National Day of Prayers and Action

Action Alert

National Day of Prayers and Action, Friday January 2nd, 2009

What: AMP calls all its supporters to a national day of prayers and action, Friday January 2nd, to bring a stop to Israel’s criminal aggression against the Occupied Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, December 27, 2008 the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) began a furious terror campaign against the residents of Gaza. Using U.S. supplied F-16 jet fighters, Apache attack helicopters, and other U.S. supplied weapons, the Israeli occupation forces bombarded densely populated civilian centers in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 320 and injuring over 1450, many critically.  The casualties include hundreds of women, children and other civilians. This massacre is nothing short of an act of genocide.

In addition to this shameless attack, for nearly three years, Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege that has collectively punished a civilian population of over 1.5 million by prohibiting food, fuel, electricity, medicine and medical supplies to enter Gaza. Even after more than 300 air strikes, Israel and Egypt have continued to keep the Rafah border closed, not allowing supplies in.

These actions of Israel have flagrantly ignored international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. Article 33 of the convention specifically prohibits this type of collective punishment by stating that no person "be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed". In addition the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the disproportionate use of force; however, this assault is not less than disproportionate.

Silence is consent. AMP is calling on all people of fairness, equity and justice who stand against occupation, collective punishment, and disproportionate use of force, to voice their outrage.


Action Items

1. Insist that every Mosque talk about the extreme situation in Gaza in this week’s Friday prayer at your local mosque and this week’s Saturday/Sunday sermon at your local synagogue/church.
2. Call government institutions such as the White House, the Egyptian Embassy, your local Senator, the UN Security Council and the Obama transition team and insist that they pressure Israel to stop its aggressive massacres against the citizens of Gaza and demand that the Rafah border be opened immediately and permanently.
3. Conduct rallies at central locations in your city, preferably in front of an Israeli Embassy.
4. Donate to Islamic Relief (IRW) who has already sent 2 airplanes filled with medicine to Gaza, the people of Gaza need your help.
5. Write to your local and/or national news outlet demanding a fair and unbiased coverage of what is happening in Gaza. Write an op ed piece or an editorial, and keep writing them until they are published.

Talking Points

1. Stop Israeli war crimes in Gaza, Palestine.
2. There is no justification whatsoever to these crimes.
3. End the occupation of Palestine and the siege on Gaza.
4. Hamas is not a whole country, Gaza is not Hamas.
5. This war is not between two countries, with armies, it is a war by the fourth strongest army in the world against 1.5 million unarmed civilians that live in Gaza.
6. Equate this terrorist act with that of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the U.S. The loss of 300 innocent lives of 1.5 million is equal to the loss of 60,000 lives of Americans.

Contact Information

Contact the State Department at: 202.647.5291
Contact the White House at: 202.456.1111
Contact the Egyptian Embassy: 202.895.5400
Email the Egyptian Embassy: [email protected]
Contact the Obama Transition Team: 202.540.3000 then press 2 to speak with a staff member.
Contact IRW to donate: www.irw.org

The American Muslims for Palestine is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to educate the American public and media about issues relating to Palestine and its rich cultural heritage. For more information or to make a donation, call 888.404.4AMP.