hi everyone,
gaza is over for now, but people are still dying of the consequences of their injuries, or are still trying to come to terms with have lost a child or a leg or a father or a house.
and so forth.
we can't even imagine it.
so, i appeal to you to attend the demo on saturday 24 at 2pm - details below - and make a statement.
the statement we'd be making is: we're appalled by what has been happening, and what is still happening in many people's dreams and minds (a whole generation of kids has just been traumatised in those 3 weeks between 27 december and 17 january), and won't just go away even when the bombs may have stopped (temporarily?) from falling.
this is bigger than much of what we've seen in a long time.
and i am afraid of serious retaliations on european soil. as in bombings, random shoot-ups in places like starbucks and other desperate ways of desperate people to make themselves heard, noticed. by those coffee-sipping and credit crunch-ridden europeans who haven't been paying much attention to what's been happening in gaza.
a whole province has been shot up and demolished. schools, infrastructure, hospitals.
the UN has been shelled three times. and that was an attack on the whole world order, not just on the terrorists in gaza.
and trust me, repeated shelling of the UN in just three weeks is UNHEARD OF.
and, last, but not least, we've had:
24 israeli dead since 2004
and over 1000 palestinian dead, among which 400 children since 27 dec 2008.
and about 6000 palestinian injured since 27 dec 2008. and im not sure whats worse - losing one's legs, or actually dying.
and just for the record:
1. i am partly of jewish origin myself, have been to israel twice, was about to join the israeli army in 1991 and firmly believe in israel's right to exist and absolutely love the israeli people's lifestyle, mentality and culture.
but human rights are human rights and human lives are human lives and the UN is the UN.
and noone has the right to disregards this, not even my beloved israel.
2. and yes, there have been katyusha and home-made rockets falling on southern israel over the past years. however, again, the death toll has stopped at 24 people since 2004 (not good, as a matter of fact, that needs to stop coz it also means more injured and many more traumatised).
but, there has also been continued harassment at the border crossings and relentless resettlement programmes carried out in the west bank, and the rockets must be seen in that context.
bottom line: the strikes we've seen since 27 december are grossly disproportionate.
and - maybe worst of all - have made this world, and israel itself, an unsafer place.
a real reason for me to consider moving away from london coz london ain't gonna be the safest place on earth in the years coming.
UNLESS we make that STATEMENT.
then we can say to our muslim friends and other friends, and children one day:
we WERE against it.
and we DID something against it.
next stop: the demo.
for the ones who've never been to a demo:
ok, here goes: its simple, safe and even fun.
and it means walking with thousands of other people down london's main roads and squares - and it's quite nice because there wont be any cars and lots of police (spread out on the sides, polite and smiling) all over. so, quite a cool 'hike' through central london.
and yes, there will be crazy anti-american, muesli-eating and birkenstock-sandals wearing hippies with provocative banners, too. but they're not in the majority. so, just ignore them.
also, there will be speakers - usually at the end - probably on trafalgar square. and it'll be quite interesting to listen to them. again, there will be extreme ones like george galloway. but there will be as many moderate ones - like human rights lawyer Bianca Jagger, who explicitely recognises israel's right to exists and always makes a point of that.
so, lets make this more mainstream coz thats what it should be.
if anyone can't make 2pm sharp, no worries, just get off at regents park, great portland street - or if youre a little late - try oxford circus - and then walk towards downing street and trafalgar square.
the demo will end - possibly around 3 or 4pm at trafalgar square and then the speakers will make their speeches.
if anyone wants to meet up with me and go there together, let me know. 0798 1909076.
this matters. this was the grossest war we've seen in ages - worse than lebanon in summer of 2007 and than the ones before that. even if the world's been caught up in post-christmas diets, new year's eve party planning, credit crunch-worries and obamania.
for more info on everything, also the demo, go to http://globaldayofaction.org/stopwar/
feel free to fwd this to your friends!
isabella
Assemble 2pm, BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA
Nearest Tube Regents Park and Great Portland Place)
March to Trafalgar Square via Downing Street
