One year on from the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7th, 42,000 people have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Israel has invaded Lebanon, and the possibility of a wider war with Iran is increasing. Never has it been clearer that justice for Palestine is the key to peace in the Middle East, and millions across the world will not cease their protests until a lasting ceasefire is achieved and Palestine is sovereign and free.
But these global demands for ceasefire and justice are not confined to popular protests – they are also the demands of states, of global institutions, including the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly. Yet powerful states go against law and justice, arming the extreme-right Israeli government that is perpetrating slaughter and brutality on an unimaginable scale.
As many have observed, the conflict did not begin on October 7th 2023. The systematic deprivation of Palestinian rights and sovereignty over decades, has been compounded by years of occupation and an inhuman siege of Gaza for 17 years.
It’s time for this to end. Israel’s war machine, its apartheid system, its nuclear impunity, have to end. As French President Macron states, there must be a total halt to arms supplies to Israel. Diplomatic and political support must end until law and justice are complied with, and economic boycott, divestment and sanctions must also be implemented. There can be no possibility of business as usual with a country that has dispossessed a people and is waging genocide upon them.
The peace movement globally stands together with the people of Palestine and all those seeking a just peace in the Middle East, where all are free to live in peace.
To this end we make the following demands:
• the imposition of an immediate ceasefire
• that all diplomatic, economic and military ties with the Israeli colonial occupying power be severed
• an international arms embargo on the export, transit and import of arms to and from Israel
• a sanctions regime that helps to ensure compliance with United Nations resolutions and international (humanitarian) law
• the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid
• that those who are responsible for war crimes and genocide are held accountable
