The awful bloodshed in Gaza is only escalating, despite our small victory of a first UN resolution -- 758 Palestinians now lie dead including 257 children and 60 women, and 15 Israelis. As Israel's tanks, airplanes and artillery bombard targets in thickly populated urban areas, thousands more have been injured and 1.5 million terrified civilians have no escape from this prison-like enclave -- the borders are sealed -- and Hamas continues to fight and fire rockets, with neither side yet accepting the UN's call. This will be tougher even than our campaign for a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2006.
But we can make a difference -- even Israel's own foreign minister admits that intense international pressure could force a ceasefire. To that end, we've delivered our new petition, already 330,000-strong, to top officials of the UN, EU and Arab League. Outrageously, the US Bush administration did not vote for the UN ceasefire proposal and its loopholes leave the bloodshed worsening by the hour: meanwhile attempts are being made to impose skewed arrangements that would legitimize the suffocating blockade of Gaza, which Hamas cite as reason for their rocket attacks.
Enough is enough: these civilian deaths can't go on, and we can't let Bush and co block a fair, negotiated ceasefire. Let's get to half a million signatures -- we'll publish our ceasefire call in a hard-hitting ad in the Washington Post and deliver it in meetings with key powers -- follow the link below to see the ad, sign the petition, and forward this message to all your friends and family:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_
