EMERGENCY, Laboratorio Ebraico Antirazzista - LəA, AssoPace Palestina and Mediterranea were today received at the Quirinale by Prefect Emilia Mazzuca, Councillor for Internal Affairs and Relations with the Autonomous Regions, to hand over to President Sergio Mattarella the more than 120,000 signatures collected for the petition for a permanent ceasefire and political solution.
The petition, launched at the end of November and signed by academics, entertainers, journalists, diplomats and many associations, calls for Italy's commitment to diplomatic action leading to a permanent ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinians held under administrative detention, the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors, free access for humanitarian aid and the restoration of international legality, starting with the end of the Israeli military occupation.
"We thank the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who, with today's meeting, has shown great attention to our request of the 8th January, when we asked for an appointment with him, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, for the delivery of the signatures of the appeal - declare EMERGENCY, Laboratorio Ebraico Antirazzista - LəA, Assopace Palestina and Mediterranea. A way to urge politicians to take the diplomatic action that is essential to stop the massacre of civilians. A permanent ceasefire is becoming increasingly urgent. There can never be security - for Palestinians, for Israelis, for any of us - without equality, rights and freedom for all".
More than 100 days after the outbreak of war, the death toll and the humanitarian situation in the Strip are dramatic, while the risk of the conflict spreading to the whole region is increasing by the day. The figures speak for themselves: more than 25,700 Palestinians and more than 1,400 Israelis killed; 63,740 Gazans and some 6,650 Israelis wounded. Some 1.7 million internally displaced persons in Gaza, 136 hostages still held in the Strip(1). As underlined in the appeal promoted by EMERGENCY, Jewish Anti-Racist Laboratory - LəA, Assopace Palestine and Mediterranea, "We cannot erase the horror of 7 October, but we can stop the slaughter in Gaza. One war crime does not erase another: it only fuels the injustice that prepares the ground for more violence". That is why we claim the right and the duty to always look at war from the perspective of the victims, because they are the only certainty in any conflict. We call for the protection of civilians, all of them, to be the primary objective of diplomatic action by the international community and the forces of civil society.
You can read the text of the appeal, with the list of signatories, and sign it at the following site: https://cessateilfuoco.org/
1 OCHA - Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | reported impact| Day 109 https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-reported-impact-day-109
