Al Hamatzav

Det råder ett rätt brett spektrum av åsikter inom israeliska fredsorganisationer. En del beskyller Israel för krigsförbrytelser, andra säger att Hamas raketbeskjutning mot israeliska städer var (och är) helt outhärdlig och att Israel har rätt att slå tillbaka. Men alla verkar rätt ense om att nu räcker det – det är dags för en vapenvila. 

Pressmeddelande från Israeli Peace NGO Forum: 

Enough Already! Stop, Cease Fire and Reconsider!

We call on Israel to implement a total unilateral ceasefire for a limited timeframe and to avoid an aggressive reaction to fire toward Israel, in order to allow international actors to promote a state of calm and facilitate the opening of passages for humanitarian aid;
We demand an immediate end to the strikes on civilian centers and citizens, both Israeli and Palestinian;
Out of this crisis, we must create an opportunity for the renewal of the peace process in the spirit of the Arab Peace Initiative, for the promotion of a long term solution.

Now, after Hamas has seen shown both Israel’s military might, as well as its willingness to show restraint, we must stop and hold our fire, before it’s too late. We have known enough cycles of violence to say in a decisive voice – enough! We will not allow the situation to deteriorate any further and leading to greater bloodshed, destruction and suffering, all of which we have experienced too much of already.

Now is the time for Israelis and Palestinians who advocate for peace to come together and call for an end to the violence and destruction. The struggle is not between Palestinian citizens and Israeli citizens. The struggle is between those who are committed to an agreed upon, just solution to the conflict and those, on both sides, who seek to perpetuate hatred and bloodshed; those willing to recognize the other’s right to dignity, life and independence and those who only acknowledge their own justice.

The Israeli Peace NGO Forum is a network comprised of some 70 member organizations working in cross-border cooperation with Palestinian organizations in order to promote peace through a mutually agreed-upon resolution to the conflict which will insure the dignity, liberty and security of both nations. In this time of crisis, we remain firm in our belief that the future of our two peoples is interdependent and have decided to work together to keep open existing channels of communication and to establish new ones.

Pressmeddelande från Peace Now:

Peace Now Calls for an Immediate Ceasefire!

Peace Now is calling up the Israeli government to know when to stop, the message to Hamas has been received loud and clear – now is the time to end all hostilities.

Now is the time, Hamas has discovered Israel’s determination and military capabilities to respond to rocket attacks
Now is the time, Hamas has discovered the depth of an Israeli response

We must stop the war now and find a real solution – a political solution!

Join Peace Now activists to promote a ceasefire, handing out flyers, university campus debates and more.

Pressmeddelande från ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions):

Let’s be crystal clear. Israel’s massive attacks on Gaza today have one overarching goal: conflict management. How to end rocket attacks on Israel from a besieged and starving Gaza without ending the impetus for those attacks, 41 years of increasingly oppressive Israeli Occupation without a hint that a sovereign and viable Palestinian state will ever emerge.

Indeed, the Occupation, in which Israel controls Gaza under a violent siege which violates fundamental human rights and international law, is not even mentioned in Israel’s PR campaign. Speaking to the international community, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni insists that no country would tolerate its citizens being attacked, a seemingly reasonable statement were it not for Israeli sanctions on Gaza supported by the US and Europe – sanctions that preceded the rocket fire on Israel – or the fact of Israeli Occupation in general. Solely focusing on the rocket attacks conceals the political policy that led to them: “The Hamas government in Gaza must be toppled,” Livni has said repeatedly. “The means to do this must be military, economic and diplomatic.”

The responsibility for the suffering both in Israel and Gaza rests squarely with successive Israeli governments, Labor, Likud and Kadima alike. Had there been a genuine political process (remember, the closure of Gaza began in 1989), Israelis and Palestinians could have been living together in peace and prosperity already for 20 years. After all, already in 1988 the PLO accepted the two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would arise on only 22% of historic Palestine, alongside the state of Israel on the other 78%. A truly generous offer.

In Israel, however, the effort is to hide its preference for control over peace. Framing its attacks as a response to rockets from Gaza, exploiting an immediate trigger to effectively conceal deeper political intentions and policies, does that. It also conceals Israeli violations of the cease-fire. The fact that the rocket attacks could have been avoided altogether through a genuine political process means that the people of southern Israel are being held hostage by their government as well. Their suffering, and the suffering of the people of Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Territories, must be placed squarely at the feet of the Israeli government.

Israel cannot expect security for its people and political normalcy as long as it occupies Palestinian lands and continues its attempt to impose its permanent rule over the Palestinians by military force. We call on the Israeli government to end its aggression immediately and enter into genuine political negotiations with a united Palestinian leadership. We call on the international community to end its sanctions on Gaza immediately in accordance with international law, initiate an effective political process to end the Israeli Occupation and bring about a just peace – which reflects the will of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.