Stop the Israeli Genocide in the Gaza Strip!

Statement of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL)

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Employing aviation and helicopter gun ships, the Israeli armed forces launched an attack against the Gaza Strip last December 27. Up to the moment more than 760 killed and 3,200 wounded have been reported as a consequence of it.

In spite of the rejection by the progressive forces all over the world and the appeal of tens of governments and international organizations, the Zionist regime has continued with its criminal attack, now with a ground invasion employing more than 10,000 troops, tanks and armored vehicles which has worsened the humanitarian crisis at the Strip, blocked by Israel for the last 18 months.

The Zionist regime uses as an excuse for this genocide the fact that the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), that has been controlling the Gaza Strip for 18 months now, has continued launching missiles against the south of the Zionist State. But the overwhelming numerical and technological superiority of the Israeli forces and the excessive use of force against wide sectors of the civilian population disqualify any argument of Tel Aviv in that regard and reveal the true reasons for this unjustifiable aggression.

Tens of thousands of people have been compelled to abandon their homes in the midst of the continuous fire of the artillery, the aviation and the land forces that ransack one house after the other in the city of Gaza in search of alleged Palestinian combatants, actions that have caused a substantial increase in the civil casualties.

The hospitals are crowded with wounded and for the last few days they have no power supply, which causes the reserve generators to exhaust. Seventy-five percent of the electricity in the Strip is out of service, because the sole power plant in that territory stopped operating last January 5 for lack of fuel.

Other lines that supply energy from Egypt and Israel have been severely damaged by the Zionist attacks. This has also caused the interruption in the operation of 130 wells that supply water to the population, leaving over one half million persons without the vital liquid.

Around one and a half million Palestinians live in this territory, 45% of which are under 15 years. Sixty percent of these children suffer illnesses caused by malnutrition due to the hardships derived from several years of Israeli aggressions.

Israel continues to refuse to cease fire and negotiate a truce with the interested parties. The UN Security Council has been incapable of denouncing the situation created by Israel due to the positions adopted by the United States and its main allies.

Progressive organizations and governments have joined the condemnation of the criminal actions of the Zionist forces. Through this Bulletin, OSPAAAL wants to modestly contribute to the world rejection to this new criminal action by Israel.

Voices of the World Against the Zionist Agression:

· The Communist Party of Cuba strongly condemned the Israeli military escalade against the territory and population of the Gaza Strip; it demands the immediate stop to this genocide and reiterates its unconditional support to the Palestinian people. “This new crime is a further form of the repeated violation of the principles of the Humanitarian International Law and the Charter of the United Nations”; it adds that it is time for all governments to condemn this massacre and raise their voices in solidarity to demand the immediate stop of the attacks against the Palestinian people.

· The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, accused the world of cowardly remaining silent in the face of what he called Palestinian “Holocaust,” and asked that the Israeli and U.S. leaders be judged by an international court. Venezuela also announced that it had decided to expel the Israeli Ambassador in Caracas.

· The Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL) strongly condemned the massive air raids of the Israeli armed forces against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip that began on December 27 and continue to this day. “OSPAAAL, convinced that only a rapid and effective international response might stop this militaristic escalade of Israel –whose impunity derives from the support it receives from the Government of the United States– calls on all governments, progressive, patriotic and anti-imperialist forces and on all honest persons of the planet, to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people, to demand from the Israeli aggressor the complete suspension of its criminal attacks, the retreat of its military forces, and to lift the siege against the Gaza Strip.”

· The Cuban Movement for Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples called all peace-loving forces “to let our voices of protest be heard, condemning the actions of the Israeli authorities who in collusion and with the approval of the United States and European countries, go forth in new ground attacks destroying all material resources and the lives that stand in their way.”

· The Communist Party of Palestine condemned the Zionist massacre and pointed out that “hundreds of Palestinians have perished due to the air raids that Israel carries out with total contempt for the human beings. It adds that the Zionist state employs all kinds of weapons in this criminal action.”

· The Palestinian Community in Cuba denounced that the main purpose of that fascist aggression, in spite of the subterfuges used, is the liquidation of the Palestinian national cause, with the aim of creating a new reality on the ground in accordance with the policy of imposing the status quo that Israel usually applies to carry out its plans, particularly now when the new U.S. Administration is about to take up office.

· The Communist Party of Chile declared that once more, with the support of the United States Government and violating all international conventions, agreements and treaties concerning war, Israel is bombarding the Palestinian people with impunity, driving this massacre to the degree of genocide and ethnical cleaning.

· The Communist Party of the United States expressed its indignation for the Israeli invasion against the Gaza Strip in an open challenge to world public opinion. It adds that the entry of ground troops in Gaza at a moment when the United Nations and other international bodies are working in favor of a negotiated solution is an arrogant and irresponsible action.

· The International Democratic Women’s Federation expressed “its rejection to the murderous military attack carried out by the Zionist state of Israel with support and backing from the Bush Administration in the Gaza Strip. After more than ten days of air bombardments and now also by land, “this unprecedented war crime leaves hundreds of deceased and thousands of wounded, among them women, children and elderly persons.”

· The Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) condemned “the Zionist murderous invasion to the Palestinian territories” and demanded from the Organization of the United Nations “urgent measures to stop the massacre of the Zionist nazis of Israel against the Palestinian population. We, the peoples, must demand the UNO to put an end to indifference and hypocrisy of the powers from the North and their wealthy allies.”

· The Federation of Argentinean-Palestinian Entities condemned the Israeli aggression and demanded “the rigorous enforcement of all the competent diplomatic and economic measures and sanctions against Israel according to the UNO Charter, the IV Geneva Convention and all the resolutions of the Security Council referred to the Palestinian issue.”

· The publishers of the magazines listed below publicly declared their most firm and vehement repudiation to the extermination operation unleashed by the State of Israel against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Said publications are: CONTRETEMPS – France; CRÍTICA MARXISTA – Brazil; ESTRATÉGIA INTERNACIONAL - Brazil-France; FORUM – Brazil; HERRAMIENTA – Argentina; HISTÓRIA E LUTA DE CLASSES – Brazil; ISKRA – Brazil; LUTAS E RESISTÊNCIAS – Brazil; LUTAS SOCIAIS – Brazil; MARGEM ESQUERDA – Brazil; MAISVALIA – Brazil; NOVOS RUMOS – Brazil; NOVOS TEMAS DE CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS – Brazil; OUTUBRO – Brazil; PRINCÍPIOS – Brazil; REVISTA SEM TERRA- Brazil; RUBRA – Portugal; SHIFT – Portugal; KOEYÚ LATINOAMERICANO – Venezuela.

· Tens of demonstrators protested on January 3 before the United States Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, to reject the barbarian Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people.

· In almost all main cities of Turkey there have been protest demonstrations since last December 28, particularly in the proximity of the Israeli Embassy and Consulates in that country.

· In front of the Israeli Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador, a protest meeting took place on January 6 convoked by the Communities of Faith and Life (COFEVI) and the Salvadorian Movement for Peace with the purpose of “telling the world that we repudiate the crime that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people of Gaza.” Reverend Ricardo Cornejo, Lutheran pastor and leader of COFEVI, asked himself “how is it possible that President Antonio Saca says he has human feelings if he is not capable of defending his own people and pronouncing himself on the issue of the killing that is being perpetrated against it, being, as he is, of Palestinian origin? If he does not defend his own people, how is he going to defend ours?

Let us stop the criminal Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people!

Let us multiply an Intifada of militant solidarity with the Palestinian cause!

Havana, January 9, 2009