Kucinich Resolution calling for cease-fire in Gaza

 In Israel, Palestine

January 9, 2009

Dear Colleague:

As the number of causalities in Gaza continues to climb to well over 750 deaths and more than 3000 injured in just two weeks, it is imperative that we focus on the humanitarian crisis that is growing every day.  I ask that you support a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza.

The Washington Post and New York Times have reported that aid agencies such as International Committee of the Red Cross and Medicine without Borders are unable to reach even the most desperate victims.

The United Nations has been forced to suspend all aid operations in Gaza following attacks on its facilities and personnel who were trying to provide aid.  The UN is reporting that more than one-third of the deaths are civilians and that 1000 of the 3000 injured are children.  One day after the bombing of a UN school that killed 42 civilians, at least 30 people–including children–were found dead four days after a house where they were told to seek shelter by Israeli Defense Forces was bombed.

Nearly the entire population has had no access to water or electricity since the beginning of the blockade in February of 2006.  As of January 2, 2009, hospitals in Gaza have been without electricity, forcing them to run on back-up generators that are reportedly on the verge of collapse.  Not only are doctors unable to cope with the number of injured, but these hospitals also lack the most basic necessities, such as gauze and medicine.  Access to medical supplies and food is protected by the Geneva Conventions.

We should oppose Hamas’ rocket attacks on Israel. And we should oppose Israel’s military response.  But we should, first and foremost, stand for an end to the humanitarian crisis this conflict is creating.  If you would like to be an original cosponsor of the resolution, please contact Diala Jadallah in my office at diala.jadallah@mail.house.gov <mailto:diala.jadallah@mail.house.gov>  or 5-5871.  A draft is included below.

Sincerely,/s

Dennis J. Kucinich

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Whereas over 95 percent of the deaths incurred since the escalation of violence in Gaza beginning December 27, 2008, have been Palestinians;

Whereas over 50 percent of the population of Gaza is under the age of 14;

Whereas on January 7, 2009, the United Nations found that one-third of the Palestinians killed in Gaza were civilians, while over 1,000 of the injured are children;

Whereas on January 6, 2009, 40 civilians were killed and 55 civilians were injured when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) bombed two United Nations facilities, including a school, where Palestinians were seeking shelter;

Whereas nearly the entire population of Gaza has no access to potable water or functioning water systems, and sewage and wastewater systems have seized due to lack of water and electricity, causing sewage overflows in some residential neighborhoods, creating a public health crisis, according to the World Bank;

Whereas since the beginning of the Israeli imposed blockade in February 2006, approximately 262 Palestinians in Gaza have died due to lack of access to medical goods and aid, according to Mustafa Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative;

Whereas on January 7 and 8, 2009, the International Committee of the Red Cross found a total of up to 65 bodies in two separate locations, both of which included a number of emaciated children , in houses bombed in the south of Gaza after four days of lack of ambulance access;

Whereas the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross have completely halted all aid shipments, following the death of two United Nations aid truck drivers; and

Whereas Articles 55 and 56 of the 4th Geneva Convention require ”ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population” and ”ensuring and maintaining…the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene”: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on the Government of Israel and representatives of Hamas to implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and to allow unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza.

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Showing 22 comments
  • Linda Furr
    Reply

    If we love Israel, we must force this young nation to live up to international law. There must be no more money from us to her until she lives by the rules. Otherwise, we, her mentors, deserve to be the next great civilization to decline and fall.

    Linda Furr

  • Thomas Bias
    Reply

    Though I agree with the sentiment for peace, but this resolution does not go far enough. It needs to call for a cut-off of all military and financial aid to Israel (we don’t give any to Hamas). Furthermore, I saw in the NY Times today that Israeli Prime Minister Olmert demanded that the United States abstain on a UN resolution, which was drafted by Secretary of State Rice (!), calling for a ceasefire, and that Pres. Bush agreed to Olmert’s demand. This is absolutely unacceptable. The least we can do is to keep our tax money from being used for death and destruction. We should not be financing a country which thinks it can dictate foreign policy to us. That money can be put to better use here at home.

  • jacqueline fortino
    Reply

    To defend oneself is one thing…what Israel is doing is called GENOCIDE.
    Be it with bombs or allowing a nation to starve to death —
    I am horrified to know that the USA refuses to take approiate action.
    There are pigs more evolved than either government. (US or Israel)

  • susan
    Reply

    It’s completely inane that the human race in 2009 is still killing others of the same
    species . Anger, hatred and blood letting should end and be tolerated no longer!
    Peace is the essence of human dignity and there seems to be very little of it on
    planet earth!

