Newsgroup: it.arti.cinema
Titolo: STOP U.S. MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL PETITION

* 5 Reasons to Stop US Military Aid to Israel
* Who Supports the Stop US Military Aid to Israel Petition
* Petition that you can sign, forward to others
=====================
5 Reasons to Stop US Military Aid to Israel
 
http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/5reasons.htm
[This website is a cooperative effort between Sami Abuhamdeh (US
citizen of Palestinian descent) and Benjamin Balak (Israeli citizen
and professor of economics in the US).
The Stop US Military Aid to Israel petition has been endorsed by the
following groups:
Gush Shalom -- International Solidarity Movement -- Jews Against the
Occupation -- Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign -- Golshan
Society -- News from Babylon -- Not in My Name -- Nilemedia --
Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights -- Vermonters for a
Just Peace in Palestine/Israel -- Citizens for Fair Legislation --
Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace -- All About Palestine --
Matzpun
http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/about_this_site.htm
]
1.  Israel Is Illegally Occupying Palestine
Under UN Resolution 242, Israel is required by international law to
withdraw from all the territories occupied in 1967, including East
Jerusalem. The United Nation's General Assembly has repeatedly
condemned Israel's occupation of the territories as illegal (see UN
resolutions 338, 1397, and 1402, among others). Israel's continued
occupation of Palestine, sanctioned and maintained by the US, is one
of the most serious obstructions to a just and lasting peace in the
Middle East.
2. Israel Systematically Violates the Human Rights of Palestinians
in the Occupied Territories
Each day, Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza violate
articles of the 4th Geneva Convention on Human Rights, an agreement
that governs wartime rules of engagement and to which Israel is a
signatory. Palestinian homes and agriculture fields are routinely
demolished to make way for illegal Israeli settlements. Israeli
soldiers regularly arrest and detain--often for years-- Palestinians
without due process. According to Amnesty International, Israel is
the only country in the world that legalizes torture.
3. Israel is an Apartheid State Israel has developed an elaborate
system of racial discrimination, embedded in its legal system,
rivaling Apartheid South Africa's laws. These laws include the Law
of Entry, the Law of Return, the Citizenship Law, the Military
Service Law, and a host of legally sanctioned, discriminatory
rabbinical rulings. Palestinians are denied various welfare
benefits, access to many jobs, and the leasing of homes and land
controlled by government bodies. Electricity, sewerage, and roads
are provided free to Israeli households, whereas many Palestinian
communities in Israel, and especially in the Occupied Territories,
have existed for decades without adequate services. Laws governing
land ownership such as the Law of Acquisition of Absentee Property
and the Law for Acquisition of Land blatantly discriminate against
Palestinians. Indeed, land ownership in Palestine is more unjust
than it ever was in South Africa; at the height of apartheid, black
people nominally `controlled' 13 percent of the land, whereas in
Israel the Palestinians control only 2 percent of the land. 2
percent of the land.
Blockades which allow settlers free movement but restrict
Palestinians have lost 100,000 workers their jobs. The Israeli
government issues identification cards and car number-plates, color
coded, which restrict travel for non-Jews. Palestinians in the West
Bank are routinely prevented from travelling to the Gaza Strip
because they have to travel through `Israeli' territory. No
significant industry has been permitted to develop in the West Bank
or Gaza. Consequently, Palestinians are concentrated in the lowest
paying jobs and form a super-exploited labour force for Israeli
capital. The occupied territories import 93% of goods but export a
mere 7% of what they produce. Palestinian exports to Western Europe
are banned so as not to compete with Israeli exports. Ninety percent
of Palestinian workers must travel to Jewish towns for employment.
4. US Military Aid to Israel Violates US Law
The US Arms Export Control Act (AECA) strictly forbids the
government from giving military assistance to any country that
violates internationally recognized human rights. The State
Department's 2001 human rights report states: "Israeli security
units often used excessive force against Palestinian demonstrators
including live fire ... impeded the provision of medical assistance
to Palestinian civilians by their strict enforcement of internal
closures, which reportedly contributed to at least 32 deaths.
Israeli security forces harassed and abused Palestinian pedestrians
and drivers who were attempting to pass through the more than 130
Israeli- controlled checkpoints ..." Under the AECA, "the President
is required to report to Congress promptly upon the receipt of
information that a substantial violation of AECA may have occurred."
The US government is fully aware of the Israeli army's human rights
violations, as the above quote from the State Department shows. The
US government has eroded its own credibility as an impartial
mediator by continuing to arm Israel without restriction and
allowing these weapons to be used against civilian populations in
violation of US law.
5. US Military Aid to Israel threatens US Security and Global
Stability
US funding of Israel's human rights abuses fuels resentment towards
the US. While the rest of the world strongly condemns Israel’s
occupation of the Palestinian Territories, our government provides
the political, diplomatic and material means for the occupation to
continue. Such actions by the US government provoke anti-US
sentiment throughout the world, ultimately jeopardizing the safety
of people living in the US. The US can build its own security only
by gaining the trust and respect of the international community.
=====================
STOP US MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL PETITION
 
