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Brief aan Farida

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• Dear Farida, Every time I saw one of those Obama posters with "HOPE" on it, I felt it. Hope, that is. Hope against hope that perhaps this new President would pursue a just peace with the same fervor that he pursued hope before he was elected. And in the short time since the inauguration, we're seeing reasons to believe our hope was justified. But, here's the big challenge: Israel, Palestine, Gaza. Turning hope into reality comes down to how President Obama deals with this ongoing tragedy. This week's announcement of George Mitchell as Middle East envoy -- the man who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland-- signals that Obama is serious about even-handed diplomacy. For so many, our hope is that Mitchell and Obama will now take serious and meaningful steps towards a just and true peace. It's a tall order, we know. But the momentum that began on inauguration day won't last long, and the cease fire in Gaza has only ceased the worst of the bombs and violence. We have a window and we must take advantage of it. We must hope - and HOPE BIG. Please join Jewish Voice for Peace and Just Foreign Policy in asking President Obama to make good on his promise of hope. Please read our letter and add your name, and then ask your like-minded friends to do the same. We're aiming to deliver our letter on February 23. Then download our Hope posters and put them in your windows or on your wall. Obama has said that he needs people like us to demand action loudly and visibly. Now is our moment. We must keep the pressure on. Thank you for doing your part. Sincerely, Cecilie Surasky info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org Antwoorden op: laura@jewishvoiceforpeace.org
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• This was in January - of last year.
  Today, many Gazan bakeries are closed because, like Mohammed\ s family, they don\ t have power either. Some don\ t even have flour.
  The Israeli blockade of Gaza had already made it impossible for Palestinians to live in dignity and have access to the barest of essentials: bread, clean water, medical supplies and electricity.
  This is no coincidence. This is official policy. In a moment of candor, Dov Weissglas, a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying, \"the Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but [they] won\ t die.\"
  His prediction was true. Last April, UNICEF reported that more than 50% of children under five in Gaza are anemic, and that many children are stunted due to a lack of vitamins.
  And now?
  As Gaza is smoldering from the siege that killed 1,285 people - nearly 70% of them civilians, destroyed at least 4,000 homes, and sent more than 50,000 people to temporary shelters, the Israeli blockade has not been lifted.
  A tenuous cease fire is in now place. Humanitarian aid is starting to pour in.
  But the civilian infrastructure is crippled. The borders of Gaza remain controlled by Israel. And just as Gazans could not leave during the siege to escape the bombing and shelling, they cannot leave now to get food and fuel.
  There is not enough electricity for the bakeries that are left standing to produce bread, or for families that still have homes to refrigerate food.
  Palestinians cannot even feed their children with the fish from the nearby sea. Israeli gunboats offshore have been enforcing the blockade with rounds of cannon and bursts of heavy machine-gun fire, to warn keep Gaza fishermen out of the sea.
  Unless we end the blockade, long after the world\ s attention has shifted to some other crisis, some 1.5 million Gazans will still be under-nourished, without proper medical care, fuel and water - and trapped. Israelis too, who live in the south, will be even less safe from the threat of Hamas\ Qassam rockets falling on their heads.
  Lasting peace and stability in the region is simply an impossible dream while Palestinians in Gaza are denied the right to protect their children, feed their families, and expand their worlds beyond the few feet in front of their homes, or for many, tents.
  You already signed the letter to Obama. Thank you. Now please ask your friends to tell Obama: \"Lift the blockade.\"
  Cecilie Surasky,
  Jewish Voice for Peace 
  " onclick="javascript:hit(7881294);">No Bread In Gaza