July 14, 2014
CNDP Statement on Israel’s Brutal Assault on Gaza
We are shocked at Israel’s ongoing brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, which has caused more than 150 Palestinian civilian deaths. The kidnapping and murder of three teenage Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank was condemnable, but Israel has reacted to it by visiting indiscriminate collective punishment on the Palestinian people, without identifying the culprits.
This is a serious war crime under international law, whose magnitude becomes all the greater because of the sheer disproportion of Israel’s response and its targeting of civilians. And yet, the major world powers have been silent on this terrible violence. This must be deplored in the strongest terms.
Palestine today faces an urgent humanitarian crisis, as thousands of homes are destroyed, and large numbers of Palestinians flee Gaza in fear.
The Palestinian cause enjoys wide support in the international community, including repeated calls by the United Nations to end the Israeli occupation, which Isarel has refused to do, backed by the hegemonic powers’ support for its expansionism.
The Indian people have always supported Palestine’s quest for freedom and dignity. But in recent decades, the Indian government has changed its stand under the impetus of a rapid domestic shift to the political right, and Israel’s emergence as the largest supplier of lethal weapons to India.
We demand that Israel must immediately end the use of force, and that international oversight and relief structures be established at the earliest for the people in Gaza. The Government of India must condemn Israel’s brazen violation of human rights and despatch relief to the Palestinian people.
For CNDP,
Praful Bidwai
Achin Vanaik
Lalita Ramdas
Abey George
Kumar Sundaram
