AVSI has opened an appeal for funds to support the 3,000 Christian families and their charitable works in Gaza. For many years, this Christian community and its schools and services have been points of reference for the most needy and concrete expressions of a solidarity greater than religious and ethnic differences.
Father Manuel Mussallam, pastor of the Sacred Heart parish in Gaza, has described this dramatic situation: “It is a humanitarian disaster: the people lack water, electricity, food, and humanitarian aid. Thousands of children are suffering from the trauma of war. Thousands have been wounded and will spend the rest of their lives disabled. Every family in the Gaza Strip is suffering and weeping for the victims.”
The funds collected by AVSI will be sent to the non-profit association of the Custodians of the Holy Land and to the Catholic Latin parishioners of Gaza City and the various missionary activities on Gaza Strip.
“We should convert the heart, change the discourse, and change our mentality. First of all, this is the responsibility of each of us; violence demands our conversion. Pervasive distrust doesn’t help and is ultimately destructive.”
S.B. Mons. Twal, Patriarch of Jerusalem
AVSI has been present in Palestine since 1993 with offices in Jerusalem and many activities. AVSI’s annual “Tende” campaign for 2008 included assistance to the schools of the Custodians of the Holy Land in Jerusalem as beneficiaries. These schools, among the oldest Christian schools in the region (dating back to 1645), provide educational opportunities to the poorest children including Muslims and Christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
To support this Appeal, send checks—payable to AVSI with “Gaza Emergency” in the memo line—to AVSI Credito Artigiano- Sede Milano Stelline,Corso Magenta No. 59 Milano - IBAN IT68Z0351201614000000005000 - Swift CODE: ARTIITM2
Ireland
