The fragile ceasefire achieved in Gaza is the result of a long period of international mediation, but a lasting ceasefire and a genuine political solution are needed if there is to be a real prospect of peace and justice.
On 7 October, Hamas killed and kidnapped defenceless civilians in their homes, in the streets, at a party, taking them away from their families. It was an attack that targeted mostly Jewish Israeli civilians, including children, the elderly, historic peace and anti-occupation activists, but also migrant workers, Palestinians with Israeli passports or living in Israel. Weeks of indiscriminate shelling by the Israeli government against the people of Gaza followed, turning schools and hospitals into graveyards. More than a million Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes to southern Gaza, which is no longer safe. There are no adequate humanitarian corridors, no water, no food, no energy. In the West Bank, violence by armed settlers against Palestinian civilians has increased exponentially.
In the face of these horrors, international public opinion in Europe has become polarised, with the return of very serious episodes of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, taking us back to the rhetoric of the clash of civilisations that has done so much damage in recent decades. The fight against anti-Semitism cannot be a hypocritical move to erase the legacy of fascism, nor an additional weapon to stifle dissent and fuel xenophobia and anti-Arab prejudice. Instead, it must be an integral part of the fight against all forms of racism.
This binary logic - one side or the other - is the trap we must escape at this time. You cannot erase the horror of 7 October, but you can stop the slaughter in Gaza. One war crime does not erase another: it only fuels the injustice that prepares the ground for more violence.
We claim the right and the duty to always look at war from the perspective of the victims, because they are the only certainty in any conflict. The protection of civilians, regardless of their nationality, place of residence or religion, and of hospitals, must be the first objective of diplomatic action by the international community and the forces of civil society.
We demand a definitive end to the massacre in Gaza, the establishment of proper humanitarian corridors and the release of all hostages. More than a thousand Palestinians are being held in administrative detention in Israel, including hundreds of minors, whose release we demand. A political solution is needed, starting with an end to the apartheid regime and the Israeli policy of colonisation and military occupation. There can never be security - for Palestinians, for Israelis, for any of us - without equality, rights and freedom.
