Signatories: As if the occupation was not enough, the brutal ongoing repression of the Palestinian population, the construction of settlements and the siege of Gaza- now comes the bombardment of the civilian population: men, women, old folks and children. Hundreds of dead, hundreds of injured, overwhelmed hospitals, and the central medicine depot of Gaza bombed.
Among the signatories some very well-known artists, musicians and writers such as Dror Burstein, Ala Hlehel, Yitzhak Laor, Yehudith Levin, Avi Mograbi, Michal Naaman, Salman Natour, Judd Ne`eman, Aharon Shabtay, and Arik Shapira (Israel Prize Laureate) - and university professors such as Yossef Grodginski, Uri Hadar, Hannan Hever, Orly Lubin, Adi Ophir, Yehuda Shenhav and Eyal Weitzman. The petition was presented by the initiators to the embassies in Israel.
5 January 2009
Your Excellency,
Please find enclosed a petition signed by about 500 Israeli citizens, calling for urgent international intervention in order to stop Israel from continuing the war it has waged against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
It is the signatories` belief that Israel`s atrocities will not cease without a massive intervention by the international community. In particular, they ask world leaders to implement the call by Palestinian human rights organizations which urges:
• “The UN Security Council to call an emergency session and adopt concrete measures, including the imposition of sanctions, in order to ensure Israel`s fulfillment of its obligations under international humanitarian law.
• The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their obligation under common Article 1 to ensure respect for the provisions of the Conventions, taking appropriate measures to compel Israel to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular placing pivotal importance on the respect and protection of civilians from the effects of the hostilities.
• The High Contracting Parties to fulfill their legal obligation under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to prosecute those responsible for grave breaches of the Convention.
• EU institutions and member states to make effective use of the European Union Guidelines on promoting compliance with international humanitarian law (2005/C 327/04) to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian law under paragraph 16 (b), (c) and (d) of these guidelines, including the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions, as well as cessation of all upgrade dialogue with Israel. “
The petition itself and a list of all Israeli signatories are attached to this letter.