http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/petition/index.php3
To:  President George W. Bush and the United States Congress
We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against
Palestinians by the Israeli government, the continued military
occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli
armed forces and settlers, the forcible eviction of the inhabitants
from, and the demolition of, Palestinians homes, towns, and cities.
We find the recent attacks on Israeli civilians unacceptable and
abhorrent. But these should not and do not negate the human rights
of the Palestinians.
We find it reprehensible that US tax dollars, in the form of US
military aid to Israel, are being used to fund Israel's oppressive
policy towards the Palestinians. This aid not only sustains Israel's
illegal occupation and provides the means for Israel to continue
violating the human rights of Palestinians, but also violates the US
Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the President from
furnishing military aid or selling weapons to any country that
consistently violates internationally recognized human rights
standards. We demand the immediate cessation of all US military aid
to Israel until Israel honors United Nations authority and abides by
the rules of international law.  In particular, we demand that:
1.  Israel comply with United Nations Resolution 242, which notes
the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and
which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Occupied
Territories.
2.  Israel comply with the United Nations Committee Against Torture
2001 Report, which recommends that Israel's use of torture be ended.
3.  Israel cease the building of new settlements, and vacate
existing settlements, in the Occupied Territories, in compliance
with the Fourth Geneva Convention. ("The occupying power shall not
deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into
territories it occupies"; Article 49, paragraph 6.)
4.  Israel acknowledge in principle the applicability of United
Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees, and
work towards a just and practical solution.
We furthermore demand that the United States cease all military aid
to any nation that has been shown to violate human rights, including
Turkey, Columbia, or any other. This petition focuses on Israel
because it is the largest recipient of US military aid in the world.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
THANK YOU!:
[4035 have signed from Nov. 20 through Nov. 29, please ad your name
and forward this petition to others.]

 others
Firmato.
La petizione è chiarissima, cristallina, e molto saggiamente si basa solo
sul diritto internazionale sancito dalle risoluzioni del Consiglio
Generale dell'ONU, dalla Convenzione di Ginevra sul rispetto dei diritti
umani e dal Comitato delle Nazioni Unite contro le torture.
Cioè gli unici strumenti di diritto internazionale riconosciuti dalle
parti interessate ma soprattutto da tutti gli uomini di buona volontà,
che rappresentano l'unica base condivisa per iniziare un processo di pace
che sia davvero percorribile.
Inoltre la petizione è rigorosa nell'impedire manipolazioni, e richiede
un double opt-in (per firmare bisogna verificare l'indirizzo di posta
elettronica, quindi scriveteci quello vero).
Mi permetto di aggiungere una nota per fugare eventuali dubbi: Stop Israel
è un'iniziativa congiunta di un palestinese e un professore di economia
Israeliano. E' appoggiata principalmente da movimenti filo-palestinesi, ma
anche dall'organizzazione pacifista israeliana Not in My Name.
L'Italia non compare ancora nelle statistiche del sondaggio, peraltro
appena partito (solo 4048 firme finora), quindi incoraggio tutti a
diffondere la petizione e segnalarla ai propri amici.
Segnalo anche un articolo firmato da fonte non sospetta, ovvero Jimmy
Carter, su come e perché gli Usa possono e devono fermare la guerra:
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/palestine/2002/nyt042102.html
vanz
-- 
"Solo perché alcuni di noi sanno leggere, scrivere e far di conto, questo non vuol dire che meritiamo di conquistare l'universo"
(Kurt Vonnegut - Hocus Pocus)