Facing the unsustainable war of attrition between Gaza and Israel, we exhort all leaders presently involved in negotiations for a permanent cease-fire to abide by universal humanitarian standards. The erratic….
Facing the unsustainable war of attrition between Gaza and Israel, we exhort all leaders presently involved in negotiations for a permanent cease-fire to abide by universal humanitarian standards. The erratic war mechanisms holding civilians hostage on both sides must be exposed as counter-productive and conducive to terror.
In their clarion call, more than 300 survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants remind us : “Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.”
1,800,000 people have been under blockade for seven years, making this the longest siege in modern history. 500,000 persons have been displaced in Gaza. Around Gaza, 70% of the Israelis have had to evacuate their homes.
Since 2008, 68 Nobel laureates and 584 Members of the European Parliament (203 in the current mandate) have engaged themselves with the n.g.o. Peace Lines in the “Open the Doors Campaign”. Its four fundamental objectives remain :
1. The Gaza blockade must end. Israel must enable Gaza to open to the world, so as to guarantee the possibility of a viable economy, and improve the humanitarian situation.
2. The Palestinians must end all rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.
3. The cycle of deadly reprisals must end, including “targeted assassinations”.
4. As a confidence-building measure, the Israelis, who still hold more than 5,000 men and 15 women in their jails, must release significant numbers of prisoners on humanitarian and legal grounds : sick prisoners, women detainees, the longest-serving prisoners, and administrative detainees – among them 36 Members of the Palestinian Parliament, not to forget 200 minors in detention.
Striving for these objectives implies credible negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian government. So that both peoples may at last live in security, dignity and justice, we urge the European Union – in view of its embedded involvement in the history of the Middle East – to assume its inherent responsibility as guarantor of a sustainable resolution.