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Church World Service offers comprehensive aid in Gaza crisis

NEW YORK CITY, Jan. 9, 2009-- As the death toll continues to rise in
the wake of the Israeli military attack on Gaza, Church World Service
has set in motion an emergency response that includes humanitarian
relief, protection for refugees and those displaced by the attacks,
advocacy for intensified measures to create a just peace, and a public
appeal for U.S. donations to further assist people suffering through the
crisis.

In an attempt to stop the fighting that has trapped some 1.5 million
Palestinians in Gaza with little to no access to food, water or
medicine, Church World Service has called its Speak Out advocacy network
to action, asking people to immediately press their lawmakers in
Washington to support prompt U.S. diplomatic action to end the fighting
in Gaza and renew a meaningful process toward peace with justice for
Palestinians and Israelis.

Because some two thirds of the people now suffering in Gaza are
refugees, CWS wants the governments of Israel and Egypt to allow
civilians who want to leave the bloodshed to do so safely, as
recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In a January 9 letter to U.S. congressional leaders, state department
officials and Israeli and Egyptian ambassadors, Church World Service
underscored the Gazan refugees' right to protection, saying â??All  human
beings have a universal right to flee war and seek safety in neighboring
countries.  Both Israel and Egypt are signatories to the 1951 UN
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

"It is thus incumbent upon Israel and Egypt to immediately open their
borders and provide protection to civilians attempting to flee violence
and persecution. The international community must share the
responsibility and accept Palestinians from Gaza who qualify for asylum
or third country resettlement.â??

Echoing the call of UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres,
the agency communiqué also said that "it is absolutely imperative that
the immediate delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian
victims of this conflict be facilitated with the cooperation of Egypt
and Israel."

Church World Service is a member of Action by Churches Together, an
international aid alliance.  ACT has sent trucks loaded with medicine,
blankets, food and energy biscuits for children to Gaza.   The supplies,
along with trauma therapists, will be able to enter Gaza as soon as the
Israeli Army gives permission for the supply trucks to enter.   As of
Wednesday evening, reports indicated that Israel would halt its bombing
for a few hours each day to allow delivery of humanitarian aid.

CWS says aiding infants and small children and their mothers is a
priority. CWS partners report a need for supplementary feeding for
80,000 preschool children, but only one in four children has received
such supplements during the war.

The need for emergency psychosocial care within the war-torn area is
overwhelming, Action by Churches Together reports. "The best therapy for
children is to resume normal life," says ACT's representative in Israel
and Palestine, Liv Steinmoeggen.

Steinmoeggen says emergency supplies including medicine and blankets
also are needed at the Anglican Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. The
hospital's windows were blown out during the attacks and patients there
now are exposed to cold weather.

The fighting began 12 days ago, after Israel announced that it would
launch an assault on Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian rockets fired
into Israel.  Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed and the United
Nations already has warned of an impending humanitarian disaster in
Gaza.

In December, Church World Service Executive Director Rev. John L.
McCullough and other major Christian leaders in the U.S. sent a letter
to President-el
ect Barak Obama urging him to make Israeli-Palestinian
peace an immediate priority.

HOW TO HELP: Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be made
online or sent to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN,
46515. Please designate #6824, 2009 Gaza Humanitarian Response.

Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net