Date Posted: Monday, November 06, 2006

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful

WASHINGTON, DC – Nov. 6, 2006 (MASNET) Officials of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation responded to the recent wave of Israeli armed attacks and incursions into Gaza by characterizing the actions as "grave human rights violations that must be ended immediately for the sake of the people of Gaza and Palestine, and for the possibility of peace and justice for all people in the region."

MAS Freedom Foundation Executive Director Mahdi Bray noted that "now, when the people of Gaza are making encouraging progress toward a functioning coalition government that may well end the international foreign aid boycott that is crippling their economy, armed attacks against Gaza civilians have escalated horribly, and more women and children are being indiscriminately killed and wounded by the Israeli Defense Force."

The remarks come in the aftermath of the most recent round of attacks, in which some 47 Palestinians have been killed and 200 wounded in the latest round of fighting, including a number of women and young children.

Gaza, part of the Palestinian Territory, is home to more than 1.2 million people.  Gaza City, regarded as the most densely populated urban area in the world, is facing severe shortages of food, electricity, and drinking water, due in part to the June, 2006 attack on the main electrical power generating station in Gaza. 

While Israel claims that the attacks are in retaliation for the actions of armed Hamas resistance fighters in Gaza, many human rights organizations and activists throughout the world believe that the Israeli military responses violate the Geneva Convention, which forbids attacks on civilian areas and outlaws the concept of collective punishment.

"The killing of women and children is universally condemned as a violation of the norms and morals of conduct between belligerent parties", Bray went on to say, adding that "the Muslim American Society calls on Israel to restrain it’s military from further attacks on Gaza civilians and the social and economic infrastructure of all of Palestine, including Gaza and the West Bank."

Ibrahim Ramey, the MAS Freedom Foundation's Human Rights Director, also noted that the use of U.S. weapons and munitions in these attacks are a clear violation of the U.S. Arms Export and Control Act, which unequivocally condemns the use of U.S.-provided weapons by third party nations in attacks on civilian targets. "There is no legitimate claim to Israel’s 'self-defense' when women and children non-combatants are regularly killed in these attacks", he said. "The mounting toll of civilian casualties will only lead to the perpetual cycle of violence and desperation that makes peace and real justice less and less likely. And the United States must cease supplying Israel with weapons that are used in attacks on civilians."

MAS has recently called for a high-level interfaith leadership meeting with U.S. State Department officials to discuss ways to de-escalate the violence in the region and provide for the basic necessities of human life in Gaza.

Your support of MAS Freedom Foundation initiatives is crucial to its continued efforts on behalf of the Muslim American community.  Please donate generously by mailing your contributions made payable to "MAS Freedom Foundation" at the address below. 

Thank you for your support.

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The Freedom Foundation is the public affairs arm of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a national grassroots religious, social, and educational organization. MAS is America's largest grassroots Muslim organization with over 50 chapters nationwide. Learn more at www.masnet.org

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MAS Freedom Foundation

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