On 23 October we wrote to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ed Miliband and Prime Minister, Andy Burnham to support the World Food Programme and aid getting to Palestinians. We encourage you to use this letter as a template to send to your own MP and/or local press.
Dear Secretary of State,
UK support for the World Food Programme and aid to starving Palestinians
Since the inauguration of the United Nations in 1945, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has been present at the UN. By 1948 WILPF had received consultative status as a recognised non-governmental organisation by several UN bodies.
The UK was also a founding advocate for the United Nations and its agencies. So it is with great sadness that we hear that the World Food Programme (WFP) no longer has the funds to continue to provide the basic humanitarian food needs for all of the besieged people of Gaza. As a women’s international peace organisation with 111 years’ experience addressing these issues, WILPF recognises that women carry a particularly heavy burden in this cruel situation.
The UK is a rich country in a world where individuals can vaunt immense wealth. Yet we have slashed our financial aid to the needy of the world. Although the UK makes a centrally determined fixed contribution to the UN budget, our contribution to the World Food Programme is on a voluntary, state-determined basis. Has this been reduced? Can we send more money to the WFP? The UK example can be a great catalyst.
Meanwhile, the United States, traditionally a major donor to the UN due to the size of its economy, has relinquished its international role in this respect. This leaves the international body founded “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” on its knees.
All this begs the questions “Why are the Palestinians of Gaza starving?” “Why do they need food aid?” The UK, together with the rest of the world, is allowing the Netanyahu government of Israel to prevent supplies of food, water, medical supplies and rebuilding materials from entering Gaza in the normal way. The destruction of Gaza has prevented Palestinians from growing their own food. The attacks on Palestinian homes and bulldozing of farms in the West Bank is leading to the same problem there.
WILPF urges the UK government to:
- press Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza without restraint
- restore the UK aid budget and increase its contribution to the World Food Programme
- stop supplying any arms and weapons parts to Israel and press for genuine implementationof the “ceasefire”
- urge all states to support the UN and its agencies instead of building their military budgets
Yours in peace
