Yesterday, the American website “Mondeweiss” revealed an open letter sent by thousands of academics, activists, researchers and jurists in European countries to the German authorities, asking them to stop supporting the extermination of Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The website pointed out that Germany has been participating for more than a year in killing Palestinians and stripping them of their humanity by providing political, financial, military and legal support to Israel.
He explained that a printed copy of the letter was delivered, on December 20, 2024, to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his deputy Robert Habeck, and his Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Thousands of signatories
The letter carries 4,600 signatures from prominent figures in the academic, research, legal, and human rights fields from countries such as Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Lebanon, and even Israel, and the opportunity to sign it is still open, according to Mondoweiss.
In the letter, the signatories expressed their deep concern at what they are witnessing “with the utmost horror, the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.”
They said: “We feel pain and anger at this blatant disregard for life, a disregard that the German government expects us to accept as necessary and normal.”
They added: “We, the undersigned, call on the German government to stand firmly on the side of justice and international law, and to exert pressure on Israel to put an immediate end to the killing, maiming and destruction it is carrying out against the Palestinians, and to comprehensively re-evaluate its position and political activities, taking into account that the institutions of the German state German political parties and politicians have, for the most part, supported the atrocities committed by the Israeli army.”
War crimes
The open letter also stated that Israel’s horrific crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, are well documented by the United Nations and major human rights organizations.
Indeed, the International Court of Justice – Mondoweis continues – found that there is a real and direct danger indicating that Israel’s actions in Gaza may amount to genocide, as tens of thousands were killed, many of whom are still buried under the rubble, while many of them die due to the spread of diseases that can Prevention.
The signatories said that Israel deliberately starved the residents of the Gaza Strip, leveled entire neighborhoods to the ground, destroyed all vital infrastructure, including food production, health and educational systems, and displaced the vast majority of them to where there is no safe place because its army constantly bombs even the areas it classifies as safe. .
They pointed out that Israel has been imposing a strict siege on northern Gaza to make life impossible in light of a clear plan to permanently displace the Palestinian population.
In the West Bank, Israeli settlers intensified their attacks, often under the protection of the Israeli army, leading to the destruction of Palestinian land and property.
The letter called on the German government to do its part by taking immediate action in light of the interim measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in the case of South Africa v. Israel in January, March and May 2023, and to respect the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. Who declared the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
The signatories of the letter went on to say that Germany – as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and the Rome Statute – has a historical, moral, legal and political obligation not to commit the atrocity crimes prohibited by these two treaties.
“Therefore, we call on Germany to effectively and immediately stop its complicity in the horrific crimes committed by Israel in Palestine!”, affirms the Mondoweiss website.