Christians Help Lebanese Victims Amid Int’l Rallies, Protests
Amid pro- and anti-Israel rallies worldwide, Christians are opening doors and sending funds to aid Lebanese victims of the conflict.
Action by Churches Together (ACT), World Vision, and Catholic Relief Service are some of the Christian humanitarian and developmental groups that are appealing for funds to send to help Lebanese victims. ACT requested on July 20 to send US $55,000 to the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)/Inter Church Network for Development and Relief in Lebanon (ICNDR). The money will be used to assist internally displaced families in Saida, Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Beirut and Beqaa and families stranded and isolated in their villages and towns located in southern Lebanon and southern suburbs in Beirut. The fund is expected to help 1,500 families representing 12,000 people.
ACT-member Lutheran World Relief announced on Friday that it would contribute $20,000 to the global aid alliance. Local partners will respond by providing cleaning supplies needed to ensure sanitary conditions in the schools where people are taking refuge; emergency food rations; and diapers and supplementary food for infants and children.
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“The escalation of violence in the region is troubling,” said LWR President Kathryn Wolford in a statement released on July 21. “Through ACT, we are able to assist the civilians who have been forced to flee their homes, and we pray for a swift end to the fighting.”
Catholic Relief Service and partners are also appealing for a total of $2.9 million to support displaced families in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel’s airstrikes against Lebanon’s Hezbollah has sparked worldwide rallies attended by thousands last weekend and earlier this week.
In Ukraine’s capital, more than 10,000 people on Monday marched under the slogan “Ukraine against Terror” to support Israel’s fight against Hezbollah. The rally in Kiev was organized by the all-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, reported Russian News & Information Agency Novosti.
London and Sydney witnessed similar events this weekend with some 7,500 and 10,000 people attending the rallies, respectively. The London 7,500-strong pro-Israel march on Sunday was mostly attended by Jews, reported BBC News. Supporters of Israel’s offensive gathered under the theme “Yes to Peace, No to Terror,” which marked the largest gathering of British Jews for solidarity with Israel since 2002 when an event attracted over 30,000 people, according to Jewish.co.uk.
The Sydney gathering, on the other hand, witnessed 10,000 people shouting “No War” as they brandished Australian and Lebanese flags and carried coffins on Saturday, reported Agence-France Presse.
In Tel Aviv, 1,000 Israeli Jews and Arabs gathered in Rabin Square on Saturday holding cards reading “war is disaster” and “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.”
“This war is a catastrophe. We can prevent this catastrophe through negotiations that would save the lives of Arabs and Israelis,” said Israeli-Arab MP Mohammad Barrakeh told AFP.
Demonstrations protesting Israeli attacks also took place in 11 locations in England on Saturday with the London rally attended by 7,000 people according to police estimate.
The organizers of the protests included Stop The War Coalition, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British Muslim Initiative and Lebanese organizations.
Smaller demonstrations took place in Geneva, Paris, Strasbourg (eastern France), and Warsaw.
Mostly pro-Israel rallies were held in the United States and included cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Washington D.C. Mostly Arab and Lebanese Americans attended rallies against Israel’s military actions in Lebanon in a city near Detroit and in Washington D.C.
As world leaders and concerned citizens of the world continue to debate and discuss the terms necessary for a cease-fire, the two-week-old crisis shows “no signs of letting up, despite frantic diplomatic efforts,” noted The Associated Press on Tuesday.
World Vision, which has worked in the Middle East for more than 30 years, voiced its concerns for the youths in the war zone. The group pointed out children are often injured psychologically and emotionally if not physically.
“It is paramount that there be an immediate ceasefire that will allow the humanitarian space for delivering crucial humanitarian assistance to provide for the most vulnerable who have been affected by the violence,” said World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza National Director Charles Clayton on July 20, according to WVI.
He added, “For the sake of all the children in that region, we are calling on those in power to end hostilities, negotiate an end to the crisis and ensure that children are protected at all times.”
WV aims to address the basic needs of children and families in the hardest-hit areas – Gaza and Lebanon – and provide at least US $500,000 in medical and other humanitarian supplies.
