SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood has written to the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council this morning proposing that civic buildings are lit white in solidarity with civilians on the front line of the conflict between Israel and Hamas which has left communities across the region, and particularly in Gaza, devastated.
Said the Foyle MP: “The appalling scenes of violence in Gaza and southern Israel have horrified the world.
“The indiscriminate murder of civilians and aid workers on a horrific scale, the abduction of women and children, the blatant breaches of international law and the imposing of collective punishment on the people of Gaza are indefensible.
“There is nothing that can justify what we’re seeing unfold in the region and there is no excuse for the weak, partisan international response.
“The crimes committed by Hamas have been met by crimes committed by the state of Israel.
“The cycle of violence and atrocity cannot continue without an intervention from the international community aimed at securing a ceasefire and, ultimately, a peaceful two state solution.
“The people of Derry know better than most that violence for political ends never works. It is a symptom of an entrenched conflict that can only be broken by dialogue.
“I know that people here feel powerless and are struggling to understand what they can do to help the situation.
“The solidarity of this city is with civilians facing the most horrendous conditions and living with the threat of extreme violence every day.
“I have written to the Mayor to request that civic buildings are lit white for peace as a visible sign of our solidarity.
“I will be at Westminster today demanding answers from the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary about the partisan approach to the conflict taken to date and urging a fulsome humanitarian mission to relieve immediate pressure on civilians in the region.
“I will also be pressing them to use their influence to seek an immediate ceasefire and an international peace effort.”
