Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific stands with the people of Palestine in their resistance to occupation and apartheid and calls for an immediate end to the assault on Gaza.

The Palestinian people have suffered unimaginably under 16 years of illegal Israeli military blockade, and a cruel, immoral apartheid regime for 75 years.

There can be no peace under occupation.

In retaliation to the attacks on Israelis last weekend, Israel formally declared war against Gaza. They launched airstrikes, killing hundreds of Palestinians and wounding thousands, bombing residential buildings, schools and medical institutions, blocking food and water supplies, cutting power and threatening to commit further war crimes against besieged Palestinians in Gaza.

The Israeli Minister of Defence declared that we deal with human animals and act accordingly, a shameless example of the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people that justifies ongoing displacement, oppression, humiliation, starvation and murder of civilians.

In the past year alone, Israel's racist, fundamentalist system of oppression has been responsible for attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank which have killed 238 Palestinians, including 40 children, as well as the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Christian and Islamic holy sites, in addition to declaring and implementing annexation of the occupied territories.

Israel's disavowal of the signed agreements and failure to adhere to international norms and law have led to the destruction of the Palestinian life in their land and a desperate situation for Palestinians across historical Palestine.

The silence of the international community regarding the criminal and racist practices of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people, and the continuation of the injustice and oppression to which the Palestinian people are exposed, is the reason behind this current tragic situation and the absence of security in the region. Dignity requires justice, freedom and independence for the Palestinian people, and full implementation of international laws.

As a federation dedicated to peace, in no uncertain terms we strongly condemn the killing of innocent people and the taking of innocent hostages.

While 2 million people in Gaza face ongoing bombardment and a humanitarian crisis, Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific calls on all those who fight for justice to:

• Organize protests to demand an end to Israel's criminal attack on the Palestinian people, an end to the siege of Gaza and the ongoing blockade.
• Immediately mobilize to refute Israeli propaganda that ignores or justifies the historical and ongoing assault on Palestinian people, whether in the media or by governments.
• Push your governments to support the Palestinian call for the immediate re-activation of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid.