Interfaith Call to Stop Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

To:  United States Senate

Dear Senators,

As concerned voters of the inter-faith community in Southern California, we ask for your immediate action to demand an end to the collective punishment for the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip.

Israel closed all crossings into Gaza last week, preventing the delivery of vital humanitarian supplies as well as fuel to the Gaza power station. This had international aid workers warning of a crisis if necessary goods were not delivered in time: a crisis that is now well underway.

"It's the mothers of Gaza who are suffering, not the militants," John Ging, Director of the U.N.'s Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said last week. Ging warned that UNRWA would be forced to stop food distribution to hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents within days if the lockdown continues.

We echo the statement issued recently by the United Nations, which criticized Israel for the developments in Gaza stressing that while the Palestinian rocket attacks on civilians are wrong, Israel's response "cannot be a retaliation."

The United States should wield its influence to compel Israel to agree to an immediate end to its occupation without any preconditions and without holding any more Palestinian lives hostage to a final-status solution yet to be negotiated. Without such action, the integrity of President Bush's recent pledge to reach a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is subject to great international discredit.

Please put an end to the suffering in Gaza.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Interfaith Call to Stop Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Petition to United States Senate was created by Muslim Public Affairs Council and written by Zabie Mansoory (zabie@mpac.org).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.