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Greens to Bush: Press Israel to Stop the Attacks on Lebanon

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org 

Slaughter of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians is a punishable war crime; use of U.S. weapons for such purposes violates U.S. laws

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called on President Bush to demand that Israel immediately cease its invasion of Lebanon and its rain of destruction on civilian populations and infrastructure in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. 

Greens urged President Bush to press for an immediate ceasefire. The Green Party has repeatedly called for negotiation, a halt to violence by both sides, and adherence to international law as the only means to achieve peace and security for all Israelis, Palestinians, and people in surrounding countries. 

"The current U.S. reaction is a bipartisan disaster, with most Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress expressing unqualified support for Israel," said Rae Vogeler, Wisconsin Green candidate for the U.S. Senate <http://www.voterae.org>. "While President Bush is busy rattling sabers at  Iran and Syria and refusing to demand a ceasefire, hundreds of innocent Lebanese and Palestinian civilians are dying." 

Greens based their demand on the following:

  • Israel's attacks violate Fourth Geneva Convention prohibitions against "collective punishment," i.e., the retaliatory killing of civilians, "targeted" assassinations, and destruction of the infrastructure of an occupied territory. Israel's use of U.S.-made weapons violates U.S. laws against deploying such weapons for use against civilians. 

  • The attacks cannot be justified as a response to the capture of an Israeli soldier who was in Gaza as part of the occupation force. (The current exchange of violence began with Israeli shelling that killed eight Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach.) Israel itself is holding thousands of Palestinian civilians, including over 400 Palestinian children and 120 women, in inhumane conditions and has reportedly subjected some detainees to torture.

  • Israel and the U.S. have refused to recognize Hamas as the legitimate democratically elected government of the Palestinian territories; the current attacks are clearly meant to destroy Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to punish Palestinian civilians for having elected Hamas. 

  • The current escalation of hostilities is a result of Israel's illegal occupation (with U.S. support) of Palestinian lands and daily brutality and killing visited on Palestinians, land grabs and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, cutoff of water and electricity, destruction of homes and businesses, economic strangulation, and conversion of the Palestinian territories into heavily guarded bantustans sealed off with a 'security' wall.

  • The Olmert government's current actions, especially deployment of troops into Lebanon, risk a greater regional conflict that will threaten global peace as other nations become involved in the conflict, and will also hinder efforts to effect U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. Aside from the U.S. and Israel itself, most of the world understands the attacks as illegal Israeli military aggression. 

Greens have repeatedly called for Israel to end the occupation and fully recognize the human rights of Palestinians, in accord with international law and U.N. directives, as necessary first steps for peace in the Middle East. 

In November, 2005, the Green Party endorsed a resolution calling for divestment and a general boycott of Israel until it complies with international law and realizes human rights for Palestinians, including those living within Israel's borders <http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_11_28.shtml>.

Greens have also endorsed the Palestinian Right  of Return, consistent with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 (nonbinding, passed December 11, 1948), which states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date."

==> For Green campaign listings, news, photos, and web sites, visit the Green Party's candidate spotlight page <http://www.gp.org/2006elections> and the Green elections database <http://www.greens.org/elections>, which lists all 2006 candidates. 

The Green Party will hold its 2006 national meeting, titled "El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green," in Tucson, Arizona, from July 27 to 30 <http://www.gp.org/meeting2006>. For media credentialing, visit <http://www.gp.org/forms/media>.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org 
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX)
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/ 

"El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green"
National Meeting of the Green Party of the United
States in Tucson, Arizona, July 27-30, 2006
http://www.gp.org/meeting2006/  
http://www.pimagreens.org/gpusanm/index.html 
Media credentialing page:
http://www.gp.org/forms/media/ 


 

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