March 28, 2002 A Jewish Voice for Peace Demands: Suspend Military Aid To Israel! until Israel ends its Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem
The Ten Plagues of the Israeli Occupation:
	THE PLAGUE OF HOUSE DEMOLITIONS AND COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT The families of Palestinians who are merely suspected of acting against Israel, or who reside where gunfire is suspected can be subjected to the punishment of house demolition. Palestinians denied building permits on land they already own, can have their homes demolished. As a result, thousands of Palestinians have been left homeless. Collective punishment is a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
	THE PLAGUE OF ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS AND BY-PASS ROADS Since the beginning of the Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967, 150 Jewish-only settlements and 11 exclusively Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem have been built in the Occupied Territories. Since the Oslo agreement, the Israeli government has built over 200 kilometers of by-pass roads inside the Occupied Territories. These roads Ñ built on appropriated land Ñ can be closed to Palestinian traffic. Their purpose is to connect Israeli settlements with Israel proper, allowing settlers to bypass Palestinian towns and villages, and to isolate Palestinian villages and towns from each other. There are now 400,000 Israeli-Jewish settlers who live illegally on Palestinian land. The settlements are a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
	THE PLAGUE OF INHUMANE CHECKPOINTS There are hundreds of checkpoints in the Occupied Territories. Ostensibly imposed to enhance Israeli security, their primary function is to harass and humiliate Palestinian civilians, who are delayed for hours trying to get to work, schools, hospitals, shops, or to visit friends and families. In addition, entire closures and sieges of Palestinian villages, towns, and cities have become an increasingly routine form of punishment. In the case of illness or child-birth, these checkpoints and closures are life-threatening. Women have given birth on the road or in their car, and people have died in ambulances and vehicles, waiting to get through the checkpoints or driving over back roads during the closures. These checkpoints and closures violate the most basic of human rights.
	THE PLAGUE OF REFUGEE CAMPS Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who fled or were forced from their homes due to the war that established the State of Israel in 1948 or due to the 1967 War, live in extremely crowded refugee camps under miserable and intolerable conditions. They have no hope of getting out, or improving their lives, as long as the Occupation continues.
	THE PLAGUE OF F-16 BOMBINGS The Israeli military is directing lethal U.S. supplied weapons Ñ in the form of laser-guided missiles fired from F-16 planes and Apache helicopters Ñ against buildings located in densely populated civilian areas, killing, injuring and terrorizing the Palestinian civilian population. This use of U.S. supplied weapons against civilians is a violation of U.S. law. Targeting civilians is a war crime under the 4th Geneva Convention.
	THE PLAGUE OF WATER THEFT The Israeli government controls all water in the Occupied Territories. While the Palestinian population finds itself with empty wells, many Jewish settlements nearby have lawns and swimming pools. Palestinian villages receive on average one quarter the amount of water per person as the settlements; in the refugee camps it is one ninth. The water table in the West Bank has become dangerously depleted, and Israel continues to control the one resource around which all life revolves.
	THE PLAGUE OF ASSASSINATIONS The Israeli military has been carrying out assassinations of suspected militants and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza. In addition to the illegality of these acts, many innocent bystanders have been killed and injured in these attacks. The Israeli military has appointed itself judge, jury and executioner.
	THE PLAGUE OF UPROOTING TREES The Israeli military has uprooted tens of thousands of olive and fruit trees, depriving the Palestinians from harvests which have traditionally provided them with food, oil and income. Many of these olive trees are a hundred years old, and their loss severs a connection to the land through generations. Collective punishment is a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
	THE PLAGUE OF MILITARISM IN ISRAELI SOCIETY Militarism has led to a hierarchical, discriminatory, and sexist society in Israel, with increasing aggression and violence. More and more Israelis question the moral decay that accompanies the criminal actions of the military and the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.
	THE PLAGUE OF CIVILIAN DEATHS The death toll from military action and suicide bombings continues to multiply at a horrifying rate. Since the beginning of the second Intifada, 18 months ago, there have been over 1000 Palestinian deaths and over 300 Israeli deaths, the majority of them civilians, including women and children. Thousands of Palestinians and scores of Israelis have been severely injured Ñmany of them disabled for life.
To quote a common statement by many Israelis: "The Occupation is Killing Us All." Only an end to the occupation can stop the bloodshed.
Many thanks to Spain Rodriguez who drew these illustrations.

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