What is Servas International about?
Servas International is a peace organization promoting dialogue and reconciliation through host and traveller programs. Ending violence and achieving peace requires listening to each other’s narratives, promoting exchange and supporting peace-committed civil society organizations. We have members in both Israel and Palestine. We care about the physical and emotional well-being of our friends, their friends and their relatives.
What do we feel about the present violence in Israel, Gaza, and Palestine?
We are appalled by the attack on Israel. Nothing can justify the violence of terror against citizens in Israel. We call on Hamas to stop its fighting immediately and release all hostages unharmed.
We also call on the government of Israel to protect the lives of the people in the Gaza Strip and the other occupied Palestinian territories and to refrain from acts of revenge.
The Middle East conflict cannot be resolved by the decades-long spiral of violence, revenge, terror and war. Only peace, justice and human rights, which guarantee a life of human dignity to all, can lay the necessary foundation for security for all, not weapons.
We also remind ourselves of the many other wars, violent conflicts and emergency crises around the world, that deserve our attention and comprehensive efforts.
We therefore call on all states that are currently declaring their solidarity with only one side of any conflict to come together and work with the United Nations or any other appropriate international framework for a sustainable and just solution. This is the only way to peace.
>What can we do?
Event: 3 minutes silence
Date: Dec. 10, 2023, Human Rights Day
Time: 12:00 UTC time
Dress code: White
• light a candle
• remain in silence for three minutes
• send our thoughts to those suffering from the pains of war
• remind ourselves of our fundamental belief in the values of humanity and non-violence
• give ourselves a moment of reflection and contemplation for healing