Contact: Matt Quinn, (816) 729-9102 or jmq0004@msn.com
Citizens For Justice In The Middle East, 6100 W. 52nd Street, Mission, Kansas

July 30, 2006 -- Growing numbers of concerned Kansas City area residents call for an immediate end to the hostilities in Lebanon, Gaza, and Israel. To date, 110 individuals and groups have endorsed this position. We urge our government to represent the best interests of U.S. citizens by acting as an honest broker in the conflict.

Instead, the July 13 United States veto of a UN resolution clearly signaled to the Israel military to “turn back Lebanon’s clock 20 years,” as Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz indicated to Israeli TV. [1]

We deplore the destruction and loss of life and the disproportionate use of massive and indiscriminate force by Israel.  We deny that the lives of one nation are more valuable than those of another, and we mourn especially the deaths of children.  The death toll to date is over 750 Lebanese civilians, including many children; 157 Palestinians, mostly civilians; and 51 Israelis, including 19 civilians.

With human-rights organizations around the world, we condemn the Israeli destruction of power plants, electrical grids, airports, bridges and roads, civilian housing and other buildings too numerous to mention in both Lebanon and Gaza. The Geneva Conventions requires the protection of civilians; we therefore agree with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge Louise Arbour, that war crimes be investigated.

As the French Foreign Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, described it, Hezbollah's seizure of the soldiers and firing rockets into northern Israel were "irresponsible acts"; Israel's bombing of the Beirut international airport was "a disproportionate act of war."

Israel's military offensive in Lebanon comes while Israel continues a separate siege of the Gaza Strip. Three weeks of Israeli air strikes and attacks have killed more than 150 Palestinians, stripped most of Gaza's 1.4 million residents of access to electricity and water, and plunged them into further deplorable living conditions.  

Just as U.S. citizens desire the protection of International Law, we ask our government to insist that all parties be bound by it and that International borders—whether of Lebanon, Palestine, or Israel—be recognized and respected.

- Pressure Israel to immediately cease its military operations in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip;

- Work with international partners to broker an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel;

- Commence negotiations to peacefully resolve outstanding disputes, including the release of prisoners held on all sides, an end to Israel's 39-year-old occupation of Palestinian lands, and implementation of U.N. resolutions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

For a cease-fire and negotiations to have a chance, the United States’ unconditional, one-sided backing of Israel's actions must end.

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