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The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A2
The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay
Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G2
Re: Canadian Government Intervention To End The
Fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.
Dear Sirs:
As the violence escalates in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip,
DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is calling on all sides to declare an
immediate ceasefire, end the carnage and begin constructive
negotiations to achieve long-term solutions in the region.
Indiscriminate bombings and hostage takings are against all
moral and humanitarian laws and principles. Guided, as it
is, by the social teaching of the Catholic Church and in line
with International Humanitarian Law, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE
is asking you and your government to act quickly to help end
the ongoing violence.
International Humanitarian Law decrees that states and authorities
must protect civilians caught up in conflict, allow free access
by humanitarian agencies to provide assistance to those affected,
and ensure that attacks are not aimed at civilian targets.
Any state or authority which ignores these rules is in breach
of international conventions written to help keep our world
civilized.
DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE believes that a just peace is possible
in the Middle East, and urges Canada to uphold international
law and help the people of Israel, of Palestine and of Lebanon
step back from the brink of full-scale war. DEVELOPMENT AND
PEACE is calling on the Canadian government to do everything
within its means to encourage a ceasefire and the commencement
of negotiations.
Yours sincerely,
Margie Noonan
President
DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is the official international development
organization of the Catholic Church in Canada and the Canadian
member of Caritas Internationalis, a network of 162 autonomous,
Catholic, emergency relief, development and social service
organizations working in 200 countries and territories. Last
year, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE provided $18.4 million to support
309 long-term development projects and 72 emergency relief
projects in the Global South.
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