Touted as the largest call for a ceasefire ever made across the world, the global campaign demands an end to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
“We want to transform the countdown to 2024 into a #countdown2ceasefire,” organizers of the Countdown2Ceasefire campaign said.
The campaign, which came into being two weeks ago, was reportedly started in London by a group of young activists who came together through social media.
“A permanent ceasefire is the first step in ending the current deplorable situation and a tangible move towards a future where traumatized communities can rebuild and recover,” Bushra Mohammad, a campaign spokesperson is reported as saying.
⏰ We the people have joined together to #countdown2ceasefire .
We hope you are with us too.
Join the call, tonight at midnight. 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/zyY7AhMZqF— AHMED | أحمد (@ASE) December 31, 2023
The organizers say that “as we welcome the new year, innocent men, women, and children are suffering because of the ongoing war in Gaza. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last two months. Even journalists, aid workers, and UN staff are being targeted en masse.”
Among the countries joining in on the campaign are Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Pakistan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, Scotland, Tanzania, Turkiye, England, Spain, Ireland, France, Iraq, Denmark, Nigeria, Germany and South Africa.
Local countdown events are being organized in various cities, and the countdown is being live streamed every hour from across the globe.
“We hope we can achieve this (a ceasefire), and we can start 2024 without the bloodshed,” Mohammad said in a media interview.
Berlin Protest Banned by Police
Meanwhile, in the German capital of Berlin, police on Saturday banned a planned pro-Palestine march on New Year’s eve, the Anadolu Agency reports.
The “No celebration during genocide” demonstration, which was scheduled to take place in the Neukolln district from 10.30 pm local time (2130GMT) on Sunday till 1am, is prohibited, Berlin police reportedly said in a statement.
As the world count down the new year, in Gaza there is a different kind of countdown. #countdown2ceasefire pic.twitter.com/z0aI2PS0PW
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) December 31, 2023
Anadolu reports that “the statement pointed out an “imminent danger” that there could be anti-Semitic slogans and glorification of violence during the protest, ‘based on the experiences of the past few years.’”
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 21,822 Palestinians have been killed, and 56,451 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, Anadolu)
hamas is the reason you dont have your ceasefire. Israel proposed a ceasefire in return for the israeli hostages and hamas refused. Maybe try influencing hamas
It’s not a real permanent ceasefire but temporary or a lull only. After releasing the hostages, Israel will continue with bombings of the occupied territories so that proposal failed. Permanent ceasefire should be had and a Palestinian State be recognized to handle and work on its own affairs freed from occupation control.