AMP calls on people of conscience to reclaim American values at National March on Washington

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AMP calls on people of conscience to reclaim American values at National March on Washington

(WASHINGTON DC, 07/30/2014)–Early this morning Israel committed yet another deliberate massacre against Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, who were sheltering at a United Nations school in the Jabaliya refugee camp. At least 16 people were killed and more than 90 were injured.

The latest attack on the Jabaliya school marked the second time in a week that a U.N. school converted into a shelter has been struck by Israeli missiles. More than 200,000 displaced Palestinians, many heeding Israeli evacuation warnings, have taken shelter in U.N. schools and buildings. On Tuesday, we learned Israel bombed Gaza’s main power plant and that its only cellular provider may end service because its infrastructure has all but disappeared due to Israeli strikes. Without power and cell service, Gaza will be plunged into a total blackout and neither journalists nor citizens will be able to report on what is happening. Israel has hit hospitals, mosques, and United Nations facilities.

In three weeks, Israel has killed close to 1,300 Palestinians, including at least 250 children, and wounded more than 7,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel has destroyed at least 5,000 homes, wiping out entire families in the densely populated strip of land that’s 140 square miles, roughly one-third the size of New York. More than 1.8 million people live in the strip. According to U.N figures three-fourths of the Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza are civilians. One in four was a minor.

The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) roundly rejects Israel’s claims that it is acting in self-defense. Operation Protective Edge must be viewed through the context of Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Palestinian people. Israel, aided by Egypt, has had the Gaza Strip under a total blockade since 2007, which has plunged the Strip into an ever-deepening humanitarian crisis. The United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay has said Israel may have committed war crimes by targeting civilians and the UN Human Rights Commission has agreed to conduct an investigation into the charges.

Israel’s occupation is the result of apartheid policies that even President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State John Kerry repeatedly have acknowledged are unsustainable. Both men have called for an end to Israel’s occupation and settlement construction in the West Bank, implying that the colonial settlements are obstacles to peace. And former AIPAC employee and U.S. Middle East envoy, Martin Indyk, in May blamed Israel and its settlements for the collapse of peace talks.
The irony here is that despite stated US policy, President Obama and his administration are not willing to stand on principle and reject the pro-Israel narrative. Instead of holding Israel accountable for its violations of international law, they are blaming the victims instead of the occupying aggressor.

Israel’s actions amount to collective punishment and are against international law. It is time for the US to hold Israel accountable for killing innocent civilians. We hold other countries to strict human rights standards and we must hold Israel to those same standards. Furthermore, Israel’s use of American weapons against a civilian population violates the US Arms Export Control Act and we call on Congress to investigate these violations. Our support of Israel hurts our standing throughout the world and threatens our national security.
The world views the United States as being complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.

AMP asserts the United States must end its blind support of Israel. President Obama, his administration and Congress have a responsibility to the American people who elected them and not to the settlers and leadership of an apartheid and colonial state. Our American leaders need to worry more about our national interests and not Israel’s. They must uphold the values of freedom, equality, and justice, upon which this country is founded, and not the apartheid regime and policies that Israel represents and practices.

Finally, AMP strongly urges people to attend the national march on Washington on Saturday. The protests across the country these last two weeks prove the American people reject Israel’s killing of Palestinians and reject American support for Israel’s violations. Instead, we stand for the cherished American ideals of justice, liberty, equal rights and self-determination. Therefore, we call upon all people of conscience to come to Saturday’s rally and to make their voices heard. We must reclaim the America we love.