Vigil outside the Art Gallery – Leeds City Center - Saturday 1st July 2006, 2:00 - 4:00 pm.
The Israeli government has amassed troops on the outskirts of Gaza and are moving into Rafah, threatening invasion to rescue one Israeli soldier taken hostage on Sunday 25th June.
There are currently 300 Palestinian children (under 18's) and 100 Palestinian women being held hostages in Israeli prisons. They are among over 9,000 Palestinians being held, many of whom are in administrative detention - i.e. without trial or charges. However Israeli leader Ehud Olmert says negotiations 'are not on the agenda'.
The Israeli army has killed 50 Palestinians since the beginning of this month. The Israeli army has destroyed the electricity supplies of over half of the Gaza Strip and is tightening its closure and strangulation of the area, thus committing an illegal act of collective punishment on the Palestinian Population. The situation is sure to get worse as Israeli tanks move into densely populated civilian areas, which have already suffered heavily from several months of daily shelling and closures.
We call for a vigil against Israeli War Crimes and in support of Palestinian Human Rights this Saturday (1st July) from 2:00 to 4:00pm at Leeds City Art Gallery. We call on all supporters of Palestine to make their presence known in this current emergency.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Leeds
Palestinian Forum in Britain
General Union of Palestine Students