World Economic Forum Founder & Executive Chairman - Klaus Schwab

World Economic Forum Board: Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Thomas Buberl, Mark Carney, Laurence D. Fink, Chrystia Freeland, Orit Gadiesh, Kristalina Georgieva, Fabiola Gianotti, Al Gore, Herman Gref, Angel Gurría, André Hoffmann, Paula Ingabire, Christine Lagarde, Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Maurer, Luis Alberto Moreno, Patrice Motsepe, H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, L. Rafael Reif, David M. Rubenstein, Mark Schneider, Klaus Schwab, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Jim Hagemann Snabe, Julie Sweet, Feike Sybesma, Heizo Takenaka, Zhu Min.

Managing Board: Børge Brende, Julien Gattoni, W. Lee Howell, Jeremy Jurgens, Adrian Monck, Sarita Nayyar, Olivier M. Schwab, Dominic Kailash, Nath Waughray, Saadia Zahidi, Alois Zwinggi. 

Re: Israel’s attack on Gaza, Israel’s forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem, Israeli police violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Israel's crimes of apartheid against the Palestinian people
 
As members of the Young Global Leaders (YGL) and Global Shapers community, we are proud to represent and further the values espoused by the World Economic Forum and answer your call for responsible leadership.
 
Today, we feel these values are being tested by our collective silence as a community vis-à-vis the atrocities and violence being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
In a recent report titled “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution”, Human Rights Watch concludes that Israeli “authorities have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated, and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity. In certain areas, [...] these deprivations are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”

As of the date of this letter, during the past week alone, Israel has killed more than 218 people, including at least 61 children, wounded more than 5600 and displaced more than 50,000 people in Gaza alone. Hamas rockets have killed 12 Israelis including 2 children and wounded nearly 1,000. While we condemn all loss of life, there is a disproportionate loss of Palestinian lives and injuries, deliberate destruction of Gaza's infrastructure, forced expulsions of families in Sheikh Jarrah, Israeli police violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and crimes of apartheid as described by the Human Rights Watch report.

Professor Schwab, the Young Global Leaders website states that we are a community of “exceptional people with the vision, courage, and influence to drive positive change in the world.”

We turn to you for your guidance on how we can reconcile living up to this claim while the WEF remains silent. We implore you to speak out against Israel’s atrocities and exhibit the same moral courage you have shown when speaking out about other issues impacting our collective humanity. We also call on you to create a space for members of the community who are impacted by this injustice to speak out.
 
“The Great Reset initiative” presents an opportunity for the WEF to take a stand and lead in its aim to honour the dignity of every human being.
 
Sincerely