The Martyrdom of GazaOn Saturdays, Concerned Families of Westchester holds a peace & justice vigil in Hastings. This is today's leaflet.
The killing of the people of Gaza continues. Yesterday the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza was attacked by the Israeli army. 350 medical staff and patients were forced at gunpoint to leave. Then the hospital, one of the only hospitals in northern Gaza, was burned to the ground. No military purpose was served by Israel’s action: it was destruction and killing for its own sake. No protests were heard from Washington. After 15 months of war on Gaza, many thousands of people have been killed and injured, 70 percent of whom are women and children. Israel maintains a blockade of food and medical supplies; famine stalks the land. Most of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed: schools, UN facilities, hospitals and medical facilities, etc. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been forced to leave their homes, with tens of thousands now living in tents. Yesterday four babies froze to death. It is winter in Gaza. What is especially horrifying about this genocide is that everyone in the world can see it. It is not hidden away in inaccessible places. It is broadcast and live-streamed to the whole world. Israel has told the world that it intends to destroy Gaza and to force survivors to flee. The government appears to be readying northern Gaza for occupation and “settlers.” The UN and the International Court of Justice have called on Israel to stop its war crimes, and have called on the rest of the world not to collaborate with Israel’s war. Yet the war continues. For Americans, it is shameful that our government gives Israel the bombs and planes to do its dirty work, blocking dissent at home and at the United Nations. Is it too late to change course? Can we bring Gaza’s martyrdom to an end in 2025?Work for peace. BACK SIDE FINDING PEACEFUL TOMORROWS The vision for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows was born when a small group of family members of those killed on 9/11 became connected after reading each others’ pleas for nonviolent and reasoned responses to the terrorist attacks. Several of these individuals met one another when they participated in the “Walk for Healing and Peace” from Washington, D.C. to New York City in late 2001 organized by Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. In January, 2002 four family members traveled to Afghanistan in a delegation organized by Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange to witness the consequences of U.S. military action there and to express their profound concern that high numbers of civilian casualties would increase terrorist recruitment rather than making the U.S. or the world safer. This core group decided to unite in order to strengthen their message and voices. Peaceful Tomorrows was launched as a project of the Fellowship of Reconciliation – USA in February 2002. Our name comes from a statement made by Dr. Martin Con King, Jr., “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” Dozens more family members joined in the following months. What these founding members shared was a belief that the violence that took their loved ones’ lives could spin out of control, and fear could be manipulated by politicians and the media to justify foreign and domestic policies that would increase violence while decreasing U.S. citizens’ rights and liberties over the years to come. Concerned Families of Westchester December 28, 2024
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Saturday, December 28, 2024
The Martyrdom of Gaza