  • Tommie Hutto-Blake
    Reply

    U.S. made war tools have been purchased by Israel and are being used to kill innocents in this conflict. Conflict resolution without violence should be the key and the U.S. should support the U.N.’s efforts to bring the parties back to the table to search for a solution. It is time to use the tools of peacemaking (conflict resolution) rather than warmaking. Let our country begin to be a role model folcusing on nonviolent solutions rather than encouraging aberrant behavior by our own leadership or the leaders of other nations.

  • laura l stern
    Reply

    please endorse the kucinich resolution. stop the unfair treatment of the people of gaza.

  • jane von salis
    Reply

    It matters not who is to blame for the aggression in Gaza. The ;whole mess is ghastly and intolerable. Please, Nations of the World, do whatever must be done to halt this crime to civilization.

    A Ceasefire, and the immediate delivery of water, food and medical help to the people of Gaza as is stated in Rep. Dennis Kucinich’ resolution before the US House of Representatives, are the first two necessary steps.

  • oak chezar
    Reply

    Peace in Gaza! Stop the bombing!

  • Cassandra Skogmo Khan
    Reply

    I wish I knew history well enough to understand why we (the U.S.) are so supportive of Israel. But I bet it has something to do with money in someone’s pockets. It is horrible to stand by and watch the Israelis destroy the Palestinians. We need the international community to rise up and stop this craziness. Please!

  • Markus Thompson
    Reply

    Give thanks for Dennis Kucinich!!! A lone voice of compassion and reason. Of course, he is still marginalized. The world will be ready for this peacemaker, soon! That our elected representatives display so little compassion and reason, amazes and greatly saddens me! How can genocide, be the will of their constituency? Is it reasonable to assume that they are carrying out the will of those who pat the most $ in their election coffers! Let peace and justice prevail!

  • Lois Whealey
    Reply

    I can’t understand why so many Congresspeople so overwhelmingly voted to support Israel’s action–bombing and invading Gaza.

    The Israeli reaction to Hamas attacks is grossly disproportionate! Deaths and injuries of Gazans is almost 100 times that of Israelis!

    Too many Israelis (and US Congresspeople) apparently believe one Israeli life is worth 100 Gazan lives. This is WRONG.

  • Masoud
    Reply

    If nothing else, this crisis reveals unequivocally the degree to which the US Congress and this administration are cronies of the Israeli government and its Zionist backers. The people of Palestine have suffered for decades under the Israeli occupation. They are humiliated on the daily basis, their most basic human rights are violated day in and day out, they are kept as prisoners in their own land, they are killed and injured by hundreds and thousands, and yet when they stand up and say enough is enough, they are called every nasty name imaginable. What is wrong with a father standing up to defend his family? What is wrong with the people standing up against a savage occupier and aggressor? I just wish, even for a brief moment, the American people would put themselves in the Palestinian people’s shoes and ask themselves how they would react if they lived under the same conditions. With CNN, Fox News, Washington Post and slew of commercial media happily serving as Israeli propaganda machines, it is hard for the American people to know the truth. I commend Congressman Kucinich for being one of few people of conscience serving in US Congress. The only way to stop Israeli aggression and put an end to this long lasting conflict is to eliminate all military and economic aid to that government.

  • Robert G. Taylor
    Reply

    There is no justification for the actions of the Israeli’s in Gaza; have they lost the last semblance of INTEGRITY, apparently having sold out to the forces of darkness (greed

    and selfishness). Thank God, there WILL BE THE DAY OF JUDGMENT; however, I am
    ashamed of all those Congressmen who didn’t have the guts to do the RIGHT THING!!
    We were REPEATEDLY ASSURED THAT IF WE PUT OUR TRUST IN (and voted for
    Democratic candidates), they would restore fairness and integrity to the law-making
    process: once again, I have been disillusioned–and many people still wonder why there
    are so many of us cynics.
    Robert Taylor, New Mexico

  • Marjorie Bieter
    Reply

    It is outrageous that our Congress has failed to bring pressure to bear on the recipients of our support -money and munitions – to work for a negotiated settlement instead of slaughter. We are back to needing “an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth”.

  • Jimmy Hollis i Dickson
    Reply

    I watched them try to divide us,
    I watched them build The Wall,
    And noticed that each house too close
    To it was doomed to fall.

    They “justified” destruction
    By claiming there were arms
    Hidden in each one of those homes,
    Just waiting to do harm.

    Yes, there were arms in my home:
    And legs, and hearts, and heads.
    My arms would hug my children,
    And carry them to bed.

    My legs carried me out running
    To face the Caterpillar®.
    For where would my children sleep now,
    If I gave in to this killer?

