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Dear Friend, On May 15, 1948, the State of Israel was officially established. This month, many Israelis are celebrating the 61st anniversary of that event. Palestinians observe May 15 as Nakba Day.
To mark this important anniversary, I hope youll watch our recently produced two-minute video dealing with the effects of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank since 1967 and the continuing Palestinian dispossession there. View it at: www.afsc.org/mideast After youve seen it, please take the time to tell your friends about it. We believe that addressing what is happening today in the occupied territories as well as acknowledging and understanding what happened in 1948 are key to building a lasting and just peace in Israel and Palestine. We hope that our new video will illuminate some of the realities of occupation in the West Bank. We also hope that the resources and reflections collected on our Remembering 1948 web page will deepen your understanding of the events and issues of 1948. With a new administration in Washington and a fresh diplomatic approach in the Middle East, its an important time We ask you to:
Thank you for your help. By working together, we can help bring about a just and lasting peaceful solution in the Middle East that will indeed be cause for celebration. Peace, |
Nakba is the Arabic word for catastrophe, which refers to the Palestinian peoples displacement and dispossession that began during the creation of Israel and continues to this day.
Background on the Conflict in Sri Lanka
http://www.amnestyusa.org/sri-lanka/background-on-the-sri-lanka-conflict
A woman burnt in a blast in the conflict zone on May 6, 2009 near the northern Sri Lankan town of Cheddikulam. AFP
In the past few days, more than 400 people including more than 100 children are reported to have been killed in a two-day bombardment of the
2 square-kilometer area designated as a "Safe Zone" by the Sri Lankan army. This brings the total estimated casualty figure to more than 7,000 civilians killed and 13,000 injured since January 2009. There are an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in the area, which is the last stronghold of the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Despite LTTE attempts to keep civilians in their territory, the UN has reported that over 188,000 civilians have fled the area and are now in need of humanitarian assistance. Those still in the conflict area lack adequate food, clean water, shelter and medical care.
Sri Lanka has been wracked for decades by a civil war between the government and separatist groups seeking an independent state for the Tamil minority in the north and east of the island. The conflict has left over 80,000 dead and displaced possibly a million civilians. Since independence in 1948, successive governments dominated by the island's Sinhalese majority took steps to redress a perceived imbalance in favor of the Tamil minority, who became increasingly marginalized. Low-level insurgency escalated in 1983 into full-scale civil war. After fighting among Tamil militant groups, the LTTE emerged as the dominant separatist group. Decades of fighting produced no conclusive result, with neither side being strong enough to defeat the other and with attempts at peace talks repeatedly failing. The most recent ceasefire agreement fell apart in 2006.
The escalation of the conflict since 2006 has been marked by widespread human rights abuses and war crimes by both sides, including deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians, hundreds of enforced disappearances, unlawful killings of aid workers, arbitrary arrests, torture and the use of child soldiers.
Recently, the Sri Lankan forces have succeeded in retaking most of the territory formerly held by the LTTE, forcing them into a small pocket of land in the north. Within this pocket is the government-designated "Safe Zone," where civilians were supposed to be safe from attack as the government continues its offensive against the LTTE. The "Safe Zone," however, has proved to be anything but "Safe" and has seen repeated shelling and aerial bombardments. Satellite imagery obtained by Amnesty International provides further evidence about attacks on civilian sites.
On May 13th President Obama made a statement condemning the bloodshed in Sri Lanka. In the last few days, more than 400 people including more than 100 children are reported to have been killed in a two-day bombardment of the 2 square kilometer area designated as a Safe Zone by the Sri Lankan army. This brings the total estimated casualty figure to more than 7,000 civilians killed and 13,000 injured since January. There are an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in the area. There are real fears that the bloodbath as the UN has called it will turn into a flood of misery after May 13 when general elections end in neighboring India. Call on President Obama to follow up his statement with actions to protect civilians in Sri Lanka
http://www.thepeoplespeak.com/
Legendary historian Howard Zinn joins us to talk about war, torture and the teaching of history. Zinn says Obama had Obama heeded the lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he wouldnt be escalating US attacks abroad and increasing the size of the US military budget. We also play excerpts of the forthcoming documentary
US air strikes killed over a hundred Afghan civilians, President Obama’s
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