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Isha L'Isha's letter to Israeli government
Please forward to all you know:
To: Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud
Olmert January 1st, 2009
Foreign Affairs Minister, Ms. Tzipi Livni
Defense
Minister, Mr. Ehud Barak
We, women of Isha L’Isha , are following
with grave concern the violent events in our area and the deadly, irresponsible
attacks of the Government of Israel on the residents of Gaza, which leads
hundreds of thousands of residents in Israel to a situation of war and economic
paralysis.
The attacks of the air-force are perpetrated against
high-density population, including our sisters, the women and daughters of Gaza,
who are imprisoned, without any option to flee, due to the siege that Israel is
imposing. These attacks are taking place after many long months of blockade
which has eaten up to the core all infrastructure the Gaza residents need in
order to find shelter, protect their children and the civilian populations ,
supply medicines and food to the injured, etc.
We strongly oppose the
view that these attacks are defending us in any way, and view them as deepening
of the bloodshed and war and as a threat to the hope for peace and quite in our
area.
We view the Government of Israel as the primary responsible party
for this violence, as the strong side, and the Hammas as a secondary responsible
party, as the less strong side in this war.
We share the restlessness
widespread among many people in Israeli society regarding this warring policy
and share their realization that the use of disproportionate force does not lead
to security but to insecurity, as indeed happened in the attacks in Jenin and in
Lebanon. Deepening of violence acts to undermine the very basis of democracy as
it throws society to the management of military persons. It acts to deepen
societal gaps as economic life in the periphery is brought to a halt. Moreover,
it causes devastating damage to the freedom struggle of women in Gaza, in Israel
and everywhere violence claims governance.
Additionally, we oppose every
attempt to undermine the legitimacy of Jews and Arabs to contest this war
operation. understanding that our fate is a shared one, and that we can only hope
for a future if we base our present on collaboration. We strongly resist all
attempts to separate between Arabs and Jews in Israeli society.
In our
name, and in the name of the next generations for which we are responsible as
part of our responsibility as citizens, we call upon the Government of Israel to
bring about the end of the cruel siege on Gaza, to stop immediately its attacks,
to free the residents of the south from their role as hostages in the hands of
politics without future, and to fulfill the role for which it was elected – to
bring about prosperity and economic security, peace and security, today and for
generations to come, for all women and men in Israeli society, while creating
true alliances with all the residents of the area.
Women of Isha
L’Isha