15 November 2023
Medical Aid for Palestinians has supported ActionAid UK in projecting "Vote Ceasefire Now" onto parliament ahead of the vote in the House of Commons.
The words “MPs - Vote for Peace: Vote Ceasefire Now” were projected onto Parliament ahead of the vote in the House of Commons.
MPs are being urged to heed the desperate calls of civilians and humanitarian organisations in Gaza, as well as over 300,000 members of the public who have signed petitions in the UK, by voting in the House of Commons today to call for an immediate ceasefire.
At 10.30pm on Tuesday evening, the words “MPs - Vote for Peace: Vote Ceasefire Now” were projected onto the Houses of Parliament. The projection, organised by ActionAid UK and supported by Action Against Hunger UK, Age International, CAFOD, Care International UK, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief UK, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Save the Children UK, and War Child – came ahead of a scheduled vote on Wednesday in which MPs have a vital opportunity to voice their demands for a ceasefire to help end the suffering of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza.
More than 11,000 people have been reported killed in Gaza since at least 1,200 Israelis were killed on 7 October. Latest casualty figures indicate that 4,500 Gazan children have been killed in the last month, the equivalent of one child every ten minutes. Hospitals and health facilities are unable to provide even the most basic medical services to critically ill and injured patients.
Humanitarian aid deliveries of food, fuel, water and medical supplies are desperately needed in Gaza yet only a paltry amount of aid has entered in the last five weeks and not a single truckload has yet included fuel. A ceasefire is urgently needed so that life-saving humanitarian aid and assistance can enter Gaza and be distributed safely.
Halima Begum, CEO of ActionAid UK, said:
“Across the country, there is hope that our politicians will put humanity first and vote to call for an immediate ceasefire to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and the hostages out. This is also a vote for the future of hundreds of thousands of children, each of whom has the right to go to bed at night without the fear of bombing, and the fear that they will be the next to suffer injury or death. People in Gaza, and especially women and girls, have suffered significant trauma. When the fog of war settles, none of us wants to look back and ask why the UK did not do more to protect the sanctity of life. Regardless of the judgment of history, our leaders need to do everything in their power to stop this humanitarian catastrophe from deteriorating any further. ActionAid UK calls on all MPs to put humanity first, and vote to call for an immediate ceasefire.”
Read more and view the projection on the ActionAid website.