[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens seek divestment, aid cutoff as Israeli crimes mount in Gaza

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, March 3, 2008

Greens urge economic pressure and cutoff of all
military aid to Israel as Gaza situation worsens

• Demanding an end to illegal occupation of
Palestinian lands, Greens urge widespread
grassroots support for the Palestine BDS
(Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Campaign

• Greens blast Clinton, Obama, and McCain for
uncritical support of Israel despite mounting
crimes


WASHINGTON, DC -- Calling the Siege of Gaza an
international emergency, the Green Party is
urging Congress to reject President Bush's FY2009
budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign
Military Financing for Israel, and reiterated the
call for a cut-off of all US military aid to
Israel.

"The Siege of Gaza is an ongoing atrocity, with
mounting civilian casualties, especially
children, killed and maimed by Israeli Defense
Forces," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green
Party of the United States and member of People
for Justice in Palestine, responding to the mass
killing of Palestinians during the past weekend.
"Greens are demanding an end to the siege and to
the occupation of Palestinian lands, to Israel's
collective punishment of Palestinians, and to
targeted assassinations, all of which violate
international law."

Greens noted that the death toll of Palestinians
killed by Israeli forces has doubled since the
Annapolis peace talks sponsored by the US in
November 2007.  In some areas of the West Bank,
home invasions by IDF since January 1 have
resulted in the kidnapping and detention without
charges of nearly 400 civilians, including
children.  1.5 million Gazans, mostly refugees
from Israel in 1948, live in an open-air prison,
unable to exit, and with electricity, fuel, and
water under Israeli control.

"Peace talks are a sham as long as Israel refuses
to discuss the construction of new housing units
for Jewish settlers throughout occupied East
Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank," said
David J. Kalbfleisch, a Green congressional
candidate in Illinois' 10th district
<http://www.electdave.org>.  "Israel must meet
its obligations under U.N. security council
resolution 242."

The Green Party has already called for an
economic boycott and divestment of Israel until
the occupation is ended and full human rights and
equality are realized throughout historic
Palestine, including Israel
<http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_11_28.shtml>,
and also for recognition of the right of return.

Green leaders, emphasizing the need for popular
pressure on the US government similar to the
campaign against South African apartheid two
decades ago, have supported the efforts of
Palestinian and Israeli peace groups to seek
negotiation and a halt to violence, and are
urging participation in the Palestine BDS
(Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Campaign
<http://www.bds-palestine.net>.

The President's FY2009 request would enact a 9%
increase over 2007 spending, and would be the
first installment of a ten-year agreement between
the US and Israel, signed in August 2007, to
increase military aid by 25%, totaling $30
billion by FY2018.

The arms purchased through Foreign Military
Financing are being used to enforce Israel's
40-year military occupation and siege of the
Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the
Gaza Strip, and for violation of human rights in
the Occupied Territories and against civilians in
Lebanon.  Such use of weapons purchased with US
money violates of the Arms Export Control Act and
Foreign Assistance Act.

"The Green Party has repeatedly called for an end
to Israel's illegal occupation, for enforcement
of human rights laws consistently violated by
Israel, and for an end to all attacks against
unarmed civilians by either side," said Justine
McCabe, co-chair of the party's International
Committee.

"Under the influence of AIPAC and other
pro-Israel lobbies, John McCain, Hillary Clinton,
and Barack Obama have bent over backwards to
support the Israel government and avoid criticism
-- even as Israel warns that it may invade and
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai
threatens Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with a
'holocaust.'  If the national debate on the
Middle East is restricted to Democratic and
Republican positions in 2008, the crisis and the
atrocities will continue regardless of who wins
the White House," Dr. McCabe added.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Video of Green presidential candidates
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/presidential-videos.php
• Green candidate database for 2007 and other
campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau
http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
• 2008 Green National Convention: Live Green,
Vote Green
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/index.shtml
• Media credentialing
http://www.gp.org/committees/media/kit.shtml

Green Party International Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/

Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX)
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/

Wheels of Justice Tour: Nonviolent education and
action against war and occupation in Iraq and
Palestine for justice and universal human rights
http://justicewheels.org

"Israeli minister threatens "holocaust" as public
demand ceasefire talks"
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, February
29, 2008
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9354.shtml

Palestinian deaths double since Annapolis
By Mel Frykberg, Middle East Times, January 16,
2008
http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/01/16/palestinian_deaths_double_since_annapolis/9342/


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