•  Current Projects
   ▪ Iraqi Refugees
   ▪ Iran
   ▪ Grannies for Peace
   ▪ Iraq
   ▪ Truth in Recruiting
   ▪ WAW in the News

• Women Against War Afghanistan Project

Women Against War
Statement on the Crisis in Lebanon, Gaza and Israel 

Released to the media, August 2, 2006 

     The developing situation in the Middle East is extremely urgent. With each day that bombs, bullets and missiles fly more civilians are injured and dying. The people of Lebanon and Gaza are now facing a massive humanitarian crisis as they cope with increasingly severe shortages of food, clean water, electricity, medical supplies, fuel and other necessities. Blockades and destroyed roads, bridges and airports make travel almost impossible. This prevents delivery of emergency supplies and creates hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people. The rockets of Hezbollah that are falling on Israel are also causing death, destruction and limitation of daily activity.

     We as Women Against War deplore the deliberate destruction of basic infrastructure and the targeting of civilians, emergency vehicles, and all forms of transportation, which especially endangers the lives and health of women and children. 

     Israel's massive military bombardment in response to the capture of three soldiers, the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza and the blockading of food and medical supplies is a violation of its obligations under the Geneva Conventions and International Law.  In addition Israel's use of U.S. taxpayer-supplied weapons to target civilian infrastructure is a violation of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act.  

     Women Against War supports the call of United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan and of United States peace and justice organizations and international humanitarian observers for an immediate and unconditional cease fire in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel while a lasting diplomatic and political solution to this long-standing conflict can be negotiated. 

     We call on the US government to stop blocking United Nations resolutions that call for an unconditional cease fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and to start working actively for such a cease fire.  Women Against War calls on Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah to stop targeting civilians.  We support the release of prisoners on all sides, and the immediate release of all women and children. 

     Women Against War endorses Dennis Kucinich's resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 450, which instructs the President of the United States to appeal to all sides in the current crisis in the Middle East for an immediate cease fire and commits United States diplomats to multi-party negotiations with no preconditions. It also requests that the US send a high-level diplomatic mission to the region to facilitate such multi-party negotiations, which are to include delegations from the governments of Israel, The Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt and to begin as soon as possible.  Finally the resolution supports an international peacekeeping mission to southern Lebanon to prevent cross-border skirmishes while such multi-party negotiations are taking place. 

For more information, please contact Women Against War at contactwaw@yahoo.com