Candlelight Vigil to Support Palestinians in Gaza

posted on: Dec 31, 2008

The Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO), in Michigan, is calling for community participation in a candlelight vigil on Friday, January 2, 2009 at 5 p.m. in front of the Dearborn City Hall at Michigan and Schaefer Rd. The vigil will show the community’s support for the Palestinians in Gaza, who are being massacred by an unprecedented air, sea and ground attack by Israel. CAAO has strongly condemned the current Israeli massacre in Gaza, in which more than 400 Palestinians — including women and children — have been murdered and thousands injured.

For the last two years, Israel has imposed an inhumane economic seige on the one and a half million Palestinians living in Gaza, a seige that has created a huge open-air prison. Humanitarian organizations have long warned of impending disaster in Gaza, where Israel has prevented food and fuel from entering and people are starving to death. For the past two months Israel has refused to allow journalists into Gaza and now they are bombing the civilian population. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israel’s offensive as excessive and demanded an immediate cease-fire.

CAAO urges community members to bring their own candles and lighters and Palestinian flags and to wear kuffiyehs to the vigil. The Congress is made up of representatives of 43 organizations, all of whom urge participation in the vigil.