Emmaus International would like to express its support to the Lebanese people and calls for an immediate ceasefire!

The latest updates on the war in the Middle East and the escalation of conflict between the Israeli army and Hezbollah upset and concern the Emmaus Movement. We regularly receive messages from members of our Lebanese group AEP (Association d’Entraide Professionnelle) which works for socio-economic development in the microfinance sector. The group is directly affected by the events and is threatened by bombings daily. 

Its activity, essential for hundreds of families, has once again been stopped. It already suffered during the war in July; the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict and the 2020 Beirut port explosions. The members of the Emmaus group are alright but had to stop their activities and live in fear daily. We must also deplore the death of one of the AEP borrowers. Increasing civilian casualties, frequent strikes, overrun hospitals and the lack of an outlook for the end of the conflict affect everyone, notably the most vulnerable.

Claude Audi, an AEP member and former member of the Emmaus International Board highlights the horror of the situation.

“People are too concerned about surviving, they don’t move. It is so gratuitous, inhuman, atrocious… Luckily the Ministry of Health promised to care for the injured.”

The Chair of the Emmaus International Asia Region, Camille Chedid, condemned this conflict escalation and the countries contributing to it:

“We are roundly opposed to all forms of aggression which kill innocent people, destroy their houses and force families to flee. Hundreds of people lost their lives, and several thousand were injured. Thousands of families were displaced, seeking shelter following the destruction of their homes. We cannot accept this senseless violence. It is time to put an end to this vicious circle of destruction and pain.  We call for peace, protection of human lives and respect of the dignity of all people. Let our voices unite to build a future where people will no longer be subject to fear and the worry of losing what is most dear to them.”

Once again, the Lebanese people are victim to this deadly conflict, notably in the South and East of the country. Since 21 September, more than 600 strikes have been recorded, hundreds of deaths, including dozens of children, and more than 90,000 people have been forced to flee. The Emmaus Movement has been committed to defending peace and friendly relations between peoples for over 70 years and recalls the need to respect human rights, as well as the urgent need to find a way out of the conflict before it consumes the entire region.

Emmaus International would like to express its support to the Lebanese people and calls for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We call on the international community to enforce international law with regards to United Nations resolutions and the decisions of the International Court of Justice.

AEP (Association d’Entraide Professionnelle) was created in 1984 and has been a member of Emmaus International since 1995. For people running small, productive projects, both familial and collective or cooperative, the group seeks to make them actors of development without discrimination. It does so by granting short and medium-term microcredits to micro-enterprises in order to support their activities and contribute to their development. Adapting to the Lebanese economic reality, AEP prioritises quality support for several hundred families, making the group different from other international microcredit organisations which prioritise a larger number of cases.