10 Unterschriften erreicht
An: Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and to the Swiss Government
HUMAN RIGHTS BURIED UNDER THE RUBBLE OF GAZA! YOU MUST CALL FOR A CEASEFIRE IN PALESTINE!
As citizens of Switzerland, a country with a tradition of pacifism and neutrality, we join the appeals of thousands of people around the world, the appeals of the humanitarian organisations in Palestine and the request expressed in the letter that Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders sent on 1 December 2023 to Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), echoed in the appeal of Stephen Cornish, General Director of MSF Switzerland, in the "open letter" published by "La Regione" on 07.12.2023:
"We did everything we could. Remember us”.
Could these few words, written by an MSF doctor on the blackboard of a Gaza hospital, prompt us to reflect on the horrors that accompany the deluge of information we receive every day, and to take action to stop them? It’s time to mobilise all of us, especially political representatives and governments, to protest and demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza. It is time to stop the indiscriminate and incessant attacks, the displacements, the attacks on hospitals and medical personnel, the siege and the restrictions on the distribution of humanitarian aid.
It is time to reclaim our common humanity, our support for peace and our aversion to war. We can still prevent Gaza from turning into a cemetery.
Dr Ignazio Cassis, you are a federal councillor and a doctor: please do everything you can to prevent humanity from being buried in Gaza!"
(www.laregione.ch/i-contributi/i-dibattiti/1717984/gaza-essere-umanita-attacchi-medico - freely translated from Italian)
The worldwide political support for Israel, which manifests itself in the absence of any real pressure or sanctions, which would lead the Israeli government to end this war, is in stark contrast to the opinion of a large part of the world population, which has been demonstrating for weeks in favour of an IMMEDIATE AND DEFINITIVE CEASEFIRE.
We call on the Swiss Government to support the Federal Councillor, Ignazio Cassis, to put pressure on the Israeli government to put an END TO EVERY KIND OF ATTACK IN PALESTINE and to declare the indiscriminate attacks on civilians, refugee camps and humanitarian organisations, perpetrated relentlessly by the Israeli army, as CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
Warum ist das wichtig?
On 7 October 2023, Hamas carried out an attack of unprecedented cruelty, killing and kidnapping soldiers, Israeli civilians, and foreign workers, among them women, children and elderly people.
Israel's response, which has been going on for almost three months, has indiscriminately targeted civilians, women, children and the elderly.
We beg those who still believe that this war is “not our war” or that it may be a “lost cause” to reflect that there is no side to choose, there is a fundamental duty to defend and that is summed up in the word HUMANITY.
This same humanity that the world's governments seem to have forgotten, despite the appeals of NGOs and the reports they receive from everywhere and, on a daily basis, from the O.C.H.A (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) which, as of 26 December 2023, reports 20915 Palestinians killed, 70% of whom are women and children, and 54918 Palestinians wounded, in addition to the countless missing people, presumably buried under the rubble, along with others still awaiting rescue or recovery.
Added to this there are the indescribable and inhumane living conditions, which are listed in the latest report published by OCHA on 26.12.2023 and which affect every single aspect of life, that can no longer be described as such:
Hostilities and casualties (Gaza Strip-20915 casualties, of which 70% women and children - 54918 injured)
Displacement (Gaza Strip - 1.9 million Palestinians)
Electricity
Healthcare, including bombings (Gaza Strip)
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Food Security
Hostilities and casualties (Israel - 1,200 casualties, including 36 children)
Violence and casualties (West Bank - 295 people including 77 children - 3803 injured including 576 children)
Settler violence (against Palestinians and their homes)
Displacement (West Bank - thousands of people, half of them children)
(www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-77)
Finally - and of crucial importance - a definitive ceasefire would entail the release of the hostages still held in Gaza, who would at least be reunited with their families.
For more information:
Humanitarian organisations such as MSF have also suffered loss of life, and not only are they unable to provide medical and humanitarian aid and support, but they have also become targets themselves.
MSF, like every humanitarian NGO, only reports on the conditions and status of the situation, in a completely neutral, non-denominational and apolitical way.
This is why we invite you to read not only MSF's full letter, but above all the news it has published during these terrible months, www.msf.ch/nos-actualites/dossiers/urgence-gaza, which testifies to this tragedy and the need to call on our government to get involved and do everything in its power to put an end to all this and to bring justice to ALL INNOCENT VICTIMS.