Dear friends,
The Palestinian town of Susiya is about to be demolished by Israeli bulldozers to make way for nearby settlements. The people of Susiya have lived there for generations and they have no where else to go. We can help.
Australian aid money helped buy the town it’s clinic, it’s school and the beehives that provide the town’s honey trade. We could see our aid investment bulldozed within days, impoverishing the 340 people that live there. International pressure is all that is standing in the way of the bulldozers; Australia can stop this community from seeing their homes crushed into the dirt.
Israel spends millions on it’s diplomacy, and is already coming under fire for this decision. If Julie Bishop, our formidable Foreign Minister and strong ally of Israel spoke out, it would be almost impossible to demolish Susiya. Let’s call on Minister Bishop to act immediately, before the bulldozers arrive — sign now:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/australia_save_susiya_loc/?bhPqncb&v=63402
The Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and have been widely and repeatedly condemned by the international community. In the dry hills around Hebron, the settlements gobble up the water and make subsistence agriculture near impossible for the people in the area.
Susiya is in between an illegal Israeli settlement and an Israeli managed archeological site and the land is prized because it can connect the two. Moving residents off their land in this way is forcible transfer, which is considered a war crime, punishable at the International Criminal Court. Global scrutiny is the only defense against the bulldozers before they arrive to tear down the community.
Rabbi’s for Human Rights have been defending Susiya in the courts for years and rallying for the protection of the town. Already officials from the Australian consulate in Ramallah have visited Susiya, but now it will take serious diplomatic muscle to stop the demolition. Sign now to call on Julie Bishop to protect Susiya and the people that call it home:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/australia_save_susiya_loc/?bhPqncb&v=63402
