The letter, led by Türkiye‘s initiative, was signed by 52 countries and two international organizations, and submitted to the UN on Nov. 1, calling for a cessation of arms supplies to Israel.
“We must reiterate at every opportunity that selling weapons to Israel amounts to complicity in genocide,” Fidan said at a news conference in Djibouti, where he attended the third Ministerial Review Conference of Türkiye-Africa Partnership.
NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME, 1 November 2024 – „We the leaders of 15 United Nations and humanitarian organizations urge, yet again, all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians, and call on the State of Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help.
„The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic. The area has been under siege for almost a month, denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue. Just in the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and thousands have once again been forcibly displaced. ……….
(…)
Signatories:
• Ms. Joyce Msuya, Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
• Ms. Nimo Hassan, MBE, Chair, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
• Mr. Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
• Ms. Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Ms. Abby Maxman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Oxfam 3
• Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs)
• Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• Ms. Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
• Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
• Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UN Children‘s Fund (UNICEF)
• Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
• Ms. Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
• Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
As American scholars and higher education administrators, we are deeply committed to the pursuit of truth, justice, and the common good—both in our classrooms and research, and in the broader world we engage with daily. Since October 2023, the Biden-Harris administration has failed to uphold fundamental human rights and the principles of knowledge, truth, and humanity. Their material support for genocidal atrocities has devastated entire communities in Palestine, leading to the loss of countless families in Gaza over the past year, and undermined the core values the United States professes to uphold globally. Under Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for President, every university has been bombed and destroyed in Gaza, more journalists have been killed than in any other conflict in recorded modern history, and the death toll is projected to exceed 186,000 according to The Lancet. Under Biden-Harris, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has prosecuted violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and declared Israel‘s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, unlawful, along with its associated settlement apartheid regime.
This election, on November 5th, the Democratic Party—once again with Kamala Harris at its center—has repeatedly sought our votes by positioning itself as the „lesser evil,“ urging us to abandon our moral convictions out of fear of a second Trump term under Republican leadership. Let us be clear: there is no „lesser evil“ when both parties are complicit in the same atrocities. And there is no lesser evil when they are complicit in genocide. Kamala Harris has actively funded and endorsed genocide, and we cannot reward such leadership with a Harris-Walz ticket. While the Republican Party under a Trump-Vance ticket offers no meaningful alternative, it is the Democratic Party, under Kamala Harris, that has actively supported and sanctioned these international crimes against humanity since October 2023. They must not be rewarded.
The Abandon Harris Campaign announces that an academic letter calling on Americans to vote third party in the upcoming election is quickly gaining traction across higher education institutions nationwide. Titled “A Call by American Academics to Vote Against Genocide on November 5, 2024: Vote to Abandon Harris – Vote Third Party,” the principled letter condemns the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza and urges voters to hold Kamala Harris accountable at the ballot box. The letter and its signatories can be found at voteagainstgenocide.org.
Neve Gordon, welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you start off actually by talking about what this letter says? And the number of people is — the last time we looked, it was 2,000 Israelis who have signed it. Now it’s over 3,000, Professor Gordon.
NEVE GORDON: There’s a feeling among Israelis that the change cannot come from within. We do not have enough power from within to change the course of actions that Netanyahu and his government have put in place. And the only way to stop the violence, to stop the genocidal violence in Gaza, to stop the violence in Lebanon, and to stop future attacks and geopolitical war in the region is that leaders in Europe and leaders in North America, particularly the United States, put their leg down and say enough is enough and threaten Israel that if there is no ceasefire, they will sanction Israel, they will stop arms trade with Israel, they’ll stop sending Israel money, and ultimately stop trading with Israel. So, our belief is, to save the populations that inhabit this region, we need such an action.
Nous, citoyennes et citoyens israéliens, résidant en Israël et ailleurs, appelons la communauté internationale – l’Organisation des Nations unies et ses institutions, les Etats-Unis, l’Union européenne, la Ligue arabe, ainsi que tous les pays du monde – à intervenir immédiatement en appliquant contre Israël toute sanction possible afin d’obtenir un cessez-le-feu immédiat entre Israël et ses voisins. Et cela, pour l’avenir des peuples vivant en Israël Palestine et dans la région, et afin de garantir leur droit à la sécurité et à la vie. Mercredi, le chef du Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, a été tué par l’armée israélienne. Or, on craint que cette mort, qui a été annoncée comme la fin de l’offensive israélienne, ne soit qu’une étape de ce chemin meurtrier vers l’abîme.
