[GVCP] GVCP Newsletter 07-07-18

NEXT REGULAR GVCP MEETING is Saturday, July 21st, 1:00 PM (Lunch), 1:30 PM (Meeting).  Mae’s Restaurant, 4182 Lakeville Rd (Route 20A) Geneseo.  Note Saturday meeting date.

This Month’s Letter:  End the blockade of Gaza!  For over a decade, two million Palestinians in Gaza have lived under a brutal military blockade imposed by Israel.  The blockade has had a devastating impact on the civilians in Gaza, so much so that the United Nations has said that Gaza could become uninhabitable by 2020.  Both the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross have declared the blockade of Gaza to be an illegal form of collective punishment.  

 One way the Palestinian population in Gaza is brutalized is by being denied regular access to electricity. The Gaza power plant and electrical grid suffered significant damage from past conflict.  As a result, residents receive power for only three or four hours per day on a rolling basis.  The lack of power also impacts hospitals, schools, and other facilities.

The power crisis in Gaza could be ended quickly if necessary reconstruction materials were allowed into Gaza, and if Israel was pressured to provide adequate power to Gaza.  Unfortunately, the U.S. government supports the blockade, and has not taken steps to ensure that even basic humanitarian needs are met in Gaza.  

This policy must end.  Tell your Senators and Representative that you want changes in U.S. policy toward Gaza.  Demand that the U.S. support steps to restore power and other humanitarian services in Gaza.  Tell them that you support an immediate, complete, and unconditional end to the blockade on Gaza.  [Adapted from AFSC]