We support the liberation of Palestine and call for an end to the killing and harm of all civilians, an immediate ceasefire, the passage of humanitarian aid to Gaza and an end to the complicity of our governing bodies in grave human rights violations and crimes of war.
We demand that the institutional silence on the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing 2,3 million Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip be immediately broken.
In the words of the United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories:
It is about the loss of our humanity if the international community allows this to continue. What we are witnessing now is simply inhumane
Silence in this urgent moment of crisis and growing genocide is not a politically neutral position.
Significant steps have been taken in recent years to address social justice and inequality at an institutional level. We now ask that they continue and expand the recognition of the crimes against humanity that the Palestinian people are facing.
The ongoing bombing of Gaza, the killing and forced displacement of its residents has been condemned by Amnesty International, the United Nations, the World Health Organization and Action Aid.
These, together with other global bodies, have indicated that the collective punishment of Gaza civilians, which includes the killing of aid workers, journalists and doctors, as well as the destruction of all life-sustaining infrastructure and resources, the cutting off of water, food, electricity and medicine constitute a war crime.
There is ample evidence that we are witnessing a genocide unfold where the already precarious lives of Palestinians are deemed unworthy of help, let alone human rights and justice.
With impunity, Israel has already undertaken three of the five definitive acts outlined by the United Nations Genocide Convention.
As Raz Segal, Israeli historian and genocide scholar, writes:
Israel has also escalated its 16-year siege of Gaza – the longest in modern history, in clear violation of international humanitarian law – to a full siege.
The directive to carry out the systemic destruction of Palestinians and Palestinian society in Gaza comes directly from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who described his goals in
We reject violence against all civilians, regardless of their identity, and call for an end to the root cause of violence: oppression and occupation.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
We ask professional, editorial and artistic organizations to show solidarity with cultural and cultural workers We call on our governments to call for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of the Gaza crossings to allow humanitarian aid to enter unhindered.
We believe that organizations and institutions whose mission is to protect freedom of expression, promote education, community, also defend freedom of life and the fundamental right to existence. We invite you to reject inhumanity, which has no place in life, and to publicly call on our governments to call for a ceasefire.
