posted 05-15-2004 11:07 PM            

From: GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - www.gush-shalom.org/

Gush Shalom calls for worldwide campaign

International release

Prime Minister Sharon and Defence Minister Mofaz last night authorized the army to demolish hundreds of Palestinian houses at Rafah, on the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, so as to create a "sterile" zone hundreds of metres wide. This was reported on Kol Yirael radio by correspondent Shmuel Tal.

The recent killing of five Israeli soldiers nearby is the pretetxt, but in fact it is the implement ation of plans which the army formulated already in 2001, under then Southern Command General Yom Tov Samiya, and which were carried out piecemeal over the past three years. (American peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed when trying to block bulldozers carrying out such demolitions).

While a mass protest rally is being prepared for tomorrow evening in Tel-Aviv, Gush Shalom calls up on supporters of peace and justice worldwide to mobilize their governments and civic organizations to act immediately and come out against this war crime while it is not yet fully perpetuated - the premeditated massive destruction of homes, making hundreds of families homeless - most of them refugee families already uprooted once. Now is the last minute to act against the Sharon government's Grand Design (to create an Israeli-controlled buffer zone - "Philadelphi Route" so as to permanently cut off the Gaza Strip from all access to the outside world - in effect turning Gaza into a huge prison camp).

To remain updated look from time to time into:
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/427462.html

LETTER OF PROTEST SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Sir,

I call upon you to immediately stop the demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes going on at this moment at Rafah in the Gaza Strip.The authorization for the IDF to destroy hundreds of houses is an authorization by the government of Israel to commit a war crime. For this premeditated crime nobody in the hierarchy will be able to shrug off responsibility.The killing of Israeli soldiers in this vicinity offers no justification for such an act, nor can it stop further bloodshed. Peace and quiet can only beachieved by withdrwal of the occupation forces, when the the Gaza Strip like the other parts of the occupied territories become part of an independedent Palestinian state, which like all sovereign states must have free access to the outsdie world.

Yours,

Israeli Embassies: http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/israel1.htm

Prime Minster Ariel Sharon - email ; fax +972 2
6705475

Defence Minster Saul Mofaz - email ; fax +972-3-6916940

Foreign Minster Silvan Shalom - email ; fax +972-3-
6916940

President George W. Bush
Fax: +1-202-456-2461

Secretary of State Colin Powell
Fax: +1-202-261-8577

Spokesperson of the Prime Minister

Spokesperson Defense Ministry

Spokesperson Foreign Ministry

UN Special Coordinator

State Departement

European Union

and with a blind copy to:
Gush Shalom

The combined email addresses:

to:
pm_eng@pmo.gov.il, sar@mod.gov.il, sar@mofa.gov.il

cc to:
president@whitehouse.gov, secretaryofstate@USA.gov, dover@pmo.gov.il,
info@mail.idf.il, dover@mfa.gov.il, unsco@palnet.com,
secretary@state.gov, mailto@delwbg.cec.eu.int,

+ bcc to:
info@gush-shalom.org ]

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