Editor’s Note: The following is a statement by the International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine. Mondoweiss occasionally publishes press releases and statements from organizations in an effort to draw attention to overlooked issues.
We, the International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine (IJCJP), Jewish organizations from across the world, are outraged at the latest Israeli invasion of the Jenin Refugee Camp.
We also note the support which the Israeli government and the Israeli military consistently lend to armed militias of Israeli settlers which commit pogroms in Palestinian villages, sowing death and destruction with the aim of ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people.
In the face of the aforementioned war crimes and severe violations of international law, we loudly declare – “Not in Our Name!”
Israel’s appalling assault on the Jenin Refugee Camp on 3-4 July, 2023 is part of an ongoing pattern of dispossession, land theft and bantustanization against the Palestinian people. Israel’s apartheid, recognized as such by B’tselem, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, makes Palestinian lives unbearable.
The wanton loss of life and high levels of injuries are rightly well reported in our own countries but we want also to draw attention to other impacts. We understand that 80% of the buildings in the camp have been badly damaged or in many cases, completely destroyed. Thousands of people were forced out of the camp, often holding on only to their children’s hands or the handles of older people’s wheelchairs.
The Al Tafawk Children’s Centre, serving some 150 of Jenin’s very poorest children in this poverty-stricken community, was wrecked by the Israeli army. During its attack, the Israeli army smashed walls, floors and windows, and trashed the building contents, including such well-known weapons of war as textbooks, packaged food, children’s clothes, furniture, story books, art materials, first aid kits, and toys. Are we supposed to believe that these children are also “terrorists”?
The inhabitants of the camp have been refugees since the creation of the Israeli state, many fleeing from Haifa and nearby villages. Since 1967, they have been living under a brutal Israeli military occupation, in great poverty, reliant on UNRWA for their basic needs.
People living under occupation have the right, enshrined in international law, to resist the violence that the occupier perpetrates against them. Israel is a strong military power, and the Palestinians have no army, navy or air force. Yet the Israeli government and its supporters want us to accept their claim that even attacks on Israeli occupation forces are “terror.”
We call on all civil society groups to stand for justice for the Palestinian people and to demand that their governments call for expedited legal action against Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid in international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Furthermore, we encourage concerned citizens all over the world to stand up for Palestinian rights. In particular we reject the libelous antisemitism allegations against those throughout the world who support Palestinian civil society’s peaceful and democratic call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against complicit Israeli institutions and international companies.
We thank all those who stand up for free speech and human rights, against the grotesque McCarthyite attempts by several governments to silence solidarity with the Palestinian people.
For example, we condemn the UK government’s attempt to prevent public bodies from boycotting perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations, such as the State of Israel. We also condemn anti-BDS legislation by various US states, and Germany’s shutting down of those who stand for justice for Palestinians.
The Israeli regime needs to be put on notice that the world is watching, and that they cannot continue to operate with impunity. We also call on Jewish and other organizations to speak up, because silence is complicity. We all need to bring pressure to bear on governments not only to denounce Israel’s brutal attack on Jenin, but to act. They need to recognize Palestinians’ rights to resist occupation and apartheid, and Palestinians’ rights to dignity and freedom.
Governments lending military, financial and political support to the heinous and untenable status quo in Palestine-Israel should turn off the spigots of cash and demand that Israel fully recognize the rights of Palestinians under international law and stop the ongoing colonization of Palestinian lands. Anything less will remain a barrier to peace for all who live between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River.
For more information, please contact: globaljewishcollective@gmail.com
“80% of the buildings in the camp have been badly damaged or in many cases, completely destroyed….. The Al Tafawk Children’s Centre, serving some 150 of Jenin’s very poorest children in this poverty-stricken community, was wrecked by the Israeli army. During its attack, the Israeli army smashed walls, floors and windows, and trashed the building contents, including such well-known weapons of war as textbooks, packaged food, children’s clothes, furniture, story books, art materials, first aid kits, and toys.”
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This destruction, if recorded for a youtube as it unfolded, would convey the reality powerfully.
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“People living under occupation have the right, enshrined in international law, to resist the violence that the occupier perpetrates against them.”
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When resisting includes the gunning down of unsuspecting civilians, it is not viewed as legitimate resistance.
I’m bloody angry! I gave $200 to Al Tafawk Childrens’ centre last year, and the Zionists negate that in seconds!