Ms. Catherine Ashton,
High representative for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy of the European Union,
200 Rue de la Loi
1049 Brussels.
Amsterdam, February 3th 2010,
Dear Ms. Ashton,
On behalf of “European Jews for a Just Peace” (EJJP) I send you this letter to congratulate you on your appointment as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union in December 2009. We sincerely wish you all the success in your new position, which will play such a central role in the EU’s efforts to achieve global peace and prosperity and respect for human rights.
EJJP is an organization of eleven Jewish European peace groups working in ten European countries against the occupation of Palestine and for a peaceful and durable solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its principles are stated in the annex to this letter. A list of its members is also included as well as the EJJP resolution of June 2007.
The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories continues to weigh very negatively on relations between so many countries and cultures. Palestinians live under harsh military occupation, on only 22 % of the land which was originally theirs. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said this is the most urgent problem for the world to solve and that, if it remains unresolved, no other issues - from the war on terror to nuclear disarmament - will ever be resolved. About the West’s responsibility he says: “(It) feels a deep, deep shame for what it did - or didn't do - during the Holocaust…(and)…ought to feel that shame, but …the penalty…has been paid not by the West, but by the Palestinians.”
EJJP fully endorses the words of Archbishop Tutu. Successive Israeli governments have shown a distinct unwillingness to take necessary steps to achieve a just and lasting peace, leaving it till they leave office to make valedictory confessionals. After many years of US neglect of the conflict, President Obama earlier this year has been courageous to make clear and explicit calls on Israel to change its ways. Regrettably, in our opinion, his call was not adequately supported by the EU. EJJP therefore asks the European Commission and the EU to step up their efforts to play a more active role in contributing to an effective equitable settlement of the conflict.
For too long, EU policy has been “declarational”: while official statements made the right demands, the EU did not follow up with concrete measures in cases of Israeli non-compliance. Unfortunately flagrant cases of non-compliance abound.
Agreements signed by the EU such as its Association Agreement with Israel have to be applied fully, not partially. As long as this situation prevails, the EU will be unable to regain its credibility in this arena, still less, as intended by the revised political structure of the EU, to be a serious influence.
As first concrete steps we ask that Israel, without asking counter-concessions from the Palestinians, freeze all construction in all colonies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lift immediately the cruel siege on Gaza, lift the hundreds of check-points inside occupied Palestine and halts the construction of the separation-wall on Palestine territory.
This is a demand common to the EU, the UN and the US. In order to achieve this, it probably will be necessary for the Commission and the EU to exert concrete pressure on Israel. Such pressure is required even more in instances where the EU itself, by acquiescing to certain Israeli policies, violates Community law (e.g. participation of settlement-based entities in EU programs; import into the EU of settlement products; failure or Community/EU agencies to distinguish between lawful/unlawful activities of Israeli governmental entities; loans from the EIB to enterprises in settlements)
As long as the Israeli government does not take the requested steps, there can be no question of expanding and/or deepening of relations between the EU and Israel in any form. We note with concern that despite reservations over political upgrading, technical cooperation with Israel continues apace, as demonstrated by the recent agreement on agricultural products and the agreement on conformity assessment. In this context we trust that the creation of the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy will also result in a more effective coordination of the activities of the more technical Commission Directorates-General, so as to prevent any unwarranted expansion of technical cooperation in the future.
EJJP welcomed the considerable efforts undertaken by the Swedish Presidency to move EU policy towards Israel in the right direction. Compared with previous Council conclusions, those of the Foreign Affairs Council of 8 December last are clearly a step forward. We have also noted with satisfaction your statement in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 17 December. We hope that these declarations do indeed herald a more credible and more effective chapter in EU-Israel relations.
We are always at your disposal to discuss these and other proposals provide more information if you felt it would be constructive.
On behalf of EJJP
Dror Feiler
Chairman of the Executive of EJJP
tisdag 9 februari 2010
lördag 6 februari 2010
EJJP calls for solidarity and equal rights in Europe
While our main concern is for more justice in Middle East, EJJP is also pressing for more justice and equal rights in Europe. As Jews with our historical experience we know what it means to be persecuted and victims of discrimination and therefore...
