September 2006

Summary for church bulletins etc:

Prayer for Peace: International Day, 21 September

Wipe Out Poverty Week 2006

Lebanon: In the wake of the hostilities, ACT International calls for protection of civilians and access for humanitarian aid workers wherever the need arises.

Sudan/Darfur: First War, Now Floods

Gaza - Heartfelt Plea for Peace - Constantine Dabbah

Plea for Peace - Bishop Riah

Sri Lanka: Stop the War

Summary for church bulletins etc:

This edition reflects the climate of unrest and war which prevails in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

ACT International (Action by Churches Together), the global emergency response network to which CWS belongs, has issued a call, in light of events in Lebanon, for the protection of civilians and for guaranteed access for humanitarian aid workers in areas of conflict.

From Gaza come heartfelt pleas from a long-time Palestinian development worker and a Bishop for their people to be released from the “prison “of the Israeli occupation, which is causing untold human suffering. Grassroots organisations in Sri Lanka issue a call to “Stop the War”, while in Sudan/Darfur, floods are adding further to the misery of war. Through it all ordinary people carry on doing their best to help others in need.

For CWS Appeals for areas reported here see home page

For the CWS 2007 Calendar see home page

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Prayer for Peace: International Day, 21 September

As this issue of CWS Update is being prepared it seems that so much of the news is bad news. The good news, however, is that ordinary people in all the places of conflict are carrying on in the face of overwhelming odds to assist their fellow human beings. This is why our prayers for peace are so important – as is our financial help to keep their work going. CWS.

The World Council of Churches is calling on all churches to join faith communities worldwide on September 21 in observance of the International Day of Prayer for Peace. Prayers and resources are available on the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) web site. The DOV has published a brochure with the Annual Focus on Latin America, which is available on the DOV web site at: http://overcomingviolence.org/en/about-the-dov/international-day-of-prayer-for-peace.html

The International Day of Prayer for Peace will be observed in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Peace. To learn more about initiatives of the UN, go to the International Day of Peace web site at: http://www.worldpeace.org/peaceday.html and the International Day of Peace Vigil web site at: http://www.idpvigil.com/

Prayer

For peace in our country

For the victims of violence everywhere

For those struggling for peace and justice

For churches in conflict situations

For a world without war and violence.

Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth,

Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust.

Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace,

Let peace fill our beings, our world and our universe. Amen

(World Prayer for Peace from the WCC Vancouver Assembly)

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Wipe Out Poverty Week 2006.

It’s never too late to Wipe Out Poverty!

We don’t mind when you and your group do it. We have many groups already registered and they are embarking on a number of different fundraising activities.

Don’t be left out - try out that creative idea and have fun Wiping Out Poverty.

To register contact Liz Whitehead youth@cws.org.nz or 0800 747372 and receive a free kit to help plan your event.

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Lebanon: Call for Protection of Civilians & Humanitarian Access

ACT International (Action by Churches Together) has called on the international community to ensure that all parties engaged in conflict, such as the most recent fighting in Lebanon, meet their obligations under international humanitarian law. This is in regard to the protection of civilians and access of humanitarian workers to those in need.

The faith-based alliance of 128 Protestant and Orthodox members around the world expressed deep concern at the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. It called on its members to put pressure on their governments to ensure unconditional humanitarian access to people in need and a guarantee of the safety of all humanitarian workers responding to such crises.

“ACT International deplores the bombardment of civilian infrastructure that forced Lebanon to the brink of catastrophe. By failing to avoid civilian casualties, both parties engaged in the conflict were in breach of international humanitarian law, the fundamental principles of which are to prevent humanitarian suffering among civilian populations, to spare civilian life and to ensure that populations have access to basic humanitarian assistance. With limited access to some parts of Lebanon, and almost no access in the south during the conflict, it is crucial that as humanitarians responding to the crisis, we affirm the long-standing humanitarian principle of unconditional access to people in need,” said ACT International Director John Nduna.

He added that in too many places in the world where ACT International is engaged in humanitarian assistance - in Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in Sri Lanka where recently 17 aid workers were brutally murdered, and in Sudan’s Darfur province - the lives of civilians and aid workers are constantly put at risk because of the lack of respect for these fundamental principles.

ACT International members, the Middle East Council of Churches and International Orthodox Christian Charities are doing their best to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, with support from other members around the world, such as Christian World Service. They are assisting the most vulnerable of those injured and displaced in Lebanon and in other parts of the world, regardless of faith, ethnicity or political affiliation. “For us, the humanitarian imperative comes first, but increasingly, those engaged in conflict are forcing humanitarians onto the sidelines, watching as death and destruction prevail,” Mr Nduna said.

