End Israel's Assault on Gaza and Lebanon

July 15, 2006

The Canadian Peace Alliance is demanding that the government of Canada call for an immediate end to the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza. This escalating conflict may destabilize the entire region and result in a larger war.

Israel's actions have now killed eight Canadians and hundreds more Lebanese and Palestinians. Stephen Harper's refusal to condemn these attacks is shameful. We are calling on peace loving groups and individuals to protest against these attacks and the Harper government's inaction.

The Israeli assault on Lebanon is targeting civilians and vital infrastructure resulting in a humanitarian disaster. Each day we hear of more attacks on civilian neighborhoods in Beirut with dozens of innocent people killed.

The situation in Gaza is even worse with infrastructure in a shambles and more violence each day. Recent reports from the Director of Public Relations at Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital, Dr. Juma Al Sakka, and the Palestinian Ministry of Health have confirmed that Israel is using chemical weapons against the Palestinian people in Gaza. According to Dr. Al Sakka, "These Israeli bombings are entering the body and fragmenting, causing internal combustion leading to up to fourth degree internal burns, exposing the bone, and affecting the tissue and skin." The international community must condemn this brutality.

The United States is using this escalating conflict to further demonize Iran and Syria. Just as the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are part of a broader campaign, led by the United States government and transnational oil corporations, to assert control over the Middle East and Central Asia, the current conflict in Palestine and Lebanon is being used by the US to justify military aggression against other sovereign states in the area. George Bush was unable to sell yet another bill of goods about weapons of mass destruction in Iran to the global population so he is now using Iranian support for Hezbollah as the smoking gun he needs to justify intervention against Iran.

Canada has thus far been shameful in its support for the aggressive Israeli and US position. By voting against key UN humanitarian resolutions and cutting off funding to the Palestinian Authority after the Hamas victory, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper is showing that it is the willing tool of US ambitions from Afghanistan to Palestine. We in Canada must demand in the name of humanitarianism and Canada's historic diplomatic role that our government reverse its shameful support for US and Israeli aggression.

No to US and Canadian intervention in the Middle East. End Israel's Assault on Gaza and Lebanon

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