- At a time when European governments are criminalizing and expelling women, men and children arriving in Europe looking for survival;
- At a time when European governments are taking measures that aggravate exclusion and racism towards their own citizens and residents according to their origin or faith,
We refuse to be put on the side of the oppressors. We choose to stand by those expelled from our countries and those living in our countries suffering from exclusion and discrimination.
We believe that with them we can build a welcoming Europe, ready to share its wealth, open to others, in full respect of their origins and beliefs, providing equal rights for all.
Working together in this way we will contribute to a better Europe.
European Jews for a Just Peace Convention, Paris, January 31st, 2010
- At a time when European governments are criminalizing and expelling women, men and children arriving in Europe looking for survival;
- At a time when European governments are taking measures that aggravate exclusion and racism towards their own citizens and residents according to their origin or faith,
We refuse to be put on the side of the oppressors. We choose to stand by those expelled from our countries and those living in our countries suffering from exclusion and discrimination.
We believe that with them we can build a welcoming Europe, ready to share its wealth, open to others, in full respect of their origins and beliefs, providing equal rights for all.
Working together in this way we will contribute to a better Europe.
European Jews for a Just Peace Convention, Paris, January 31st, 2010
fredag 5 februari 2010
Solidarity with those unjustly accused of anti-semitism
Several Europeans are being accused and prosecuted for hate propaganda or anti-semitism, for having called for a boycott of Israeli products or for having criticised zionism or Israeli policies. In France, politicians want to criminalise anti-zionism as anti-semitism. A recent example is ms. Alina Boumediene-Thiery, French senator, prosecuted for "anti-semitic activties", for having publicly supported Palestinian rights in the framework of a just peace in the Middle East. At its convention held in Paris on 31 January 2010, EJJP:
- denounces such judicial harrasment
- deplores the abuse of the term "anti-semitism" when levelled as a false accusation
- expresses its solidarity with all those so injustly accused
- voices its indignation that the Israeli government, under the impetus of Israeli
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, encourrage zionist organisations abroad to initiate such prosecutions, thus interferring with the exercise of the freedom of speech in our countries.
European Jews for a Just Peace Convention, Paris, January 31st, 2010
- denounces such judicial harrasment
- deplores the abuse of the term "anti-semitism" when levelled as a false accusation
- expresses its solidarity with all those so injustly accused
- voices its indignation that the Israeli government, under the impetus of Israeli
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, encourrage zionist organisations abroad to initiate such prosecutions, thus interferring with the exercise of the freedom of speech in our countries.
European Jews for a Just Peace Convention, Paris, January 31st, 2010
European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP) joins the BDS campaign
EJJP 2010
No support for the Israeli Occupation! In defence of international law and human rights: boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
For forty-three years massive land and water confiscation, roadblocks, extrajudicial killings, closures, curfews, and collective punishment have taken place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in contravention of international law. Oppression, segregation and humiliation, house demolitions, and the construction of the Annexation wall in the West Bank and the blockade and war on Gaza determine the daily life of the occupied Palestinian people.
The Israeli government, throughout the years of Occupation, has felt entitled to breach International Law, the Charter of the United Nations (UN), and the U.N. Bill of Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and even the decisions of the International Court of Justice with the tacit acceptance of much of the international community.
The U.N. and the international community as a whole have failed to implement any effective sanctions against Israeli breaches of International Law. Citizen action throughout Europe is therefore called for, to stop Governments operating double standards and continuing to appease Israel.
The 2010 Annual Meeting of the EJJP
Recalls that:
The fulfilment of the principles of the U.N. Charter requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace between both Israel and the future Palestinian state.
All Member States of the U.N. in their acceptance of the Charter are committed to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter.
The maintenance of an international system of justice, its authority and meaning for the international community requires that Israel must be compelled to end the Occupation.
Israel, as a powerful state occupying the land of another people, is an equal member of the international community and must be held accountable for its policies and actions in the light of accepted international norms, as are all other nations. Any other approach to the State of Israel is discriminatory, selecting it out, without justification, as a special case from all other countries.
For all these reasons we consider the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land to be an international issue.
We all have a stake in ending it.
We are not willing to accept the blindness of the so called super powers, the indolence of the U.N., the apathy of the “Quartet”, and finally, the indifference of the states of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
We are not willing to be silent about the fact that the occupying power, Israel, claims to speak for Jews world-wide and to be acting on behalf of our ancestors, many of whom were victims of the Nazi genocide, and supposedly for the sake of all victims of anti-Semitism and racism.
