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(RNS) — Almost 1,000 U.S. religion leaders are calling for a Christmas cease-fire in Ukraine 10 months after Russia invaded its neighbor. The leaders, who symbolize a broad vary of faiths, stated they hoped a brief truce might result in the negotiation of everlasting peace.
“As folks of religion and conscience, believing within the sanctity of all life on this planet, we name for a Christmas Truce in Ukraine,” the assertion says. “Within the spirit of the truce that occurred in 1914 throughout the First World Conflict, we urge our authorities to take a management function in bringing the battle in Ukraine to an finish by means of supporting requires a ceasefire and negotiated settlement, earlier than the battle leads to a nuclear battle that might devastate the world’s ecosystems and annihilate all of God’s creation.”
The signers are advocating for a cease-fire from Dec. 24 by means of Jan. 19, the twelfth day of Christmas within the Orthodox calendar.
The assertion was despatched to the White Home Workplace of Religion-Primarily based and Neighborhood Partnerships on Tuesday morning (Dec. 20). The signers intention to fulfill with consultant of that workplace to induce the Biden administration to spearhead each the short-term cease-fire and long-term peace talks.
Greater than 6,000 civilians have died in Ukraine for the reason that battle started, and Ukrainians are bracing for a harsh winter as broken infrastructure and displacement make warmth a rarity.
Graphic for a Christmas truce in Ukraine marketing campaign. Courtesy picture
Among the many preliminary signers of the assertion are pastor and activist the Rev. William J. Barber II, Shalom Heart founder Rabbi Arthur Waskow, scholar and progressive activist Cornel West and Tarunjit Singh Butalia, govt director of Religions for Peace USA.
The assertion was written by representatives of a number of peace teams, together with Fellowship of Reconciliation, CodePink and the Nationwide Council of Elders. They started recruiting signers to the assertion in mid-November.
“Because the battle in Ukraine drags into .. its 10th month, the one certainty is that the estimated lots of of hundreds killed and wounded will proceed to develop, as will the 14 million battle refugees to not point out the humanitarian impacts felt throughout Europe and the globe,” Ariel Gold, govt director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation USA, stated in a separate press launch.
The demand is impressed by the Christmas truce that occurred throughout World Conflict I. Although nationwide leaders on the time ignored Pope Benedict XV’s plea for an official cease-fire, on Dec. 24, 1914, German and British troops alongside the Western Entrance took half in a casual, erratic truce, rising from their trenches to sing carols and share cigars, meals and drinks for just a few brief hours.
“Negotiation will not be a euphemism for capitulation, neither is it a rationalization of Putin’s aggression,” Medea Benjamin, one other of the authors of the assertion and co-founder of the peace group CodePink, stated in a press launch. “It’s merely a recognition that the tip of this battle can’t be achieved by extra battle.”
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