[haw-info] HAW Steering Committee statement on Gaza

[Jim O'Brien]

The following statement has been adopted, after discussion, by the HAW
Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee of Historians Against the War (HAW) wishes to add its
voice to those who protest the collective punishment levied by the Israeli
government against the civilian population of Gaza.  The Steering Committee
also protests the blank check given by the Bush administration and Congress
for Israeli military actions.  The use of US-supplied weaponry for the mass
killing of civilians and the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure is
deeply abhorrent.

Almost as abhorrent, to us as historians, is the US government's
misleadingly one-sided view of the origins of the current conflict, ignoring
the overwhelming military and economic superiority of Israel over Gaza, the
nearly four decades-long Israeli occupation of Gaza, and the tightening
Israeli blockade of Gaza that precipitated Hamas's December 19 abrogation of
the truce.*

United for Peace and Justice, the broad anti-war coalition of which HAW is a
member, maintains on its web site (at <http://www.unitedforpeace.org/><
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/>) a set of links to information on the
crisis, updated daily.  The UFPJ site also reports on activities around the
US and elsewhere in support of a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on
humanitarian aid. The Steering Committee encourages members and friends of
HAW who agree that US policy in the Gaza crisis has been wrong-headed to
make their voices heard.
 __________

* See, e.g., Harvard University scholar Sara Roy's article, "If Gaza
falls…," in the /London Review of Books/,
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n01/roy_01_.html.


This is a statement of the current Steering Committee.  Ballots for the new
Steering Committee were sent by e-mail earlier this week, and the deadline
for voting is Monday, Jan. 26.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stopthewars.org/pipermail/haw-info_stopthewars.org/attachments/20090116/087ee889/attachment.html>