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Sudan/Darfur: First War, Now Floods

One boy dies, houses collapse, crops destroyed and water sources contaminated in one of the worst floods the town of Kubum in South Darfur has seen for years. Charlotte Brudenell of ACT International/Caritas reports that as residents of Kubum started their day’s work on the morning of August 10, water started flowing into the town and surrounding villages. Roads were turned into streams, gardens into swamps, and houses into basins of water.

The young boy who drowned was on his way to the mill with his younger sister and slid into a hole which was covered by water and sank. In some places the water level rose to 1.5 meters. which caused a lot of houses to collapse, especially those with mud walls. Granaries collapsed, and the cereals were washed away, fields have become water-logged and the crops destroyed. Open hand-dug wells were filled with turbid flood water, contaminating them, and rendering them unfit for human consumption. Since then cases of diarrhea and malaria have increased dramatically (by more than 60 percent), and there has been a rise in water-related diseases such as worms and skin infections, mostly in children.

ACT International/Caritas supports all three of the health facilities in Kubum and responded to the initial emergency by sending essential drugs to treat diarrhea. It also distributed plastic sheets to people who have tried to rebuild their huts, as there is a shortage of building materials locally.

Kubum town sits on low ground on the lower side of a wadi (a seasonal river). Heavy rains upstream can cause the wadi to burst its banks and flood the town. Despite attempts by the government to move the town to the higher bank, residents have been reluctant to move for a number of reasons, the most significant being a lack of water in the alternate location. The new site is on high ground and thus has very low potential for traditional hand-dug wells, the main water source for the area.

The long-term solution is to try to move the town to the new location, but people will not be able to bake bricks and build until after the rains. Last year, ACT International/Caritas put forward a proposal to construct a water supply for a small town, which encouraged some people to move, but the project was later dropped due to funding constraints. Being the sole humanitarian-aid agency working in Kubum, it supports people living in camps for the internally displaced as well as the host community where some of such families have been integrated by providing water and sanitation facilities, primary health care, peace-building and psycho-social services as well as education and agricultural inputs. Funding to continue all this work is now more urgent than ever.

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Gaza: A Plea from Constantine

Mr Constantine Dabbagh has for many years, through thick and thin, headed the work of the Middle East Council of Churches’ Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) in Gaza. As well as bringing relief to people in need from many different causes, the DSPR runs family health clinics and vocational training schools aimed at assisting people into gainful employment. Constantine is not a person to complain of his lot, but the suffering of his people constantly spurs him on to action – and in August to send out the following plea for help and for an end to the madness:

“I am afraid that as a result of the “silence of the grave” from the international community, a full scale offensive continues to be waged on the population of the Gaza Strip as hundreds of air-to-surface missiles and artillery shells have been fired causing destruction to public buildings, such as the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, the electricity generation plant and electricity networks and transmitters, bridges linking Gaza city with the south and other roads and infrastructure projects. In addition, hundreds of hectares of agricultural land and dozens of houses have been destroyed. The new trend is the short notice being given by the Israeli Occupying Forces as they inform families by phone that they ought to vacate their houses which would be destroyed by war planes, causing trauma and harm to the afflicted families and neighbourhoods. What is happening is without question in contravention of International law and the fourth Geneva convention, but who cares?

The 1.6 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are still under complete siege since 25 June 2006 and are deprived of their right to travel, as all borders are closed and no movement is allowed even at the Rafah crossing which is the border between Egypt and Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are suffering due to the closure of the Rafah Crossing. Nearly 15,000 people are waiting for the reopening of the border with Egypt, including hundreds of families that live abroad and happened to be here for family visits, including my daughter and her three children who came from Romania - they wait “patiently” for the blessing of the occupier. Many will face the threat of losing their residency visas in the countries where they work and live. In addition, hundreds of patients are awaiting the reopening of the Rafah Crossing to travel for treatment in Egyptian and Jordanian hospitals for ailments and conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza. Hundreds of students are waiting to resume their studies abroad and hundreds more recent secondary school graduates who want to pursue university studies abroad await the reopening of the “gate” of our prison. Thousands of Gaza Strip residents who travelled abroad before the closure are forced to wait for the opening, mainly in Egypt.

The harsh economic conditions caused by the strict closure and the non payment of salaries to government employees, estimated at 70,000 in Gaza alone, the shortage of medicines and supplies at the hospitals, make life very difficult and unfortunately it seems that we are forced to be “beggars” and involved in many directions in order for our children and families to survive! Alas.

We are able, in cooperation with the local authorities, social welfare and other organizations, to extend assistance to nearly 50 families every day from the funds which are made available by ACT International and some through CARITAS Internationalis – the latter earmarked mainly to support families who have moved out from their homes around Gaza Airport in Rafah.

The needs are great and the enthusiasm is no less to extend every support to these families in order to alleviate some of their sufferings. I do hope that our struggle towards liberty and freedom will be achieved when the Israeli occupation ends, which should be given priority, as well and that more pressure being exerted on the occupiers by our churches to free us from this strangulation.

God bless you.”

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...AND FROM THE RT. REV. RIAH H. ABU El-ASSA

Bishop, The Diocese of Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, who writes:

“And, the offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza has been relentless. This week when Jan Egeland, the U.N.’s Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs visited Jerusalem, he focused much of his attention on “the tragedy happening in the Gaza Strip”. He does not understand what benefit Israel will gain from punishing 1.4 million people by cutting them off from their sources of electricity and jobs, from running water in their houses and from fresh food. ”What is the message that the residents of Gaza receive from the sight of mountains of tomatoes tossed out on the side of the road at the border crossings into Israel? That they should be more productive and support peace?”

Saturday, after waiting two and one half hours at the checkpoint, our delegation visited Gaza on a mission of mercy, taking medical and relief supplies to hospitals and shelters. Israel Defence Forces tanks had pushed back before dawn, just one day after ending an unusually deadly incursion that killed thirty Palestinians over three days. According to an Associated Press count, in the past one month period, Israeli troops have killed 159 Palestinians since they started their relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip in response to the capture of soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit. I have seen the Caterpillar bulldozers and the orchards of oranges uprooted by them. I saw an apartment building where forty families were given forty minutes to leave before it was demolished into a pile of rubble. I have heard the concern of the Director of our Al-Ahli Arab Hospital regarding medical supplies, staffing shortages, and lack of fuel to run the generators essential to critical care. And, I have seen children playing near mountains of garbage which are the breeding ground to rats and the threat of cholera, a disease that I watched devastate India when I lived there. We must not become complacent or be desensitized by the images of this human tragedy.”

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Sri Lanka : Stop the War

CWS partner Monlar in Sri Lanka is part of the “People to People Dialogue for Peace and Sustainable Development”, an initiative built among farmers, urban, rural and plantation workers, fisher people and women’s organizations in all areas of the country. Its aims are to stop the war and build peace, to work for the rights of the people everywhere in the country and to work towards a sustainable development process that is people- centered and acceptable to all of them, while rejecting the efforts being made to bring both the South and the North under the domination of global capital.

Following a series of discussions and an in-depth analysis of the present crisis facing Sri Lankan society in relation to the ethnic issue and practical actions to address the present state of affairs, understanding and common agreement was reached on a series of issues. Among other things a statement highlighted the following:

“The war has now reached a certain low intensity and should be prevented from any further escalation and brought to an end through a negotiated settlement. A vast majority of people in Sri Lanka, belonging to all ethnic communities have come to a common understanding that the war should be stopped. We represent this very large majority of the unarmed people Our task of highest priority today is to strengthen the initiatives for peace and to take it forward.

We make a strong appeal that all killings and acts of violence carried out by the Government, the LTTE and others, should be stopped immediately; all hostilities stopped, and the agreements reached at the Geneva round of negotiations should be respected, given effect and peace negotiations be initiated immediately on the basis of these agreements. The mainstream media should act responsibly. The use of media in a manner that increases mutual mistrust and spreads hatred among people while contributing to a war approach should be stopped.”

There are proposals to set up mechanisms to enable people everywhere to “decide on their livelihoods, right to the land, the sea and other natural resources and their right to govern such resources in a responsible manner…” Suggestions were also made on solutions to ethnic and religious problems and to recognise the rights of plantation people (largely Tamil), “considering the fact that they have worked and lived under conditions of semi slavery for nearly 200 years and have contributed towards the development of the country.”

“The ceasefire agreement between the LTTE and the Government in 2002 was possible only as a result of official recognition of the LTTE. This recognition should have been strengthened and expanded as a means of further paving the way for LTTE to enter into a process of peaceful political settlement. We feel that the steps taken by the Government to get the LTTE proscribed in other countries, while continuing the efforts to reach a negotiated settlement, are not rational and wise. (This criticism is echoed by Norwegian negotiator John Hanssen Bauer. Ed)

It was proposed that all people displaced in any way by the conflict be enabled to return to their inherited land, the sea, and to have access to their livelihoods as farmers and fisher people. They should be able to go back to their homes and live without fear and insecurity. People who have lived in camps as displaced people for as long as 20 years still live under miserable conditions. These people should be given the right to rebuild their lives. We strongly reject the attempts made by various foreign powers to push through their destructive economic strategies and plans in the name of assisting in the peace building process.

We, the unarmed people living in the South, North, East and in the Hill Country would like to strongly emphasize our belief that sustainable peace can only be achieved on the basis of a sustainable development approach that would benefit the ordinary people and would address their genuine needs.

Stop the War. We have a right to live without fear!”

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