I have supported Israel my entire life and I still do. However, I cannot support the occupation or the blockade of Gaza. And now the bombing of innocent people in Gaza utterly sickens me. And the United States can stop it because Israel depends on our aid money and our weapons. We must use our leverage to stop the killing.

The people of Gaza are literally being decimated by powerful bombs while the world watches. It is simply inexplicable why Israel is bent on destroying Gaza. It is real children who are being murdered, real families being torn apart, real women and real men being incinerated from above. It's a horrible repeat of the massacre of 2008/2009, and it is absolutely unconscionable that the US condone Israel's actions against innocent civilians. Dropping flyers of impending doom on them has to be a macabre joke. As Jon Stewart pointed out--where on earth are they going to go?? The people of Gaza are literally fenced in where they are, and they are being decimated. That is genocide, and an absolute war crime. We, the people of the US, and the people of the world cannot condone it! We ask you as our President to step forward and speak out to Israel's leaders for peace and a ceasefire now--not any kind of endlessly negotiated ceasefire, but an End to Israel's one-sided show of might and ego and force against a completely defenceless civilian population. Israel needs to stop bombing first.

Wafa Hospital in Gaza’s Shujaiyya district has already been hit twice by Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military has told the hospital to evacuate, but the hospital’s staff say that 16 elderly and terminally ill patients are too frail to move. [1] When an Israeli military officer called the hospital late on Tuesday warning that it must be evacuated by 8AM Wednesday morning, Dr. Basman Alashi, the hospital’s executive director, called the World Health Organization, saying that such a move would risk the lives of patients. On Wednesday, while many inhabitants of the surrounding area were fleeing in response to Israeli bombardment warnings, Dr. Alashi, 16 medical staff members and the same number of patients stayed behind. They have been joined by eight international solidarity activists, including American journalist Joe Catron, who have volunteered to act as human shields at the hospital. [2] Press President Obama and Members of Congress to demand that Israel not bomb Wafa Hospital or other medical facilities in Gaza protected by international humanitarian law by signing our petition. References: 1. “Gaza hospital defies Israel evacuation warning amid fears for frail patients,” Robert Tait, The Telegraph, 16 July 2014, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/10970795/Gaza-hospital-defies-Israel-evacuation-warning-amid-fears-for-frail-patients.html 2. “American among volunteer human shields at Gaza hospital,” Daniella Cheslow, McClatchy, July 13, 2014, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/13/233190/american-among-volunteer-human.html

To stop the war between Israel and Palestine. Most of the people being killed by random bombing by Israeli forces, is killing mostly children and the elderly.

If Ireland's IRA was bombarding England's kindergartens day in and day out, all the while threatening the US with terrorist attacks, would the United States of America contribute to the terrorist IRA? Congress has the laws that IT ITSELF wrote. Abide by the law you have written, America.

The Israeli military carried out a second night of airstrikes in Gaza July 8. As of Wednesday morning, July 9, at least 29 Palestinians had been killed since the airstrikes began July 7, including seven children under the age of 16. [1] At least two Israelis had been lightly wounded by rocket fire from Gaza, Haaretz reported. [2] The military conflict “showed no signs of abating,” according to a New York Times report on July 9. [3] From the past, we know how this ends. There will be a new ceasefire. The key question is how long it will take, how many people will be killed and injured, how much will be destroyed in the meantime. The United States can help save both Israeli and Palestinian lives by speaking out urgently in support of a ceasefire, and working vigorously with U.S. allies in the region that have good relations with both sides, such as Egypt and Jordan, to press for a ceasefire. The U.S. can help make the ceasefire last by pressing for an agreement that would permanently lift the blockade of Gaza. The State Department should also continue to press for an investigation of the beating in Israeli police custody of U.S. citizen Tarek Abu Khdeir. [4] Press the Obama Administration to engage vigorously and urgently by signing our petition. References: 1. “Seven children killed in Israeli airstrikes over Gaza,” Defence for Children International Palestine, 9 Jul 2014, http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/eight-children-killed-israeli-airstrikes-over-gaza 2. “Live updates, July 7, 2014: Rockets bombard south, Hamas claims responsibility,” Haaretz, Jul. 8, 2014, http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.603472 3. “Dozens of Gaza Strikes by Israel as Hamas Extends Rockets’ Range,” Steven Erlanger and Isabel Kershner, New York Times, July 9, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/world/middleeast/israel-and-hamas-exchange-fire.html 4. “State Dept. demands investigation into reports of teen's beating in Israel,” Kyle Balluck, The Hill, 7/06/14, http://thehill.com/policy/international/211380-us-demands-investigation-into-reports-of-teens-beating-in-israel

