Rod Cox and Gaza: 28/05/2017

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

The Balfour Declaration
So when did the Aggravation Start?

Whilst you read on, listen to this, Gaza Reggae/Rap - say GRR!

1917 "(Oh Gaza) New Year" 2017

Damn! - Hannah Cinthio's Reggae is a different kind of Rocket

So, when did all the aggravation start? Probably 1917 with the insane Balfour Declaration in which Tory Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, in a letter, promised Lord Rothschild a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. He pledged assistance for the Zionist cause, totally disregarding the consequences for the Arab majority there.

Lord Sydenham warned: “What we have done, by concessions not to the Jewish people but to a Zionist extreme section, is to start a running sore in the East, and no-one can tell how far that sore will extend.”

It was surely the cruellest and most idiotic foreign policy decision by a British government.

RAP NEWS

Today there are 6.5 million dispossessed Palestinian refugees worldwide. More than 1.5 million live a miserable existence in 58 refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, waiting in vain to return to their family homes and farms. Those who still live in the shredded remnants of Palestine have been under brutal Israeli military occupation or blockade for 69 years. The Western powers’ failure to implement international law and deliver justice to the Arab communities in the Holy Land is deeply resented by Muslims worldwide.
The Holy Land has been a powder-keg since 1948 when Britain walked away from its mandate responsibility and the Israelis immediately declared statehood without defining borders. They have been stealing Palestinian lands and resources ever since. It will remain a powder-keg until the international community comes to its senses.

(Extract from an Article by Stuart Littlewood, a journalist in Nazareth)

Welcome. What are we trying to do, and how you can help.

*Giving Children a voice: Everyone in Gaza is Traumatised by the Israeli onslaught. There was nowhere to run to, and nowhere to hide. When Decent people see how it has affected Children in particular, they want to do something about it. I have brought a travelling exhibition of Children's Paintings to the UK, and you can see the dates that it is booked on the Chester and Palestine Exchanges website www.cape.uk.net

For the posts in the blog about the collection of the children's paintings from Gaza click here.

*The Campaign to open the Gates of Gaza, and end the siege, is of course wider than the Art Van. It is fundamental. Gaza is not even a prison, it is regarded by the Israelis as a Zoo. Any complaint from the Lions caged up here is met by death through the Bars. Honestly, there is nothing more important in all the world than ending this siege, where one set of people treat another as sub-humans, and seem to be supported by the country where you live. Please tell Your Friends, together we can make a difference. Link to this blog.

*The pictures show attacks by the Israeli army on civilians. While the Israelis claim they are fighting a just war they are suppressing any evidence to the contrary. The pictures reveal evidence of bombs that tear off arms and legs, and of the widespread use of Bulldozers in the frontline, demolishing houses to bury people alive, as well as destroying agricultural land, so they could be evidence of War Crimes, too.

**What we need to achieve is a wider awareness of Isreal's crimes, and I hope that seeing the Exhibition will encourage schools and others to link with counterparts in Gaza. We have few resources in CAPE but we will try to put you in touch if you ask, otherwise Twinning with Palestine is the group to contact.

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