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- Faith & Socialism Commissions statement on the latest act of aggression by the state of Israel From Landon Frim, Chair of the Faith & Socialism Commission for the Commission June 3, 2010  We condemn this latest act of aggression by the state of
Israel.
This humanitarian flotilla was a response to the deteriorating
conditions of Gaza and its civilian residents as they have been under a
military blockade which is now spanning three years - depriving
Palestinians of food, water, medical supplies, and essential building
materials.We call for an immediate end to the 43 year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, during which Israel has repeatedly and blatantly violated the laws of the Geneva Convention by committing numerous acts of lethal and non-lethal ethnic cleansing; hoarding of resources and colonization of occupied land with distinction to both ethnicity and religion; not only failed to protect noncombatants but actively sought to harm them through collective punishment measures (which are defined as war crimes); and detained and publicly humiliated hostages. These violations are internationally recognized war crimes which should be tried at the International Court of Justice. We invoke the religious precepts, common to all of the world's faiths, of compassion and solidarity with the weak and the oppressed. The primary lesson of these traditions is the ultimate unity of humanity, and it is a perverse irony that, in the name of religion, people are divided and blood is shed. We demand an immediate end to the blockade and a cessation of military aggression against civilians. However, we recognize that petitions for greater decorum on the part of Israel are not sufficient. Israel's status as a Zionist state, promoting the welfare and interests of one particular internal group (the Jewish people) over all others, determines its aggressive and divisive nature. While every capitalist state is an apparatus for the oppression of one class by another; a religious state imposes a second layer of division and marginalization. As such, we call for the creation of a single, democratic, socialist and secular state in all of the land collectively recognized as the state of Israel and occupied territories which respects the rights and welfare of all of its populace equally. Finally, as Americans and, in accordance with the position of the SPUSA, we call for an immediate end to all economic and military aid on the part of the United States government to Israel. The Faith & Socialism website/blog can be found at: http://www.faithandsocialism.org/ - |
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Socialist
Party
USA
339
Lafayette
St.
#303
New
York,
NY
10012 |