The lack of true international pressure, the continuation of arms supplies to Israel, economic and security partnerships and scientific and cultural collaborations, bring most Israelis to believe that Israel’s policies enjoy international support. The leaders of many countries make repeated statements about the horror they feel and verbally denounce Israel’s operations, but these condemnations are not backed by practical actions. We are replete with empty words and declarations.
Please, for our futures and the futures of all of the residents of Israel and the region, save us from ourselves and use real pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire.
The attorneys highlight three categories of potential US code violations the DOJ could investigate:
– The killing of US citizens by Israeli citizens and soldiers in recent years (including Ayşenur Eygi, Kamel Ahmad Jawad, Jacob Flickinger, Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Khdour, Omar Assad, and Shireen Abu Akleh).
– Israel’s illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, assisted by US citizens and organizations.
– Evidence that Israeli forces may have committed war crimes and engaged in torture – including killing thousands of civilians, forcibly displacement and starvation, unlawful confinement, torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, and mass destruction of civilian property and infrastructure.
“Of course,” the attorneys note, “U.S. courts have jurisdiction over the more than 23,000 U.S. citizens currently serving in Israel’s armed forces, along with IDF members or other Israeli officials that travel to the United States.”
We write regarding the case of Dylan Collins, a U.S. citizen and journalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP) injured by Israeli tank fire on October 13, 2023. It has now been more than one year since Mr. Collins was injured in a targeted Israeli strike while on assignment for AFP. To date, Mr. Collins has received no explanation for the attack, and there have been no steps toward accountability. Given the inaction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the United States must open an independent investigation into this incident.
We previously wrote to the State Department regarding Mr. Collins’ case. On October 13th, Collins was part of a group of journalists covering the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The group was clearly marked as press and had selected an open and highly visible position on a hilltop near the Blue Line to minimize the risk of misidentification. The group was clearly visible to several Israeli military positions, as well as to an Israeli Apache helicopter and drone circling overhead. There were no Hezbollah positions in the vicinity. The group had been filming from the position for close to an hour when, despite these precautions, they were struck twice by Israeli tank rounds, followed by a sustained burst of .50 caliber heavy machine gun fire. Issam Abdallah, a Reuters journalist, was killed and six other journalists (from Reuters, AFP, and Al Jazeera) were wounded, one severely. Collins was the only American involved in the incident. The first tank round largely missed him, but he sustained shrapnel wounds to his face, arms, and back when a second tank round hit as he was applying a tourniquet to his colleague’s leg (despite Mr. Collins’ efforts, Ms. Assi lost her leg in the attack).
The U.S. attorney general is also facing internal pressure to investigate Israel‘s killing of Americans.
The letter by the Muslim councillors adds to pressure mounting on the British government from within the Labour Party to take stronger action against Israel.
Last week, 51 British MPs from seven political parties backed a parliamentary motion calling for the Labour government to take measures against Israel.
Die öffentlich gewordene Fassung der geplanten Resolution „Nie wieder ist jetzt: Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland schützen, bewahren und stärken“ erfüllt uns jedoch mit großer Sorge. Nach ersten juristischen Einschätzungen kollidiert sie mit dem Grundgesetz, bringt eine mannigfaltige Rechtsunsicherheit, zweifelhafte Praktikabilität und die Gefahr der Diskriminierung mit sich. Durch die autoritative Verwendung der sehr weitreichenden und gleichzeitig unscharfen IHRA-Arbeitsdefinition als Regulierungsinstrument, sowie durch die unklare Frage faktischer Bindung einer Bundestags-Resolution, droht sie enorme Verunsicherung mit sich zu bringen und zum Verstummen jener Stimmen zu führen, die durch entsprechende Ansätze geschützt werden sollen. Ein immenser Schaden für unsere Demokratie wäre die Folge. Doch der Bekämpfung von Antisemitismus gebührt eine Resolution, die mit der demokratisch freiheitlichen Grundordnung in Einklang steht.
Civil society groups, artists and academics, myself included, have criticised the draft resolution in an open letter. We are particularly worried about the threat it presents to freedom of speech, alongside academic and artistic freedoms, while failing to achieve the goal it rightly sets itself.
The draft resolution recommends adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s definition of antisemitism as the standard for evaluating state funding requests and determining whether a project is antisemitic.
To Our Guild Leadership and Staff:
We are proud rank-and-file union and trade association members from every corner of our industry — working on screen, stage, set, and in the field — united in solidarity with the global call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a just, lasting peace. As artists and storytellers, we cannot stand idly by as our industry refuses to tell the story of Palestinian humanity.
Following SAG-AFTRA’s statement in sympathy with Israel regarding October 7, many SAG-AFTRA and sister guild members have watched in horror as the Israeli government wages a war of collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza — killing over 40,000 Palestinians, injuring over 90,000 more, forcibly displacing 2 million people, and openly targeting members of the press and their families. As the IDF continues its assault on “safe zones,” schools, and hospitals, and as civilians in Gaza die from starvation, dehydration, and lack of medical supplies and fuel, major human rights groups have labeled these acts as war crimes, human rights atrocities, and even genocide. The UN has described Gaza as a “graveyard for children” — and estimate that by mid-July “half of the population — more than a million people — could face death and starvation.” As of now, there is no end in sight — only escalation, death, and destruction.
SAG-AFTRA members Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Barrera and Cynthia Nixon are among the hundreds of union members calling on their organization’s leadership to keep people from being blacklisted for their views on Palestine.
In a statement provided with an open letter from organization SAG-AFTRA and Sister Guild Members for Ceasefire, members claim their numerous attempts to communicate with leadership about their concerns and work on a ceasefire statement together have been consistently ignored. When asked, SAG-AFTRA declined to comment on the claim or the letter.
During the DNC in Chicago, we made our demand for an arms embargo on Israel clear. Time and time again, we heard politicians — including Sen. Tammy Duckworth who told us back in October that she would continue sending weapons to Israel — posing as advocates for women and reproductive rights while arming Israel. They can’t hide from one undeniable fact: Genocide is not feminist.
Send a letter to the women of the Senate below and tell them: We Need an Arms Embargo on Israel NOW!
His Majesty reaffirmed that Jordan will not allow for a regional war to unfold on its land, nor accept any actions that threaten its stability, the statement said.
The King also noted the importance of creating a political horizon to achieve just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution.
(August 26, 2024)
Our organizations are writing to request that the European Union take action against the Israeli authorities’ unprecedented killing of journalists and other violations of media freedom, in contravention of Israel’s human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) obligations. These are part of widespread and systematic abuses committed by Israeli authorities in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and elsewhere, as documented or acknowledged by Israeli, Palestinian and international NGOs, UN experts, the International Court of Justice, and in a request for arrest warrants by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. These violations should trigger the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and further EU targeted
sanctions against those responsible. Regrettably, the EU 27 governments are yet to unanimously acknowledge, attribute, and condemn the Israeli forces’ crimes in Gaza.
We, the undersigned organizations, stand in solidarity with the students nationwide and globally who are bravely protesting in encampments and otherwise to condemn Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza–actions which human rights organizations, a federal U.S. court, and the International Court of Justice have said “plausibly” constitute genocide.
