By John Chuckman

Current Issues TV interviewd Sameh Habeeb live from Gaza

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ7BMb20i5E   Hesham Tillawi interviews Sameh Habeeb live from Gaza on Current Issues TV ( 10 Minutes)

 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5472585938932394581  Full Hour with Sameh Habeeb from Gaza

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The US Senate unanimously passed an extremely unbalanced resolution on the War in Gaza. The resolution can be seen here: http://aipac.org/Publications/SourceMaterialsCongressionalAction/SenateRes.pdf

CALL YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES NOW and let them know you oppose any legislation which places blame on only one side, fails to recognize the plight of the Palestinian civilians suffering under Israel siege for years before the war, and does not hold Israel accountable for any violations of International and American Law and the Laws of War.

Instructions on how to contact your Representatives are below.

You can find contact information for your representatives by clicking here. You can also find talking ADC's talking points on the issue here. 

Continue to visit ADC's GAZA CRISIS RESOURCE CENTER for ways to take action, donate, and keep up to date about recent developments in the Gaza Strip.   

How to contact your Senators in 7 steps.

1. Go to http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/officials/ , if you have trouble locating contact information call ADC at 202-244-2990.

2. In the middle of the page there is a space to enter your zip code­, enter it and press GO

3. You will get information about President; your two senators; and your District Representative. Decide if you will call one or all three of them - (We suggest to call/write all of them)  

4. Click on the name of the person you want to call. This will take you to the Congressperson's home page. Once there click on     the tab above their picture that reads "Contact".  You will get contact information for their District office as well as their DC-based office. Call the DC- number since Congress is back in session this week.

5. Call the number, a legislative correspondent (LC) will pick up the phone: Immediately say you are from the Congressperson's district and mention your zip code 

6. Ask to speak to the FOREIGN POLICY LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT.  The LC will most likely respond that he or she is not available and you can leave a message, at that point make sure to speak your piece concisely and clearly in 1-2 minutes maximum (they don't have time and you want them to write down what you say and free up the line for others to call)           

Suggested Script & Talking Points:         

I am a constituent in the Congressperson's district and I want to express my indignation at the massacre of civilians   in Gaza. This is not a war against terror, it's a war against civilians as Israel has killed over 760 Dead including 219 Children and 89 Women, and Over 3,085 Injured, including 46% Women andChildren, and continues to target schools, homes, and places of worship. We provide Israel with 3.2  billion tax dollars every year and I don't want my money used like that. I want my Congressperson to:  A. Call for an immediate cease fire   B. Coordinate a humanitarian shipment to Gaza; and   C. Hold Israel accountable for misuse of U.S. supplied weapons pursuant to US law like the Arms Export Control Act andthe 1952 US Israel Treaty regarding arms sales.

Urgent Action: Contact Congress Right Now on Pro-Israel Resolutions

CAIR today called on all Americans concerned about peace with justice in the Middle East to urge congressional leaders to ensure that resolutions on the current crisis in Gaza are balanced and help promote a just and durable peace for all parties to the conflict.

A resolution passed in the U.S. Senate today failed the test of balance and peace-building. The House is expected to take up a similarly unbalanced pro-Israel resolution tomorrow.

SEE: U.S. Senate Supports Israel's Gaza Incursion (Reuters)
SEE ALSO: Dems Plan Pro-Israel Resolution

President-elect Barack Obama recently said that he is "committed" to being "engaged effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflict in the Middle East."

CAIR believes Congress should support the incoming administration by mirroring President-elect Obama's statement, "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern for me."

"Our elected representatives should focus on American interests first, not on offering uncritical support to a foreign power engaged in the illegal and immoral use of military force and collective punishment of a civilian population," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "The widespread perception that American officials support Israeli brutality compromises our nation's ability to act as a mediator and peace-builder. Peace in this region is a national security issue."

URGENT ACTION REQUESTED:

1. Call your U.S. Representative and urge her or him to ensure that any resolutions or statements coming from Congress are balanced and promote peace with justice. This will ensure that the international community does not perceive that the U.S. government is divided on the goal of bringing a just and durable peace. (Find suggested talking points below.)

Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your representative's office.

2. Call the House Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and urge them to ensure that any resolutions or statements coming from Congress are balanced and promote peace with justice. This will ensure that the international community does not perceive that the U.S. government is divided on the goal of bringing a just and durable peace. (Find suggested talking points below.)

(If you are not a constituent be sure to mention that you are calling them in their leadership roles. If you reach an answering machine, feel free to leave a message.)

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Speaker of the House
Phone: (202) 225-0100
Webform: http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)
Phone: 202-225-4695
Webform: http://www.house.gov/berman/contact/
Berman is chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Call the committee at: 202-225-5021

Sample talking points:

• I urge you to ensure that any congressional resolutions or statements relating to the Middle East conflict are balanced and promote peace with justice in the region.
• Balanced statements will ensure that the international community does not perceive that the U.S. government is divided on the goal of bringing a just and durable peace.
• As you may know, Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians block efforts to bring peace with justice to the Middle East, harm our nation’s image and interests worldwide and strengthen voices of extremism in the region.
• The Palestinian people must be given some hope of freedom from Israeli occupation and domination and Israel’s immoral and illegal collective punishment of the Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip must end.
• I also believe American taxpayer dollars should not be used to for weapons that kill civilians.