I have recently returned from the Occupied Palestinian Territories where I served as an Ecumenical Accompanier, a program sponsored by the World Council of Churches. EAs provide a peaceful presence for the Palestinian people and work with Israeli and Palestinian peace groups in finding ways to engage in non-violent resistance to the Occupation. While I was there, Christians were denied access to the Old City in Jerusalem during Holy Week, Muslim men under age 50 as well as school children were denied access to the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound on a regular basis, a Bedouin farmer's home was demolished by the IDF three times, Abu Omar's home was bulldozed, and 14 families in another Bedouin village received eviction notices. In South Hebron Hills, a farmer's entire wheat harvest was torched, as it lay drying in the field, by Israeli settlers. Daoud, owner of The Tent of Nations Conference Center near Bethlehem, lost 800 fruit trees to settlers. Our tax dollars are paying for these human rights abuses that take place on a daily basis because of the Occupation of the Palestinian Territories. As long as we remain silent, we are complicit in whatever violence takes place on either side. I urge you to sign this petition to help end the Occupation and give the Palestinian people their freedom and Israel the security it longs for. Thank you, Lynn Coulthard

Egyptians are currently being jailed, murdered, raped and victimized simply for advocating for democracy, freedom, and human rights. We are signing this petition to stand with the pro-democracy Egyptians and stand against Egypt's military regime that is responsible for the atrocities and enabled in large part by our U.S. Tax Dollars which are being sent to Egypt as more than $1.3B in annual aid.

This was the situation that constituted their arrest, trial and sentence to prison. . . . . . Early on the morning of July 28, 2012, the three “veteran activists” hiked over a ridge and cut through four fences to reach the United States “new” storehouse for bomb-grade, highly enriched uranium at the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex. Their arrest led to a temporary shutdown of Y-12 operations, oversight hearings in Congress, and an on-going security overhauls throughout the nuclear weapons enterprise. Before you sign this, you’re probably asking yourself a couple of questions: #1. Why do these people do what they do? It’s to draw your attention to exactly what is going on in our country. It’s the nuclear build-up of weapons that are beyond most of our wildest imagination. Each one of America’s 14 nuclear subs has 24 missiles and each missile has 4 to 8 independently targeted warheads. Each of the individual warheads on a missile is now 30 times more powerful than the bombs used on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It takes only one of American’s 14 submarines to ruin Europe as a civilization and the definite possibility of becoming the means of eliminating all life on this planet. Now ….. Let’s work a little with these numbers. We’re producing a weapon that is 30 times more powerful than Nagasaki. 150,000 died at Nagasaki so 30 X 150,000 = 4 million men, women, children and the environment around them becomes ashes.. In actuality, these three, labelled terrorists, by attempting to make us aware of this, should be crowned as saints, because what we’re talking about here is really insanity. If you think these statements are off the wall, add the price tag of a 100 billion to build 14 new nuclear subs all this and then make the claim, along with our government that we need all this to protect ourselves. So….. The reason for you to sign this is, the way we’re heading with the improved nuclear systems, you could possibly become one of the 4 million to experience the fruits of America’s thirst for power. #2. Why should I get involved with all this? The second reason why you should sign this petition is because of our morally bankrupt court system. When they label and convict an eighty-five year old nun of being a terrorist and no one objects, it means that we’ve accepted a rotten process. So…. are Sr. Megan, Michael & Gregg terrorists? Are they saboteurs? When we, as a people, accept untruths as truths, then it’s not long till the government can bring you in calling you something you’re not and when our high courts cannot distinguish right and wrong then we’re all in trouble. They had a great saying in Germany. “When they came for the journalist, I said nothing. When they came for the labor leaders, I said nothing. When they came for the teachers, I said nothing and finally, when they came for me there was no one left to speak for me. The evil of nuclear weapons is present and along with it the forces that keep it operational. We appreciate your willingness to engage with us to keep real freedom alive which is always founded in truth. So…. Keep this in mind. You are signing this as much for ourselves as the three righteous and courageous people in jail.

