This petition - formerly titled "Cut diplomatic ties with Israel now! - calls on EVERY government that sets value upon justice and human rights, and in particular the government of South Africa, to cut / suspend its diplomatic relations with Israel in response to its current utterly devastating war against the people of Gaza. 

This onslaught on Gaza is said to be a retaliation to the shocking acts of terror by Hamas fighters on 7 October 2023 – brutal killings, it seems to be true, but which in turn were provoked by decades of continuous brutal oppression of Palestinians. The severity and scope of Israel's 2023 War on Gaza far, far exceed the bounds of legitimate self-defence. [* It must also be said that - in the light of a growing number of testimonies by survivors, members of Israeli armed forces, etc. - it is becoming clear that at least a very significant number of Israeli civilians were killed in crossfire or mowed down by machine-gun fire from Israeli helicopters and also by Israeli tanks shelling houses.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whoever were responsible for whatever percentage of the horrendous and shocking killing and wounding of a great many people, we should bear in mind what the secretary-general of the United Nations said re the October 7 Hamas attack: It "did not happen in a vacuum". 

Netanyahu has publicly called for 'a holy war of annihilation' against the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip. 'You must remember what Amalek has done to you,' he said in a speech announcing the start of the ground invasion in Gaza. By quoting 1 Sam. 15: 3 [“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass”], he gave the green light to the IDF to slay without mercy. And this is much more than calling for revenge for what happened on October 7. This is the grabbing of an opportunity to rid Israel of Palestinians.

The people of Gaza are sinking ever deeper into a hellish nightmare of agony and anguish, death and destruction as depicted here [with his permission] in two of the paintings from the 2010/2013 series titled "Gaza Guernica" by the internationally acclaimed Palestinian artist Mohammed Al-Hawarajri of the AlBuriej camp, Gaza.  Everything that is precious and meaningful is being severed and ripped apart.

And in the West Bank, Israel is relentlessly, and more than before, proceeding with its program of ethnic cleansing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under these circumstances, governmental expressions of sympathy with Palestine and a measure of diplomatic displeasure, even outrage against Israel's trampling of the human rights of Palestinians in general and, in particular, the unimaginable horror visited upon the people of Gaza, simply is not enough.  A handful of governments have already taken measures like recalling their own diplomatic staff from Israel, expelling Israel's ambassador or completely severing diplomatic ties with Israel. The South African parliament has just passed a motion calling on the government to close the Israeli embassy and suspend diplomatic ties with Israel until a comprehensive ceasefire is put in place.

This petition calls on South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation - but at the same time governments from around the world - to not only take a dim view or reconsider its relationship with Israel but to without further ado cut diplomatic relations with Israel - i.a. by the immediate expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the full withdrawal of all diplomatic staff from Israel.  This should be followed by the suspension of cultural and economic ties with Israel and the implementation of the guidelines of the international BDS [Boycotts, disinvestment and sanctions] campaign. There must, especially, be no arms export to or import from Israel.

All this should be done and remain so until a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire - with provision for the safe exchange of hostages and prisoners - in Gaza is in place and the supply of medical services & supplies, water, food, electricity, fuel, etc. is restored at least [for now] to the level it had been before October 7, 2023. Rescue teams with the necessary equipment [including bulldozers] should also be allowed from outside Gaza into all areas of the Strip to help rescue people seriously trapped under the rubble and to retrieve the bodies of the deceased. Likewise, doctors and other medical staff from outside Gaza who wish to render urgently needed assistance at medical facilities in Gaza must be allowed to do so as soon as possible. Full diplomatic and economic ties with Israel should not resume and the arms embargo [cf. above] not lifted before Israel's blockade of Gaza has been definitely terminated and a comprehensive program of repair of Gaza's destroyed infrastructure is underway. 

But it should not be acceptable that sanctions, etc. be lifted when sufficient progress is made with the reconstruction, etc. of Gaza if at the same time ethnic cleansing is still at the order of the day in the West Bank. Therefore, before respect, international acceptance, the mending of diplomatic relations and the termination of the BDS campaign against Israel can be considered, there must first be a complete stop to the building of additional Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, all structural injustice and violence against Palestinians must cease and authentic peace negotiations with a view to the full restoration of Palestinian human and political rights should be underway. 

