WAITING FOR THE SUN. LIFE IN GAZA, BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND REALITY
Press Release
The commitment of Italian civil society organisations to call for a ceasefire and thestart of a peace process in Ukrainecontinues.After the demonstrations, peace caravans, solidarity initiatives and appeals to politicians in recent weeks, a new mobilisation, spread throughout the country, is now being promoted for next Saturday 23 July.
The invitation to organise initiatives of various kinds is extended to all the associations, trade unions, and groups that have already been active for months, in order to converge their efforts in a national day that can relaunch a strong call for a cease-fire so that an international peace conference can be held.
The appeal is promoted by Europe for Peace, the joint initiative started last March with the mobilisations against Russian aggression in Ukraine and which gathers the adhesion of a wide range of networks, campaigns, associations, trade unions. So it is this coalition that launched the initiative on 23 July with numerous initial adhesions already received (see attachment) starting with the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network, the Sbilanciamoci! Campaign and the 'Stop the War Now' coalition.
The text circulated today states how "Russia'sinvasionof Ukraine has brought war back totheheart ofEurope and has already claimed tens of thousands of victims and is set to become a long-lasting conflict", bringing disastrous consequences "also for theaccess to food andenergy of hundreds of millions of people, for the planet's climate, for theEuropean and global economy". Reiterating its sympathy for the people affected by the war, it then recalled that "a negotiated solution must be sought, but so far there have been no political initiatives either from the States or from the international and multilateral institutions", emphasising the need "for our country,Europe and the United Nations to work actively to foster negotiations and to set in motion a path for an international peace conference that, based on the concept of shared security, would secure peace for the future as well".
The document then reiterates the fundamental point made by the Italian pacifist movement since the beginning of the conflict: 'Arms do not bring peace, only new suffering for the population. There is no war to be won: instead we want to win peace" and for this reason a national day of mobilisation for peace is proposed (150 days after the start of the war) on 23 July with initiatives all over Italy, with a clear slogan: "STOP THE WEAPONS, NEGOTIATE NOW!"
The initiatives that will be defined and planned in the near future will be communicated and relaunched by all the organisations promoting this appeal.
