Appeal from the cities of the Mediterranean for peace and a future of hope

To the people of the Mediterranean, to the peoples and cultures that overlook this sea that unites us, we present our appeal for peace.

Our cities have always been symbols of encounter, exchange and peaceful coexistence. Our history, our traditions, our languages and our values have been intertwined for centuries. They have made our faces similar, our culture plural and our citizens brothers. They have made the sea a bridge that unites, rather than a border that divides, a place to cross and to build a common future, possible for all

Today, as conflicts and tensions grow stronger, we, the cities of the Mediterranean, affirm that war cannot be excused and that we must work for peace.
War makes the world worse, leaving a legacy of pain, hatred and destruction.
With war, everyone loses, even the winners.

How many of us have been painfully wounded by war! This is also why we cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of those forced to live under the weight of conflict, injustice or corruption. We cannot let our cities, lights in the darkness of so many human quests for freedom and peace, become places of destruction and pain. We cannot accept the closure of our ports and that they are places of rejection of those fleeing war when they should offer a safe haven.

Our appeal:

• The initiation of negotiations that can lead to fair and lasting solutions where there is conflict
• Respect for every individual, for every community and for every faith,
so that they can live in freedom, dignity and safety.
• The commitment to promote intercultural and inter religious dialogue, to strengthen bonds of brotherhood and mutual understanding.
• Attention and care for the environment and the sea, which binds us all and which constitutes a common good to be preserved.
• The opening of humanitarian corridors or, in any case, legal entry routes and the simplification of the procedures necessary to request asylum and to find refuge from conflict and persecution.
• The fight against illiteracy with the promotion of school and public and free education,
which is a premise of freedom.

As men and women of the Mediterranean, we are ready to deploy our culture and all our resources to contribute to the achievement of these goals, especially for the reconstruction of a world at peace. A world that recognises dialogue, mediation and co-operation as the way to address global challenges, from climate change to social inequalities and from poverty to sustainable economic growth.
We appeal to every leader, institution and citizen of the Mediterranean: let us not allow violence and hatred to prevail. War is a monster, a diabolical mechanism, which, sooner or later, makes you a murderer or a victim and nevertheless a hostage of its apparatus.
War is our Enemy.

We, citizens of the Mediterranean, ask that the will of the people be heard and that the choice of war be banned. Only in this way will this sea and this environment, so beautiful and full of variety and yet transformed by war into hell, return to being that corner of Paradise that was given to us by God and our fathers to practice the art of living together in peace as free men.

Medì - Appello per la Pace

Appello delle città del Mediterraneo per la pace e per un futuro di speranza

LEGGI

FIRMA