VFP sisters and brothers,
The bloodshed in Syria continues, while many good folks feel helpless to do anything about it. The humanitarian crisis there has been characterized by a UN Agency as the worst in the world since WW II.
Please take a look at the following press release and the call to join this action. We hope you can join us.
Best wishes for the holidays,
--Andy and Terry
Member of VFP Chapter 27 in Minneapolis MN
A HUNGER STRIKE DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON
Minnesotans Support Besieged Syrians
While most Minnesotans are preparing for bountiful holiday feasts, Congressman Keith Ellison, Syrian-American Mazen Halabi, Gail Daneker from Friends for a Nonviolent World and other Minnesotans are also preparing for a day with no food - a day long hunger strike in solidarity with Qusai Zakary, a Syrian who is in the 23rd day of his hunger strike to protest the siege of over 30 towns in Syria.
Syrians are dying of malnutrition because military blockades have prevented food and medicine from coming into their areas - approximately 1 million people are affected.
The solidarity hunger strike is being kicked off in Minnesota on Friday, September 20. It's a "rolling" strike where at least one person participates in the hunger strike each day. It is an international action - people from all over the world are signing up to participate. The goal is to break the siege and allow humanitarian aid into all the affected areas.
Syrian-Americans who live in Minnesota have been active for the last two years in making presentations to local groups on the conflict and raising money for refugees and medical aid.
Mazen Halabi and many other local Syrian-Americans have been working to help their families and others in Syria, who are caught in a crisis that has been described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since World War II. Halabi expressed his appreciation for Ellison's consistent support. "Congressman Ellison has always been there for us - to listen and to try and find a way to resolve the Syrian conflict. We are grateful to have a compassionate, involved representative in Congress."
Qusai Zakary pleads with the world to help the "starving and frozen Syrian people". "Starvation is a much worse weapon of war than sarin gas. Dozens of women and children have died from malnutrition in the last few months. The world has to raise their voices together and say 'Stop using food as a weapon of war'. My hunger strike will continue until the siege is broken and aid convoys enter the besieged towns of Syria."
Gail Daneker, a Director at Friends for a Nonviolent World, has been a peace activist for the last 30 years. "We live in an era where we have ample resources and no one on the planet should be hungry and yet thousands are being deliberately deprived of food and medicine. We should be beyond using food and medicine as weapons of war."
The solidarity hunger strike has gotten support from many Middle East academics and nonviolence advocates around the world. They are calling for a binding resolution from the U.N. Security Council requiring the regime in Syria and all armed parties to allow humanitarian organizations immediate unfettered access to aid the civilian population without discrimination, including cross-border access and cross-line access (from regime-controlled areas into rebel-controlled areas).
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Call to Join the International Hunger Strike
Stop Starvation in Syria/End the Blockades
Syrians are slowly dying of malnutrition – but not for lack of food. A military blockade surrounds dozens of Syrian towns. This starvation siege prevents 1.5 million Syrians from receiving food or medicine.
Qusai Zakarya is one of them. He is 28 years old. Qusai declared a hunger strike on November 26, to demand food and medicine be allowed to reach civilians across military lines in Syria. “We are all hungry here in my hometown anyway. Let me be hungry for a purpose,” Qusai says.
We are starting the first phase of a “rolling” solidarity hunger strike onFriday, December 20, where someone will do a hunger strike every day in support of the hunger strikers in Syria through the rest of December.
We are also working on putting together a list of supporters for launching a larger campaign leading up to the Geneva Conference in January. We are asking that you commit to one day of a symbolic hunger strike and that you give us permission to put your name on the materials to publicize the hunger strikes more widely. We also ask, if you are able, to send in a photo of yourself or group to stopthesiege@gmail.com, maybe with a sign illustrating your participation.
Our goals:
- To call for food and medicine now to all besieged towns in Syria.
- To call for a binding resolution from the UN Security Council requiring the regime in Syria and all armed parties to allow humanitarian organizations immediate unfettered access to aid the civilian population without discrimination, including cross-border access and cross-line access (from regime-controlled areas into rebel-controlled areas).
- To alert media and political representatives to this situation.
- To support this act of civil resistance in Syria.
Can you join us this holiday season in standing in solidarity with Syrians? People of conscience everywhere must act to break the siege that is affecting over a million people.
In Solidarity and Hope,
Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District
Razan Ghazzawi, Syrian blogger-activist & former political prisoner
Gail Daneker, Friends for a Nonviolent World, Director of Peace Education Advocacy
Huwaida Arraf, Palestinian American co-founder of International Solidarity Movement
Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian writer & former political prisoner
Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian feminist writer
Jawdat Said, Syrian Nonviolence Teacher for over Fifty Years
Marilyn Hacker, American Poet
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies, University of San Francisco
Suad Mohamed, University of Virginia
Michael Nagler, Metta Center for Nonviolence
Danny Postel, University of Denver
Bob Nechal, Friends for a Nonviolent World, Managing Director
Nader Hashemi, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver
Raed Fares, Media Office Director for the Town of Kafr Nbel, Syria
Afra Jalabi, Syrian Nonviolence Movement
Mohja Kahf, Syrian American Poet & Academic
Ian Keith, St Paul Elementary School Teacher
Wael Khouli, Physician and Human Rights Activist
Mazen Halabi, Community Activist
Cathy Murphy, Peace Activist
Andy Berman, Veterans for Peace
Terry Burke, Friends for a Nonviolent World
(organizations listed for identification only)
Join us! Pledge to fast for one day.
Please sign up by sending your information to stopthesiege@gmail.com
Name:
Affiliation:
Country:
E-mail:
Date you will participate in hunger strike (December 2- through January 22):