We are not willing to witness passively a policy course that has already caused too many casualties, unbearable destruction, and constant pain.
As European citizens and, hence, believing that Human Rights is the political basis of European civil society, we share the responsibility for peace and justice with our friends and sister organizations in Israel, in Palestine, and in all countries of the international community.
We are determined to take a major stand against the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territories, i.e. against the course of hatred and hostility that could culminate in a catastrophe - for Palestinians and Israelis.
We are convinced that the Israeli leadership and decision makers, as well as most of Israel’s civil society, have the power to alter the intolerable situation, but are reluctant and/or unwilling to do so. For this reason, it is impossible to end the Occupation without pressure from outside. International non-violent but effective pressure such as the BDS campaign, in support of the Palestinian struggle against the Occupation is a crucial way to break through this deadlock.
The 2010 Annual Meeting of EJJP notes
• The "Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Human Rights" that was launched by representatives of Palestinian civil society in May 2005;
• The Bilbao initiative from 31 October 2008 calling to "raise awareness about and implement the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign against Israel, based on the 2005 Palestinian civil society BDS Call, in a gradual, sustainable manner that is sensitive to context and capacity." with, among others, the explicit aim of "demand the compliance with the 2004 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice – condemning Israel's Wall and colonies built on occupied territory";
• That many Israeli organizations opposing the Occupation have joined the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions including: The Coalition of Women for Peace (New Profile, Woman in Black, Bat Shalom, The Fifth Mother, Machsom Watch, Noga, NELED, TANDI, WILPF, Bat Tzafon), ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolition), Anarchists Against the Wall, Matzpen (Israel/International), AIC (Alternative Information Center) that are all part of the Boycott from Within movement;
• That several Jewish organizations have joined the BDS campaign including: Not In Our Name (NION - Canada), Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU - Canada), Judar För Israelisk Palestinsk Fred (JIPF- Sweden), Union Juive Francaise pour la Paix (UJFP – France), Jüdische Stimme für einen gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Austria), Union des Progressistes Juifs de Belgique (Belgium), Rete 'Ebrei Contro l'Occupazione (Italy), Jüdische Stimme für einen gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Germany)...;
• That prominent members of the Israeli, Palestinian and International academia and sphere of culture have called for academic and cultural BDS actions.
It declares:
• That the EJJP recognises the value of the BDS call from Palestinian civil society as a useful non-violent tool in its struggle against the Occupation.
• That EJJP joins the BDS to pressure the European Parliament and each European government to live up to their obligations towards International Law and Human Rights.
• That the EJJP decision to join the BDS movement will also provide moral support to the Israeli progressive peace movement that has already largely joined the BDS and will give impulse for wider support to the BDS movement internationally, making BDS an effective tool.
• That the situation in the different countries of Europe varies, so that different country groups of EJJP will need to decide the most appropriate form of BDS actions within the framework of their local/national situation noting that the longstanding call for boycotting products from the Occupied Territories promoted by Gush Shalom and other organizations is also a form of BDS.
• Every specific BDS decision by national groups should be taken after evaluating each specific case. Guidelines for such judgement could follow these criteria:
Against the Occupation or in favour of it?
Against the siege on Gaza or in favour of it?
Oppose settlements and the wall or support them?
Support equal rights for Palestinians inside Israel or oppose them?
Oppose Israeli attacks on Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza 2008/09 or support them?
Representing an official Israeli institution or not?
• That there is nothing anti-Semitic in implementing BDS campaigns against Israel. Indeed we are undertaking such action in the belief that the continuation of the Occupation is destructive for the Israeli people and can endanger Jews all over the world.
That the Federation of the European Jews for a Just Peace will join the BDS campaign.
Suggested Actions
1. We believe that a variety of interwoven measures targeted specifically at the machinery of Occupation and the Israeli military - industrial complex that is linked to it will generally be appropriate. We will work with other organisations in the field and include in our activities actions against:
• the sale of weapons and parts to and from Israel;
• the sale and servicing of equipment for use in the Occupation;
• the training and testing of Israeli military personnel and weapons in any part of the EU;
• training and advice by Israel of police and military personnel from EU countries;
• state and private cooperation with institutions and/or companies that develop military and/or security equipment and/or systems.
