Directors Jonathan Glazer, Nina Menkes and Yuval Abraham have joined hundreds of prominent Jewish figures and Israelis in an open letter to world leaders asking for Israel’s leadership to be called to account for “violations of international law”.
The signatories expressed relief over the recent Gaza ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives in phase one, as well as their hope that it would “end daily killing, destruction, displacement, and starvation in Gaza”, but also added their misgivings.
“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,” read the letter.
“It was international pressure that helped to secure this ceasefire, and it must be sustained to guarantee that it endures. The ceasefire must be the beginning, not the end. The risk of reverting to a political reality of indifference to occupation and permanent conflict is too great. This same pressure must be continued to deliver a new era of peace and justice for all, Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
Further signatories included producers James Schamus and Libby Lenkinski, The Vagina Monologues playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler), Israeli comedian and activist Noam Shuster-Eliassi (Coexistance, My Ass!) as well as actors Debra Winger and Wallace Shawn and his partner, the writer Deborah Eisenberg.
Lenkinski, Israeli author, politician, and businessman Avrum Burg, U.S. columnist Peter Beinart and Belgian politician Simone Susskind initiated the letter, bannered Jews Demand Actions, which was posted on October 22 and addressed to “United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and permanent representatives to the United Nations”.
It comes just two weeks after the ceasefire deal came into effect on October 10, with the aim of ending the two-year Gaza War, sparked by the Hamas-led terror attacks on southern Israel on October 7 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken people were taken hostage.
More than 70,000 people died in the Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, which also razed the Palestinian territory to the ground, leaving most of its two million strong population living in tents and without regular food supplies.
“The need for redress long predates October 7th, 2023. The crimes committed by Hamas and other armed factions on that day horrified us. The Israeli actions that followed were unconscionable. 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,” continued to the letter.
“We therefore issue this appeal as Jews from all walks of life and across the world. We affirm our belief in the universality of justice and the fair and equal application of international law.”
The signatories said that many elements of modern international law aimed at protecting human life were originally forged in response to the Holocaust.
“Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel. Accountability for the Israeli leadership’s grievous violations of international law is necessary. It is time to do everything possible to definitively end the Israeli government’s collective punishment of the Palestinians and to pursue peace for the sake of both peoples,” it continued.
“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 deplore the fact that Israeli leaders have repeatedly taken to the world stage to declare that these actions are committed in the name of the Jewish people, as a manifestation of Jewish destiny. The Israeli government may claim to speak on behalf of the Jewish collective, but it does not speak for us.”
The signatories set out four key demands to world leaders, topped by a request that they respect the decisions of the International Court of Justice and apply arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.
The International Criminal Court ICC issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, alleging responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts during the Gaza war.
The signatories also called on world leaders to “refuse complicity” in crimes and violations of international law against Palestinians by Israel, including by ending the provision of arms and other relevant goods and services, and “ensure” that humanitarian assistance reaches all Palestinians in Gaza, including materials for reconstruction.
It also called on them to refute false accusations of antisemitism that “abusively deploy the Jewish collective history to tarnish those with whom we stand together in the pursuit of peace and justice.”
