‘Not in our name’: Jewish figures urge world leaders to protect ceasefire, investigate genocide, end Israeli occupation
A number of Jewish and Israeli figures have penned an open letter to world leaders, urging them to protect the ceasefire, push for accountability for the crimes committed by Israel – including genocide – and bring an end to Israel’s “occupation and apartheid”.
“There should be no doubt that this ceasefire is fragile: Israeli forces remain in Gaza, the agreement makes no reference to the West Bank, the underlying conditions of occupation, apartheid, and the denial of Palestinian rights remain unaddressed,” the letter states.
“We bow our heads in immeasurable sorrow as the evidence accumulates that Israel’s actions will be judged to have met the legal definition of genocide. Attempts are already underway to deny accountability and reassert the same broken playbook of impunity. That cannot pass,” it also stated.
The letter continued, calling it an appeal from Jews of “all walks of life”: “We have not forgotten that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust.”
“As Jews and as human beings, we declare: Not in our name. Not in the name of our heritage, our faith, or our moral tradition. The monumental scale of the killing and destruction, the forced displacement, the deliberate withholding of life-sustaining necessities, and the ongoing criminal actions in the West Bank must end and never be repeated.”
“We shall not rest until this ceasefire carries forward into an end of occupation and apartheid.”
Significant sticking points remain on Trump’s Gaza plan
Sami Al-Arian, a professor at Istanbul Zaim University, says several elements in the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan remain unclear, including a proposal to deploy an international stabilisation force in the enclave.
A US push to disarm Hamas is also “not going to be an easy task”, Al-Arian told Al Jazeera.
“If they’re going to do this through another genocide campaign, then obviously the whole world is going to come and revolt. I don’t think Trump is interested in that; He’s trying to figure out a way by which he can convince Hamas to disarm by promising them [something] or by threatening them.”
Al-Arian said that, despite the pressure from Washington, “there’s a feeling that [Hamas] must have their arms because that’s the only way they can defend themselves and defend Gaza”.
“At the same time, they don’t want the aid to stop; they don’t want the reconstruction to stop. They want the people of Gaza to have some relief. So that’s the only incentive they see,” he said.
