Take action for the people of Gaza and Sderot
Take action for the people of Gaza and the residents of the Israeli town, Sderot; help create the right conditions for peace.
A year-long social and economic blockade has devastated Gaza’s economy and destroyed most people’s livelihoods.
More than a third of Gaza’s population are now out of work and over 80 percent are dependent on food aid. Most Gazans are living in serious poverty.
The blockade was intended to punish Hamas for seizing power in Gaza in June 2007 and to stop militants firing rockets into Israel.
However, the policy of isolating Gaza has not succeeded. Recent negotiations have been more successful and on 19th July a ceasefire brokered by Egypt has brought a measure of calm to both sides of the conflict: the beleaguered residents of the Israeli town Sderot who suffered repeated rocket attacks and ordinary people in Gaza who have been subjected to repeated Israeli incursions.
YOUR LETTER:
Dear Mr Miliband,
Despite a recently brokered ceasefire between Gaza’s Hamas-led government and Israel, a year long economic blockade imposed on Gaza continues to wreck havoc on the lives of ordinary people.
More than a third of Gaza’s population are now out of work and over 80 per cent are dependent on food aid. Most Gazans are living in serious poverty.
Humanitarian access to Gaza is still an issue. Materials essential for the maintenance of the public health and water infrastructure are not allowed in to Gaza. Commercial goods are not allowed in. School notebooks, furniture and even children’s shoes are not allowed in. There is also no routine movement and access of people allowed. This situation has to be brought to a close and reversed.
Most of Gaza’s population are now traumatised, out of work, destitute and dependent on outside aid.
One of CARE International’s staff members, who works in the West Bank and Gaza said: “The living conditions in Gaza are shocking and difficult to describe. Ordinary people like you and me can no longer afford enough food for their families. When I visit the homes of people we help – I’m taken into kitchens and shown empty cupboards as people try to explain why they can’t offer me a cup of tea – a pre-requisite of Palestinian hospitality. Children are barefoot and desperately thin. Many tell me they are hungry all the time.”
The blockade of Gaza is not helping to build partners for peace. I call on you to push for immediate access and movement to be assured.
Britain and the international community as a whole needs to support the ceasefire and to ensure negotiations continue and deepen.
I call on you to help the Palestinian political leadership including Hamas and Fatah to rebuild a government of national unity that can be a partner for peace and justice.
Use the influence of the UK government to support dialogue between the factions and at the same time underpin that process by ending Gaza’s isolation and ensuring that aid to the Palestinian Authority is to the benefit of all of ordinary people in Gaza.
However, despite the ceasefire - the blockade on Gaza remains and the situation for ordinary people is getting worse and worse.
Sign our petition and ask Foreign Secretary David Miliband for the blockade to be lifted immediately; for the ceasefire to be supported and for dialogue and negotiation between all parties to continue.
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