Gaza: The role we all played

This is the story of how Avaazers went all out to help usher in a ceasefire in Gaza -- our movement's effort adding to a tidal wave of courage from people across the world. The media might be praising Trump alone for the fragile ceasefire we now have -- but it was regular citizens, journalists, civil society groups and doctors inside and outside of Gaza that fought night and day to get us this far. I'm writing this email from a deep sense of pride, and because Israel's attacks and occupation are far from over -- and if we want to help Palestinians rise to live in freedom and dignity, we can't stop now! So, here's a glimpse into the work Avaazers across the world did together –

Dear friends, This is the story of how Avaazers went all out to help usher in a ceasefire in Gaza -- our movement's effort adding to a tidal wave of courage from people across the world. The media might be praising Trump alone for the fragile ceasefire we now have -- but it was regular citizens, journalists, civil society groups and doctors inside and outside of Gaza that fought night and day to get us this far. I'm writing this email from a deep sense of pride, and because Israel's attacks and occupation are far from over -- and if we want to help Palestinians rise to live in freedom and dignity, we can't stop now! So, here's a glimpse into the work Avaazers across the world did together – 1. First, we brought Gaza's children to the heart of Europe We knew we had to touch politicians' hearts and get one message across: Gaza's children are just children. Yet they're being bombed, starved and shot. Every day. So Avaaz members helped erect portraits of brave, hurt children from Gaza on gigantic billboards right outside a key EU leaders summit in Brussels. Photos taken by courageous journalists inside Gaza. Hundreds of us showed up, and heads of states had to drive past Gaza's children on their way to their meeting. It was deeply moving: here's a video already watched over a million times that gives you a sense of how it felt to be there. 2. We moved European leaders to tears and into action In over a decade at Avaaz, I don't think I've ever been to political meetings where almost every single person we met broke into tears. That's what happened when we brought doctors who had saved lives in Gaza to share what they had witnessed with European officials in Brussels. Their names are Graeme, Ana, James, and Thaer. But beyond tears, these doctors left diplomats with more than just first-hand evidence of Israel's violations. They forced each one to ask themselves: "have I truly done everything I can to break the deadlock and save lives?" Here's one of them, Dr. Thaer, speaking to what he witnessed in Gaza -- at a moment, when many of his colleagues in Gaza were still risking their lives to save those of others: 3. We helped spur Spain and France to act After relentless pressure from civil society and images of starved Gazan children emerging in the media, key European countries were starting to change their positions. But to put real pressure on Israel, they needed to move from condemnation to action. So Ana, Graeme and James travelled to Paris and Madrid with us. It was heartbreaking to hear how much the situation had worsened on the ground since their first meetings in Brussels, where they pleaded for their patients. Now they were pleading for their starving colleagues who were fainting from hunger in Gaza's battered hospitals. Their stories ran all over Spain's leading newspapers and television! And then, after months and months of civil society pressure, Spain announced a sweeping sanctions package against the Israeli government. 4. And then Germany! We knew we had to go all in if we were going to move Germany. So we headed to Berlin with Graeme and Tanya, another doctor who'd just returned from Gaza – and brought with us the massive portraits of Gaza's children, and placed them right in front of Parliament. Tanya and Graeme shared haunting stories with senior German officials — and the people we met vowed to do everything in their power to help stop this nightmare and take our plea to the highest level of the government. But we weren't done yet! We worked with amazing filmmakers, and actors who wrote an open letter to the German Chancellor, calling on him to end arms sales and massively increase pressure on Israel to end the war. Within hours, over 200 celebrities, including some of Germany's leading actors and musicians, signed the letter, and it was absolutely everywhere in the media. The Chancellor's head of media replied to us almost immediately to confirm they had read it. Just a week later, the Chancellor announced a partial arms embargo for Israel's war on Gaza. And while this first step came much too late, we must remember it was only made possible by the courage that so many have shown for so long. 5. From advisors to Presidents When initially we were meeting with advisors in small offices in Brussels, we were now accompanying doctors to meet with ministers from the UK to Italy and Germany. Here is an image of our meeting with the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, listening to the doctors for nearly one and a half hours. Then came the United General Assembly in New York -- where we secured a rare meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron. He listened deeply to Dr Nada's stories and pledged he would do everything he could to end the war. Incredibly, all of this work, every train and plane ticket for the doctors -- Ana, Graeme, Tanya, James, Thaer, Nada, Ambereen, Nick, Deirdre, Ayesha, and Nahreen -- every banner printed, everything, was funded 100% by Avaaz members. I sometimes have to stop in shock at how amazing this is. That each of us giving just what we can -- no matter how much -- when we put it together can add up to this!! And it's a testament to people power, and to all of those who haven't given up even when nothing seemed to change! 6. Standing with the brave journalists of Gaza We didn't stop there -- when Palestinian journalists Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were killed by an Israeli airstrike, we teamed up with Reporters Without Borders to spark an unprecedented act of global solidarity, protesting the over 200 journalists killed and media being banned from entering Gaza. Over 270 media outlets from 70 countries took part in the first global media blackout in history. Newspapers blacked-out their front pages. Broadcasters fell silent. News websites darkened their homepages. The blackout itself became global news - with hundreds of media stories, from The New York Times and The Washington Post to The Guardian and France24. Thank you to everyone who's signed our campaigns, donated to make all of this possible, showed up in person, and more. To all those groups and individuals, inside and outside Gaza, who kept fighting. You help us remember that change is possible, even when almost everyone tells us it's not.  Let's not forget: The suffering in Gaza is still unbearable, and the ceasefire doesn't mean the people of Palestine are free, far from it. So, this can only be the very beginning, and we need to increase the pressure to turn this ceasefire into real peace and end the occupation of the Palestinian people. So that out of the ashes of this genocide, a free Palestine can rise. If you feel moved to do more right now, here are some ideas: Forward this email to a friend, who deeply cares about Gaza and might be curious about the work you and we all helped make happen. Follow us on Instagram or Tiktok, if you want to be more instantly updated on the work we do. Make a small one-off or regular donation to allow us to do more work like this, on Gaza and many more issues -- alongside great groups across the world and people on the ground. But don't feel pressured to :) To people power! To you and all of us, Christoph, Marie, John, Patri, Nax, Nell, Fadi, Sarah, Luis, Nick, Nils, Joana, Julian, Andy, Laure, Ben, Francesco, Jon, Barbara, Mario, Muriel, Bert and the entire team at Avaaz

Avaaz is a 70-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 22 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook, X, or Instagram. You became a member of the Avaaz movement and started receiving these emails when you signed "Community Petitions Site" on 2016-08-14 using the email address iphone108@gmail.com. To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add avaaz@avaaz.org to your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other personal information, contact us, or simply go here to unsubscribe. To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact .