‘The 600th day of genocide is no time for words!’ – Global Jews for Palestine

In the 86th week of Israel’s genocide in Gaza 24 countries have objected to the occupation’s escalating violence, calling for the immediate restoration of the real life-saving aid, in sufficient quantity, to which Palestinians have a right – not the mercenary-controlled pittance, described by the Global Jews for Palestine (GJP) group as a ‘coverlet’, which would enable what they call Netanyahu’s ‘final solution’. 

A 19 May United Nations press release stated that there have been at least 62,000 Palestinian deaths in the genocide so far, but the real total is believed to be well over 200,000, with a greater number injured. On top of those horrors, Israel is inflicting conditions of life on Palestinians increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza as a group, from airstrikes on the tents of displaced refugees, residential buildings and crowded hospitals to Israel’s blocked of deliberate starvation on the whole of Gaza, little if any care is being taken to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza. The use of weapons with wide area effects show that the occupier has no qualms about deliberate attacks designed to kill as may people as possible, in addition to the appalling, deliberately created humanitarian catastrophe.

A press release from GJP says that in such circumstances, mere words and inaction are utterly inadequate and calls on western governments to make a concrete intervention:

Make no mistake: Our governments have always held the power to end this onslaught. But our states are speaking fine words while they arm and normalise Israel’s crimes. Every day that they delay, Israel kills another 35 children.

Foreign ministers of Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain have expressed grave concern, but not so grave as to discontinue Israel’s participation in ‘security’ programmes under the EU-Israel Cooperation Agreement. And, heaven forbid, not so grave as to eject Israel from the Eurovision song contest.

A joint statement by UK, France, and Canada on 19 May vowed, “We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions.” They have stood by for another week since then. Another 629 Gazan Palestinians including nine journalists have been killed. Gazans are obtaining, on average, 67% of the calories they need to survive while the UK, France and Canada continue to stand by. Even in South Africa, Glencore continues to send coal to Israel.

For 19 months these states have done nothing to alter their relationships with Israel, or to impact the normal flows of trade and treatment. They have not enacted their responsibilities as outlined by world courts, nor have they brought the slightest real pressure to bear in defence of two million trapped civilians.

Such steps are not mere tokens. Israel can live without our approval as individuals. However, Israel cannot live in the style to which it is accustomed without European, North American, and other diplomatic indulgence, interactions, and normalcy. Israel’s colonisation and genocide is predicated on impunity, in which Western governments collude. 

Historically, the withdrawal of diplomatic permission has been the brake that ended Israel’s assaults on the Gaza Strip.

In 2015, Israel’s Office of the State Comptroller published its assessment of Israel’s 2014 bombardment of Gaza. Israeli newspapers called the report  “scathing” “scalding… blistering”. Among its criticisms: Israel bombed Gaza for fifty days without consistent objectives to focus and limit its use of violence. Israel’s security cabinet and IDF periodically paused to assess the war’s impacts on Israel’s international standing. Finding that states did not require Israel to stop, the security cabinet opportunistically wrote new objectives and carried on bombing. They did that four times – until they were stopped. 

It is wrong to think that only Trump matters to Israel. Israel is deeply integrated into international – particularly European and American – trade, tourism, and culture. There is every reason to believe that Israel remains susceptible to broad international pressure.

Right now, 81% of Gaza is unilaterally designated as an IDF military zone and / or is under displacement orders. The people of Gaza are being funnelled into killing zones. 

The danger to Gazan Palestinians is desperate and words do not protect them. They are starving and words do not fill their stomachs. Enough words! We must see action – sanctions, penalties, consequences.

Gaza cannot wait.

GJP is a group of:

Jews from many countries, who are members of local, national and international networks and organizations. We are multi-ethnic and multigenerational and our members embrace a broad range of viewpoints on Jewish religious and ethical traditions. We are connected by our involvement in the struggle for Palestinian rights, and by our determination to work for justice. We oppose Zionism and all forms of racism and colonialism.

We believe that it is our particular responsibility to challenge Jewish organizations whose alliances and actions undermine Palestinian human and national rights, promote Jewish exceptionalism, and overturn Jewish social justice traditions. At the heart of our work is the fight for Palestinian liberation and the struggle for a world free of racial and ethnic hierarchy, colonial domination, and unbridled militarism.

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