Petition: Palestinian Lives Matter!

Israeli troops just killed 60 unarmed protesters, and shot 1300 more. 1300. They do it *gleefully.
and shot 1300 more. Israel is now led by one of the most brutally racist regimes on the planet -- it's time for the world to declare that Palestinian lives matter, and rally behind sanctions on Israel: 

It's a massacre -- another installment in 50 years of brutal racist military repression of the Palestinian people.

Other states have faced sanctions for far less. Sanctions on South Africa helped free its black people, it’s time for the world to rally behind sanctions on Israel to free the Palestinians:

Sign the Petition: Palestinian Lives Matter! 

Israel has marched steadily away from reason and peace and towards the far right. A member of Parliament called for the beating of Ahed Tamimi, the young Palestinian girl who slapped a soldier after her cousin got shot in the face -- and the Defence Minister himself threatened punishing her entire family!

Israel’s military claims the protests were an invasion organized by Hamas, and that a few of the marchers were armed. These claims are disputed by Palestinian and international civil society and Israel has regularly lied to justify its actions. But even if they were true, why were 1300 people shot, hundreds of meters inside the fence? And why with live ammunition?!

And with Israel controlling the air and dug in behind fortifications, often with miles of empty desert behind them, what actual threat did the crowd possibly pose?! The Israeli regime’s hysterical fear and victimhood knows no bounds, and justifies any cruelty.

Gaza is actually the world’s largest open air prison, cut off and denied necessities for years by Israel. That’s the desperation that forced people to risk their lives in protest. But when the prisoners dared to approach their prison walls, their jailers shot them like fish in a barrel from safe perches hundreds of meters away.

Israel’s many enablers will knee-jerk accuse Avaaz and our many Jewish staff and leadership of hating Jews. But our team and our members love the Jewish people, as we love all people. The Holocaust was real, the Jewish community has long been horrifically oppressed and still faces anti-Semitism worldwide.

Many of those who founded Israel wanted it to be a beacon of a better way. But their vision has been betrayed, and Israel has come to be led by a brutally racist and repressive regime -- it deserves the world’s condemnation. Not just in words, but action:

Palestinian Lives Matter - Sanction Israel! 

Virtually every other tool has been tried, for decades, to encourage the Israeli regime to treat Palestinians better, and they just keep treating them worse. 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 and the Eurovision song contest) may finally affect the calculus of the regime.

Two of the most dishonest and dangerous leaders in the world today are Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Like extremists everywhere, they dream of a world where sensible people lose their judgment and are pulled into two warring camps, one of which is led by them. Let’s show them it won’t work -- that ordinary people won’t be sucked into their hate and propaganda, and that we can still see racism and brutality for what it is, and respond. That they can’t take our humanity from us, and we won’t let them succeed in taking freedom and dignity from the Palestinian people.  

Link to news video: The Independent

The Guardian view on Gaza shootings: stop killing unarmed civilians (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/14/the-guardian-view-on-gaza-shootings-stop-killing-unarmed-civilians 

How are Palestinians reacting to the US embassy in jerusalem and violence in gaza (CBS)
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-are-palestinians-reacting-to-the-u-s-embassy-in-jerusalem-and-violence-in-gaza/ 

It's Not a 'Hamas March' in Gaza. It's Tens of Thousands Willing to Die (Haaretz)
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-to-call-gaza-protests-hamas-march-understates-their-significance-1.6091833

Israel: Gaza Killings Unlawful, Calculated (Human Rights Watch)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/03/israel-gaza-killings-unlawful-calculated

Peace and Safety - American Embassy what's going on?

Another...US Embassy Under Siege- Pakistan

Yet another American embassy under attack...see the video below

Hundreds of students from various colleges and educational institutions in Islamabad clashed with police on Thursday as they were being blocked from reaching the embassy.

Students pelted the police with stones, and the police retaliated by firing tear gas shells. 

Several students were injured when policemen hurled the stones back at the crowd.

According to local television channels, several policemen were injured.

"Our policemen are not any better than the Americans because they are trying to stop us. They are in the same league as them, they are heretics like them," said student Jawad Ahmed.

"They should allow us to demolish the American embassy because they have blasphemed against our holy Prophet. The police are also becoming an accomplice of blasphemers."

There were also protests in other parts of Pakistan as well.

Pakistan, Bangladesh Block YouTube Amid Islam Film Protests By Arun Devnath and Haris Anwar - 2012-09-18T06:25:02Z Pakistan and Bangladesh blocked Google Inc. (GOOG) 's video-sharing website YouTube to prevent people watching an anti-Islam film that has sparked deadly protests from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.

The Film that Sparked the Violence, Egypt, Libya

Susan Brannon
12 September 2012

The Israeli-Jew filmmaker, Sam Bacile, 56 went into hiding after his movie caused an international controversy in Egypt and Libya, where the American ambassador Chris Stevens was killed along with three others from his staff on Tuesday 11th September late in the evening. Sam Bacile defends his film saying, "Islam is a cancer and that he intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion."

 In Egypt protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. embassy and replaced the American flag with an Islamic banner. While in Libya, the American consulate was attacked and came under fire by an angry mob in response to the film. Bacile expected something "like this to happen" to be the next Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker killed by a Muslim extremist in 2004 after making a film that was perceived as insulting to Islam.

The film that triggered the violence is titled, "The Innocence of Muslims" and the movie trailer was released on You Tube on 2 July 2012. Someone dubbed the film into Egyptian Arabic with correct translations. Through the use of the internet through channels of "rumor-heavy" media, has been playing the highly offensive clips from the film. The word quickly spread around the globe regarding the continual insults towards the Islam Prophet Muhammad, violence, and sexual implications that insult the Islam religion.

The film costs $5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors. The film claims that Muhammad was a fraud whose obedient followers act as a cadre of goons. Muhammad approves of child sexual abuse, adultery, rape and stealing of others goods. Mr. Bacile says, "The U.S. lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we're fighting with ideas." He identifies himself as an Israeli Jew although he lives in California. He wants "the movie to help his native land by exposing Islam's flaws to the world". Bacile is apologetic about the American ambassador who was killed, but blames the embassy security in the failure of protecting the embassy. 

However, there are two sides to the story, one as an "artist/activist" who has the right to "be creative" and voice freedom of speech" and the second are those who belong to the Muslim the religion themselves. A filmmaker must understand that when he steps out to clearly insult those of another belief system, it will create havoc. In terms of the Jewish/Islam conflicts that have been going on for decades, this is without question a very delicate matter. As a filmmaker, to put oneself and others at high risk and to be willing to produce such insulting materials is arrogant and irresponsible to civil society.

Bacile, knowing that he was insulting the leader of millions of Muslims around the world, as an "American/Israeli" put our country, our leaders and people at a security risk around the globe. Already three people have been killed and the pot is now at the boiling point. The pot against the American people has been at a high simmer for a very long time, and it only took these insults to raise the heat. 

However, if Bacile clams to be an Israeli Jew, living in California, then why did the Muslims in Egypt and Libya attack the American embassy and consulate? Don't you think they should be attacking Israeli embassies instead? No, I am not anti-Semitic, quite the contrary but I can't understand why the uprising was set against the American people.

Even if I was Israeli, or Jewish, I would be angry because Bacile imposes his beliefs as representations of Israeli or Jewish beliefs.  Imagine if the film attacked Judaism in the same manner as it attacks Islam, the news outlets would not only focus on the "uprisings" without mentioning the film's name (as they are doing now), but I am sure that they would include the name of the film and details as to the attack against the Jewish religion with the Rabbis and Israeli Prime Minister making some anger statement for the film.

Yet, I do not believe that the Israeli's would attack the American embassy or consulates and kill innocent people.  I do not condone the violent actions against the American people, it is not the way to resolve the problem and it is not right.

However, it is the action like Bacile's has taken the lives of innocent people through his anti-Muslim attitude and this too is not right.  One life is too much when it is those who are standing on the sideline trying to get by day to day.  I am sorry that we lost our Ambassador to Bacile's arrogance.