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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Activism Home page  back Print  Send To friend Appeal from the Palestinian Medical Relief Society: PMRS 16 July 2014 Dear partners and friends, On Tuesday 7 July 2014, under the false pretense of self-defense, Israel launched yet a new deadly massive attack on Gaza. At the time of writing this message to you (16 July), at least 208 people have been killed, including at least 38 children and 28 women, and over 1,400 people have been injured. Hundreds of homes have been either completely destroyed or severely damaged, putting over 8,200 people – 1,370 families – in the streets. A further 67,000 people have suffered some level of damage to their houses. Since the start of the attacks, 79 schools have been indirectly hit by Israeli fire. 18,000 people have fled their homes in fear of Israeli strikes and ground operations in the north. The humanitarian situation in the Strip is dire. Shortages of medications, of medical supplies, of fuel to power generators and ambulances, lack of spare parts for medical equipment and emergency vehicles, overcrowded ICUs… The list goes on. 600,000 are at risk of losing access to water supply due to the Gaza water utility stopping its operation after several of its workers got injured by Israeli projectiles on the job. Moreover, hundreds of people who are in need of food and basic products assistance cannot be reached by humanitarian aid because of the continuous shelling and destruction. The mental trauma for a population already suffering from sky-rocketing rates of PTSD and other stress- and trauma-related disorders is enormous. An estimated 25,000 children have been directly impacted by the killing or injuring of a relative or the destruction of their homes and are in urgent need of psychosocial support. Tens of thousands more suffer from trauma and all need urgent psychosocial assistance. Meanwhile, settler attacks and Israeli army and police violence against Palestinian civilians continue in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with near impunity, as a young man was killed by Israeli army in Hebron yesterday morning and dozens were arrested in the West Bank over the past few days. Yet some Western leaders and mainstream media are coming up with disingenuous statements parroting Israeli disinformation and blaming the victims. It is time to finally debunk once and for all the Israeli narrative and expose it for what it is: propaganda in its most dishonest form. No, Palestinians are not the aggressors. No, there is no right to self-defense in the context of a violent and brutal occupation. There is no such thing as restraint, there are no “surgical strikes” on a territory with a population density of 4,822 persons per square kilometer. The war Israel is waging on Gaza right now is not about self-defense, it is not even about destroying Hamas. It is a war about complete control over a territory and a people and it is being conducted with complete disregard for human life. It is a war aimed at destroying the resilience of an entire people – and if we don’t act immediately, if we don’t change the current narrative and reestablish the truth, it might very well succeed this time. We need you. We need not only your continuous invaluable material and moral support for which we are ever so grateful; we also need you to take a further stand with us. We call on you all who are able to do so to come at once to Palestine to be our witnesses and our voices to the outside world. Bring with you your cameras, your press contacts, your local and national celebrities. The UN Security Council, paralyzed by the US, will not send an observer mission? Let you be our peacekeeping observers. Let’s flood Israel’s border posts with international citizens standing up for justice and show the world what is really going on in Palestine. Together, we can force mainstream media to talk about the real issues and reach all people of conscience in Europe and in the United States. Let’s do it for our children. Sincerely, The Palestinian Medical Relief Society pmrs@pmrs.ps bahiaamra@gmail.com Links to the latest articles in this section Israelis support Russian opposition to the Ukraine War All to Burin this Friday! Stand with the Palestinians against settler violence! The burial of ashes - an emotionally loaded day