3. Sign CAIR's Online Petition urging our nation's leaders to speak "in favor of peace and justice for all parties in the current humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip." When completed, the petition will be sent to elected officials nationwide and will be given to members of the current and incoming administrations. Go to: http://petition.cair.com/

4. Pray for all those who are suffering and oppressed.

Israel Outraged as Vatican Calls Gaza a 'Big Concentration Camp' 

      Echoing Pope Benedict XVI's repeated calls to end the ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, Vatican Justice and Peace Minister Cardinal Renato Martino urged both the Israeli government and Hamas to show more willingness toward peace talks and for the world to help them come an agreement that would end the ongoing Israeli invasion. 

      He also expressed concerns about the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, saying "let's look at the conditions in Gaza: these increasingly resemble a big concentration camp." 

 Compiled by Jason Ditz

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Muslim Action Alert

Cotabato City- The Philippines

The KAWAGIB MORO HUMAN RIGHTS joins the international community in condemning the atrocious military aggression of Israel in Gaza and urges world leaders to support measure to protect and advance the basic rights of the Palestinian people.   

The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip calls for an immediate and comprehensive intervention.  The entire Gaza populations are being punished for the actions of a few militants. Israel ’s military incursion has targeted Hamas but a vast majority of the victims are innocent civilians. The deadly air strikes were aimed at civilian areas. At least one aerial assault hit a U.N. school.

Israel ’s sustained and escalating military assault in Gaza has already claimed the lives of close to 700 Palestinians – about a third of whom are women and children – and injured thousands of others.

Despite mounting international pressure, Israel , with the backing of the United States (U.S.), has kept on with its military operation, which is nothing but a large-scale massacre of innocent civilians. The U.S.’ used of its veto power to oppose a draft ceasefire resolution by the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council is a clear manifestation of its support to Israel’s aggression.

We are very dismayed by the apparent impunity with which Israel with its complicit state, the U.S. , persist in their systematic oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel , with the backing of the U.S. , has been committing immense crimes against humanity despite strong condemnation of international watchdogs.

The Bangsamoro people are, to some extent, beset with similar aggression and feel for the Palestinians in their quest for the right to self-determination. The Philippine government has consistently suppressed the rights and aspirations of the Bangsamoro people and brazenly violated international humanitarian law with its all-out war policy. It has been quick to resort to military option to contain peace and security issues and puts little consideration to the number of civilian lives lost and affected in its military campaigns.

We condemn in the strongest terms Israel ’s military aggression in Gaza ; its shameless and flagrant defiance of international humanitarian law and its arrogant and appalling disregard of the unified call of the international community.

We deplore U.S. support in the armed aggression and its imperial pursuits in the Philippines and in the rest of the world.

We support the adoption of concrete measure to end the aggression and the sufferings of the Palestinian people and call an end to Israel ’s military and humanitarian siege of Gaza .

 FOR REFERENCE:

BAI ALI INDAYLA

(064)421-5680. Contact # 0921.906.4699

STOP THE WAR COALITION 

Email office@stopwar.org.uk  
T: 020 7278 6694  
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
 
SPEAKERS, MARCH ROUTE FOR GAZA DEMONSTRATION
 
1) BE AN INSTANT NEWS MAKER
 
If you are a marcher at the demonstration on Saturday 10  
January who has a mobile phone with internet access, you can  
be an instant news maker. Stop the War, CND and the  
Palestine Solidarity Campaign are making accessible to     
everyone a website they have created for the media to upload  
its latest pictures and statements during and after the  
demonstration. This means anyone will be able to upload  
their pictures, comments etc instantly. The service is free  
of charge. The site will go live at noon tomorrow and will  
remain available until Monday 12th January. The site can be  
found at  www.gazaprotest.org
 
2) MARCH ROUTE
 
The march route is now confirmed as Speakers Corner at Hyde  
Park, Bayswater, Notting Hill Gate, left into Kensington  
Church Street, left into  
Kensington High Street, past the Israeli Embassy.
 
3) SPEAKERS AT THE DEMONSTRATION RALLIES
 
NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 10 JANUARY  
STOP THE MASSACRE : ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA   
ASSEMBLE 12.30PM SPEAKERS CORNER,HYDE PARK  
(Nearest tube Marble Arch) Rally & speakers in Hyde park  
MARCH TO ISRAELI EMBASSY High St Kensington, London W8
 
Please note there are two rallies, one at Speakers Corner  
before the march starts, the other at the Israeli Embassy  
where the march ends. The speakers at each rally are as  
follows:
 
SPEAKERS CORNER RALLY  

Lord Ahmed,  
Jean Lambert MEP  
Richard Howitt MEP  
Hugh Lanning, PCS  
Christine Brewer, NUT  
Reverend & the Makers  
Juliet Stevenson  
Bianca Jagger    
Michael Rosen    
Gail Curtmail, UNITE  
Brian Eno  
Spkrs from Islamic Human Rights Commission  
Sally Hunt, UCU  
Betty Hunter, PSC  
Michael Cushman (Jews for Justice for Palestinians)  
Venezuela Ambassador  
Keith Sonnet or Alison Shepherd, UNISON  
Ismail Patel  
Rev Garth Hewitt, Cannon at St George's Cathedral, Jerusalem
 
SPEAKERS: ISRAELI EMBASSY RALLY  

Bruce Kent, CND  
Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition   
Ken Livingstone  
Jeremy Corbyn MP  
George Galloway MP  
Sabah Jawad, Iraqi Democrats and STWC    
Billy Hayes, CWU  
Lauren Booth  
Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian General delegate  
Azzam Tamimi  
Spkr from Muslim Council of Britain  
Osama Qashoo, Free Gaza Campaign  
Seumas Milne  
Martin Linton MP  
Spkr from Dawatul Islam  
Spkr from British Muslim Federation

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