Te Israelis are intending to destroy all tunnels, as they always have - as with the killing of civilians, they don't discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.
Following a superb letter in last Monday's Irish Times (I'll put it up later), and another in the Irish Independent
IRISH INDEPENDENT
There seems to be a serious move to boycot Israeli goods - it's time Israel is treated in the same manner as was the South Africa it seems to have become
Jim Carroll


Take Action to Protest the Israeli slaughter in Gaza!
Ten things you can do



All over Ireland there are people who are extremely angry over Israel's invasion of Gaza and the appalling barabrity of its actions there which has killed and injured 1000's of people and made a wasteland of Gaza. Aside from joining the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), here are some practical ways in which you can help support the Palestinian people.

1) Protests: All over Ireland protests have been organised in solidarity with Gaza. Check the IPSC Events Calendar for news about all the latest protests. If there are no protests in your area, you may want to find a few like minded people, form an organising committee and plan something - from a silent vigil to a march to a banner drop. Protests are vitally important in that they pressure our government to act. Equally importantly, they show the people of Gaza that they are not alone, that the world is appalled by the horror visited on them by the Israeli murder machine.

2) Retail Boycott: A powerful weapon in the hands of the individual is the boycott campaign. The IPSC is currently trying to set up 'Apartheid Free Zones' (AFZs) in localities around the country. For more information and to get involved in the AFZ campaign please see here or email consumerboycott [at] ipsc.ie .

Of course, there are other ways individuals and groups can get involved in boycotting Israeli products - print out / photocopy the IPSC Boycott Leaflet and distribute them, demand to see the managers of shops selling Israeli goods and ask that they are removed from the stores' shelves. In Ireland the Israeli products which consumers can most easily identify and boycott are: citrus fruits and vegetables (potatoes and herbs); Keter garden sheds and storage boxes, Stanley tool boxes in Atlantic Homecare, Woodies DIY and other hardware shops; Dead Sea cosmetics - promoted and sold in Debenhams, and other department stores countywide; diamonds – Israel is the world's largest producer of cut and polished gem stones. Demand Israel-free diamonds, crafted in countries which respect human rights.

You can also write a letter to shops. We have a template of a letter to write to store managers, asking them to cease stocking Israeli goods. You can find this at below. Send even one letter or email, and tell your friends about it - it will make a difference.

SAMPLE LETTER TO SHOPS STOCKING ISRAELI GOODS - CLICK HERE FOR A LETTER SPECIFIC TO OUTLETS ALLOWING DEAD SEA SPA PRODUCTS TO BE SOLD ON THEIR PREMISES.

Dear Manager,

I am a regular shopper in your store and I am deeply concerned that you are selling Israeli produce such as …. I would like to ask you to remove these Israeli products, since they come from a country which continues a brutal and illegal military occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories. Much Israeli agricultural produce comes from illegal settlements on Palestinian land, although it is routinely mislabelled as coming from within Israel's borders.

Even before the latest mass killings of the population of Gaza, the Palestinians have suffered long enough. The occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is now in its 40th year, the longest military occupation in the world. This occupation is in contravention of numerous international laws and conventions. Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International have noted that over 4,000 Palestinians, most of them unarmed civilians and including over 1000 children, have been killed in the past 6 years by Israeli forces. Israel has destroyed thousands of Palestinian homes and crucial civilian infrastructure, including power plants, roads, bridges, sewage and telephone networks. Restrictions imposed on the movements of Palestinians and Palestinian goods have made normal life impossible.

B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, describes the situation as bearing "clear similarities to the apartheid regime that existed in South Africa". The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, John Dugard agrees, stating that the system of control that Israel uses is effectively a system of apartheid.

Last year, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions recognised Israel's apartheid nature, and recognised the role Irish workers and unions played in promoting the boycott of South African goods when it was under apartheid rule. As a result, they voted unanimously to support a full boycott of Israeli goods, joining in the growing international call for a boycott.

This boycott is called for by Palestinian civil society. Boycotting Israeli goods offers a non-violent tactic towards change. It is both a moral and effective means to achieve a just and peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I sincerely hope that your shop will stop stocking goods from Israel, and look forward to your reply. However, if you choose to support Israeli war crimes, and continue stocking Israeli goods, I'm afraid I will have to take my custom elsewhere.

Yours sincerely

Please inform us of any replies you receive by emailing info@ipsc.ie. Thanks!

3) Cultural, economic, sporting and academic boycott of Israel: Not buying Israeli goods is something immediate we can all do. A more long-term and effective campaign needs to operate on all fronts: sporting, cultural, academic, financial and so on.

You can promote the boycott in your everyday life. Whether you are a trade unionist, a university teacher, a member of a pension fund, a church group or sporting association, you can promote boycott and discussion of boycott in your work and in the groups you are involved in - IPSC are happy to provide speakers if you require them. It is only by operating in all these areas that this boycott campaign will be successful. So it's up to you!

4) Write to TDs, Senators and MEPs: Demand action from your elected representatives, demand that they condemn these Israeli atrocities and that they move to a) institute a diplomatic boycott of Israel until it ends its offensive on Gaza and complies fully with its obligations under International Law. b) Demand that the Irish government uses its influence in the EU to push for the suspension of Israel from the Euro-Med Agreement which grants it favourable trading status with the EU. c) Demand that Ireland cease all economic relations with Israel. Below is a sample letter which you can send, and you can find the emails for all Irish TDs here, Senators here and MEPs here. Or use this useful website - http://www.contact.ie/

SAMPLE LETTER TO ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES:

Dear [name],

I am writing in digust at the Israeli attack on Gaza which has left 1,000s dead or injured, and has left Gaza a wasteland. These appalling actions constitute severe war crimes and I will not stand idly by while they occur in the face of inaction by the Irish government, the European Union and the United Nations. Yes, members of our government have condemned the attacks - but words are no longer enough, action is needed and it is needed now. Israel cannot be allowed to get away with these massacres of a largely defenceless population.