On June 19, the House took an important step by prohibiting the transfer of MANPADS (shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles) to actors in Syria. [1] House passage of the bipartisan Conyers-Yoho-Welch-Amash-Grayson-DesJarlais-Nolan amendment showed that Members of the House understood that these are particularly dangerous weapons due to the possibility that they could be used by terrorists against civilian planes in Israel and elsewhere. [2] [3] [4] Recent events in Iraq have shown that there is no border separating Sunni insurgents fighting the government of Syria from Sunni insurgents fighting the government of Iraq, nor any boundary between different groups of Sunni insurgents. Members of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee are in a unique position to advance this legislation. They could virtually ensure that the House provision becomes law by including it in the Senate’s Defense Appropriation. References: 1. House Votes to Ban Some, but Not All, Weapons for Syrian Rebels http://blogs.rollcall.com/five-by-five/house-votes-to-ban-some-but-not-all-weapons-for-syrian-rebels/ 2. 19 Reps say NO to MANPADS in Syria http://fcnl.org/issues/middle_east/19_reps_syria_manpads/ 3. JFP stmt: House bars transfer of MANPADS to Syria http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1527 4. 14,000 at MoveOn - Congress: Back Welch-Jones-Mulvaney-Conyers Against Syria Manpads http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/Welch-Syria-no-manpads

I started harvesting coffee bean from the age of 4 and my grandfather had been doing so for 75 years but was not able to purchase a cup of coffee. My cousins who lived further South of Cameroon unlike me from the Savannah North were equally harvesting cocoa beans since they were 3 years old. I drank my first cup of coffee when I was 25 years old and had moved to Europe and my cousin ate his first chocolate bar when he was 27 years old and had moved to the US. Why can Cameroon and other African countries not grind their coffee and cocoa beans into powder? Because the WTO Clause bars them from doing so and it is the intention of this petition to force those players at the WTO to realise that the WTO is the worst violator of fundamental Human Rights.

On June 19, the House took an important step by prohibiting the transfer of MANPADS to actors in Syria. [1] House passage of the Conyers-Yoho-Welch-Amash-Grayson-DesJarlais-Nolan amendment showed that Members of the House understood that these are particularly dangerous weapons due to the possibility that they could be used by terrorists against civil aviation in Israel and elsewhere. [2] [3] [4] Recent events in Iraq have shown that there is no border separating Sunni insurgents fighting the government of Syria from Sunni insurgents fighting the government of Iraq, nor any boundary between different groups of Sunni insurgents. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is in a unique position as Chair of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He could ensure that the House provision becomes law by including it in the Senate’s Defense Appropriation. References: 1. House Votes to Ban Some, but Not All, Weapons for Syrian Rebels http://blogs.rollcall.com/five-by-five/house-votes-to-ban-some-but-not-all-weapons-for-syrian-rebels/ 2. 19 Reps say NO to MANPADS in Syria http://fcnl.org/issues/middle_east/19_reps_syria_manpads/ 3. JFP stmt: House bars transfer of MANPADS to Syria http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1527 4. 14,000 at MoveOn - Congress: Back Welch-Jones-Mulvaney-Conyers Against Syria Manpads http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/Welch-Syria-no-manpads