Jewish leaders from across the globe are calling for global, immediate sanctions on Israel. They oppose its actions in Gaza as “unconscionable” and liken them to genocide. An overflow of desolation There’s an urgent plea stemming from alarming accounts provided by Gaza’s health ministry. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has deliberately massacred at least 65,000 Palestinians, injuring over 167,000. The humanitarian crisis continues to spike at levels unseen. The United Nations currently estimates nearly 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are internally displaced…
The war has escalated significantly in the past few weeks. Documentation from our grantee PCHR indicates that Israel violated a ceasefire agreement on 80 different occasions. As a consequence, over 80 Palestinians were killed over an 11-day span. Violence has reached an unprecedented level in the West Bank. Each year, according to the UN’s humanitarian office, more than 3,200 Palestinians have endured injuries this year alone. A tally from the UN OCHA aid coordinating agency recorded 71 settler attacks in the span of one week this past October.
The demand for accountability has not only originated from international Jewish figures but from leading US Democratic senators. Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley assert that Israel is executing “a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza.” Their statement represents a significant shift in the mood of the American public. In a recent Brookings Institution survey, 45% of respondents agreed that Israel is committing genocide. In the background, a Quinnipiac poll found that voters in the US overwhelmingly support their position, with a staggering 77% of Democrats in favor.
Signatories to an alternative open letter holding Israel accountable, from the former Israeli government officials, Oscar-winning actors, authors and intellectuals. They argue that their solidarity with Palestinians is not an abandonment or betrayal of Judaism, but rather the fulfillment of its tenets.
“Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism, but a fulfillment of it,” – Signatories of the open letter.
The situation on the ground remains dire. Graphic accounts of this violence have emerged, including incidents in which settlers carried out such violence. This 55-year-old woman in this image was hospitalized after being assaulted by a masked settler while she was picking olives. This shocking act was recorded on video. This event illustrates the often lethal violence that Israeli settlers undertake against Palestinians. Yesh Din Investigations by the Israeli civil rights group Yesh Din reported that just 3% of soldiers’ violent crimes resulted in convictions from 2005 to 2014.
In light of these events, opponents claim that US policies only fuel the ongoing violence. Donald Trump had just removed similar sanctions on violent settler and settler organizations during the course of Joe Biden’s presidency. Minimally, this should be raising alarm bells among legislators about the role that America is playing in making Israel’s actions possible.
For this particular story, there is a deepening awareness of the historical backdrop that led to some of the most devastating events. A statement reflecting on the Holocaust underscores the importance of safeguarding human life and emphasizes that “those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by [Israel].”
“We do not forget that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust,” – The Guardian.
The need for smart action has never been more urgent. Many advocates insist that a genuine commitment to peace must include an end to occupation and apartheid in the region.
“When our sages taught that to destroy one life is to destroy an entire world, they did not carve exceptions for Palestinians,” – Signatories of the open letter.