[fse-esf] letter to candidates for general elections - Italy

[a.mecozzi]

Dear all, here is an open letter to the candidates for elections in Italy,
against gaza siege and for the ceasefire.
alessandra mecozzi

Action for Peace
www.actionforpeace.org

Open letter to the candidates running in General Elections April 13th-14th
2008


FOR THE END OF THE SIEGE OF GAZA

We turn to you, candidates running in General Elections, to invite you to
include in your programs urgent initiatives for the end of the siege of
Gaza, imposed by Israel, after declaring it a “hostile entity”. Its
population has for months endured a heavy collective punishment, in
violation of international laws and of the human rights of every man and
every woman.

We ask you to express yourselves against a policy that heavily penalises an
entire population of one and a half million people, because of the actions
and the choices of a small minority.

We ask you to act towards the European Union. It is among the largest donors
to the Palestinian population, but doesn’t play any political role and
stands deaf even to the two resolution of the European Parliament that have
clearly expressed the need for the end of the siege, declaring the policy
pursued until today a failure.
After 8 months of heavy restrictions in the furnishing of energy,
electricity, water, the entire population of Gaza is at the end of their
strength. The weakest people, children, sick people, old people, are at life
risk because of the deterioration of the medical services. Private industry
is at the brink of collapse. The quality of water keeps worsening and every
day there is less of it. Every day 40 million litres of wastewater are
pumped into the Mediterranean, because of the deterioration of the sewer
system.

We refer to the words of the United Nations representative, John Holmes,
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator, who, after a five day visit to the occupied Palestinian
territories and to Gaza, appealed for the opening of the borders, to allow
the entry of humanitarian aid and the resumption of the import –export of
goods.

We condemn the firing of the qassam rockets towards Israel, by the armed
groups of Hamas, and other extremist forces. The rockets make the population
of Sderot live in fear and they create a growing hostility atmosphere
towards the Palestinians. The firings of the qassam rockets are also a
violation of International law, like the bombings of the Palestinian civil
population and the “targeted” assassination by the Israeli army. But we ask
you to consider what an Israeli pacifist told us: “the children of Sderot
will not be safe if the children of Gaza die of hunger”!

We ask you to undertake to a general “cease fire” and the end of the siege.

Gaza’s population, imprisoned, starving and isolated from the rest of the
world, represents in a clear and extreme way the tragedy of the Palestinian
people, “the n.1 moral question in the world”, as Nelson Mandela declared.
Gaza is the emblem of a people who’s basic and national rights are negated
increasing their desperation and sense of humiliation, not strengthening the
democratic forces but the extremism on both sides. This is the same message
that Palestinians of all occupations launched for an international campaign
for the end of the siege of Gaza, supported by many Israeli organisations.
The end of the siege is a necessary condition for a negotiated solution that
will lead to a just peace and the end of the occupation.

We ask for your commitment and coherence for the respect of international
law and human dignity, for peace: we believe those are priority objectives
for those who stand to govern Italy, and pillars of what any elected
official should do.

Your answers are eagerly awaited: we believe that trough those answers there
will be a renewed trust in the value of representation and therefore in the
vote of many men and women that identify with these principles.


First signatories:
Associazione per la Pace
Arci
Cgil
Donne in Nero
Fiom – CGIL
Pax Christi – campagna ponti non muri
Piattaforma ONG per il medioriente
Rete Ebrei Contro l’Occupazione
Rete Radié Resh Nazionale
Servizio Civile Internazionale
Un Ponte per..
Wilpf - Italia

Cellphone for contacts: +39 335 6513615

Email for signing the appeal: acforpeace a gmail.com