2. Divestment from companies supporting the Israeli Occupation directly or indirectly. Working with local, Palestinian and Israeli groups and divestment campaigners to identify appropriate targets such as companies that are engaged in the construction of the Wall and settlements or the destruction of Palestinian homes and land.
3. Campaigning to get importers, wholesalers and retailers not to sell Israeli products that contribute to the Israeli Occupation. Supporting consumer boycotts of such products by publicising a consolidate list in conjunction with Israeli anti Occupation organisations, Palestinian organisations and local solidarity groups, using the EJJP website.
4. Linking with other groups in compiling and updating information and in campaigning for divestment and consumer boycotts. This could help stem the fragmentation of political solidarity campaigns with the Palestinian People.
5. Israeli academic and cultural institutions are mostly state controlled and the vast majority of Israeli intellectuals and academics have either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying the Israeli Occupation policies, or have been complicit in them through their silence. We urge academics and cultural workers to disassociate themselves from the Occupation and from the Israeli destruction/obstruction of Palestinian cultural, educational and academic infrastructure and institutions to avoid the possibility of boycott.
6. We call for a focus on Jewish donations. We will publicise and condemn any organisation which contributes to the Occupation by calling for donations; act against such activities and we will propagate alternatives. We call for donations and support for institutions and organizations that actively take a stand against the Occupation.
The time has come to translate our criticism of and opposition to the Israeli governments and policies into effective, non-violent actions like the BDS campaign. While the effect may seem symbolic in the first instance, such actions will activate a citizen base which will put pressure on the EU and national governments and Israeli society and government.
No support for the Israeli Occupation! In defence of international law and human rights: boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
For forty-three years massive land and water confiscation, roadblocks, extrajudicial killings, closures, curfews, and collective punishment have taken place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in contravention of international law. Oppression, segregation and humiliation, house demolitions, and the construction of the Annexation wall in the West Bank and the blockade and war on Gaza determine the daily life of the occupied Palestinian people.
The Israeli government, throughout the years of Occupation, has felt entitled to breach International Law, the Charter of the United Nations (UN), and the U.N. Bill of Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and even the decisions of the International Court of Justice with the tacit acceptance of much of the international community.
The U.N. and the international community as a whole have failed to implement any effective sanctions against Israeli breaches of International Law. Citizen action throughout Europe is therefore called for, to stop Governments operating double standards and continuing to appease Israel.
The 2010 Annual Meeting of the EJJP
Recalls that:
The fulfilment of the principles of the U.N. Charter requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace between both Israel and the future Palestinian state.
All Member States of the U.N. in their acceptance of the Charter are committed to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter.
The maintenance of an international system of justice, its authority and meaning for the international community requires that Israel must be compelled to end the Occupation.
Israel, as a powerful state occupying the land of another people, is an equal member of the international community and must be held accountable for its policies and actions in the light of accepted international norms, as are all other nations. Any other approach to the State of Israel is discriminatory, selecting it out, without justification, as a special case from all other countries.
For all these reasons we consider the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land to be an international issue.
We all have a stake in ending it.
We are not willing to accept the blindness of the so called super powers, the indolence of the U.N., the apathy of the “Quartet”, and finally, the indifference of the states of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
We are not willing to be silent about the fact that the occupying power, Israel, claims to speak for Jews world-wide and to be acting on behalf of our ancestors, many of whom were victims of the Nazi genocide, and supposedly for the sake of all victims of anti-Semitism and racism.
We are not willing to witness passively a policy course that has already caused too many casualties, unbearable destruction, and constant pain.
As European citizens and, hence, believing that Human Rights is the political basis of European civil society, we share the responsibility for peace and justice with our friends and sister organizations in Israel, in Palestine, and in all countries of the international community.
We are determined to take a major stand against the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territories, i.e. against the course of hatred and hostility that could culminate in a catastrophe - for Palestinians and Israelis.
We are convinced that the Israeli leadership and decision makers, as well as most of Israel’s civil society, have the power to alter the intolerable situation, but are reluctant and/or unwilling to do so. For this reason, it is impossible to end the Occupation without pressure from outside. International non-violent but effective pressure such as the BDS campaign, in support of the Palestinian struggle against the Occupation is a crucial way to break through this deadlock.