Furthermore, in the light of 

• the constant violation by Israel of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, 
• its regular violation of UN resolutions [i.a. resolution 194 re the return of Palestinian refugees and resolution 2334 re Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory],
• its flagrant disregard for the human rights and political rights of Palestinians not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank, 
• the killing of more than 100 UNRWA workers and the deliberate, destructive attacks on UNRWA schools and other services in Gaza,  

the delegation of Israel should be refused further participation in the work of the General Assembly of the UN and its membership of the Human Rights Council should be suspended. The Security Council must consider the expulsion of Israel from the United Nations and make its recommendation in this regard to the General Assembly.

MOTIVATION FOR THIS PETITION:

#  Once again - but now to a more horrific degree than in recent decades -  Israel is in its War on Gaza inflicting totally unjustifiable collective punishment on a whole population.
#  A disproportionate number of children and women have been killed or maimed.
#  Hospitals have been attacked, numerous ambulances destroyed, doctors and health workers murdered. The majority of hospitals, especially in the northern part of the Strip, have in a deliberate, callous way been made non-functional. About 500 people were killed on 17 October when Israeli air strikes hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza. The people of Gaza are being massacred!
#  Whole families are being slaughtered in their homes and in refugee camps.
#  White phosphorous has, as before, been used despite being internationally banned as a weapon of war. 
#  More than a million people have been forced to evacuate their homes and are forced to move to another unsafe part of the Gaza strip - where they are also killed! Many Palestinians who, under pressure of the Israeli army, fled to the southern part of the Gaza strip, have been massacred there or on their way southward. Even a convoy of ambulances has been attacked.
#  Multitudes of civilians are cut off from water, food, medical support, sanitation, electricity and fuel. Bakeries and shops are being bombed so that the inhabitants are less and less able to buy food. Starvation and dehydration are used as weapons of war against an entire population and the outbreak of life-threatening epidemics is imminent. World-renowned experts on starvation say that a famine may already have started in the Gaza strip. They predict that more people may die from hunger and thirst and the drastic deterioration of their immunity system than those killed in air strikes, etc. Infants and young children, especially, will suffer life-long health problems because they had been deprived of adequate nutrients, etc - even while still being in the womb. The sewerage system has to a high degree on purpose been made non-functional, a  barbaric strategy which has brought about the further humiliation of a proud people that puts a premium on healthiness and hygiene.

All these steps, taken very methodically by Israel, constitute war crimes.

The situation is inconceivably grave and the scale of structural destruction is already such that it is hard to imagine that Gaza can be restored again, even in the course of many years.

Taking everything in consideration, the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza is GENOCIDE. Therefore, it is a matter of great urgency that governments not only lay charges with the International Criminal Court but also approach the International Court of Justice to invoke the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice.  An application on behalf of South Africa was filed before the Court on 29 December 2023 in which the Court was requested to declare on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention, and to instruct Israel to immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of those obligations and take a number of related actions. For more about the Geneva Convention and the invocation thereof see the article at https://husseini.substack.com/p/to-save-gaza-invoke-the-genocide as well as the guide for [e.g.] governments and individuals on submitting a request in this regard at https://rootsaction.org/invoke-genocide-convention-to-stop-war-on-gaza 

Surely, we cannot take note of what is happening and then just carry on with an attitude of business as usual. Governments that uncritically stand by Israel in its ongoing oppression of Palestinians and in various ways even actively support Israel in its doing should hang their heads in shame.

It is time for every nation that cares about right and wrong, every person who respects the sanctity of human life and who desires to make the world a better place to take a clear stand against these catastrophic human rights violations and to courageously uphold the principles of justice and peace. This is the right and ethical thing to do! The way forward to a safe future for Israel can never be by eliminating as far as possible its Palestinian population and keeping the remainder in an subjugated position. Acknowledging the full human and political rights of Palestinians will not be the dreaded dead-end for Israelis, but the dawning of true freedom for both Palestinians and Israelis. Remaining captive to a colonialist ideology that - with impunity - routinely murders Palestinian children threatens the very life and future of the Jewish people in Israel, too.

We therefore urge you to sign this petition [a] demanding that governments all over the world suspend diplomatic and economic ties with Israel until there is an end to the murderous onslaught on the largely civilian population of Gaza and concrete, positive steps are being taken to restore the human and political rights of all Palestinians and [b] calling on governments to invoke the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice.