litany to mark end of 14-day fast

national | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Wednesday June 23, 2004 02:34 by caoimhe - ipsc masasa73 at hotmail dot com dublin 0872134160

outside c.r.h.

litany

PRESS RELEASE (for immediate release)-Wednesday June 23rd

LITANY OF THE DEAD FOR PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI VICTIMS OF THE OCCUPATION-CALL
FOR C.R.H. TO DIVEST FROM ISRAELI CEMENT COMPANIES

Today, June 23rd, activist Caoimhe Butterly, who has been observing a
two-week fast/hunger-strike in an attempt to pressure C.R.H. to disinvest
from Mashav and it’s subsidiary company, Nesher Cement, will break the fast
at 6:00 p.m, outside C.R.H. offices on Fitzwilliam Square. This will take
place with a reading of a litany of the dead - the names of Palestinians and
also of Israeli civilians, who are both victims of an Occupation that is
both immoral and illegal.

Caoimhe Butterly states “Israeli state-sponsored terrorism and Palestinian
bombings within Israel are two sides of the same coin, both stem from an
Occupation that is prolonging the terrible suffering of both peoples. There
is a growing movement of Israelis that recognize that Palestinian bombings
are a response to the Occupation, not the other way round. In order for both
peoples to live in security and peace the policies of 21st century Apartheid
Israel must be isolated, and civil society in Europe has a responsibility to
ensure that a move towards genuine self-determination for Palestinians
remains an attainable possibility. The construction of an 8 metre high
Apartheid Wall, that will annex further land in the West Bank, divide and
isolate communities, plunge hundreds of thousands of Palestinians well below
the poverty line, and solidify a regime of increased brutality and
degradation, is not a security measure. The only real way to enhance the
security of Israelis is to recognize that it cannot be done at the expense
of the fundamental human rights of Palestinians.”

The two week fast, aimed at highlighting C.R.H.’s involvement, through
Nesher, in the supplying of the raw material cement for the construction of
the Wall, received wide-spread coverage in Ireland and the Middle East. The
response of C.R.H. was to issue two press releases, the first of which
denied “involvement”, although not specifying whether they would classify
the supplying of a raw material as involvement. The second conceded that
Nesher had no control over to whom and for what their cement be used, and
that they could not “refuse to sell or discriminate between any customer of
whatever religion or political affiliations.” C.R.H. also, repeatedly,
distinguished between cement, the raw material, and concrete, the finished
product.

Caoimhe Butterly states “C.R.H. have not yet clarified their position, but
continue to engage in semantics and word-play. Whether or not Nesher cannot
refuse to sell cement for the construction of the Wall is not the issue. The
issue is that C.R.H. continues to invest in Nesher in the light of their
facilitation, through supplying one of the raw materials, of the
construction of the Apartheid Wall. The arguments of C.R.H., that Israel
also imports cement from other countries, too, is irrelevant. The point is
that C.R.H. has a huge share, in multinational terms, 25%, in Nesher. If
even one shovel of partially Irish-owned cement is going into the Wall, it
has to stop. It is outrageous that while our Government condemns the Wall,
an Irish company profits from it. The only moral option is for C.R.H. to divest
their
shares immediately.”

The symbolic closing or breaking of Caoimhe’s fast will see a gathering of
people outside C.R.H. bearing witness to the many victims of the Occupation.
There will also be live music and a photographic exhibition documenting some of
the
effects of the Wall, hung on the railings across the street from C.R.H. All
are welcome to join.

For more information, please contact Caoimhe Butterly on :
087-213-4160
or, [email protected]