G’day John,
We have all seen the horrific pictures from Gaza. Children scrambling over each other, fighting for food.
Children are starving, mothers are sobbing because they can’t feed their children, let alone themselves.
According to the United Nations (UN), the whole population, over two million people in Gaza, is severely food insecure. One out of every three people has not eaten for days, and 80% of all reported deaths by starvation are children.
What we need is UN peacekeepers on a protective mission. The ‘blue helmets’ - as we call them in our militaries around the world- could be sent in with the sole job of securing food aid and making sure that it is distributed to the people who need it. To make this happen would require UN authorisation. Because this is a protection mission and not a peacekeeping or peace enforcement mission, the international community should have no hesitation in supporting it.
Starting this Monday, I am going to be pushing this on a national and international level.
I am not the only one calling on the UN to deliver this solution. In June this year, an expert on food security called for the routine deployment of peacekeepers just to protect aid convoys in places such as Gaza and Sudan. UN peacekeepers have a long history of assisting in humanitarian efforts, including providing security for the delivery of aid. If we are to ease the starvation of children in Gaza, we need blue helmets protecting those aid convoys.
To get this happening, I am going to need help. Lots of help!
Not just from political leaders but from everyday Australians who want this suffering to end.
I want to take out ads in newspapers and digital media so we can apply public pressure and a letter-writing campaign to those leaders who can support a resolution and make this happen.
