Let's end the siege of Gaza!

Dear friends,

The world is reeling from Israel's assault on an aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza. It's time for a full investigation to begin -- and for the siege of Gaza to end. Please sign the worldwide petition, then forward this message:

Israel's deadly raid on a flotilla of aid ships headed for Gaza has shocked the world. Israel, like any other state, has the right to self-defence, but this was an outrageous use of lethal force to defend an outrageous and lethal policy -- Israel's blockade of Gaza, where two thirds of families don't know where they'll find their next meal.

The UN, EU, and nearly every other government and multilateral organization have called on Israel to lift the blockade and, now, launch a full investigation of the flotilla raid. But without massive pressure from their citizens, world leaders might limit their response to mere words -- as they have so many times before.Let's make the world's outcry too loud to ignore. Join the petition for an independent investigation into the raid, accountability for those responsible, and an immediate end to the blockade in Gaza -- please click to sign the petition, and then forward this message to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla_3/?vl

The petition will be delivered to the UN and world leaders, as soon as it reaches 200,000 names -- and again at every opportunity as it grows and leaders choose their responses. A massive petition at a moment of crisis like this one can demonstrate to those in power that sound bites and press releases aren't enough -- that citizens are paying attention and demanding action.

And the world keeps on watching ...

"The main UN compound in Gaza was ablaze today after being struck by Israeli artillery fire and a spokesman said that the building had been hit by what was thought to be white phosphorus shells." (Reuters)

Sorry if I’m getting on your nerves by now but it seems that the situation is totally out of control.

What will be their excuse this time? That Hamas terrorists were hiding in the UN building? That it was just another "tragic error"?

If these atrocities were carried out by any other middle eastern country there would be sanctions and possible military intervention. The international inaction on this matter reveals something very sinister in western democracy.

Not Fireworks

Whilst we were probably enjoying our New Year’s Eve fireworks, the people of Gaza City were witnessing and suffering this kind of flares and smoke.

Israeli military spokesmen deny that their forces have used phosphorus in Gaza, despite photographs and film of munitions showing similar characteristics to the potentially lethal shells.
Phosphorous shells are not illegal if they are used to create a smokescreen or to illuminate targets, rather than as a weapon against people, military experts and human rights campaigners said yesterday.

White phosphorus produces layers of thick white smoke when exposed to oxygen, but phosphorus from an explosion will cause serious burns that can melt flesh to the bone and kill. Its use as an offensive ammunition is banned by the chemical weapons convention. Israel used phosphorus in the war with Lebanon in 2006.

This is 10-year old Palestinian Loay Soboh, who lost his eyes in an Israeli air strike, at Shifa hospital in Gaza before being taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment.

Children make up more than half of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants, and as such have found themselves in the firing line since Israel began its offensive against Hamas.

According to recent UN figures, more than 265 children have been killed and over 1,080 wounded.

The war on Gaza is not a natural catastrophe like the Tsunami: this is a man made disaster that deepens while the world watches.

Are we watching? Are we listening? Are we talking about it?

What are we doing?

Crying for the little souls of Gaza

Some days ago five Palestinian sisters were fast asleep when a night-time Israeli airstrike hit the next-door mosque in Gaza. One of the walls collapsed on to their small asbestos-roofed home and they were all killed in their beds. The eldest sister, Tahrir, was 17 years old, the youngest, Jawaher, just four.


I do not usually do politics (and I do not think this is politics either)…but when children, innocent people are slaughtered this way, I cannot keep my mouth shut. A blog should entertain but also express the blogger’s opinion. I do not care who started this conflict, I do not care where the faults lie. THIS HAS TO STOP!


As a mother I feel for every child who has died in the Gaza region. As a Christian, I don't believe Jesus would argue who is right or who is wrong. He would simply weep and state, "Love God and love one another as you love yourself". He would then ask "how are any of you loving me and one another through this violence”.


I feel impotent and angry at my impotence. I look at my children and I feel ashamed because I cannot do anything. I signed a petition at
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace but who really reads petitions? Not our politicians who are too wrapped into themselves and their arguments to listen, not Israel or Hamas who keep on firing missiles and shedding innocent lives in the name of what?


So what else can we do apart from crying and praying for those little souls, those little angels of Gaza?