Russian planes are killing children in Syria,
just as the world is gearing up to laud Russia at the
World Cup! But the UK government is pulling out, and
if we get more leaders and teams to say they won’t go to
the #cupofshame unless Putin stops the
bombings, we could finally
stop this hell on earth. Add your
name:
|
Russian planes are killing
children in Syria, just as the world is gearing up
to laud Russia at the World Cup! But the UK
government is pulling out, and if we get more leaders
and teams to say they won’t go to the #cupofshame
unless Putin stops the
bombings, we could finally
stop this hell on earth. Add your
name:
|
Dear
friends, For 7 years Syria has been hell
on earth.
President Assad's
extermination of his own people has been chillingly surgical:
he surrounds towns so civilians can't leave, cuts off access
to food and medicine, and drops bombs, even
chemical weapons, on desperate families. 400,000
have died -- and he's just started in on a new
target.
There's one
reason why Assad's been able to continue with this
destruction: Russia. But now there's one thing Russia may
care about more than Syria: saving
the World Cup it hosts this year. The
British Prime Minister just announced no Ministers will
attend. Australia, Japan and Poland may be next. And there's
massive debate in Germany about a boycott. This is
huge! If we can get more governments and
players to join in opposing the World #Cupofshame,
Russia could finally be pushed to stop the
bombing. Add your name to stop this hell on earthThis
isn't a boycott -- many countries that respect human rights
would be happy to host. And switching the venue could help
challenge the infamous corruption of FIFA, the football
governing body that is widely rumored to have been bribed by
Russia to host the games in the first
place! Russia has vetoed all efforts to
stop Syria's carnage, ignored sanctions, and
violated UN agreements it signed. But the World Cup finally
gives us some leverage. And pressure is building
right now -- since the UK just announced
they won't go, we can get others to follow. Famous
footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have
spoken out about the horrors of Syria, and many teams and
governments are uncomfortable condoning Russia’s violence at
the World Cup. This is a call to them to speak up for
basic humanity. If enough of us join, we can do
this! Add your name to stop this hell on earth
We’ve done this
before -- when Bahrain brutally cracked down on protesters,
Avaaz built a massive campaign, caused a media stir, a
legendary driver spoke out, and Formula 1 was
cancelled.
Some say we shouldn't mix sports in this
horror. But sport is a forum for peace and good. It shouldn't
be used to shower accolades on war criminals. Let’s unite to
show we won’t cheer in Russian stadiums while their Air Force
bombs and starves babies to death in
Syria.
With hope and
determination,
Allison, Alice, Rewan,
Ricken, Nick and the entire Avaaz team
More
information:
FIFA World Cup
boycott looms amid Russia’s spy scandal (News.com.au) http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/sergei-skripal-fifa-world-cup-boycott-looms-amid-russias-spy-scandal/news-story/f60f604aaae5c03e32043489dde297ab
Ghouta: thousands of
civilians flee fresh regime bombardment (The
Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/eastern-ghouta-syrian-regime-forces-break-into-key-townFor
Putin, the World Cup is not about football but global respect
(The Spectator) https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/01/for-putin-the-world-cup-is-not-about-football-but-global-respect..FIFA
is struggling to find sponsors for Russia 2018
(CNN) http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/01/news/fifa-sponsors-russia-2018/index.html
On
the 7th anniversary Syrians call world leaders to threaten
World Cup Boycott (Syrian NGO Alliance) http://syrianna.org/details/On-the-7th-anniversary-Syrians-call-world-leaders-to-threaten-World-Cup-boycott/126/en | | |