An Open Letter To David Miliband From Independent Jewish Voices
Dear Foreign Secretary,
We are writing as concerned Jews who are utterly dismayed by Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.
We object to the misleading representation of this conflict as entirely instigated by Hamas and merely defensive on the part of Israel. Rocket attacks on Israel are unacceptable. But Gaza has been under siege more or less since the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli settlers in 2005, a withdrawal that left Israel in complete control of access by air, land and sea, leaving the Palestinians with no opportunity to create a viable economic life. It was also accompanied within months by an increase of settlers in the West Bank in excess of those withdrawn from Gaza making it clear that at no point was the withdrawal intended to lead to viable statehood for the Palestinians. Ever since the election of Hamas - the result of an internationally authenticated democratic process - Israel has enforced collective punishment on the people of Gaza, action which is illegal under international law.
We urge you therefore not to accept the Israeli rhetoric which presents this carnage as part of the `war on terror,’ but rather to condemn it as unjust violence that is destroying the prospects for peace, as well as jeopardising the position of Jews the world over. In the interests of a just and sustainable solution to the conflict, the UK government has a key role to play. We therefore urge you to press the incoming US government to modify the outgoing administration’s counter-productive and hitherto uncritical support for Israel’s actions and policies.
Sir Geoffrey Bindman, Lady Ellen Dahrendorf, Uri Fruchtman, Anthony Isaacs, Lawrence Joffe, Ann Jungman, Anne Karpf, Dr Brian Klug, Anthony Lerman, Professor Jacqueline Rose, Leon Rosselson, Professor Donald Sassoon, Professor Lynne Segal, Henry Stewart
Independent Jewish Voices
The 187 additional signatories:
Lauren Aarons
Roy Ackerman
Seymour Alexander
Phil Barnett
Adrienne Barnett
Michael Baron, M.B.E.
David Bartram
Steven Beller
Paul Berczeller
Sir Geoffrey Bindman
Rica Bird
Andrew Biss
Councillor Jonathan Bloch
Ralph and Mary Blumenau
Y. Michal Bodemann
Jonathan Bradley
Paul Bragman
Leslie Baruch Brent, Emeritus Professor
Adam Broomberg
Peter and Fiona Brown
Babette Brown
Judy and Raymond Brown
Frances Bruce
Dr Alan Bullion
Steven Burkeman
Prof Brian Butterworth
Prof Lionel Caplan
Caroline Catz
zelda cheatle
Ruth Clark
Lillian Clark
Joel Cohen
Peter Cohen
Professor Miriam David
Ivor Dembina
Merav Devere
Prof. Laurence Dreyfus
Adi Drori-Avraham
Norman Druker
Prof. Eric Eisenhandler
Liz Elkind
Michael Ellman
Professor Gene Feder
David Feldman
Stephan Feuchtwang
Judith Fido
Neil Finer
Deborah Fink
Sylvia Finzi
Ivan Fiser
Frank Fisher
Professor Nina Fishman
Norman Franklin
Richard Fredman
David Freedman
Jo Freeman
Petra Fried
Dr R Garfield
Martin Golding
Ron Golz
Paula Goodman
Arthur Goodman
philip graham
Tony Greenstein
Michael Halpern
Rosamine Hayeem
Abe Hayeem
Dr Harold Heller
Eric Hobsbawm
Gad Hollander
Dr Anthony Isaacs
David Iwi
Mary Jacobus
Gabriel Josipovici
Tim Kahn
Ellie Kavner
Professor Adah Kay
daphne keen
Paul Keleman
Michael Kendall
Godfrey King
Reva Klein
Pam Kleinot
Dr Brian Kliger
berry kreel
Noa Lachman
Vivi Lachs
Professor Frank Land
Howard Leader
Linda Lennard
Miki Lentin
Antony Lerman
Dr Mark Levene
Les Levidow
Miriam Levin
Anna Liddle
Professor Margot Light
Sonja Linden
Susan Loppert
Deborah Maccoby
Henry Maitles
Dr. Ruth Mandel
Jenny Salaman Manson
Paul Marcus
dennis Marks
Stephen Marks
Rafael Marks
Susan Marks
Shula Marks
sheila melzak
Juliet Michaelson
Martine Miel
Dr. Laura Miller
Paul Morrison
Orna Neumann
Victoria Neumark Jones
Mike Newman, Ines Newman
Dr. Ephraim Nimni
margaret owen
Carey Oppenheim
Hanna Oppenheim
Dan Ozarow
Helen Pearson
professor naomi pfeffer
Professor Deborah Philips
Merav Pinchassoff
Shelley Power
Alan Pulverness
Jerome Ravetz
Anni Rehin
Jessica Robinson
Sonya Rose
Edward Rosen
Dan Rosenberg
P. Rosenbloom
Dr Mike Rosenbloom
Yael Rosenfeld
Zoe Rosenfield
Leon Rosselson
Sabby Sagall
Peter Salomon
Dr. Simon Sandberg
Hilary Sapire
Donald Sassoon
Anthony Sattin
Susan Schonfield
Barry Schwabsky
Anna Schwarz
Mike Scott
Lynne Segal
Dr Elaine Sharland
Sue Shaw
Tamar Shlaim
Professor John Sidel
Nick Sigler
Byron Simmonds
Andy Simons
Dr Jonathan Sklar
Hazel Slavin
Robyn Slovo
Shawn Slovo
Gillian Slovo
Ben Soffa
Sara Solnick
Godfrey Stadlen
Tamar Steinitz
Hanna Steyne
Dr. Ivor Stilitz
Dr. Judith Suissa
Susan Sutcliffe
Ruth Tenne
Andi Tobe
Martin Toch
Dr David Toke
Professor Elaine Unterhalter
Bronia Veitch
Martin Weitz
Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
Dr. Aaron Winter
Geoff Woolfe
Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim
Montague Young
Professor Sami Zubaida
on behalf of the steering group, plus 187 signatures