ECAJ takes action on Gaza hostages
'Their abduction is illegal by any standards of war. It is immoral by any measure of humanity. We will not cease until they are freed'
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has today launched the #SetThemFree campaign to bring national attention to the plight of 200 Israeli civilians held in captivity by Hamas, and call for their immediate and unconditional release.
The website includes the names and faces of each of the abducted to ensure that their stories remain at the forefront of our community’s minds and of the public consciousness.
The website also allows people to register to receive updates about rolling initiatives the ECAJ will be launching together with its partners.
“The abduction of 199 Israeli citizens by a sadistic terror group that uses rape and torture as weapons of war, is one of the great humanitarian tragedies of our time,” ECAJ president Jillian Segal said.
“The horrors to which we fear the captives are being subjected, minute by minute, is difficult to comprehend. The suffering of their loved ones, parents, children, brothers and sisters is unimaginable.”
Segal said ECAJ has launched the #SetThemFree campaign “to project the cries of the victims and to remind our fellow Australians of the tragedy of their plight”.
“They must really not be forgotten, We must keep them in our minds. 199 people, including babies ripped from their parents’ arms, infants, the sick and elderly are being held by Hamas. Many were paraded through the streets as trophies of terror,” she said.
“Their abduction is illegal by any standards of war. It is immoral by any measure of humanity. We will not cease until they are freed. We ask our fellow Australians to join us to say ‘Let Our People Go. Set Them Free’.”
ECAJ co-CEO Alex Ryvchin acknowledged “the thousands of Australians who have reached out to us and expressed their solidarity and support at this time of great pain and anguish for the community”.
“But I also want to lament the silence of the so-called human rights community and the Australian Greens,” he said. “They were silent as 1400 people were slaughtered in their homes, they are silent as 199 people remain in captivity. Their silence is an affront to human rights and places them on the wrong side of history and of humanity.”
For more information and to get involved in the ECAJ’s campaign, visit setthemfree.com.au
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