[Imc-beirut] FW: Urgent Appeal from Gaza

[Afamia Kaddour]

      *Urgent Appeal from Gaza***

* *

*A Call for the protection of Palestinian civilians in Gaza from 
damaging, high-decibel sound attacks by Israeli F-16 fighter jets*

* *

September 28, 2005

Since September 23, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to several Israeli 
military attacks, including 21 sound attacks by F-16 fighter jets. These 
attacks involve low-flying planes causing shattering sound explosions in 
the air that terrify the population and have been reported to cause 
hearing loss. Attacks are carried out day and night and have a seriously 
damaging impact on the mental health of all Gazan civilians, especially 
children and the elderly.

Ear pain, hearing loss, the development of uncontrollable phobias, 
especially among children, and many other problems have been reported. 
The most deleterious attacks take place at night while residents are 
sleeping, causing severe stress and terror.

While we are unable to precisely measure the decibel level of the sound 
attacks, reports indicate that they are seriously damaging to Gaza 
residents. As health professionals living and working in Gaza who 
experienced three such attacks on the day when this appeal was written, 
we can testify that they push the limits of human tolerance.

These actions are a savage form of collective punishment directed at the 
civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Such attacks were not known 
before the disengagement took place, while settlers still lived in the 
Strip and might have been affected if Israel had attacked at that time.

The right of a civilian population to protection from bodily and 
psychological harm under military occupation are enshrined in the Geneva 
Conventions, to which Israel is a signatory and of which Israel is in 
clear violation.

We call on you to place every possible pressure on the Israeli 
government to put an end to Israel’s military aggression against 
civilians in the Gaza Strip and to withhold from using collective 
punishment as an instrument of political control.

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*ACT NOW! VOICE YOUR PROTEST*!

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*Call the nearest Israeli Embassy in your area *


        *Send your protests to the Israeli Government*


        * *


        *Tayseer Abu Morad, MPH Gaza, *tayserm at hotmail.com
        <mailto:tayserm at hotmail.com>


        *Samir Radi, MPH, Gaza*, samir_radi at hotmail.com
        <mailto:samir_radi at hotmail.com>