Gaza: 'We march for three things. The children, the children, the children.'
Click here for a report of march and rally 9 August 2014 on the UNISON Edinburgh blog.
UNISON Edinburgh statement on Gaza
5 August 2014
UNISON Edinburgh is horrified at the rising death toll in Gaza. At the time of this statement, 1,865 people have been killed, mostly civilians.
At least 300 were children. Almost 10,000 have been injured, many of them children with life changing injuries. Thousands upon thousands have lost their homes.
UN schools, where families are seeking refuge, have been hit, killing children. This is despite the coordinates having been given to the Israeli army along with numerous warnings that people were sheltering in the schools. The general secretary of the UN has described the latest attack as 'a moral outrage and a criminal act'.
Israel has also suffered casualties - 63 soldiers and four civilians.
UNISON UK has called for an immediate ceasefire and UNISON Edinburgh fully backs that call.
We do not support indiscriminate killing of civilians, no matter who does that. However, we cannot ignore the massive military advantage that Israel has and the sheer scale of the destruction. We cannot ignore the numbers and the fact that Israel knows full well that it is attacking civilians. The excessive Israeli attacks are unjustifiable and totally disproportionate.
We cannot ignore the years and years of injustice heaped upon our Palestinian colleagues.
We fully back the UNISON UK statement: "UNISON re-iterates its call for an immediate cease-fire and an end to the blockade imprisoning 1.9 million people. And we want the international community to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, including food, water, medical aid and generators.
"Our government must immediately end the arms trade with Israel. But a lasting peace relies on an end to the illegal occupation and blockade of the Palestinian territories and for the creation of a viable, independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"UNISON encourages members and branches who wish to provide assistance to make a donation to Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity with a long history of working in Gaza and with whom UNISON has worked in the past."
UNISON Edinburgh has long supported Medical Aid for Palestinians and we have had strong links with Palestinian trade unionists.
We encouragee members to write to their MP urging them to put pressure on Israel to end the bombardments and to implement sanctions on Israel to bring pressure for a just settlement for palestinians.
UNISON Statements
15 July http://www.unison.org.uk/news/articles/unison-calls-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-by-both-israel-and-hamas
25 July http://www.unison.org.uk/northern-ireland/news/humanitarian-concern-for-gaza
28 July http://www.unison.org.uk/news/general-secretarys-blog/ceasefire-in-gaza-is-essential-now
Useful links
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign http://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/
Medical Aid for Palestinians http://www.map-uk.org
Morning Star 23 July http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-c9a5-Support-for-Palestine-does-not-equate-to-anti-semitism
Top
|