The 2010 Annual Meeting of EJJP notes
• The "Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Human Rights" that was launched by representatives of Palestinian civil society in May 2005;
• The Bilbao initiative from 31 October 2008 calling to "raise awareness about and implement the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign against Israel, based on the 2005 Palestinian civil society BDS Call, in a gradual, sustainable manner that is sensitive to context and capacity." with, among others, the explicit aim of "demand the compliance with the 2004 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice – condemning Israel's Wall and colonies built on occupied territory";
• That many Israeli organizations opposing the Occupation have joined the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions including: The Coalition of Women for Peace (New Profile, Woman in Black, Bat Shalom, The Fifth Mother, Machsom Watch, Noga, NELED, TANDI, WILPF, Bat Tzafon), ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolition), Anarchists Against the Wall, Matzpen (Israel/International), AIC (Alternative Information Center) that are all part of the Boycott from Within movement;
• That several Jewish organizations have joined the BDS campaign including: Not In Our Name (NION - Canada), Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU - Canada), Judar För Israelisk Palestinsk Fred (JIPF- Sweden), Union Juive Francaise pour la Paix (UJFP – France), Jüdische Stimme für einen gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Austria), Union des Progressistes Juifs de Belgique (Belgium), Rete 'Ebrei Contro l'Occupazione (Italy), Jüdische Stimme für einen gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Germany)...;
• That prominent members of the Israeli, Palestinian and International academia and sphere of culture have called for academic and cultural BDS actions.
It declares:
• That the EJJP recognises the value of the BDS call from Palestinian civil society as a useful non-violent tool in its struggle against the Occupation.
• That EJJP joins the BDS to pressure the European Parliament and each European government to live up to their obligations towards International Law and Human Rights.
• That the EJJP decision to join the BDS movement will also provide moral support to the Israeli progressive peace movement that has already largely joined the BDS and will give impulse for wider support to the BDS movement internationally, making BDS an effective tool.
• That the situation in the different countries of Europe varies, so that different country groups of EJJP will need to decide the most appropriate form of BDS actions within the framework of their local/national situation noting that the longstanding call for boycotting products from the Occupied Territories promoted by Gush Shalom and other organizations is also a form of BDS.
• Every specific BDS decision by national groups should be taken after evaluating each specific case. Guidelines for such judgement could follow these criteria:
Against the Occupation or in favour of it?
Against the siege on Gaza or in favour of it?
Oppose settlements and the wall or support them?
Support equal rights for Palestinians inside Israel or oppose them?
Oppose Israeli attacks on Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza 2008/09 or support them?
Representing an official Israeli institution or not?
• That there is nothing anti-Semitic in implementing BDS campaigns against Israel. Indeed we are undertaking such action in the belief that the continuation of the Occupation is destructive for the Israeli people and can endanger Jews all over the world.
That the Federation of the European Jews for a Just Peace will join the BDS campaign.
Suggested Actions
1. We believe that a variety of interwoven measures targeted specifically at the machinery of Occupation and the Israeli military - industrial complex that is linked to it will generally be appropriate. We will work with other organisations in the field and include in our activities actions against:
• the sale of weapons and parts to and from Israel;
• the sale and servicing of equipment for use in the Occupation;
• the training and testing of Israeli military personnel and weapons in any part of the EU;
• training and advice by Israel of police and military personnel from EU countries;
• state and private cooperation with institutions and/or companies that develop military and/or security equipment and/or systems.
2. Divestment from companies supporting the Israeli Occupation directly or indirectly. Working with local, Palestinian and Israeli groups and divestment campaigners to identify appropriate targets such as companies that are engaged in the construction of the Wall and settlements or the destruction of Palestinian homes and land.
3. Campaigning to get importers, wholesalers and retailers not to sell Israeli products that contribute to the Israeli Occupation. Supporting consumer boycotts of such products by publicising a consolidate list in conjunction with Israeli anti Occupation organisations, Palestinian organisations and local solidarity groups, using the EJJP website.
4. Linking with other groups in compiling and updating information and in campaigning for divestment and consumer boycotts. This could help stem the fragmentation of political solidarity campaigns with the Palestinian People.
