November 28, 2005
World leaders and their media sycophants have greeted Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza
with almost audible and distasteful sighs of relief. It is as if Sharon has provided them with a
salve for their guilty consciences, smarting from the discomfort of the ICJ ruling against the
Separation Barrier and the refusal of Israeli soldiers such as the air force pilots who refused
to fly missions over the Occupied Territories to name but a few.
Sharon’s plan was designed to offer an excuse to avert their gaze from Israeli state terrorism,
whether in the form of the separation barrier, of as collective punishment such as house
demolitions, devices such as ‘administrative detention’, or the murderous results of military
occupation and repression.
There can be little doubt that Sharon’s declared aim, of freezing the peace process for a
generation at least has been miserably successful.
Sharon’s frankness may be bitterly welcomed. The acquiescence of the rest of the world to
his plans cannot receive the same treatment.
Only a just peace, including a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state can bring
an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A just peace means uncomfortable issues cannot be
swept under the carpet as a convenience to those who are reluctant to see the problems in
front of us all.
· The Gaza withdrawal shows that Ariel Sharon is vulnerable to pressure. By his own
admission, the Gaza withdrawal was in part Sharon’s direct response to some Israelis
refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. Therefore we urge all peace seeking Israelis
to follow the examples set by Yesh G’vul, Ometz Letsarev and the Shministim, as well as
the 27 pilots. Refuse to serve the Occupation. Refuse to break international law.
· There can be no peace between Israel and Palestine so long as thousands of Palestinian
so-called “security prisoners” and hundreds of administrative detainees and children
continue to be held in Israeli prisons. European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP) commits
itself to support and to ask its affiliated groups to also support the Appeal made by the
European Jews for a Just Peace is a federation of Jewish Peace groups in 10 European countries.
European Jews for a just Peace
P.O. Box 59506 1040 LA Amsterdam The Netherlands
+31 20 67955850 contact@ejjp.org http://www.ejjp.org
Israeli Action Committee for Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees, to draw attention to this
problem and advance a public discussion about it within and outside Israeli society.
· Children have always been considered the most vulnerable members of society. Israel’s
actions against Palestinian children in the Occupied Territories including detention, killing,
arrest and, in most cases torture, are reasons for the utmost concern. Israel breaches
and disregards the very application of the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child on
Palestinian children and instead judges them according to illegal Military Orders. Such an
attempt to reclassify children in order to offer a veneer of legality is unacceptable. EJJP
calls on all those committed to justice to protest against this maltreatment most
vigorously.
· EJJP notes with concern that following the London bombings of 7 July 2005, minority
communities, particularly Muslims, have become targets for attack. We unreservedly
condemn all efforts to divide the diverse peoples of Europe and demand that whole
communities should not be held responsible for the criminal actions of some of their
members. Islamophobia and anti Semitism are no different: they injure us all.
European Jews for a Just Peace
September 2005
European Jews for a Just Peace is a federation of Jewish Peace groups in 10 European countries.