Take Action: Gaza Besieged, Israel Unaccountable Two Years after "Cast Lead" ~ Window Into Palestine

December 27, 2010

Take Action: Two Years after "Cast Lead," Obama Administration must hold Israel accountable

Israel bombs Gaza during Operation "Cast Lead"

Two years ago today Israel launched a horrific attack, codenamed "Operation Cast Lead," against the 1.5 million besieged people of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

In an all-out, 22-day assault that shocked the conscience of millions around the globe, Israel killed approximately 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians [1].

Although a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely held since then, Israel continues to collectively punish Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip through an illegal siege.

Its leaders have not been held to account for what the Goldstone Report [2] documented to be violations of human rights and international law, war crimes, and possible crimes against humanity.

Join the US Campaign's call upon the Obama Administration to:
1. Demand that Israel end its illegal siege of the Gaza Strip, and
2. Stop blocking the international community from holding Israel accountable for its actions.

Danny , help us reach our goal of 22,000 signatures in the next 22 days.

Three weeks ago, on Human Rights Day, the State Department told us that there is a "single universal standard that applies to every country, including our own. We apply it to Israelis," and that it views "Palestinians as being human beings under the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] and entitled to these rights" (our camera recorded these remarks).

You can help us hold the Obama Administration to its words today by signing our petition and spreading the word.

We need to hold the Obama Administration accountable because its policies don't match its rhetoric. State Department spokesperson Robert Wood infamously refused to answer whether the United States considered pasta--an item denied to Palestinians under Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip--a "dual-use item."

The United States, as revealed in a State Department cable [3] posted by Wikileaks, has also been colluding with Israel to deflect further damage to Israel's image from the Goldstone Report, rather than hold it to the "single universal standard that applies to every country."

Help us end the Obama Administration's hypocrisy on human rights and on its policies toward Israel and the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip by signing our petition right now.

In hope for a new year when U.S. policy upholds Palestinian rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Josh Ruebner
National Advocacy Director
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation