نامه‌ی سرگشاده گروهی از محققان و تحلیلگران سیاست در مورد اسرائیل، فلسطین و بحران غزه
نامه‌ی سرگشاده گروهی از محققان و تحلیلگران سیاست در مورد اسرائیل، فلسطین و بحران غزه
دولت‌های غربی باید تلاش‌های خود را برای تنش‌زدایی پیش ببرند/
این مسیر، به جای تضمین امنیت برای اسرائیلی‌ها، چرخه خشونت را عمیق‌تر می‌کند/
نامه‌ی سرگشاده گروهی از محققان، تحلیلگران سیاست، و کارشناسان به دولت‌های ایالات متحده آمریکا، بریتانیا، کانادا، استرالیا و تمامی کشورهای عضو اتحادیه اروپا و موسسات اتحادیه اروپا در مورد: اسرائیل/فلسطین و بحران غزه
An Open Letter to the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and all EU member states and EU institutions on:
Israel/Palestine
and the Gaza crisis
As a group of researchers, policy analysts, and experts with deep commitments to and expertise on the Middle East and North Africa, we have always worked side-by-side to advance policies based on shared universal values.
Today, we find much of the government-led responses to the Gaza war to be in grave violation of these values and principles.
After the horrific slaughter of civilians by Hamas in Israel on October 7, the world correctly and justifiably reacted with condemnation and solidarity; a response we are in complete alignment with.
An accumulated legacy of dehumanization of Palestinians has resulted in far too many western governments uncritically condoning the campaign of collective punishment against millions of innocent Palestinians that Israel launched in retaliation. When Russia bombed critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, or Assad held Aleppo under siege, western governments loudly and rightly condemned these attacks and called for immediate humanitarian ceasefires. Many wonder why they won’t do the same here.
We have reached a point where there is virtual consensus among rights groups that war crimes were committed by Hamas on October 7 where over a thousand Israeli civilians were killed, and that war crimes have been committed by Israel since its aerial bombardment campaign against Gaza began which has killed more than five thousand civilians so far. To make matters worse, incitements to ethnic cleansing removing the distinction between civilians and combatants has been broadcast from the most senior levels of the Israeli establishment. The facts make for an ominous forecast and averting it should be our collective priority and is our collective responsibility.
Western capitals pride themselves on solidarity with allies, and are demonstrating this again with Israel. But to achieve long-term security for Israel and the broader region, there is a moral and strategic obligation to ensure that Israel’s self-defence is characterised by international humanitarian law and leads to an end to the occupation; Western governments have not sufficiently emphasised that obligation, despite the situation demanding it. UN experts have also raised the need to restrain Israel from international law violations.
But rhetoric is not enough. Using diplomatic leverage to pressure both Israel and Hamas, who are holding hundreds of hostages, towards adhering to international law is one of our key tools for de-escalation. One that is currently being discarded.
Western governments should be advancing attempts to de-escalate, rather than give the impression that ‘might is right’. Given the power asymmetry between Israel and Palestinians, this has enabled collective punishment in Gaza, and fast-tracked illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, where reports indicate that Palestinians are being dispossessed, killed, or placed in ‘administrative detention’ in their hundreds.
This path, rather than ensuring security for Israelis, deepens the cycle of violence and only makes the conflict’s regionalization more likely.
The lack of strategic focus and failure to pressure collective adherence to international law, denigrates the West’s global moral standing. It isolates it from swathes of the world, deepening divisions at a time of great power competition and shared challenges to our climate, collective security, and the world economy. It also creates a precedent that imperils small states and fatally undermines any semblance of a global rules-based order.
We are mandated to respond to this challenge by foregrounding our common universal values, and we should be forewarned that our response is nothing less than a civilizational litmus test, which will catalyze either the spread or retreat of these values in the world.
We, the undersigned, call on western governments and our colleagues across the policy-making world to centre those core values, upholding the equal humanity of Palestinians and Israelis, rejecting anti-Semitism, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry, at home and abroad.
Above all, in this crisis, we advocate for an immediate ceasefire, the provision of humanitarian aid to all in need, and the return to political processes that can facilitate just and fair resolutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
If we fail to do this, and instead enable the worst, then we condemn this region to the tumult of war, deepen global divisions, and put an indelible stain on our collective conscience.
۱. Comfort Ero, Institute Director
۲. Marwan Muasher, former Foreign Minister
۳. Ana Gomes, Former Member of the European Parliament (2004-2019)
۴. Omar Razzaz, Former Prime Minister
۵. Gian Giacomo Migone, Former Chair, Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate, Republic of Italy
۶. Yair Wallach, Reader of Israel Studies
۷. Yezid Sayigh, Senior Fellow
۸. Lara Friedman, Foundation President
۹. Maha Yahya, Center Director
۱۰. Michele Dunne, Institute Director
۱۱. Nathalie Tocci, Institute Director
۱۲. Richard Wright, Former Senior EU official and UNRWA Director
۱۳. Mohanad Hage Ali, Deputy Director for Research
۱۴. Jonathan Portes, Professor
۱۵. H.A. Hellyer, Senior Fellow & Professor
۱۶. Joost Hiltermann, Programme Director
۱۷. Adel Abdel-Ghafar, Programme Director
۱۸. Charles E. Butterworth, Emeritus Professor
۱۹. Mai el Sadany, Institute Director
۲۰. Hugh Lovatt, Senior Policy Fellow
۲۱. Johan Schaar, Researcher
۲۲. Emadeddin Badi, Senior Fellow
۲۳. Frederic Wehrey, Senior Fellow
۲۴. Eduard Soler I Lecha, Associate Professor
۲۵. Hafsa Halawa, Independent Consultant
۲۶. Zuri Linetsky, Research Fellow
۲۷. Zaha Hassan, Human Rights Attorney
۲۸. Gerd Nonneman, Professor
۲۹. Timothy Kaldas, Institute Deputy-Director
۳۰. Virginie Collombier, Programme Deputy Director
۳۱. Dalia Ghanem, Programme Director
۳۲. Beverley Milton-Edwards, Professor
۳۳. Tarik Yusuf, Institute Director
۳۴. Julien Barnes-Dacey, Programme Director
۳۵. Haizam Amirah-Fernandez, Senior Analyst
۳۶. Riccardo Fabiani, Project Director
۳۷. Intissar Fakir, Programme Director
۳۸. Wolfram Lacher, Senior Associate
۳۹. Cinzia Bianco, Senior Policy Fellow
۴۰. Noha el Mikawy, Dean
۴۱. William Lawrence, Professor
۴۲. David Butter, Analyst
۴۳. Sami Nader, Institute Director
۴۴. Marc Owen Jones, Professor
۴۵. Noha Aboueldahab, Assistant Professor
۴۶. Sarah Yerkes, Senior Fellow
۴۷. Assad al-Achi, Institute Director
۴۸. Shahram Akbarzadeh, Professor
۴۹. Kelly Petillo, Programme Manager
۵۰. Abdullah Baabood, Professor
۵۱. Karim Emile Bitar, Professor
۵۲. Galip Dalay, Senior Research Fellow
۵۳. Ishac Diwan, Director of Research
۵۴. Aziz al-Ghashian, Researcher
۵۵. Karim Haggag, Professor
۵۶. Randa Slim, Programme Director
۵۷. Asma Khalifa, Institute Director
۵۸. Tarek Megrisi, Senior Policy Fellow
۵۹. Kholood Khair, Institute Director
۶۰. Khaled Mansour, Writer
۶۱. Renad Mansour, Senior Research Fellow
۶۲. Karim Mezran, Senior Fellow
۶۳. Ahmed Morsy, Senior Researcher
۶۴. Farea al-Muslimi, Senior Research Fellow
۶۵. Tariq al-Olaimy, Institute Director
۶۶. Rouzbeh Parsi, Programme Director
۶۷. Amy Hawthorne, Independent Consultant
۶۸. Andreas Krieg, Professor
۶۹. Raihan Ismail, Professor
۷۰. Fanar Haddad, Assistant Professor
۷۱. Emin Popjarević, Assistant Professor
۷۲. Ulrika Mårtensson, Professor
۷۳. Yvonne Haddad, Professor emerita
۷۴. Paola Caridi, Analyst
۷۵. Maia Hallward, Professor
۷۶. Alessia Melcangi, Associate Professor
۷۷. Monica Marks, Assistant Professor
۷۸. Mirette F. Mabrouk, Programme Director
۷۹. Ayang Utriza Yakin, Lecturer
۸۰. Hayder Al Shakeri, Research Fellow
۸۱. Ira William Zartan, Professor
۸۲. Magdalena Kircher, Project Director
۸۳. Radwan Masmoudi, Foundation President
۸۴. Nejla Ben Mimoune, Research Associate
۸۵. Sherifa Zuhur, Professor
۸۶. Miray Philips, Assistant Professor
۸۷. Youssef Chouhoud, Assistant Professor
۸۸. Richard Tapper, Professor
۸۹. Jan Michiel Otto, Professor
۹۰. Mat Nashed, Analyst
۹۱. Houda Mzioudet, Researcher
۹۲. Delfina Serrano-Ruano, PhD Tenured Researcher
۹۳. Alfadhel Ahmad, Independent Researcher
۹۴. Leena Al Olaimy, Counterterrorism Researcher
۹۵. Mohammad Fadel, Professor
۹۶. Sarah Shah, Assistant Professor
۹۷. Sabra J Webber, Professor
۹۸. Mohamed Mahmoud, Project Director
۹۹. Mark Levine, Professor
۱۰۰. Jannis Julien Grimm, Project Director
۱۰۱. Farid Senzai, Associate Professor
۱۰۲. Bahey eldin Hassan, Institute Director
۱۰۳. René Wildangel, Lecturer and Analyst
۱۰۴. Audrey Bolus, Programs and Communications Manager
۱۰۵. Mohammed Masbah, Institute Director
۱۰۶. Yasmin Omar, International Human Rights Lawyer
۱۰۷. Luigi Narbone, Professor
۱۰۸. Omar M Ramahi, Professor
۱۰۹. Douglas Christensen, Advocacy Associate
۱۱۰. Muhanad Seloom, Assistant Professor of Security Studies
۱۱۱. Robert Howse, Professor of Law
۱۱۲. Ilyas Saliba, Associate Researcher
۱۱۳. Elizabeth Perego, Researcher
۱۱۴. Steven Heydemann, Chair in Middle East Studies
۱۱۵. Muhammad Shehada, Writer & analyst
۱۱۶. Hasret Dikici Bilgin, Associate Professor
۱۱۷. Taif al Khudary, PhD candidate in politics and international studies
۱۱۸. Brigitte Herremans, PhD research fellow
۱۱۹. Marika Sosnowski, Postdoctoral research fellow
۱۲۰. Munteha Shukralla, Operations manager
۱۲۱. Francesca Maria Corrao, Professor
۱۲۲. Maria Rodriguez Schaap, Security Analyst
۱۲۳. Dirk Moses, Professor of international relations
۱۲۴. Michael W. Ibrahim, Associate professor
۱۲۵. Thomas Pierret, Senior researcher
۱۲۶. Farrah Hawana, Research associate
۱۲۷. Karima Laachir, Professor
۱۲۸. Liora Halperin, Professor
۱۲۹. David L Johnston, Affiliate assistant professor
۱۳۰. Michael Talbot, Associate professor
۱۳۱. Ali al Bayati, Former human rights commissioner
۱۳۲. Hannes Baumann, Senior lecturer
۱۳۳. Jessica Obeid, Middle east scholar
۱۳۴. Joseph Bahout, Institute Director
۱۳۵. Mira Sucharov, Professor and associate chair
۱۳۶. Kevin Mazur, Lecturer
۱۳۷. Sanam Vakil, Programme Director
۱۳۸. Arturo Varvelli, Senior Policy Fellow
۱۳۹. Haid Haid, Researcher
۱۴۰. Silvia Colombo, Researcher and Faculty Advisor
۱۴۱. Hafed Al Ghwell, Institute Director
۱۴۲. Tom Kirk, Researcher and Consultant
۱۴۳. Ceren Belge, Associate Professor
۱۴۴. Nancy Murray, Professor (Ret)
۱۴۵. William E. Shepard, Associate Professor
۱۴۶. Joey Ayoub, Research Associate
۱۴۷. Sarah Phillips, Professor
۱۴۸. Khaled Elgindy, Programme Director
۱۴۹. Haiyun Ma, Associate Professor
۱۵۰. Louis Fishman, Associate Professor
۱۵۱. Matthew Gray, Professor
۱۵۲. Avital Livny, Associate Professor
۱۵۳. Samer S. Shehata, Associate Professor
۱۵۴. Rex Brynen, Professor
۱۵۵. Emanuel Beska, Senior Research Fellow
۱۵۶. Luke Cooper, Associate Professorial Research Fellow
۱۵۷.