(,,,)
In solidarity,
350.org US
18 Million Rising
198 methods
Adalah Justice Project
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
AF3IRM
Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Churches USA
American Friends Service Committee
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
American Muslim Bar Association
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action)
Arab American Civic Council
Arab American Institute
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Better to Speak
Beyt Tikkun: A Synagogue without Walls
Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU)
Blue Future
Borderlands for Equity
Borderlands Resource Initiative
Brooklyn For Peace
CAIR Action
CAIR California
CAIR Minnesota
CAIR Oklahoma
CAIR-WA
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Cameroon American Council
Carceral Tech Resistance Network
Ceasefire Democrats
Ceasefire Now NJ
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Protest Law & Litigation @ Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
Chicago Area Peace Action
Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy
Christians for a Free Palestine
Civic Ark
Civil Liberties Defense Center
Clockshop
CommonDefense.us
Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP)
Council on American-Islamic Relations
CWA-News Guild Local 38010
Defending Rights & Dissent
Delaware Democratic Socialists of America
Delawareans for Palestinian Human Rights
Detention Watch Network
Disciples Palestine Israel Network
Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM)
Doctors Against Genocide
Dream Defenders
Dutch Scholars for Palestine
Eindhoven Students 4 Palestine
En Conjunto
Faith for Black Lives
Faith in Texas
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fight for the Future
For All
Freedom Oklahoma
Freedom To Thrive
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Future Coalition
Gen-Z for Change
Gender Justice Action and Gender Justice
Get Free
Global Campaign to Reclaim People‘s Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power & Stop Impunity
Green Mountain Solidarity With Palestine
Green New Deal Network
Greenpeace USA
Hawai‘i for Palestine
Health Justice Commons
Highlander Research and Education Center
Hindus for Human Rights
Historians for Peace and Democracy
IfNotNow Movement
IfNotNow New Jersey
Immigrant Defense Project
Immigrant Justice Network
Immigrants Act Now
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project
Interfaith Ceasefire
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
International Mayan League
InterReligious Task Force on Central America
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
Islamophobia Studies Center
Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Jewish Voice for Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace-Hawai’i
Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ)
Just Foreign Policy
Justice Democrats
Just Futures Law
Justice for All
Kairos USA
Libyan American Alliance
LittleSis / Public Accountability Initiative
Living Water Inclusive Catholic Community
Long Island Progressive Coalition
Make the Road Nevada
Malaya Georgia
Massachusetts Peace Action
Mennonite Action
Mennonite Action WA
Migrant Roots Media
Minnesota Peace Project
Mondoweiss
Movement for Black Lives
MPower Change Action Fund
MSA West
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Community Network
Muslim Counterpublics Lab
Muslim Power Building Project
Muslims for Just Futures
Muslims for Progressive Values
National Arab American Women’s Association (NAAWA)
National Iranian American Council
National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild – St. Louis Chapter
National Partnership for New Americans
New Hampshire Veterans for Peace
New York City Veterans For Peace
The New Justice Project Minnesota
North American Students of Cooperation
No Separate Justice
The Oakland Institute
Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity/Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth
Our Revolution
Palestine American League
Palestine Legal
Palestinian Feminist Collective
Partners for Palestine
Pax Christi New York State
Pax Christi USA
Pediatricians for Palestine
Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
Project ANAR
Project South
Peace Action
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
Reparation Education Project
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
Rising Majority
RootsAction Education Fund
The Social Justice Center
Sound Vision
Starr King School for the Ministry
Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine at the University of Hawai’i (SFJP)
Sunrise Movement
Sur Legal Collaborative
TakeAction Minnesota
Tech Justice Law Project
The Gathering for Justice
The Hague Peace Projects
Transnational Institute
The Uncommitted National Movement
UndocuBlack Network
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship
Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice
Unitarian Universalist Mass Action
Unitarian Universalist Peace Ministry Network
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Unitarian Universalist Young Adults for Climate Justice (UUYACJ)
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network
United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
Until Freedom
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Veterans For Peace
We Are All America
The Whatcom Peace and Justice Center
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
Working Families Party
World BEYOND War
Young Democrats of America Black Caucus
Young Democrats of America Environmental Caucus
Youth Leadership Institute
A coalition of 185 social justice and religious groups published an open letter Monday expressing support for the campus protest encampments sweeping the country in opposition to Israel’s siege of Gaza, and calling on university administrators to end the brutal crackdowns of the student-led demonstrations.
Dear President Mills and Provost Dopico,
We write this public letter as Jewish faculty at NYU requesting that the university administration discontinue its practice of relying on specious charges of antisemitism when adjudicating matters of student conduct and faculty discipline concerning pro-Palestinian speech and protest. This matter has particular urgency as just this morning a coalition of NYU students has established an encampment in solidarity with Gaza, and already NYU has taken steps to limit and constrain their speech and mobility.
We reject outright the administration’s insistence that criticism of Israeli state policy is inherently antisemitic and so constitutes discrimination. There is nothing Jewish about supporting Israel’s destruction of Gaza or about the US bombs that have killed more than 10,000 children there, nor is it antisemitic to denounce Israeli state violence or to protest American imperialism. Moreover, by adopting a cheapened idea of “antisemitic” hate speech defined by the very same right wing political figures who have given energy and legitimacy to neo-fascist groups across the US and to the McCarthyite anti-intellectual assault on higher education unfolding today, the university degrades the discourse of antisemitism itself. With this in mind, we request that the university reverse all punitive Office of Equal Opportunity decisions in disciplinary proceedings that have depended upon the erroneous equation of anti-Israel speech with antisemitism.
