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American Muslim Organizations Slam Israel For Attacks On Palestinians
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| Ramallah
Bombings |
By
Neveen A. Salem
WASHINGTON,
March 30 (IslamOnline) - American Muslim rights groups in Washington
D.C. slammed Friday the recent attacks on Palestinian civilians and
journalists in Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa compound, as well as the
direct assault on Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's
headquarters.
Raeed
Tayeh, director of the national office of American Muslims for
Global Peace and Justice (AMGPJ) told IslamOnline that, “When a
sixteen year old girl feels that it is her responsibility to attack
the Israeli occupation then something is seriously wrong and either
those nations that have power are too blinded by their support for
Israel to recognize it or they are simply not interested in the
truth.”
A
sixteen –year-old girl blew herself up in a Jerusalem market
Friday in response to the attacks on Al-Aqsa and Ramallah.
“The
loss of innocent life is always tragic but in order to stop the
deaths of people on the ground, one has to look past the emotion and
ask the fundamental question of why these things are taking
place,” Tayeh concluded.
"Even
the IDF is admitting that Israeli violence begets more violence and
that
Israel's indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians bring no
one security," Turaani continued.
"The
international community must intervene to prevent more violence
and destruction. Sharon has shown that he cannot choose peace.
The fate of
neither Palestinians nor Israelis should be left in his hands,"
he said.
The
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) also asserted that Sharon’s
tactics are nothing short of “war mongering” and went even
further to criticize the U.S. government for its support of such
actions and called on America to uphold its values of human rights.
“The
Israeli decision to ignore the calls for peace from the Arab Summit
are typical of an oppressive, war-mongering rogue state.
“The
U.S. government is assisting the Israeli aggression with American
tax dollars, U.S. weapons, and political cover. The US has also
isolated itself from the rest of the world because of its blind
support for the apartheid policies of the Israeli government, which
is being led by an indicted war criminal. The U.S. government needs
to decide now if it will appease Israeli aggression and sacrifice
American interests or stand firm for American values of human rights
and freedom,” a statement from MPAC concluded.
IslamOnline
was also told by Souhail Ghannouchi, president of the Muslim
American Society (MAS) that Israel is responsible for the continuing
violence.
“If
occupation is the problem, re-occupation is definitely not a
solution.
“To
use the last suicide bombings as an excuse for the Israeli massive
attacks is ridiculous because the opposite is true.
“Palestinians
have been subjected to compounded injustice for more than half a
century. Indeed many of them were forced out of their homes in 1948,
and now being chased and killed in their refugee camps.
“The
silence of the U.S. and the international community cannot be
interpreted except as tacit approval for what is happening, and that
is simply shameful,” he continued.
He
also went on to call on the U.S. to take responsibility for its role
in the violence against Palestinians.
“We
believe that the U.S. blind support to Israel is counterproductive
and inconsistent with American values and interests. The U.S. policy
should be bound only by American law, values, and interests, and by
U.N. conventions, resolutions, and international law.
“We
believe that the US cannot be an honest broker and a strategic ally
to Israel at the same time. In either capacity, the US should and
can do more to break the vicious cycle of violence and facilitate a
just solution. At the very least, the US should not allow the use of
its weapons to kill civilians, and should take a strong stand
against the Israeli gross violations of human rights,” he
concluded.
The
American Muslim Council (AMC) also condemned the attacks and called
on the U.S. to “intervene and stop immediately the Israeli attacks
and terror unleashed on the Palestinian people, especially the
attacks by Israeli tanks on Ramallah and the compound of President
Yasser Arafat.
“This
is very unfortunate that the Israelis have chosen Good Friday to
launch massive attacks, with the American-made tanks, on unarmed
Palestinian people - under a brutal Israeli occupation since
1967,” AMC continued.
Nedzib
Sacirbey, secretary of AMC’s board of directors and acting
executive director also went on to implored world leaders to take
steps towards ending the violence aimed at Palestinians, warning
that such incitements will only work to further destabilize the
region.
“We
urge peace-loving people of the world and the world leaders, who
want to act with responsibility, to support peace in the Holy Land
of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. This conflict has the potential to
push the whole region into the fires of instability.”
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