Letter to Australian Prime Minister: call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine
The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Prime Minister,
I write on behalf of Architects for Peace to express our condemnation of the bombing of Gaza and to call on the Australian Government to demand an immediate ceasefire through our representatives at the United Nations.
As one of our members from Palestine noted, the situation in Gaza disgraces us all as we sit and watch the immoral and illegal acts such as the bombing of the UNHR building most recently.
While we understand that there might be different opinions about the political aspects of this conflict, it is the unnecessary loss of life, suffering and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure (such as universities, factories, schools, mosques and hospitals) in one of the worlds most densely populated areas that mobilises us today in support of the people of Palestine.
As professionals of the built environment we believe in the prevention of war rather than reparation. The suffering and destruction caused by war condemns the Palestinians to a continued state of poverty, illness and underdevelopment. This is a humanitarian question that affects all of us.
With hope for peace,
Beatriz C. Maturana (President) and the arch-peace team
Architects for Peace
http://www.architectsforpeace.org
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Email to arch-peace members:
Dear colleagues and friends,
This year has begun with great demands. In addition to the challenges posed by environmental and economic crises, a new war is creating yet more misery for Palestinian people and consequently for us all.
The bombing of the people of Gaza is a crime that follows years of blockading and isolation.
As one of our members from Palestine noted, this situation disgraces us all as we sit and watch such immoral acts. While I understand that there might be different opinions about the political aspects of this conflict, it is the unnecessary human death of entire families—the suffering and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure (such as universities, factories, schools, mosques and hospitals) in one of the worlds most densely populated areas—that mobilises us today in support of the people of Palestine and to add to the call for an immediate ceasefire. We urge our Government and institutions to voice their condemnation to these attacks and demand an immediate ceasefire.
Please visit the enclosed websites and sign the petitions. We will also be participating in demonstrations aiming to ceasefire, please consider joining us.
With hope for peace,
Beatriz C. Maturana (President)
and the Arch-Peace Team
2 comments:
Please sign Amnesty International (Australia)'s petition to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: http://www.amnesty.org.au/centre/action/20079/
Read Amnesty International report: Time running out for civilians in Gaza (http://www.amnesty.org.au/images/uploads/action/Report-Gaza.pdf)
More than 600 people have been killed as a result of the war on Palestine. The city's infrastructure is being destroyed and this way further condemning Palestinians to an even harsher future. Architects for Peace focuses on prevention of man-made disasters and does take a stance in situations such as: killing of civilians, illegal land occupation, systematic destruction of infrastructure (schools, hospitals, roads/bridges, destruction of housing, government buildings and places of worship). It is for this reason that we supports an immediate ceasefire. Arch-peace also believes that we have a social responsibility and that to exercise this responsibility we need to be engaged, motivated to stand for peace and condemn the immorality of war, open to question and to extend our knowledge.
Amidst media oversimplifications regarding the current situation between Palestine and Israel—contrasted with the complexity of a long history leading to this point—it is too easy to shut ourselves off and take on a “neutral” position, and as a result remain passive when witnessing atrocities such as these. As for you, I am also bombarded with messages that make us perceive the killing of civilians and destruction of cities as unavoidable, but is it so?
Back to the notion of questioning and extending our knowledge, it is important to place the current war in context. I found the following article, written by Sam Bahour (management consultant and entrepreneur living in Ramallah, co-editor of “Homeland: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians”) very informative. In an easy to read and well organised manner, Bahour places together all these pieces of information that we have received over the years, which are not mentioned when justifying the war and the killing of civilians. Find this article here: http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=31232
We are inviting our members to join the activities against the war and to sign petitions condemning Israel’s latest attack. Melbourne’s members to join us for this Sunday’s rally (find more: http://www.butterpaper.com/vanilla/comments.php?DiscussionID=1327&Focus=3748#Comment_3748 ).
We would also like to encourage you to discuss your views, so please do not hesitate to comment (we do not censor).
Beatriz C. Maturana
Architects for Peace, President
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