Die aktuelle Diskussion um eine europäische oder sogar deutsche Atombombe ist erschreckend und brandgefährlich. Wir erteilen diesen Gedankenspielen eine klare Absage und fordern aus folgenden Gründen die leichtsinnig geführte und überflüssige Debatte sofort zu beenden:
Der Nichtverbreitungsvertrag (NVV) als auch der Zwei-plus-Vier Vertrag verbieten es Deutschland eigene Atomwaffen zu besitzen. Der NVV, den alle EU-Staaten unterzeichnet haben, macht auch eine EU-Atombombe unmöglich. Die Forderung nach einer EU- oder deutschen Bombe unterläuft das Völkerrecht und die internationale Ordnung.
Berlin has already appealed to EU and NATO partners as well as other unspecified countries, as Russia‘s intensifying aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities continue to highlight the growing shortage of sufficient air defense systems.
A Russian missile attack on the city of Chernihiv on the morning of April 17 killed at least 17 people.
„This would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air defense equipment and if the world‘s determination to counter Russian terror was also sufficient,“ President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
Die Bundesregierung startet eine neue Initiative, um der Ukraine weiteres Gerät zur Flugabwehr bereitzustellen. Dazu hätten sich Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock und Verteidigungsminister Boris Pistorius an Partner gewandt, teilten Sprecher beider Ministerien mit. Die Adressaten seien Partner bei NATO und Europäischer Union sowie auch Drittstaaten, sagt ein Sprecher des Auswärtigen Amts, ohne dabei konkreter werden zu wollen.
(November 1, 2023)
To focus, as we do here, on the actions of the Israeli state and the unflagging support it receives from the US and its allies, is neither to celebrate violence, nor to equivocate on the value of innocent lives. Civilian deaths, regardless of nationality, are tragic and unacceptable. Yet to act as though the history of violence began with Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023 is to display a reckless indifference to history as well as to both Palestinian and Israeli lives. In order for violence to stop, the conditions that produce violence must stop.
The blockade of Gaza has lasted 16 years; the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has lasted 56 years; the dispossession of Palestinians of their lands and homes across historic Palestine has lasted three-quarters of a century, since the 1948 establishment of Israel as an ethno-supremacist state. It is not without reason that observers—including both international and Israeli human rights groups—now characterize Israel’s control over the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea as a system of apartheid.
(01.03.2024)
We, the undersigned parliamentarians, declare our commitment to end our nations’ arms sales to the State of Israel.
Our bombs and bullets must not be used to kill, maim, and dispossess Palestinians. But they are: we know that lethal weapons and their parts, made or shipped through our countries, currently aid the Israeli assault on Palestine that has claimed over 30,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank.
We cannot wait. Following the interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Genocide Convention case against the State of Israel, an arms embargo has moved beyond a moral necessity to become a legal requirement.
We will not be complicit in Israel’s grave violation of international law. The ICJ ordered Israel not to kill, harm or “deliberately [inflict] on the [Palestinians] conditions of life calculated to bring about… physical destruction.” They have refused. Instead, they press on with a planned assault on Rafah that the Secretary General of the United Nations has warned will „exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.“
Today, we take a stand. We will take immediate and coordinated action in our respective legislatures to stop our countries from arming Israel.
Signatories:
(02.03.2024)
The statement‘s signatories include legislators from Israel‘s top allies and weapons suppliers, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. Just two U.S. lawmakers—Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—backed the statement.
The statement includes six signatories from Germany, which is facing an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case alleging complicity in genocide against Palestinians.
The lawmakers argued that an arms embargo on Israel is both „a moral necessity“ and „a legal requirement,“ given the ICJ‘s interim ruling in late January.
(04.03.2024)
Amid the deadly war in Gaza, over 200 legislators from 11 countries unite to oppose their countries’ arms exports to Israel. In a declaration published by the Progressive International parliamentarians declared “our commitment to end our nations’ arms sales to the State of Israel.”
