The introductory programme of the Food Parcel Aid Campaign for Palestine, organized in cooperation between MÜSİAD and the Turkish Red Crescent Association, was held at the MÜSİAD Head Office. The programme, attended by MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, Turkish Red Crescent Association President Prof. Dr. Fatma Meriç Yılmaz and prominent figures, was announced as the opening step of a broad campaign period.

The Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) has launched a food aid campaign for the victims of the war in Palestine in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent. The amounts deposited into the donation accounts of the Turkish Red Crescent Association will be delivered to people in need in Gaza through the Turkish Red Crescent.

As the opening step of this food donation campaign, a charity meal whose menu consisted of the rations to be sent to Gaza was organized. At this charity programme, which attracted intense interest as international members took part online and domestic members attended in person, donations corresponding to 140,000 parcels were collected. The value of a parcel, which does not spoil for two years and contains 28 kinds of ready-packaged food, was set at TRY 595.

The campaign, held in order to enable Palestinians to access basic foodstuffs, is expected to continue until the end of February.

Our Support for Palestine Will Continue

Speaking at the programme, MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı emphasized that despite the peace efforts no solution has yet been produced in Palestine and that greater effort must be made to prevent the genocide and war crimes in Gaza. President Asmalı continued his remarks as follows:

“We cannot stand with our hands tied in the face of this tyranny. We have to do whatever we can. At the very least we are obliged and bound to send aid to our needy, aggrieved and oppressed brothers and sisters. God willing, we will thereby lighten a little the heavy burden on the backs of our brothers and sisters who are subjected to oppression; God willing, we can be a breath for them. This campaign we are carrying out together with the Turkish Red Crescent needs to continue and grow further, and everyone needs to take part in it. Today a serious risk of famine has emerged in Gaza, which has a population of 2.3 million. The great majority of the people trapped in this region are struggling to survive at starvation level.

The civilian settlements, places of worship, hospitals and educational institutions in Gaza have been razed to the ground. The infrastructure system has been destroyed. People's electricity and water have been cut off. People are wounded, without food and without water. We know from the past as well this massacre that the State of Israel has been carrying out for months before everyone's eyes, and especially before the eyes of the entire Western civilization. We know it from Sarajevo, which lasted for years. We know it from Arakan. Such days are days when humanity is tested anew, when the thing we call “civilization” is weighed anew on the scales of humanity. On such days a person determines his side and comprehends once again the importance of which evil he must struggle against.”

In her speech, Turkish Red Crescent Association President Prof. Dr. Fatma Meriç Yılmaz emphasized the cooperation with MÜSİAD and stated that such aid must increase.

Yılmaz said: “I am a doctor and I have witnessed various situations in many corners of the world. But I am seeing a human tragedy like the one in Gaza for the first time. The infrastructure resources there have been completely destroyed. For this reason it is very important and a thoughtful gesture that the donations collected here have been arranged on the basis of ready-to-eat food. For this I congratulate all our donors and MÜSİAD members.”

The 140,000 parcels collected at the programme will be prepared under MÜSİAD's coordination and sent by the Turkish Red Crescent Association to the oppressed people of Palestine. The campaign will also continue until the end of February. Donations can be sent to the donation accounts provided by the Turkish Red Crescent on the basis of the parcel price. In addition to the donations, a panel session was also held at the programme by Prof. Dr. Nuh Arslantaş.