GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – People across Guyana raised GY$72.5 million (US$347 403) for the people of Pakistan on Saturday, as President Irfaan Ali insisted that what is happening in Gaza is “nothing short of genocide” and must end.
The donations and Ali’s appeal for an end to the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups were made during a Laylat Al Qadr event held under the theme, ‘A Night of Prayer for Global Peace, Guyana and Palestine,’ at the Muslim Youth Organization ground.
“Your charity is not only your money; your charity is much more than this. Theran says that speech and forgiveness are better than charity followed, wed by injury. And that is why, as a leader in our global community, we call on every leader to be fair and charitable in their words. And if you are fair and charitable in your words, you must call this for what it is. This is genocide; it is the first publicly televised genocide in the world. It is nothing short of genocide, and it must stop; it must stop without condition,” President Ali said, adding that his government has always been moral on matters such as these.
The funds raised were handed over to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to be used directly to benefit Palestinians affected by the conflict that began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the six months since the war started.
President Ali said Saturday night was historic for a country that once was the highest per capita donor to humanitarian efforts worldwide.
“Tonight is another occasion through which we, as Guyanese, demonstrate our love, our humaneness, and what makes us the greatest citizens on Earth: that love and compassion that we have for humanity wherever humanity exists and wherever humanity is in need across the world,” he said.
“These resources were raised from every single community across our country. They were raised in small numbers and in large numbers…in a spirit of love and charity.”
President Ali said he was proud to lead a country “with people of such love and kindness, people whose hearts are filled with the desire to give and give and five.”
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