Growing Demands for Ceasefire

In the U.S., the group Rabbis for Ceasefire protested inside the UN Security Council chamber on January 9 and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. "We are here at the UN in prayer and determination to support the UN to ask for immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to the man [President Joe Biden] that the U.S. gets out of the way of the UN taking urgent action to save lives," a member of Rabbis for Ceasefire explained. Carrying banners that read "Biden: The world says ceasefire now" and "Biden: Stop vetoing ceasefire," demonstrators sang inside the chamber before being escorted out by security officers.

Meanwhile, the pro-Israel organization Americans for Peace Now joined the call for a ceasefire. According to The Times of Israel, up to this point the only U.S. Jewish groups to call for a ceasefire have been anti-Zionist or non-Zionist organizations. Americans for Peace Now is a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the consensus-driven foreign policy coalition of U.S. Jewish organizations that has one overriding mission: backing Israel. Other members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, such as J Street and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobby, have cancelled their annual conferences to avoid public condemnation from within their ranks of Israel's genocidal aggression in Gaza.

A group of former White House interns (2022 and 2023) have written a petition accusing U.S. President Joe Biden of "betraying" his vow to achieve equality and justice by backing Israel's war on Gaza. The letter reads that Biden calls on the youth to "lead through the world's most pressing challenges" but details how "our voices are ignored as our generation speaks in solidarity with the majority of Americans and the world, underscoring the contrast between the values we embraced together and the actions we now witness." The letter urges the administration to take "concrete steps" to end the apartheid in Palestine and the ethnic cleansing ongoing in Gaza by calling for a ceasefire, ending unconditional aid to the occupation, releasing captives and Palestinian prisoners, and, most importantly, labelling Israel's actions as war crimes. "Anything less than these measures undermines the justice we collectively aspired to achieve."

In Chile some 100 lawyers filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of committing crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes in Gaza. The complaint, presented on December 22, 2023 in The Hague, was led by former Ambassador Nelson Hadad, Quds Press reported. The complainants, most of Palestinian descent, are calling for an arrest warrant to be issued for Netanyahu and other individuals responsible for these alleged crimes. The objective of the submission is to prove that genocide, forced displacement, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law are taking place in Gaza.

This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 4 - January 12, 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54048.HTM

Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca