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At Noon, we will stage a "die-in" to show our grief and outrage at the effects this bombing had, and will have. We will wear the names of Palestinian and Israeli children who have recently been sacrificed in this horrific conflict. We do not yet know the names of those soon to be slaughtered. We grieve for them in advance.
We are disgusted and outraged at the purposeful timing of this bombing. It came within 90 minutes of the finalization of a unilateral ceasefire statement by Tanzim, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, who were meeting in Jenin. This statement, announcing the suspension of all attacks on Israeli civilians, including suicide bombings, was to be published as an article in the Washington Post and simultaneously in the Palestinian and Israeli press. This initiative had been two months in the making, and had been sponsored by the European Union. The US State Department had be briefed, as had the Israeli administration.
The fact that Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Ben-Eliezar thought nothing of dropping a 1-ton bomb into a densely populated neighborhood, resulting in the deaths and injuries of women and children, is indicative of their deep desire to ensure that this ceasefire never saw the light of day. Their target was not really Salah Shehade. It was, rather, the same as it always has been: peace itself.
Not In My Name is not shocked so much by the fact that the current Israeli administration refuses to do anything but wage a brutal war against a defenseless and imprisoned people. Neither are we shocked by the fact that they are willing, once again, to place their own civilians, their own children, in harms way in order to pursue this war.
What shocks us is the utter transparency, and the utter audacity of their actions. There can be no doubt left in anyone's mind that this current administration is guilty of crimes against humanity. It is guilty of crimes against the Palestinian people, and it is guilty of crimes against its own people.
The US government should no longer be engaged with these criminals, and our tax dollars should not be used to arm them. Not In My Name calls for an end to all military aid to Israel until Israel completely ends its Occupation.
We also note that The Coalition for Justice in Palestine has called upon everyone to join their urgent rally for Palestine to be held at the Boeing headquarters, 100 N Riverside Plaza, at 5:00pm on Friday, July 26, 2002. Although Not In My Name will be holding our vigil, we encourage people to join this rally, as well.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Thursday July 25, 2020