For 24 hours, Members of Parliament, doctors, journalists, academics, actors, writers, and community members will read the names of over 17,000 Palestinian children killed in Israel’s 22-month-long assault on Gaza.
Israel’s brutal campaign has claimed over 58,000 lives to date, with tens of thousands more wounded or missing under rubble. The event will honour the children killed in Gaza, reading their names and ages aloud continuously over 24 hours.
The 24 hour vigil will coincide with Federal Parliament’s first sitting week and is jointly hosted by Caritas Australia and several other leading Australian civil society organisations - Action Aid Australia, Amnesty International Australia, ChildFund Australia, MAA International, Oxfam Australia, Plan International Australia, Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) - to demand immediate and concrete action from the Australian Government to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The vigil will be a time for mourning and commemoration. The Voices for Gaza group will also make the following demands on the Australian government:
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Apply pressure on Israel for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the ongoing killing of civilians;
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Use its power in international forums to demand Israel abide international law and to support international accountability mechanisms, including those of the International Court of Justice;
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Immediately suspend the export of weapons parts, munitions and military support to Israel, directly and via intermediate countries, to ensure Australia is not complicit in crimes committed in the illegally occupied Palestinian Territory;
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Apply full diplomatic pressure to restore safe, unimpeded, and sustained access for humanitarian relief in Gaza, led by United Nations aid delivery mechanisms and grounded in international humanitarian law;
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Advocate for a political solution that ends Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation, lifts the blockade on Gaza and upholds the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Dan Skehan, Programs Director at Caritas Australia said, “This vigil is not only a moment of mourning, but a call for justice, humanity, and peace. Over 17,000 children have been killed in Gaza, each a life unjustly taken.”
“At Caritas, we mourn this loss while calling for a lasting ceasefire that protects the lives of civilians. We do so in the shadow of the attack on Gaza’s Holy Family Church, and honour those lost in this tragedy by continuing to call for the upholding of humanitarian law and the preservation of the sanctity of places of refuge, including hospitals, schools and places of worship.”
To support Caritas Australia’s Gaza Crisis Appeal, click the link below or call 1800 024 413 toll free.
