|PIC1|The Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Muslim Charities Foundation and the head of the Movement for Reform Judaism have launched a joint appeal for funds towards humanitarian work in Gaza.

The ‘Faiths Working Together’ fund will support the emergency work of Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel in the wake of conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said the faith leaders had received assurances from the aid agencies that the funds raised would be used for humanitarian purposes and on the basis of need alone regardless of ethnicity, religion or nationality.

“We understand the complexity of the situation in the region and we support the rights of Israel to security and self defence and Palestinians to self determination, believing that this can be best achieved through a lasting peace settlement,” he said.

“We cannot, however, stand by in the meantime. We are bound to play our part in the relief of suffering in the region generally and in Gaza in particular at the present time.”

The Archbishop called on people of all faiths and none to support the appeal, which has been endorsed by the Council of Christians and Jews and the Christian Muslim Forum.

The CMF said, “We strongly support this initiative to enable people from our two faith traditions and others to do all they can for the relief of the profound humanitarian need in this situation.”

On the web: www.faithsworkingtogether.org