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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. |
