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Help Support Convoy for Peace: Sderot-Gaza
January 16, 2009
Dear Friends:
On several past occasions, when there have been humanitarian crises, members of the Global Philanthropists Circle have shared with their peers, opportunities to be involved in a supportive way.
Today, all of us share deep concerns about the human toll in Gaza and Israel resulting from the failure of the negotiated peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.
GPC member Daniel Kropf is playing a pivotal role in the organization of convoys of humanitarian aid to communities in Gaza and Southern Israel under the auspices of a group of Rabbis, Imams and Christian clergy, and carried out by Homme de Parole Foundation, an NGO based in Geneva with prior experience delivering aid in the region. The first convoy is scheduled to take place on Sunday, January 18 with the distribution of essential goods in Gaza carried out under the auspices of the International Red Crescent.
Give to Convoy for Peace: Sderot-Gaza
OPTION #1 Tax Deductible Contribution through Synergos
- By check:
Please make check payable to The Synergos Institute and send to:
The Synergos Institute
Attn: Ken Nero
51 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10010 USA - Payment by bank transfer to:
Bank Name: JP Morgan Chase Bank
Bank Address: 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036
Account Name: Synergos Institute, Inc.
Account Number: 038-1-305911
ABA Number: 021000021
Please make sure that the payer’s name is listed either in the “sender“ section or in the “general description“ section so that we can account for your payment.
OPTION #2 Direct Payment to EDUCATION FOR LIFE
- Payment by bank transfer to:
Account name: EDUCATION FOR LIFE
Bank name: Bank Hapoalim
Account number: 12-783-311232
IBAN: IL 76-0127-8300-0000-0311-232
Swift: POALILIT
This convoy will include 15 trucks containing flour, rice, sugar, clothes and blankets. Assistance for the civilian population will be accompanied by an appeal from the spiritual leaders for an immediate end to bombardments in Gaza and rockets being launched into the south of Israel, if a cease-fire has not yet been proclaimed in the meantime. It is important to note the uniqueness of this convoy as it unites both the spiritual and material in acts of human solidarity. The Imams, Rabbis, and Christian and civilian leaders will personally accompany the second “Convoy for Peace,” which will leave on 25 January. It will stop in Sderot, Israel and will continue to Gaza.
I am attaching below the request for funds from the founder of Hommes de Parole Alain Michel and endorsed by Daniel Kropf. This whole project is being carried out with the assistance of Daniel’s “Education-For-Life” Foundation, which has made administrative facilities and financial supervision available to run the operation on site. Tax deductible financial contributions can be made through Synergos (Attn: Ken Nero). You can also send contributions directly to Education for Life. Instructions for both are detailed on the left.
Best wishes,
Robert H. Dunn
CEO & President
The Synergos Institute
CONVOY FOR PEACE: SDEROT - GAZA
There is no time to wait
14 January 2009
Dear Friends,
The Third World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, which was held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris last month, from 15-17 December, was entitled “The Sacredness of Peace” with focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following the Congress, a final declaration was issued, together with an action plan that formally engaged the participants to work in depth and tangibly for peace.
The participants, thus, were impelled to react to the spiral of violence in Gaza and the south of Israel where fierce fighting is taking place with, alas, the main victims being civilians.
In compliance with the commitments made by all the religious leaders during their World Congresses and considering the development of violence, the decision was taken to support the “Convoy for Peace” organised by the Hommes de Parole Foundation and members of the association EquiLibre, the association which, together with the Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian authorities successfully sent convoys to Gaza in 1995 and 1996. EquiLibre, which created the Hommes de Parole Foundation, has had 15 years of experience in sending convoys by road to countries at war, in particular, the convoys for peace to Sarajevo, Kurdistan, Iraq, Chechenya and Rwanda. This experience is a guarantee for the success of the present convoy.
This convoy will have three goals:
The main goal is to respond to the humanitarian emergency created by the conflict. The first step will be to collect 1000 tons of essential goods which will be distributed upon arrival by the Hommes de Parole Foundation, Caritas, the United Nations agencies and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Assistance for the civilian population will be accompanied by an appeal from the spiritual leaders for an immediate end to bombardments in Gaza and rockets being launched into the south of Israel, if a cease-fire has not yet been proclaimed in the meantime.
The Imams, Rabbis, and Christian and civilian leaders will personally accompany the second “Convoy for Peace", which will leave on 25 January, and stop in Sderot where a meeting of support is scheduled for the people living in the south of Israel. The convoy will continue to Gaza where a meeting will also be held in support of the local population. In both locations, the situation permitting, visits will be organised to hospitals.
Going beyond the material assistance, the solidarity shown through these public demonstrations and the convoy of trucks will provide immense psychological support that the people of this region so desperately need to rekindle a spark of hope.
Further, because of the amount of damage that has been done and that, unfortunately, will be done, people’s needs will not come to an end when the fighting stops. Foresight is essential, starting now, in order to continue providing assistance in the future.
With this in mind, the Hommes de Parole Foundation has decided to open a branch office in Gaza run by two permanent staff in order to establish and manage a “road bridge” to meet the people’s need for however long it takes, as we did in Sarajevo, Kigali, Baghdad, etc. This branch will provide on-the-spot timely monitoring of people’s needs, distribution of goods, and actions that can contribute to reconciliation.
The Foundation is already working at the site, and is ready for the convoy to come. We have just received the necessary authorisations to bring in the goods to Gaza. We have collected funding for the first convoy that is leaving on 18 January and will be composed of 15 trucks.
At this point, we do not have the funds yet to buy and transport the goods for the second convoy. Because of the extreme gravity of the situation, we are calling upon you to help us transport a maximum of essential goods. We pledge, of course, to make sure that all the goods that are brought in are distributed to the beneficiary families.
Depending on the goods involved (flour, processed foods, clothes, sugar, infants’ milk, chocolate, jam, sanitation products, etc.), the cost price for filling a truck with 30 tons of emergency supplies, and getting them into the hands of the inhabitants of Gaza, is between 18,000 and 104,000 U.S. dollars. That is why we truly need your help.
This whole project is being carried out with the assistance of the “Education-For-Life” Foundation which has made administrative facilities and financial supervision available to run the operation on site.
We would like to thank you in advance on behalf of all the people we will be able to help thanks to you.
Sincerely yours,
Alain Michel
PS We are investigating the possibility of organising the transfer of injured civilians (children and adults) for medical treatment and may come back to you later for support in carrying out that action.
Fondation Hommes de Parole
CH-rue des Grottes 32, 1201 Genève-Suisse
Courrier: 38 rue Liancourt, 75014 Paris-France
Tél.: +33 1 43 35 40 96 -- Mail: hdp1@hommesdeparole.org
www.hommesdeparole.org