“Our bombs and bullets must not be used to kill, maim, and dispossess Palestinians. But they are: we know that lethal weapons and their parts, made or shipped through our countries, currently aid the Israeli assault on Palestine that has claimed over 30,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank. We cannot wait. Following the interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Genocide Convention case against the State of Israel, an arms embargo has moved beyond a moral necessity to become a legal requirement.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, today urged the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) to halt the possible extradition of Julian Assange to the United States of America.
She called on British authorities to consider Julian Assange’s appeal based on substantial fears that, if extradited, he would be at risk of treatment amounting to torture or other forms of ill-treatment or punishment.
The IASC signatories to the appeal are:
– Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
– Qu Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
– Jane Backhurst, Chair, ICVA (Christian Aid)
– Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
– Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
– Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
– Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs)
– Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
– Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
– Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
– Michal Mlynár, Executive Director a.i., United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
– Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
– Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
– Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
– Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
(28.01.2024)
We urge the Attorney General not to remain silent when the police transform into a political tool, targeting those who dissent from the government‘s stance.
Particularly in times of war, it is crucial to safeguard freedom of expression and the right to protest.
(12.01.2024)
The signatories include authors David Grossman and Iris Leal; MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), philosophers Slavoj Žižek, Eva Illouz, Axel Honneth and Kohei Saito; former Members of Knesset Dov Khenin (Hadash) and Mossi Raz (Meretz); human rights activists Ruchama Marton, Att. Michael Sfard, Ziv Stahl, Avi Dabush, B’tselem Director Yuli Novak and Breaking the Silence Director Avner Gvaryahu; singer Achinoam Nini, actor and director Itay Tiran, and actors Esti Zakheim, Ala Dakka, Yossi Zabari and Menashe Noy; filmmakers Ari Folman, Avi Mograbi, Nadav Lapid, Avigail Sperber and the Heiman brothers; lawyer Daniel Hacklai; choreographer Ohad Naharin, director and choreographer Avshalom Pollak; scholar and journalist Tomer Persico, and many others.
#Lebanon calls it the most dangerous chapter of Israeli attacks on its sovereignty as it hit a crowded residential area of its capital and says pressure must be put on Israel „in order to prevent the conflict from escalating and plunging the entire region into a comprehensive and destructive war that will be difficult to contain.“ The letter adds that „this is a matter of concern because it may lead to an expansion of the conflict and destabilize regional peace and security. Once again, Israel provides clear evidence of its commitment to pursuing a policy of aggression and violence in resolving conflicts“ which is contrary with the principles of the UN Charter. The letter also notes continuing threats by Israeli officials that they could destroy Lebanon.
The two theatre staff were detained by Israeli forces from the occupied West Bank city of Jenin during a raid on 13 December.
The open letter, circulated by Culture Workers Against Genocide, condemns the violent assault on Jenin’s Freedom Theatre, where Israeli soldeirs attacked the facility, shot at the building, destroyed offices and assaulted staff members.
The letter states that approximately 100 other Palestinians taken hostage from Jenin remain in detention.
(12.12.2023)
Dear President Biden,
The war in the Gaza Strip has been underway for more than nine weeks, ever since Hamas carried out its horrific and criminal attack on Israeli civilians, which included killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping some 250 to Gaza – among them Israeli civilians, foreign nationals and children. Immediately after the attack, and in a speech you later gave in Israel, you made it clear that Israel has the right to defend itself, while emphasizing it must do so only in accordance with the provisions of international law, and particularly the rules of war.
We, Israeli human rights organizations and civil society groups, must at this stage state with a heavy heart that our government has chosen to ignore your advice and similar statements by US officials. This letter does not address the grave suspicions of Israeli violations of international humanitarian law during the war, but centers on the extreme humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza and the urgent need to change Israel’s policy on this issue.
(13.12.2023)
Among the signatories: Academia for Equality, Akevot – Institute for Israeli Palestinian Conflict Research, B’Tselem, Bimkom, Breaking the Silence, Combatants for Peace, Gisha, HaMoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual, Jordan Valley Activists, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Machsom Watch, Parents Against Child Detentions, Psychoative, Rabbis for Human Rights, Social Workers for Peace and Welfare, Yesh Din and Zazim -Community Action.