STOP THE BLOODSHED

Dear friends,

We haven't been in touch very often since our work around Iraq. But with civilians in Israel and Lebanon dying daily, we're at another critical global moment.

Regional and global leaders continue to fail to come up with a workable plan to stop the violence in the Middle East. Our friends at the Ceasefire Campaign are urging people around the world to pressure the Security Council to come up with a real plan to get an immediate ceasefire and international peacekeepers. This is a sensible call that would curb the bloodshed while laying the groundwork for a more enduring peace.

The Ceasefire Campaign is looking for 1 million co-sponsors to deliver their petition to the Security Council this week. Can you join them? Sign here:

http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org/mo/en.html
Sincerely,–Eli Pariser

P.S. Here's a message from the Ceasefire Campaign with some more detail:
Dear friends,

For more than three weeks now we've watched the bloodshed in the Middle East with horror. All the while, global and regional leaders have stood by and failed to take the necessary action to stop the violence. Finally, this weekend, the US and France reached agreement on a plan. But this compromise plan fails to call for a full ceasefire and is so weak that the violence has not—and will not—stop.

http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org/mo/en.html

This is unacceptable. Hundreds of innocent civilians have already been killed, thousands have been wounded, and almost a million people have been made homeless.

The UN Security Council will be meeting early this week to try to resolve the crisis. They need to know that the world is watching them, and that anything less than an immediate ceasefire is not good enough. Click here to sign this petition demanding that the members of the UN Security Council take immediate action to end this bloodshed.

http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org/mo/en.html

Please sign the petition today, and then spread the word by forwarding this email on to all your friends and family. Our goal is to deliver a petition to the Security Council with 1 million signatures this week, and to publicize the petition in major newspapers in the capitals of the US, UK, France and other Security Council members.

Thanks so much for your help,

Ricken PatelCeasefireCampaign.org

P.S. Groups and leaders from across the world and from diverse perspectives agree that an urgent ceasefire is an important part of resolving this crisis. Most countries of the world, from Lebanon to Tanzania to India, have called for a ceasefire, and have been joined by major international NGOs such as Oxfam and Amnesty International. Christian leaders such as Pope Benedict XVI, and the World Council of Churches have also called for a ceasefire. Arab and Muslim organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference have also been joined by Israeli and Jewish groups such as Meretz Israel, Degel HaTorah, and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom in calling for a ceasefire.