helen Ost
Judy Arielle Fiestal – Brit Tzedek V’Shalom / Americans for Peace Now
Kristi Erlich – Psychotherapist
(To sign on to this statement, please send your name and any identifying affiliation or profession to pprc@riseup.net or call 503-344-5078.)