Fw: [ANSWER]: Protest new Israeli military campaign - April 20 @ White House

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg at tin.it>]

 International A.N.S.W.E.R.
 Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
 Web: http://www.internationalanswer.org
 
 PRESS RELEASE
 March 29, 2002
 
 SHARON ANSWERS ARAB SUMMIT PROPOSAL WITH ALL-OUT WAR 
 AGAINST PALESTINIANS
 
 ANTI-WAR COALITION CONDEMNS "U.S.-ISRAELI WAR," CALLS FOR 
 MASS PROTEST DEMONSTRATION AT WHITE HOUSE IN WASHINGTON & 
 IN SAN FRANCISCO ON APRIL 20
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave his answer to the 
 Arab League's peace proposal today: a massive assault on 
 Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps in the West 
 Bank and Gaza. The compound of Palestinian Authority 
 President Yassir Arafat in Ramallah has been invaded and 
 largely destroyed. Many Palestinians have been killed, 
 wounded and rounded-up. Israel has called up 20,000 
 reservists in preparation for even wider attacks.
 
"This latest assault is part of a clear pattern of 
 behavior on Sharon's part," said Richard Becker, Western 
 Region Co-Director of the International Action Center and 
 a member of the International A.N.S.W.E.R. - Act Now to 
 Stop War and End Racism national steering committee. 
 A.N.S.W.E.R. is organizing major anti-war demonstrations 
 in Washington DC and San Francisco on April 20, 2002. 
 
 "These attacks on civilian areas are being carried out 
 with U.S. weaponry -- F-16s, Apache helicopters, armored 
 personnel carriers and much more," said Becker. "The U.S. 
 has supplied more high-tech weaponry to Israel than to any 
 other country. What we are witnessing today is, from any 
 objective point of view, a joint U.S-Israeli war against 
 the Palestinian people," Becker continued.
 
 "While the Bush administration and the big media here 
 regularly blame the Palestinians for the failure of 
 negotiations to move forward, the reality is that the 
 Sharon regime has responded to every initiative with 
 extremely provocative actions," Becker stated. "Back in 
November, Secretary of State Powell's announcement that 
 Gen. Zinni was being sent as a U.S. envoy to the Middle 
 East was followed three days later by the assassination of 
 a top leader of the Hamas organization and the killing of 
 five young boys from the same family in Gaza.
 
 "In late February, Sharon responded to the Saudi plan put 
 forward by Crown Prince Abdullah by launching an offensive 
 unprecedented since the 1967 war on refugee camps and 
 cities across the West Bank and Gaza. More than 200 
 Palestinians were killed in a two-week period and 
 thousands more seriously wounded and made homeless -- the 
 overwhelming majority of the casualties being civilians," 
 said Becker.
 
 "But the corporate media considers Israeli casualties far 
 more significant that those on the Palestinian side, 
 despite the fact that the latter has suffered four times 
 the deaths -- more than 1,300 killed -- and more than six 
 times the number of wounded as have the Israelis," said 
 Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil 
 Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund and the 
 A.N.S.W.E.R. national steering committee.
 
 "The bottom line is this: Sharon is part of the leadership 
 grouping in Israel which has resisted, since the 
 establishment of their state, giving up one square foot of 
 historic Palestine," stated Verheyden-Hilliard. For 50 
 years they have worked tirelessly, with the support of 
 U.S. leaders and media, to make it appear that it is the 
 Palestinians and Arabs who are responsible for the 
 on-going hostilities.
 
 "The reality of the situation is that there will be no 
peace in the Middle East until there is real justice and 
 self-determination for the Palestinians," 
 Verheyden-Hilliard concluded.
 
 The International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is calling on 
 people from across the country to join our mass anti-war 
 and anti-racist protests in Washington, DC and San 
 Francisco on April 20 to demand an end to U.S. support for 
 Israel's occupation and justice for the Palestinian 
 people.
 
 International A.N.S.W.E.R.
 Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
 39 W. 14th St. Room 206 New York, NY 10011
 212-633-6646 - fax: 212-633-2889 
 Email: answer at afgj.org
 Web: http://www.internationalanswer.org