5. Israeli academic and cultural institutions are mostly state controlled and the vast majority of Israeli intellectuals and academics have either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying the Israeli Occupation policies, or have been complicit in them through their silence. We urge academics and cultural workers to disassociate themselves from the Occupation and from the Israeli destruction/obstruction of Palestinian cultural, educational and academic infrastructure and institutions to avoid the possibility of boycott.
6. We call for a focus on Jewish donations. We will publicise and condemn any organisation which contributes to the Occupation by calling for donations; act against such activities and we will propagate alternatives. We call for donations and support for institutions and organizations that actively take a stand against the Occupation.
The time has come to translate our criticism of and opposition to the Israeli governments and policies into effective, non-violent actions like the BDS campaign. While the effect may seem symbolic in the first instance, such actions will activate a citizen base which will put pressure on the EU and national governments and Israeli society and government.
EJJP to Gordon Brown
29-Jan-2010
Dear Prime Minister,
News reports that you and the Foreign Secretary are “completely opposed” to the process whereby a British citizen may apply for an arrest warrant under the principle of universal jurisdiction cause us considerable alarm. We are writing to you to urge that expediency in international relations should not provide the basis of an exemption from legal process.
In the half century following the end of the Second World War, it often seemed as though decent people could only be spectators to world events. We looked on, appalled and ashamed by our impotence, as rights were suspended, neighbouring states invaded and their own citizens treated with contempt and worse by national leaders, including those considered our allies.
It was as if a tacit licence had been granted, uncomfortable in principle but convenient in fact. We closed our eyes – truly a corruption of the principle of blind justice.
The political tumult of the 1990s saw the beginnings of a system that could end the culture of impunity. It was a process in which the United Kingdom was intimately involved, both in general and in the particular. Augusto Pinochet did not stand trial in the UK for his crimes, but his arrest, detention and the subsequent hearings proved to be the stimulus the Chileans themselves needed.
British law opened the door for Chilean to address something previously considered impossible, from which they and the rest of the world had, up to that point, mentally turned away.
This is perhaps the most important effect of the principle of universal jurisdiction. Where we once could shrug helplessly, responsible governance has provided a tool by which justice may be done now and we even hope that evil may be averted in the future.
It is in this sense that the arrest warrant issued for Israel's former foreign minister
Tzipi Livni over war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza should be viewed.
Speaking at a recent conference in Israel, it was reported that Baroness
Scotland said that she would seek to block such warrants being issued in the future.
At the same conference, former Israeli supreme court president Aharon Barak called on his country to end its boycott of the International Criminal Court. He believed that Israel would benefit from its participation in the court despite the risk that IDF soldiers and officers, and even Israeli politicians, may be brought to trial. He was supported by a leading article in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said “A country that believes in the morality of its actions and those of its soldiers should not behave like a permanent suspect … On the contrary: It must fight within those institutions for its positions and justice. Joining the
International Criminal Court at The Hague will place Israel on the side of the enlightened nations, and will contribute to restraining forceful and harmful actions. Barak's recommendation deserves to be adopted. “
The instruments available to the international community to enforce international law remain few, and they are fragile. Paramount among them is the tenet that if human rights are to be seen as universal, if they are to be concretely realized and not merely recognized on paper then their jurisdiction must be no less universal.
Any exemption – for any figure or group of figures will make those tools more brittle still. The application of the law should be no less universal than the principle that saw the law come to be written in the first place.
The warrant was sought on the basis of Tzipi Livni’s role in prosecuting the invasion of Gaza in December 2008-January 2009, when she was Israel’s foreign minister. The consequences of that action are still to be seen today.
Israel continues to enforce an unprecedented siege on 1.5 million civilians, hinders delivery even of a French desalination plant, while continuing to apply its ”Dahia Doctrine” as formulated by IDF generals Giora Eiland, Siboni and
Eisenkot and applied by Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi.
The inescapable truth emanating from the Goldstone Report is a recommendation for both parties to facilitate independent inquiries into the conduct of the fighting in Gaza. We understand that the UK government accepts the need for such independent inquiries, even as it sees flaws in the report itself.
Britain would be sending the wrong signal to were it to change its law now in order to accommodate Israeli pressures.
