• > Back to list

CONVOY FOR PEACE: SDEROT – GAZA

Published on 2009-01-11 13:20:00

Donations needed

The Third Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, held at Unesco headquarters in Paris, from 15 to 17 December last, focused on the Israel-Palestine confict and was entitled "The Sacredness of Peace". Following the Congress, a final declaration was issued, together with an action plan that formally engaged the participants to work in depth and tangibly for peace.

The participants, thus, were impelled to react to the spiral of violence in Gaza and the south of Israel where violent clashes are taking place with, alas, the main victims being civilians.

Further to the commitment made by the spiritual leaders during the Congress and further to the increasing violence, the decision was taken that a "Convoy for Peace" would be organised, together with other partners.

 

The Convoy will be supervised and organised by the Hommes de Parole Foundation and the members of the EquiLibre association, who, together with the Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian authorities successfully sent convoys to Gaza in 1995 and 1996.

EquiLibre, which created the Hommes de Parole Foundation, has had 15 years of experience in sending convoys by road to countries at war, in particular, the convoys for peace to Sarajevo, Kurdistan, Iraq, Chechenya and Rwanda… This experience is a guarantee of success for the present convoy.

This convoy will have three goals:
- The main goal is to respond to the humanitarian emergency created by the conflict. The first step will be to collect 1000 tons of essential goods which will be distribution upon arrival by the Hommes de Parole Foundation, Caritas, the United Nations agencies and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

- Assistance for the civilian population will be accompanied by an appeal from the spiritual leaders for an immediate end to bombardments in Gaza and the south of Israel. This first "Convoy for Peace" will be accompanied by Imams, Rabbis, and Christian and civilian leaders. It will be leaving on 18 January, and stop in Sderot where a demonstration is scheduled in support of the people living in the south of Israel. A demonstration will then be held in Gaza in support of the local population.

- Going beyond the material assistance, the solidarity shown through the public demonstrations and the convoy of trucks will provide immense psychological support that the people of these region so desperately need to rekindle a spark of hope.

Further, because of the amount of damage that has been done and that, unfortunately, will be done, people's needs do no end when the fighting stops. Foresight is essential, starting now, in order to continue providing assistance in the future. With this in mind, we want to build a "road bridge" to meet the people's need for however long it takes, as we did in Sarajévo, Kigali, Baghdad, etc.
At present we are on site, ready for the convoy to roll, and we have just received the necessary authorisations to bring the trucks into Gaza.
All we now need is the financial means to buy and transport the merchandise. That is why we are asking you to help make sure that as much as possible is brought in. We pledge, of course, to make sure that all the goods that are brought in are distributed to the beneficiary families.
Depending on the goods involved (flour, processed foods, clothes, sugar, infants' milk, chocolate, jam, sanitation products, etc.), the cost price for filling a truck with 30 tons of urgently needed goods, and getting them into the hands of the inhabitants of Gaza, is between 22,000 and 104,000 U.S. dollars.

For sponsors and foundations that want to show their feelings of solidarity we will be more than willing to paint their names and logos on the canvass covers of the trucks in the convoy.

We really truly need you.

Let us express our gratitude in advance on behalf of everyone we will be able to help thanks to your generosity.

You can support this action by sending a cheque on the following bank: ......... (cheque made out to Hommes de Parole - Convois pour la Paix)

Please send cheque to: Hommes de Parole, Convois pour la Paix : 38 rue Liancourt 75014 Paris, France
Or
By credit card, on the site: http://www.imamsrabbis.org/fr/supportus/index

Or by bank transfer to the following account:
international: FR76 1820 6002 8940 4511 3900 116 (BIC) AGRIFRPP882
France: RIB (Bank ID): 18206 00289 40451139001 16

CONTACT
00 972 2 628 55 98
00 33 1 43 35 40 96
Email : convoipourlapaix@hommesdeparole.org

V0.97