Citizens International strongly condemns the current barbaric aggression committed by the Zionist régime in Tel Aviv against Gaza. Over 80 people, including many children, have been killed and 550 people wounded. A single Israeli airstrike killed 7 Palestinians including 5 children.

Aljazeera reported that at least 550 sites have been hit by Israeli jets, including Gaza City, Beit Hanoun and Khan Younis. 40,000 Israeli reservists have been mobilized for a ground invasion which would inevitably lead to the massacre of large numbers of civilians.

It is shocking that the world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities Israel is committing with impunity, without any regard for the United Nations Charter and international law. The slow-motion genocide in Palestine is part of the Zionist plan to ethnically cleanse historical Palestine of the Palestinians for the creation of a racist Jewish state.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt are responsible for the Israeli persecution of the Palestinians. The US military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel has encouraged the Zionist regime to commit aggression, gross violations of human rights and international crimes against the Palestinian people. Any attempt in the United Nations to make Israel accountable for its rogue behavior is obstructed by the US threat to use its veto power.

The support given by Saudi Arabia and UAE to the military coup in Egypt and the tin-pot dictator Abdul Fattah el-Sisi has weakened the Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation. The first act of Sisi after the coup was to destroy the hundreds of tunnels which served as lifeline for the Palestinians in Gaza. The tunnels were used to transport food, medicine and other essential items into Gaza which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade from 2007.

The blockade has created a humanitarian disaster for the 1.7 million people who live in Gaza, the world’s largest open-air prison. The destruction of the tunnels has created a fuel and electricity shortage crisis resulting in the failure of sewage and water plants. The lives of many hospitalized patients are in imminent danger.

The poorly armed Palestinian Resistance is heroically resisting the Israeli aggression. It is the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against Israeli aggression and free their homeland from Zionist settler-colonialism using all means sanctioned by international law. All those who oppose colonialism and apartheid and uphold freedom, democracy and justice must support the Palestinian Resistance in every way.

Because of the cowardice and moral bankruptcy of some of the member-states, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference are unwilling to take any effective action to help the Palestinians and stop Israeli aggression.

These states are terrified of the US and the Zionists and have been colluding with them to promote sectarian conflicts that would weaken the resistance to Israeli occupation of Palestine. Islam’s third holiest mosque Al-Aqsa is located there and is now under threat of being destroyed by the Zionists.

We call on:

1. The United Nations Security Council to condemn the Israeli aggression and to demand that the attacks on Gaza be stopped forthwith and the blockade lifted.

2. Progressive governments and the international public to provide moral and material support to the Palestinian Resistance.

3. Civil society organisations to hold demonstrations in front of the US, Israeli, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian embassies condemning the Israeli aggression and expressing support for the Palestinian Resistance.

4. Civil society organisations to intensify the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

S.M. Mohamed Idris

Chairman

CITIZENS INTERNATIONAL is a global initiative from Penang, Malaysia. It seeks to analyse the causes of increased militarisation of the planet and to work towards an environment of peace and international security including the preservation of social justice, ecology and sustainable development. CI also intends to support the development of traditional knowledge systems.