PLEASE NOTE: We are seeking signatures from South African Jews, we thank others for their support and encourage them to find alternative actions to take.

We, as South Africans Jews, are appalled and devastated by Israel’s assault on Gaza that began on 6 July 2014.

To date at least 1 843 Palestinians have been killed, more than 70% of whom are civilians and a quarter of whom are children. Approximately 9 000 Palestinians have been wounded and 550 000 displaced. 67 Israelis, including 3 civilians, have been killed. Prior to the assault on Gaza at least nine people lost their lives in clashes in the West Bank, including the brutal murder of the three Israeli teens – Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah – and the burning alive of Palestinian teenager Mohammad Abu Khdair; we condemn these murders and mourn these lives lost.

This is the third assault on Gaza in six years. Together with the seven-year long blockade these assaults have severely damaged Gaza’s medical facilities,​ water and sanitation, and electricity infrastructure. Gaza’s economy has been crippled and there is a critical shortage of basic goods. Despite Israel’s physical withdrawal in 2005 Gaza remains unfree.

We are proudly Jewish. We know that every human being is invested with inherent dignity, every life equal. Just as we resist anti-semitism, we refuse to dehumanise Palestinians in order to make their deaths lighter on our collective conscience. We sign this statement in order to affirm their humanity and our own.

We hope for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the death and destruction. Beyond that we believe that the way forward must involve Israel lifting the blockade of Gaza, ending the occupation of the West Bank and fully complying with international law. Attacks on Israeli civilians and rockets fired into Israeli towns must stop; these are illegal, counterproductive and wrong.

We may well wish that Palestinians chose leaders other than Hamas, but we recognise that they have every right to make this choice, and Israel will need to do the same. We also hope for an Israeli government committed to achieving peace.

We distance ourselves from South African Jewish organisations whose blind support for Israel’s disproportionate actions moves us further from a just resolution to the conflict.

Photo: From an Israeli anti-war rally of 5,000 people in Tel Aviv, 26 July 2014, candles spell "sorry" or "apology", activestills.org.

Note: It appears that on change.org one is unable to display all the signatories to the petition (excluding those that have asked to remain anonymous). All the names (excluding those that have asked to remain anonymous) will be published in due course.