Israelis protest in Jerusalem demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage swap deal on October 28, 2024 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty]
Over 3,000 Israelis signed a petition calling on the international community to “implement every possible sanction” to pressure Israel to end the bloodshed in Gaza.
In an open letter published in The Guardian, the signatories called for the international community to “intervene immediately” and “save us from ourselves” by forcing a ceasefire.
The petition was published as an open letter in The Guardian last Thursday, before which the French newspaper Liberation had released the same letter in French.
The signatories called on the international community to save Israelis and Arabs from the “suicidal path” Israel was on, by using “real pressure on Israel” to bring about an immediate ceasefire, and “for the future of both peoples in Israel and Palestine and the peoples of the region and their rights to security and life”.
The move has sparked anger in Israel, with incitement levelled against the petition’s signatories and some members of the Knesset seeking to pass legislation against them.
It stated that the Israeli government had “abandoned its citizens who are hostages (and has killed some), it has neglected the residents of the south and north of Israel, and it has forsaken the fate and future of all of its citizens”.
It also referred to the persecution and silencing of Israel’s Palestinian citizens and pointed out that this “intimidation” prevented many people who shared these views from signing the letter.
The signatories believe that the “lack of true international pressure, 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 also criticised “repeated statements” from state leaders about “the horror they feel” which were “not backed up by practical actions”.
The petition, translated into ten languages, was signed by 1,000 Israelis residing outside Israel, and around 2,000 inside, including hundreds of Israeli academics, writers, artists, and journalists.
Some of the families of Israeli hostages also signed the petition, as did MK Ofer Cassif and ex-MK Tamar Gozansky, in addition to 11 rabbis.
Israeli-French veteran anti-occupation activist Yael Lerer, who initiated the petition, told The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “For ten years I’ve been convinced that change cannot come from within Israel. The only possibility for change to occur is a change from outside, and without international pressure, nothing will happen.”
She said Israel was on a “suicidal path”, which wouldn’t just affect Israel but also take the Palestinians, the Arabs, and other regional countries, with it, “and this is what we are seeing with the genocide in Gaza and with what is happening in Lebanon”.
Lerer, a longtime activist in Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel, added: “Without sanctions and Western – and also Arab – pressure, Israel will continue this process.”
Regarding the petition’s potential to influence Western countries, Lerer said: “The petition is still in its initial stages […] and a group of the signatories have started working on organising meetings in the parliaments and with ministers in different states, with the aim of  bringing about pressure for a ceasefire”.
Anger in the Knesset
Following a report on the petition aired by Israel’s Channel 14, known for its right-wing alignment, Ofir Katz, a Likud lawmaker who chairs the ruling coalition, stated that he intends to strengthen the bill entitled “Removing Terrorism from Academia”.
The bill, currently being prepared for its first reading, would see academic lecturers who “express sympathy and support for terrorism” fired without severance pay.
The bill was introduced in the wake of the case of Palestinian professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who signed a petition last November describing Israel’s actions as genocide. She was subsequently suspended by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which later backtracked on its decision.
Katz intends to expand the grounds for dismissal to include “those who call for a boycott in wartime”.
According to Channel 14, Katz said that “such a petition in wartime, which de facto calls for an arms embargo and an economic boycott of Israel, constitutes a fatal blow to Israel and further delegitimizes the state”.
He added that he doesn’t intend to let this action pass in silence, and said talks have been initiated “with legal officials in the committee to start work on an updated version of the law”.
In a related context, Elchanan Felhimer, head of the National Union for Israeli Students (NUIS), urged university students to report academics who “call for the delegitimization of Israel”.
Felhimer said: “I urge university and college presidents to issue clear guidance to lecturers in their institutions today. The student union will form a special committee dedicated to this issue, and I encourage any student who attends an event where lecturers incite against Israel to contact us. Together, we will work to eradicate this disgraceful phenomenon.”
This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
