Portland Demonstration in support of the Gaza Freedom March

DATE: Dec 31, 2009
TIME: 1:00 pm
ORGANIZATION: Al-Nakba Awareness Project
WHAT: Demonstration in support of the Gaza Freedom March by 1,360 human rights activists from 42 countries, in coordination with demonstrations scheduled worldwide.
WHEN: New Year's eve, Thursday December 31, 1-4 pm.
WHERE: The grassy area between EWEB and the Ferry Street bridge in Portland.
WHY: Illegally blockaded for 2.5 years by Israel, the Gaza strip also suffered massive damage from the Israeli air campaign and subsequent military invasion in January. This attack, called an "onslaught" by the National Lawyers Guild war crimes investigators (see www.nlg.org) has left the most heavily impacted regions looking "like the epicenter of a massive earthquake" according to a June 29, 2009 International Red Cross report. The Israeli government refuses to allow import of cement or other building materials to repair the infrastructure damage and degradation.

The siege of Gaza has caused the following results:

. 95% closure of industrial operations due to lack of electricity, production materials, and inability to export products, causing massive unemployment and poverty.

. No running water in 25-30% of households, and degradation of 80% of available water below WHO safety standards.

. 69 million liters of untreated sewage pumped daily into the Mediterranean - the Palestinian fishery - due to Israeli destruction of waste treatment facilities.

. Inability of farmers to access 30% of arable land, controlled by Israel as a "buffer zone"

. 80% rates of both depression and school failure among Palestinian children.

. 50% of infants and toddlers have anemia and 70% suffer from Vitamin A deficiency.

. Nearly 20% of Palestinian patients needing emergency medical treatment outside Gaza are denied permits by Israel.

. Hospitals experience power cuts lasting 8-12 hours daily.

Richard Falk, retired Princeton Professor of International Law and UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, likened Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto even before the military onslaught.

Please come to stand in support of human rights and international law. Palestinian flags encouraged.


Sponsored by the Al-Nakba Awareness Project: Advocating freedom, justice and equality in the Holy Land