ECAJ on Hostilities in Israel and Gaza

November 20th, 2012

20 November 2012
CURRENT HOSTILITIES IN ISRAEL AND GAZA
The President of the ECAJ, Danny Lamm, expressed the Jewish national peak body’s “whole-hearted support for and solidarity with the People and Government of Israel in their ongoing conflict with Hamas.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with family and friends in Israel, and indeed with all of Israel’s citizens, Jews and Arabs, who have been the targets of thousands of Hamas rockets which have been fired indiscriminately into Israel since 2001.”
“As has been recognised by US President Obama and the political leaders of many other democratic nations, Israel has the inherent right under international law to defend its territory against armed attacks and the responsibility to protect its citizens from harm. We commend Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott for their recent strong statements to that effect.”
“Israel has no quarrel with the Palestinian people. Every civilian casualty is a tragedy, whether the victim is an Israeli or a Palestinian man, woman or child. The responsibility for all of these casualties in the current fighting lies squarely with Hamas and its policy of manufacturing and stockpiling weapons and munitions in, and firing rockets from, densely populated areas in close proximity to homes, mosques, business premises, universities, government buildings, communications facilities and even hospitals.”
Israel completely withdrew its military and civilian presence from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and is committed to living in peace alongside a viable State of Palestine. Israel has made repeated offers to resolve the conflict on the basis of the principle of two States for two peoples. We look forward to the day when both Israelis and Palestinians can each live in their own State in dignity and peace.”
Contact:
Peter Wertheim AM,| Executive Director
phone: 02 8353 8500 | m: 0408 160 904 | fax 02 9361 5888
e: pwertheim@ecaj.org.au | www.ecaj.org.au