GREEN PARTY CALLS FOR CUT OFF OF AID TO ISRAEL

CALLING THE SIEGE OF GAZA an international emergency, the Green Party is urging Congress to reject President Bush's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in military financing for Israel, and reiterated its call for a cut-off of all US military aid to Israel. "The Siege of Gaza is an ongoing atrocity, with mounting civilian casualties, especially children, killed and maimed by Israeli Defense Forces," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States. Greens noted that the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has doubled since the Annapolis peace talks sponsored by the US in November 2007. In some areas of the West Bank, home invasions by IDF since January 1 have resulted in the kidnapping and detention without charges of nearly 400 civilians, including children. 1.5 million Gazans, mostly refugees from Israel in 1948, live in an open-air prison, unable to exit, and with electricity, fuel, and water under Israeli control.