With Israel’s air strikes against Hamas in Gaza now claiming more than 370 lives (including at least 62 civilians) and extending into a fourth day, Jews around the world and in the Twin Cities are expressing outrage over the bloodshed. (Four Israelis have reportedly been killed from Hamas rocket attacks.) From 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. today a rally of “hundreds” will be held outside Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office to protest Israel’s “brutal” use of force, according to a release by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN). Jewish leaders will read the following statement at a 1 p.m. press conference:

“As of this writing, Israel’s massacre of Palestinians in occupied Gaza has killed nearly 300, and injured hundreds more – mostly civilians – since Saturday, December 26th. Over a thousand tons of bombs have been dropped on one of the most densely populated places in the world. “Operation Cast Lead”, coming after an 18-month siege on the Gaza Strip that created electricity and water shortages and cut means for producing basics such as daily bread, has exacerbated the humanitarian catastrophe faced by Gaza’s 1.5 million residents.

“Israel carried out these recent attacks with F16 fighter jets and missiles provided by U.S. tax dollars. The state of Minnesota is especially invested in Israel, holding Israeli bonds, while Governor Pawlenty is meeting with Israeli trade representatives to further the Minnesota-Israeli economic partnership. In light of this economic alliance and the moral responsibility that comes along, we demand Governor Pawlenty cut our trade and investment ties with Israel instead of financing this humanitarian crisis.

“As Jews in the Twin Cities, we stand with the world majority in the call to immediately end Israel’s current and devastating aggression in Gaza, for Israel to be held accountable for it’s actions, and for our fellow Minnesotans to join us. As Jews of conscience it is our responsibility to decry these atrocities done in our name.”

Similar rallies have been held around the world since the strikes began, including demonstrations planned today in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Valencia (Spain), among others.

On Dec. 27, the organization’s site published a statement that IJAN decries “the multiple forms of collective punishment currently being inflicted that reflect Israel’s 60-plus year history of ethnic cleansing: lack of access to electricity and potable water, blockades of food and medicine, and these brutal attacks… The media frames this violence as a conflict between warring peoples with equal power. This framing is possible because the media fails to recognize Israel as an apartheid State or as a colonial occupying force with one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world.”