Take Action: Tell President Obama Your Views on Gaza

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, January 21, 2009

Congratulations to President Barack Obama on his inauguration as the 44th President of the United States! On Monday, we published in Congressional Quarterly our full-page ad to President Obama, “We Need a Change in Israel/Palestine Policy,” and yesterday we signed on to a full-page ad to President Obama in the New York Times, organized by our friends at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, about Israel’s war on the occupied Gaza Strip.

Now it’s your turn to communicate to President Obama your views on U.S.policy toward Palestine/Israel and the current situation in the occupied Gaza Strip. We’re joining with our friends at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to urge people to contact President Obama from his first full day in office and onwards. Tell President Obama that the stirring words of his Inaugural Address—“all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness”—should apply to our country’s policy toward the Palestinian people.

TAKE ACTION

1. Contact President Obama at 202-456-1111 or send him an email by clicking here. Tell President Obama that Israel must pay reparations for killing more than 1,300 Palestinians and injuring more than 5,000 during its three week war on the occupied Gaza Strip. Israel also must be held accountable for destroying an estimated 4,000 buildings and should pay for the estimated $2 billion in damages.

Tell President Obama that Israel must comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1860, which calls for “unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment,” and that Israel must end its blockade of the Gaza Strip, an illegal form of collective punishment of the 1.5 million Palestinian residents who live there. 

Tell President Obama that Israel must be held accountable for its misuse of U.S. weapons to kill and injure Palestinian civilians and to target Palestinian civilian infrastructure. Rep. Dennis Kucinich already has requested the State Department to investigate Israel’s violations of the Arms Export Control Act.Ask President Obama to make sure this investigation is complete and accurate and that Israel is sanctioned by ending U.S. military aid as a consequence of its violations of this law.

2. Sign our open letter to President Obama, “We Need a Change in Israel/Palestine Policy.” More than 400 organizations and thousands of individuals have endorsed this letter. Although we’ve already published this ad, we are holding it open for additional signatures at least through the end of January. Add your signature today by clicking here. 

3. Organize in your community to tell President Obama, “Yes We Can…End Military Aid to Israel.” Israel’s war and siege on the occupied Gaza Strip would not have been possible without the military and diplomatic support of the United States. We need to have sustained, long-term organizing to end military aid to Israel to prevent future massacres from taking place. Sign up today as a volunteer organizer and we’ll send you an organizing packet with postcards, petitions, and fact sheets. To receive your organizing packet, click here. 

More info. here: http://endtheoccupation.org