Statement on the War in Gaza by the Asian Students' Association (ASA)

Uphold Palestinian People's Lives and Rights

Stop the Air Attacks! Stop the Massacre! Stop the Invasion!

We denounce in the strongest terms possible the relentless air raids of the Israeli Occupation Forces on the Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip.

The aerial attacks have caused the lives of more than 300 people as the wounded are pegged at 700 and counting. The bombings, which were allegedly aimed at Hamas-owned and -run infrastructure, have left homes, hospitals and schools like the Gaza University in ruin.

Added to these attacks are equally brutal strictures made on the entry of food and medical supplies into the Palestinian territory. Israeli tanks are already at the border and raring to go for a land invasion.

Such a display of rabid force is as condemnable. The Israeli Occupation Forces have no disregard for the lives of the people of Palestine as they have escalated their attacks on Gaza.

What little land, sovereignty and dignity left for the people of Gaza is continually and brazenly taken away by the Israeli Occupation Forces. The six-month old ceasefire itself has been violated first and foremost by the Israeli Occupation Forces. On December 27, they launched the Operation Cast Lead which brought in the military offensives on the Palestinian people.

We are seeing how the Gaza Strip is swiftly being turned into land of destitution. And this is what many global leaders say as the expression of democracy.

Democracy is not when institutions like hospitals are torn down and medical care is deprived of those in need. Democracy is not when universities and schools of learning are targeted. Democracy is not when homes of countless civilians are bombed and ravaged.

The Geneva Conventions have been gravely violated as countless lives and futures are destroyed.

The Israeli attack on the people of Palestine can only mirror what the U.S. government has done on Iraq and Afghanistan. Its continued presence in the Middle East as masked under the "war on terror" mantra is nothing but what its Israeli ally does – to invade, to conquer, to terrorize.

There is expressed discomfort over the silence of the Obama presidency when the previous Bush administration has continually pledged political and military support to the Israeli Occupation Forces for the longest time.

We shun the various governments who put the blame on Hamas instead of calling for the immediate halt of the atrocities.

The Palestinian people are calling for a halt. The Israeli people themselves are calling for a halt. We in the international community are calling for a halt.

We call on the Israeli government to immediately withdraw their military attacks on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations should step in to protect the people of Palestine, provide and allow immediate medical and humanitarian relief. It should likewise investigate these absurd and unjustified attacks on human lives in the Gaza Strip and punish those who have committed them.

We can only resolve the armed conflict between Palestine and Israel when we address the genuine calls for respect of sovereignty and self-determination.

We in the ASA call on all our member organizations and networks to lead and support the campaign to stop the Israel-led atrocities in the Gaza Strip and support the Palestinian people in their call for sovereignty and self-determination.