As a daughter of both Syria and Lebanon, my heart is breaking as I watch the devastating Israeli attacks raining down on my family and friends in Lebanon. Beirut is a short drive from Damascus and before I fled Syria and the Assad regime, it was a second home to me. For over 1.5 million Syrians now living in Lebanon as refugees, it still is.
This week thousands of them have been forced to make another terrifying escape, as even roads that people used to flee were hit by bombs. Many have been barred from emergency shelters, as Syrian refugees are increasingly treated with racism and as second class citizens in Lebanon.
Once again, as Syrians we find ourselves abandoned by the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the international community, and without a home – but so do tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians also under attack. Since Monday, nearly 700 people have been killed and half a million displaced. Everyone needs protection right now, and we must join together to demand it.
Our exhaustion at this point is panic inducing, but now is not the time to despair. This week, representatives of all the UN member states are gathered in New York for the annual UN General Assembly. It is a forum where bold decisions can, and must, be made – if together, we can make our voices louder than the lobbyists and war crimes deniers.
Will you join in and sign the petition to be part of our global call to action? Let’s push all UN member states to demand an immediate regional ceasefire, an end to arms sales to Israel, and for all civilians, including Syrian refugees in Lebanon, to be protected.
The scale of attacks by Israel over the past year are unprecedented and amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. To protect civilians in the entire region we must achieve a ceasefire. That means the international flow of weapons towards Israel must stop.
I hate war just as much as my friends and family in Lebanon do. We will never forget the starvation sieges and other atrocities Hezbollah inflicted in Syria to prop up the Assad regime. Impunity is dangerous to humanity and not holding war criminals to account is allowing all tyrants to commit more.
World leaders must find a way to protect all people equitably. With nowhere to go as the attacks worsen, thousands of Syrian refugees face the terrifying prospect of being forced to return to Syria by Lebanese authorities and the denial of access to safe shelter for them in Lebanon. More than 13,000 people were deported or pushed back across the border last year, despite live risks of arbitrary arrest and death by torture in Syria under the regime.
The UN General Assembly is convening at this crucial time, but we cannot allow cynical voices – and vested interests – turn action to deliberation. Just yesterday Israel rejected a US-French ceasefire proposal, making your pressure more urgent than ever. Now is the time to push world leaders to be bold. If you and thousands of others around the world sign the petition and share it widely now, we can grow a groundswell of support over this weekend. Let’s challenge every state gathered in New York to take life saving action before the UN General Assembly closes next week.
In solidarity alongside you,
Laila Kiki,
Executive director of The Syria Campaign