International Community Must Help Palestinians

The facts are clear as day and night: 860,000 people in Gaza are without electricity and water (PENGON July 3, 2006) as a result of Israel’s "Operation Summer Rain" in Gaza that began last week.

People, hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings could lose their lives if the world does not intervene by stopping the continued barbaric assault against the Palestinians and humanitarian relief services are not on the ground helping people now.

The international community needs to do everything they can to help these innocent people – it is an absolute crime if we allow these people to die. To be frank, I would not want to face God on Judgement Day knowing I had not done anything to help these innocent people. As an American I feel complete and utter shame that my US tax dollars helped pay for the destruction of human life. I resolved to take my shame and write my thoughts and feelings for the world to see what we need to do to help the Palestinians. It is our duty, our responsibility to do everything we can to help these people.

Quite frankly, I do not know how world political leadership and western media carry on as if they do not know what is happening to the Palestinians, as if they have the right to determine whose lives have more value than others. How is the genocide of an entire people going to bring security to the world?

Pengon has also reported the following:

"The public health and safety and environmental hazards stemming from the damage caused to infrastructure as a result of this military operation include:

  • water shortages
  • contamination of any remaining drinking water
  • uncontrolled discharge and flow of untreated sewage in the streets, resulting in groundwater pollution
  • pollution of agricultural land which Gazans will be unable to cultivate to harvest crops, impacting negatively on their earning power
  • damage to marine life as untreated wastewater flows into the sea
  • migration of fish to other parts of the coast, resulting in a reduction in the number of fish caught and, concomitantly, money earned by Gazan fishermen
  • direct exposure to untreated wastewater in open systems
  • indirect human health risks due to the consumption of polluted crops and fish
  • an increase in water borne acute and infectious diseases as a result of additional viruses, bacteria and protozoa in the water. These are likely to cause serious illnesses ranging from gastroenteritis and cholera to liver failure and death."

Everyone should organize and act to help these people suffering under such brutal oppression, whose lives are at stake, whose lives are on the line right now. We cannot stand by silently and watch people die. Stand up for what is right, stand up for what is the right thing to do, regardless of political beliefs everyone needs to act and speak out against this genocide.

We cannot look the other way, we cannot turn our backs and look the other way because if we do we are turning against ourselves.

The Palestinians need us just as much as we need them to help us save our humanity.