I demand that Irleand use its influence in the UN to ensure the opening of the borders to Gaza to enable emergency humanitarian aid into the area, regardless of the bullying and ruthless threats by Israel;
I call on Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, to insist in the EU Council of Ministers on the suspension of the EU trade agreement with Israel under Clause 2 of the Association Agreement;
I call on the Irish government to diplomatically boycott Israel until it ceases its attacks on Gaza and fully complies with its obligations under International Law;
I call on the Irish government to support the call from Palestinian civil society for a complete economic, cultural, academic and sporting boycott of the Israeli state until it ceases its attacks on Gaza and fully complies with its obligations under International Law;
I call on all Irish parliamentarians to stand by their illegally imprisoned colleagues in Palestine;
I call for a restoration of the ceasefire under terms which the international community must enforce, including the ending of the economic and political blockade of Gaza, and indeed of the West Bank;
I demand that the Irish government use its influence on the world stage to seek a solution in Palestine which respects the rights of Israelis and Palestinians, and secures for Palestinians their national and democratic rights. Only then will there be a settlement.
Yours sincerely,

5) Tie up the phone lines: The Israeli Embassy phone number is 01 6680 303. The US Embassy phone number is 01 6688 777. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs number is 01 4780822. We suggest phoning them and making your concerns known - in particular it would be worth asking the Department for the Irish government to take concrete action at EU and UN level - actions such as international sanctions, and for the explusion of the Israeli Ambassador.

6) Write a letter to the newspapers: The Israeli embassy is urging Zionists in Ireland and abroad to flood the Irish papers with support for their mass murder. A letter, even a short one (especially a short one, in fact!) to the papers is an important way to spread the truth.

Some points you can raise:

a. Nothing, but nothing justifies the mass murder of hundreds of innocent civilians and the terrorisation of over a million and a half people in Gaza.

b. Israel is the aggressor in this conflict. It is illegally occupying Palestinian territory and during the truce from July to December imposed a savage siege on the civilian population of Gaza that starved them of food, drinking water, and basic supplies such as paper, electricity, medicines.

c. More immediately Israel is the aggressor. During the truce observed by Hamas, Israel killed 25 people in Gaza, including 8 children. As even CNN acknowledges now, it was Israeli killings in November that finally led Hamas to resume firing homemade rockets.

d. The homemade rockets. During September and October a total of two homemade rockets were fired from Gaza (and not by Hamas). Israel continued to violate the truce and starve the people of Gaza

e. The democratically elected Hamas government has repeatedly called for an extension of the ceasefire. They have declared their military campaign will stop once Israel respects international law and withdraws from the Occupied Territories.

f. Millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have lived in terror and under occupation for the last 40 years. It is these Palestinians we should be supporting.

g. While there are thousands marching in Israel calling for 'death to the Arabs', there are also tens of thousands of Israelis marching against the war. It is these Israelis we should be supporting.

The national papers you can write to are as follows:

Irish Times: lettersed@irish-times.ie

Irish Independent: letters@independent.ie

Irish Examiner: letters@examiner.ie

Evening Herald: herald.letters@unison.independent.ie

Metro: mail@metroireland.ie

Daily Mail: letters@dailymail.ie

Sunday Tribune: editorial@tribune.ie

Sunday Independent: sunday.letters@unison.independent.ie

Mail on Sunday: letters@mailonsunday.ie

If you send a letter to the papers, could you cc us at info@ipsc.ie. Thanks!

7) Sign an online petition calling for ceasefire:

The IPSC petition is here: http://www.petitiononline.com/ipsc2009/

There are many such petitions. One of the biggest, with hundreds of thousands of signatures, is here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/96.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Also

http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveGaza/

There is also this trilingual petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/freegaza/petition.html

In addition there are many facebook and myspace petitions circulating. The more signatures they get the more effective they will be. Take two minutes out and add your signature.

8) Get involved in the IPSC: Once this round of terror subsides, Palestinians will still live under military occupation, in exile, and encased in an apartheid regime within Israel itself. They need your ongoing support. IPSC runs a range of activities throughout the year you can get involved in.

You can subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly newsletter. You'll get up-to-date news articles and analysis of the current situation in Palestine, and details of IPSC and other Paletsinian related events you can take part in.

9) Support the work of the IPSC: IPSC in a small volunteer organisation that runs on very limited resources. In order for us to do our work effectively we need your financial help. You can support us financially by taking out a Standing Order, or donating online. The Standing orders help us greatly to keep our campaign work going, grow as an organisation and plan effectively for the future.

10) Above all, get informed: Israel spends tens of millions on propaganda in the media, but there are still many good sources of information about Israel/Palestine. For instance:

Alternative Information Center
Joint Palestinian-Israeli organization

Electronic Intifada
News, views, reports and statements relating to Palestine

International Middle East Media Center
Palestinian based news site (in English)

Stop the Wall
International anti-apartheid wall campaign

You'll find more sites on our 'Links' page at http://www.ipsc.ie/links.php

----------------------

Some of these actions will take 5 minutes, some will take a lifetime. We urge you to do something, no matter how small. Now more than ever, the people of Palestine need your support.