September 26, 2007

Israel Escalates Collective Punishment of Gaza Strip
Statement from The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
(CAIA)


The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) views with
alarm the recent serious escalation of Israeli actions
against the Palestinian people. On 19 September 2007, the
Israeli security cabinet unanimously voted to declare the
Gaza Strip an "enemy entity" and gave themselves the
authority to impose several 'measures' against the
Palestinian population living in Gaza. These so called
'measures' include severing the electricity and fuel
supplies, and, as a result, the Israeli military "began
formulating plans to limit services to the civilian
population in Gaza" (Haaretz, Sept. 20).

The claim by the Israeli government that these 'measures'
are "in accordance with international law" (Yedioth
Ahronoth, Sept. 19) is merely an attempt to hide an
unprecedented threat against the Palestinian population.
The Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, has noted
that cutting back electricity and fuel "will drastically
reduce the functioning capacity of hospitals and health
clinics.water pumping system, and will cripple its sewage
system and water supply". Furthermore, this decision comes
after years of Israeli siege where much of the population
has been reduced to living on subsistence levels. These
measures will place an entire population under threat of
disease and hunger.

CAIA was not surprised by US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice's comment that she supported the Israeli
decision or that the European Union "hopes" that Israel
will not "find it necessary" to apply these 'measures'.
Let us be clear: threatening to cut electricity and fuel
supplies to over one million people is simply a call for
mass collective punishment on an unprecedented scale. The
fact that the US and EU choose to condone this decision,
once again puts these governments on the side of one of
the most horrendous human rights disasters deliberately
inflicted on a population in recent times.

This latest decision is further confirmation of the
apartheid nature of the Israeli state. Millions of
Palestinians have been herded into isolated Bantustans
over which Israel retains complete authority. Israel
completely controls movement to and from Gaza through
land, air and sea; as it controls population movement
inside the West Bank where the Apartheid Wall, checkpoints
and a pass-card system control Palestinian daily life.
Israel regulates the entry of all food, electricity,
water, telecommunications, and financial transactions into
isolated and separated patches of land throughout Gaza and
the West Bank. Under these circumstances, so-called
Israeli withdrawal does not mean the end of occupation.
Palestinians remain an occupied people, and any talk of a
Palestinian 'state' is simply designed to obfuscate the
reality of apartheid.

The Israeli state was built on the forced eviction in
1947-48 of three-quarters of the indigenous Palestinian
population. Millions of Palestinian refugees remain
scattered throughout camps in the Middle East region
waiting to fulfill their right to return home. This
program of expulsion did not end in 1948, and many fear
that these latest measures could be an ominous prelude to
Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population in
the Gaza Strip.

Israeli apartheid is a fact that the world is beginning to
recognize. It was the efforts of the black South African
population - supported by the solidarity efforts of
millions around the world - that brought an end to legal
apartheid in that country. The South African experience
reminds us that Western governments, prominent
businesspeople, and their institutions supported the
apartheid regime until they were forced to withdraw their
support under the pressure of grassroots actions of
ordinary people. Now is the time to join this global
movement to isolate the Israeli apartheid regime and bring
justice to the Palestinian people.

CAIA can be reached on: http://www.caiaweb.org share your
comments with us: endapartheid@riseup.net



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