Brought to you by MuslimMatters.org (www.tinyurl.com/action-gaza)
Bismillah, before continuing, please check all pessimism at the gate, otherwise don’t read any further.
Feel free to use this post, in part or entirety, and circulate as much as possible. Copyright rules are waived for it.
FAMILIARIZE : Familiarize yourself with the Gaza situation, if you are not already. We have compiled a list of action-items (many from readers' comments) into one list that, inshaAllah, will empower us all. Now, it's time to do something.
This is OUR 60-90 minutes action-guide that WE should go through at least once.
Repeat one or more of the actions as often as you are able to. Do as much as you can, whenever you can.
NO ACTION IS INSIGNIFICANT.
OUR 60-Minute Action-Gaza Plan (one-time, not daily):
1. MAKE Du'a | 10 minutes | REPEAT Everyday
Print out the dua’s listed here: http://tinyurl.com/gaza-dua and post it on your fridge or any other prominent location. Read the du'as now and move on.
2. DONATE | 10 minutes |
Make a donation. Every one of you can make a small donation, even if it is $5. CAN WE MEET A TARGET OF $10,000 SET FOR MM??
• Islamic Relief USA
http://www.irw.org/campaigns/palestinecrisis08
• KinderUSA
http://www.kinderusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=2
• Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
http://www.pcrf.net/can/can2.html
• American Near East Refugee Aid
https://secure2.convio.net/anera/site/Donation2?df_id=1280&1280.donation=form1
3. JOIN MM's new DIGG Club on FACEBOOK | 5 minutes |
This is a means to increase the power of the word-of-mouth for important news articles or analysis:
• Learn about these tools: http://tinyurl.com/mm-digg.
• Join the new FB group by going to this link: http://tinyurl.com/digg-fb
(make sure you ONLY join if you are COMMITTED to spending 5 minutes maximum per day).
• Here's how it will work:
As soon as there is a significant/fair article brought to our attention, we will send a message on FB to the entire group.
All members of the group are required to do their part: to DIGG, SU, Reddit, whatever, within 48 hours of receiving notice (it takes only 1 minute to do it).
You have suddenly become part of blitzing truth over falsehood.
4. CALL GAZA | {OPTIONAL}
• Call any random number in Gaza, and tell them that you are calling from North America (or wherever you are), make Duaa for them and tell them all their brothers and sisters around the world are with them; this will give them moral support and courage ! How to call? > Very simple!
• Dial any of these number and replace the last 4 digits by any random ones, try 4 or 5 times and you'll reach a family insha'Allah ! Even if you don't speak Arabic, talk to them with very slow and simple English
(011)9728284-XXXX (011)9728282-XXXX (011)9728255-XXXX
5. SIGN PETITION | 2 MINUTES
• CAIR has launched an online petition drive to collect one million signatures. Be part of it by clicking here. http://petition.cair.com/
6. WRITE a Letter to the Editor | 20-50 minutes | REPEAT for other newspapers
Letters to editor is the most-read section in the entire newspaper, and is read by local leaders as a means of keeping up with the pulse of the community.
• Write a letter to your local newspaper (you can find it from the list here). You have a better chance of getting published than writing to one of the national newspapers.
• Consider these guidelines to increase your chance of getting published. The most important point: Make ONE point, even if you have a hundred swarming in your head. Be very succinct and add some “color” or “reasoned emotion”, it may increase your chance of getting published.
7. CIRCULATE | (EXTRA BONUS AJAR):
• Cross-post on your blog. Email it. Post to your facebook profile.
• Print out this hard-copy of this "Action-Gaza", make copies and distribute.
Talking Points for Letters to Editor & Congressional Representative
[remember keep scope of letter limited]:
1. President Bush and Secretary Rice should exert diplomatic pressure to immediately re-instate a ceasefire. Israel's military assault is disproportionate, inhumane, and immoral. U.S. is the only country that can effectively halt this violence.
2. All human life is sacred. Israel must stop its collective punishment of Palestinians, and allow critically needed medical supplies and food to be delivered to the residents of Gaza.
3. The Gaza Strip is smaller than the Isle of Wight, but it is crammed with 1.5 million people who can never leave. \ When bombs begin to fall -- as they are doing now with more deadly force than on any day since 1967 -- there is nowhere to hide.
4. The Israeli government did indeed withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005 - in order to be able to intensify control of the West Bank. Ariel Sharon's senior advisor Dov Weisglass was unequivocal about this, explaining: "The disengagement [from Gaza] is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that's necessary so that there will not be a political process"
5. The election of Hamas was in a free and democratic election, and it was not a rejection of a two-state solution. Rather than seize this opportunity and test their sincerity, the Israeli government reacted by punishing the entire civilian population. They announced they were blockading the Gaza Strip in order to "pressure" its people to reverse the democratic process.
6. According to Oxfam, this November only 137 trucks of food were allowed into Gaza this November - to feed 1.5 million people. The UN says poverty has reached an "unprecedented level."
7. It was in this context - under collective punishment designed to topple a democracy - that some forces within Gaza did something immoral: they fired Qassam rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities. These rockets have killed 16 ordinary Israeli citizens. This is abhorrent: targeting civilians is always murder. But it is hypocritical for the Israeli government to claim now to speak out for the safety of civilians when they have been terrorizing civilians as a matter of state policy.
8. Israel had failed to abide by the terms of the cease-fire. For the overwhelming majority of the six-month truce, Israel had refused to ease its military blockade of Gaza to any significant degree. In addition, it was the initial violator of the cease-fire
when it sent tanks and aircraft into Gaza and killed six Palestinians on 11/4/2008.
9. Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said in November that his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel within the 1967 borders. Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 9, 2008
10. Institutions of higher learning are supposed to serve the needs of their countries and are also supposed to be a place where diverse views are debated. The indiscriminate bombing of this university simply cannot be justified
More Talking-points Can be Found Here:
• Gaza University Destroyed, Professor Rayyan & Family Murdered: Are Some Freedoms More Sacred Than Others? http://tinyurl.com/gaza-univ
• Israel’s Lie Machine is Working Flat Out by Stuart Littlewood [Must-Read]
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29449
• The True Story Behind This War is Not the One Israel is Telling by Johann Hari
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-true-story-behind-thi_b_153825.html
• The Facts about Israel’s War on Gaza [Separate Facts from Fiction] http://tinyurl.com/gaza-facts-sheets
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