When Israel ratifies its signature to the Rome convention, when it decides to deploy its own legal system (as Chile did) to be less hostile to UN inquiries such as that conducted by Judge Richard Goldstone, or even to examine past events as South Africa achieved with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, then it will become unnecessary for arrest warrants to be issued in a London magistrate’s court.
Until then, we ask that Her Majesty’s Government should continue to set a good example and stand by its support for the universal over the particular.
Yours sincerely,
European Jews for a Just Peace Convention, Paris, January 31st, 2010
Dear Prime Minister,
News reports that you and the Foreign Secretary are “completely opposed” to the process whereby a British citizen may apply for an arrest warrant under the principle of universal jurisdiction cause us considerable alarm. We are writing to you to urge that expediency in international relations should not provide the basis of an exemption from legal process.
In the half century following the end of the Second World War, it often seemed as though decent people could only be spectators to world events. We looked on, appalled and ashamed by our impotence, as rights were suspended, neighbouring states invaded and their own citizens treated with contempt and worse by national leaders, including those considered our allies.
It was as if a tacit licence had been granted, uncomfortable in principle but convenient in fact. We closed our eyes – truly a corruption of the principle of blind justice.
The political tumult of the 1990s saw the beginnings of a system that could end the culture of impunity. It was a process in which the United Kingdom was intimately involved, both in general and in the particular. Augusto Pinochet did not stand trial in the UK for his crimes, but his arrest, detention and the subsequent hearings proved to be the stimulus the Chileans themselves needed.
British law opened the door for Chilean to address something previously considered impossible, from which they and the rest of the world had, up to that point, mentally turned away.
This is perhaps the most important effect of the principle of universal jurisdiction. Where we once could shrug helplessly, responsible governance has provided a tool by which justice may be done now and we even hope that evil may be averted in the future.
It is in this sense that the arrest warrant issued for Israel's former foreign minister
Tzipi Livni over war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza should be viewed.
Speaking at a recent conference in Israel, it was reported that Baroness
Scotland said that she would seek to block such warrants being issued in the future.
At the same conference, former Israeli supreme court president Aharon Barak called on his country to end its boycott of the International Criminal Court. He believed that Israel would benefit from its participation in the court despite the risk that IDF soldiers and officers, and even Israeli politicians, may be brought to trial. He was supported by a leading article in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said “A country that believes in the morality of its actions and those of its soldiers should not behave like a permanent suspect … On the contrary: It must fight within those institutions for its positions and justice. Joining the
International Criminal Court at The Hague will place Israel on the side of the enlightened nations, and will contribute to restraining forceful and harmful actions. Barak's recommendation deserves to be adopted. “
The instruments available to the international community to enforce international law remain few, and they are fragile. Paramount among them is the tenet that if human rights are to be seen as universal, if they are to be concretely realized and not merely recognized on paper then their jurisdiction must be no less universal.
Any exemption – for any figure or group of figures will make those tools more brittle still. The application of the law should be no less universal than the principle that saw the law come to be written in the first place.
The warrant was sought on the basis of Tzipi Livni’s role in prosecuting the invasion of Gaza in December 2008-January 2009, when she was Israel’s foreign minister. The consequences of that action are still to be seen today.
Israel continues to enforce an unprecedented siege on 1.5 million civilians, hinders delivery even of a French desalination plant, while continuing to apply its ”Dahia Doctrine” as formulated by IDF generals Giora Eiland, Siboni and
Eisenkot and applied by Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi.
The inescapable truth emanating from the Goldstone Report is a recommendation for both parties to facilitate independent inquiries into the conduct of the fighting in Gaza. We understand that the UK government accepts the need for such independent inquiries, even as it sees flaws in the report itself.
Britain would be sending the wrong signal to were it to change its law now in order to accommodate Israeli pressures.
When Israel ratifies its signature to the Rome convention, when it decides to deploy its own legal system (as Chile did) to be less hostile to UN inquiries such as that conducted by Judge Richard Goldstone, or even to examine past events as South Africa achieved with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, then it will become unnecessary for arrest warrants to be issued in a London magistrate’s court.
Until then, we ask that Her Majesty’s Government should continue to set a good example and stand by its support for the universal over the particular.
Yours sincerely,
European Jews for a Just Peace Convention, Paris, January 31st, 2010
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