    -from “The Butterfly Song”
    at http://jimmsfairytales.com.shelives.htm

  • Jimmy Hollis i Dickson
    Reply

    I apologise to those of you who have tried to link to that poem. It seems that my web-site has been sabotaged (again…) It may take some time to put this right. In the meantime, I can only offer you the whole of that poem. It’s one of (to-date) 11 poems of a poem cycle concerning the death of Rachel Corrie:

    The Butterfly Song
    (Voice Of Another Caterpillar® Victim)

    On the morning of the 19th Oct., 2007, I got an e-mail telling me about a Day Of Action to protest Caterpillar®’s involvement in the destruction of Palestinian homes. I knew that over 2000 Palestinians had been killed by occupation forces in the last several years, but this was the first time that I learned that 17 of them had been killed – like Rachel Corrie – by Caterpillar® machines. You can find more informatiuon at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1450
    I wrote to the organisers, offering the use of my poem “The Caterpillar® Song” on the Day, and explaining that – as I was in Europe – I wouldn’t be able to attend personally. I wrote that I would be there in spirit, and asked them to feel my presence.
    As it turned out, I opened another e-mail which drove all thoughts of the Day Of Action from my head for the rest of the day. But perhaps some small part of me WAS there, unknown to my conscious mind, because the next day I woke up and wrote another poem before getting out of bed.
    Here it is.
    Love and Peace to all of us!

    I never wished to live forever,
    But I did not wish to die.
    I tried to live the best I could
    And watched each day slip by.

    I watched them try to divide us,
    I watched them build The Wall,
    And noticed that each house too close
    To it was doomed to fall.

    They “justified” destruction
    By claiming there were arms
    Hidden in each one of those homes,
    Just waiting to do harm.

    Yes, there were arms in my home:
    And legs, and hearts, and heads.
    My arms would hug my children,
    And carry them to bed.

    My legs carried me out running
    To face the Caterpillar®.
    For where would my children sleep now,
    If I gave in to this killer?

    I am not blond like Rachel,
    And I am not well-known.
    Nobody ever wrote a play
    In which my life was shown.

    But Rachel is my sister,
    My sister now in blood:
    Both hers and mine have mixed with dust,
    And turned it into mud.

    The both of us have broken backs,
    The both of us have gone,
    But somehow hope with both our hearts
    Our message will live on.

    That message isn’t Vengeance:
    It’s “Let Justice be done!
    And ALL of you we’ve left behind:
    PLEASE try to live as one!”

    You will not know until it’s gone
    How precious is your Life.
    Now while it’s yours you waste it
    In bitterness and strife!

    Rachel and I have spread our wings
    – No hindrance broken backs!
    We both were turned to butterflies
    ‘Neath Caterpillar® tracks.

    We’re not alone, Rachel and I,
    That Caterpillar® has set free:
    We’re eighteen at the last count
    – That’s quite a family!

    And we’ve made friends with Joel and Dan,
    Once of “God’s Chosen Race”:
    ‘We died for “Israel”,’ they say,
    ‘Oh, what a stupid WASTE!’

    Rachel has lost her passport
    – Ridiculous hypocrisy –
    That promised to protect her
    When she was overseas.

    And I’m not Palestinian,
    There are no Israelis,
    No nationalities after Death,
    No fanatic ideologies.

    So now I want to talk to YOU:
    To speak as one-to-one,
    Leaving aside our differences.
    (That’s how to get things done.)

    Please do us both a favour:
    Please get down on your knees,
    And hug your children with ALL your heart,
    Then hug them once for me.

    For they’re children of ALL of us,
    And I’ve left mine with you.
    Try to make the World better for them:
    Must be SOMETHING you can do!

    And if you see a butterfly
    (With your children – or alone)
    Don’t treat it as a lesser thing,
    For it – at least – has flown.

    And what have you done lately
    To spread your wings and fly?
    Come on! The World is waiting:
    You only have to try…

    – Jimmy Hollis i Dickson

  • Jimmy Hollis i Dickson
    Reply

    Sorry about this: I typed a mistake in the link to that poem cycle. It should be http://jimmsfairytales.com/shelives.htm
    (but I’m still having trouble accessing, even with this corrected link. Try it, it might be my wi-fi connection at fault…)

  • Sylvia Barnard
    Reply

    It is totally anti-Israeli to support what Israel is doing in Gaza,which is opposed by many Israelis themselves. Such actyivities get count6ries hated and harm themselves almost as much as the people they attack.

  • Mark Sherburne
    Reply

    In another life, or on another planet, living beings will learn that violence is not justified. But for now, both sides get weapons so both sides need a buffer between them….will the UN ever be strong enough, or be supported enough to be that effective buffer? Where is the international courage?

  • Carol Newton
    Reply

    Stop the violence and blood shed Get help to the injured. Support the Kuchinich resolution.

  • mudag
    Reply

    it is really true???

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