STOP THE GENOCIDE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!
GENUINE PEACE AND JUSTICE IN GAZA!

 

MIGRANTE AUSTRALIA, an alliance of organizations of Filipino workers and migrants in Australia, strongly condemns the genocidal attacks of Israel’s government and military on the children, women and the Palestinian nation. The bombing assaults from air, sea and land and from all directions leave Palestinian families no safe place to live. The attacks do not even give the Palestinians and the international aid and rescue agencies time and space to tend to the dead, the hurt and the hungry and the frightened children left by their dead families and relatives.

Our hearts bleed for the women, children and hurt Palestinians who are also among the poorest people in the Middle East; whose land and livelihood are being robbed by the Israeli state; and who have never seen peace in their lifetimes. Our hearts bleed for the Palestinians who are left with no alternative but to fight for their families, their lives and their country, for they have been continually pushed to the edge – their lands are grabbed, their resources stolen, their dignity and identity are crushed, and their families and friends killed.

To many Filipinos, this type of atrocities and aggression is not new. Our brothers and sisters in Mindanao, southern part of the Philippines, experience similar horror. The Philippine Military regularly conducts bombing and gunfire attacks on Muslim and indigenous villages and residences. The Philippines has hundreds of thousands of internal refugees displaced not only by the massive mining exploration by foreign capitalists (some of which are Australian companies) but also by militarization of vast areas. The link between foreign capital intrusion and militarization is clear when Philippine President Macapagal-Arroyo announced in February 2008 the creation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Investment Defense Force (IDF) as a “protective shield” for transmission lines and mines infrastructure.

It is horrible to witness or hear of the indiscriminate Israeli military attacks on Palestinians in a manner not even accorded wild animals. In this day and age when International Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights conventions have gained universal acceptance, attacks like these, using high powered military weaponry on civilian areas are grossly inhuman, highly racist and quite barbaric.

We call on the Israeli people, the peoples of the world, and international bodies to press Israel to end the occupation of and attacks on Palestine.

We call for a just resolution to the root causes of the war in the Middle East and between Palestine and Israel as we believe that unless the causes of this major strife are addressed, the problem in Gaza will never be solved and lives will continue to be lost. The world is worse off every day that passes without the will to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East.

We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their fight for genuine peace and justice.

Reference: G Kotsakis
migrante.aussie@optusnet.com.au