Ceasefire Now
Our friends at Nonviolence International recently sent this important message to their email subscribers. As the conflict in Palestine continues to unfold, we felt these words from Mubarak Awad were important to share. Please take a moment to read them below.
Thank you for standing for humanity and for the simple idea that Palestinians and Israelis should have the same rights. This is a difficult time. So much death and we don’t have time to grieve because more people are dying every day. You can see a video by our colleague Ahmed Alnaouq, co-founder of We Are Not Numbers, who spoke about losing his family including his father, 5 siblings and 14 nieces/nephews to an air strike on their house in Gaza. He said he does not have time to properly grieve, because the genocidal attack continues and he has to speak up to stop it.
Hurt people, hurt people. We have seen hundreds of Gazan young men who have been locked up in an open-air prison since birth indiscriminately kill Israelis on Oct 7th. We now see Israelis who have suffered from anti-Semitism for centuries, lash out in revenge and engage in savage ethnic cleansing. We must stop the cycle of direct violence and the degradation of systemic violence and injustice.
I ask 3 things of you:
1. Take a risk to speak up against the war and call for a ceasefire. This might mean risking a job, a friend or family relationship. This might mean civil disobedience. Some of us in the NVI family are engaging in civil disobedience. Ann Wright, the board member of US Boat to Gaza got thrown out of a congressional hearing and spoke about it here. Paul Magno, our Isaiah Project Director led a protest of Catholic groups calling for a ceasefire at the White House yesterday. Other NVI staffers have done sit-ins in the US Congress. It is a time to demand a change in US, European and Israeli policies which are causing such suffering.
2. Support efforts of humanitarian aid personally and call for the full resumption of food, fuel, water and medicine.
Holy Land Trust is raising funds for 4 Gazan groups,
Women Programs Center - Rafah
Al Amal Society for Rehabilitation - Rafah
Youth Vision Society - Beach Camp, Gaza City
Al Basma Club for the Disabled - now relocated to Deir Al Balah
These organizations have joined forces to purchase vital supplies. We are procuring food, water, and hygiene supplies in the form of $50 kits designed to sustain each family during this trying time.
The Center for Jewish Nonviolence has launched a special fundraiser for West Bank Palestinian communities facing pogroms. The situation in some communities is dire and not getting the attention because of the genocide in Gaza.
Please donate generously to both of those funding appeals.
3. Join NVI’s strategy of supporting the efforts of Palestinians and Israelis/Jews to build a future together so they can defeat the extreme nationalists in their own communities who deploy terror and violence to achieve their goals.
Let me conclude with a heartfelt call to oppose military solutions. No more apartheid. Only courageous nonviolent co-resistance of Palestinians and Israelis along with their allies will succeed.
Salaam,
Mubarak Awad, President
P.S. You are not alone in your grief nor in your desire to take effective action.
Nonviolence International
https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/