“We, Israeli citizens residing in Israel and abroad, call on the international community—the UN and its institutions, the United States, the European Union, the League of Arab States, and all states around the world—to intervene immediately and implement every possible sanction towards achieving an immediate ceasefire between Israel and its neighbors, for the future of both peoples in Israel and Palestine and the peoples of the region, and for their rights to security and life.” Thus begins a call, published in 11 languages on the website “Israeli Citizens For International Pressure,” which has been signed by 3,400 Israeli citizens as of today.
Many of the signers are “veteran activists against the occupation, for peace and mutual existence in this land,” they explain. “We are motivated by our love for the land and its residents, and we are concerned for their future…. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day…. It is our opinion that the repression, intimidation and political persecution prevent many who share our views from joining this call.”
Many world leaders have denounced the massacres and destruction, but “the continuation of arms supplies to Israel, economic and security partnerships and scientific and cultural collaborations, bring most Israelis to believe that Israel’s policies enjoy international support,” they charge. “Condemnations are not backed by practical actions. We are replete with empty words and declarations. Please, for our futures and the futures of all of the residents of Israel and the region, save us from ourselves and use real pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire,” they urge.
Just how much courage it takes for Israeli citizens to speak out is exemplified by the Israeli government’s rage against the publisher of Israel’s Haaretz daily. Speaking Oct. 28 at a Haaretz co-sponsored conference in London, Amos Schocken also urged the international community to implement sanctions against the Netanyahu government for “imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population” and “support[ing] the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from parts of the occupied territories. In a sense, what is taking place now in the occupied territories and in part of Gaza is a second Nakba of sending and creating refugees,” he charged.
Citing the role of international sanctions in ending South African apartheid, he proposed:
“If we want to ensure Israel’s survival and security, and also to help the normalization of the lives of the Palestinians, our neighbors, a Palestinian state must be established, and the only way to achieve this, I think, is to apply sanctions against Israel’s leader, against the leaders who oppose it, and against the settlers who are in the occupied territories in contravention of international law.”
The Netanyahu regime is now out to bankrupt Haaretz, and criminalize its publication, feeding a media firestorm against Schocken. Four ministries, so far, have ordered all commercial relationships severed with the paper, while Justice Minister Yariv Levin sent an official request to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to draw up a law criminalizing Israelis who “promote or encourage applying international sanctions on Israel, its leaders, its security forces, and the citizens of Israel,” with a ten-year jail sentence, which will be doubled in wartime.
