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Dear friends,
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We’re on the brink of a full scale war in Israel and Palestine.
31 Palestinian children have already been killed. Mothers dead. Hundreds injured.
The tensions are escalating. Fast.
It’s all rooted in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and decades of violent oppression of the Palestinian people, which Human Rights Watch just concluded amounts to “crimes against humanity.”
This is where it all began, and this is where it must end.
Possibly the only way to stop this horrific cycle of Israel’s violent displacement of Palestinians from their homes, daily punishment of innocent families, Hamas firing rockets, and Israel bombing Gaza is to make the economic cost of this conflict too high to bear.
It’s what helped end apartheid in South Africa, and it can end apartheid here.
We’ve just hit 2 million signatures. Join our call in one click to sanction Israel for breaking international law and committing crimes against humanity, and let’s make this a turning point:
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Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organisations in the world, and B’tselem, one of the most respected Israeli human rights organisations, both recently concluded that Israel is committing crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile, extremist Israeli settlers march in the streets chanting “Death to Arabs”, and have burned thousands of olive trees that many Palestinians rely on to survive. Once again the bombs are falling on the open-air prison that is Gaza , and Israel is under rocket attack — something has to change to end this vicious downward spiral.
Imposing sanctions is not about demonising Israelis. Extremists and corrupt leaders on both sides benefit from the status quo. But there is no question that the Israeli government, with one of the strongest militaries in the world, is the actor with maximum power on the ground. Israel controls the land, air, water, food, and even the freedom of movement of ALL Palestinians. For 70 years, it has been punishing, evicting and discriminating against millions of Palestinians whose lives it controls.
The Israeli government believes it has a green light to continue committing these crimes, crushing Palestinians with impunity — because it believes governments will not impose sanctions. Let’s prove them wrong by turning this petition into a massive people’s movement that no decision maker can ignore. Add your voice and pass this on, now:
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This is a last resort. Virtually every other tool has been tried, for decades, to stop Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. Targeted sanctions, covering things like Israeli blood diamonds, a boycott on arms sales (Israel sells weapons to some of the world’s most brutal regimes) as well tech and cultural sanctions (like banning Israel from sporting events), may be the first step in bringing freedom to Palestine and peace to the region.
With hope and determination,
Fadi, Marie, Christoph, Mo, Nax, John, Risalat, and the entire Avaaz team
PS: Standing for justice in this way takes courage. We know that some will accuse Avaaz of anti-Semitism, just for making this call. And we know that the Jewish community worldwide has long been horrifically oppressed and still faces anti-Semitism all over the world. Our movement has fought and continues to fight such hatred. Let’s be crystal clear: this is about protecting basic human rights and equality, and upholding international law, to ensure that the international community is not complicit in the decades long systematic oppression by the Israeli government of the Palestinian people. The goal is to achieve freedom and peace for ALL people in the region. And just like our movement has campaigned for and supported the basic rights of the Rohingya, Tibetans, Yemenis, Uyghurs, Colombians, African Americans, the Masai and many others — we are committed to also defending the human dignity of the Palestinians.
We know this is an important and sensitive topic for many, and we’d like to hear from you. Please leave us a message here.
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