Hope for Gaza: Urge Your Rep to Sign the McDermott-Ellison Letter
In recent years, the Christian Reformed Church has begun to delve into the complicated issues of the Middle East. Highlights include a 2007 study trip to the area, resulting in numerous recommendations to the denomination, and a strong partnership with the Reformed Church of America, who has a lasting missional presence in the region. The CRC is a member of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a coalition of 22 Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant national churches and agencies.
During this Christmas season, the CRC Office of Social Justice and CMEP ask that you take a minute to help bring peace to the Holy Land. A constructive, pro-peace letter to President Obama by Rep. McDermott (D-WA) and Rep. Ellison (D-MN) is circulating in the House, highlighting the need for urgent action to be taken to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Urge your Representative to sign the McDermott-Ellison Letter, so Congress affirms that the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza and the legitimate security needs of Israel can be met simultaneously.
One year after the Gaza war, severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people in Gaza imposes undue suffering on 1.5 million people. Palestinians in Gaza still don't have clean water. Homes, schools, and hospitals remain in rubble because basic building materials aren't allowed in. Food, fuel, medicine, and sanitation supplies are limited and sporadic due to the border closures. Commerce is at a near stand-still, and residents are restricted when traveling in and out of Gaza. The sick are especially vulnerable, as their ability to transit is subject to an Israeli permit regime that can involve long delays or result in denial of permission to travel.
The strict limitation of goods into Gaza has public health consequences for both Israelis and Palestinians. Without access to tools and equipment to reconstruct, maintain, and operate water and sanitation facilities in Gaza, there are now millions of gallons of untreated waste water being dumped daily into the Mediterranean Sea. This is a public health issue for Israelis and Palestinians.
The McDermott-Ellison Letter calls for "immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of [President Obama's] broader Middle East peace efforts." It urges President Obama to advocate for immediate improvements in the movement of people--especially students, the ill, aid workers, and those with family concerns--and in access to necessities such as medicines and health care products, food and agricultural materials, construction and water infrastructure materials, and clean water and sanitation supplies.
While Israeli security concerns are cited as the reason for Gaza restrictions, Israel's security is not enhanced by having an impoverished and isolated community next-door in Gaza. The closed borders mean increased unmonitored tunnel traffic. As the Letter explains, "Easing the blockade...will also undermine the tunnel economy which has strengthened Hamas." Re-opening the monitored border crossings to aid, commerce, and transit would serve the welfare of Gaza and the safety of Israel. It is imperative that the U.S. ensures that the needs of civilians in Gaza are met, while simultaneously ensuring the security needs of Israel.
Raise your voice for the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip and a balanced approach toward bringing peace to both Israelis and Palestinians. Urge your Representative to sign the McDermott-Ellison letter to help bring peace to the Holy Land this Christmas season.
If you do write your Representative, we'd love to hear about it - email osjha@crcna.org with your story, or visit www.crcjustice.org to find our social networking options.