The faculty members of the Center for Peace Studies, South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance, at North South University hereby object to, and morally condemn, the perpetration of ongoing crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, undertaken without cessation since the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) initiated military operations after the Hamas militia attacks in Israel on 07 October 2023.
It is now clear that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no sincere interest in negotiating and concluding a sustainable ceasefire with the Palestinian governing authorities, whether Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. The latest escalation of IDF operations in the West Bank, as well as provocations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, make it unmistakably clear that the Netanyahu government pursues total ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from the Occupied Territories of Palestine (Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem), all in the interest of establishing a “Greater Israel” (Eretz Israel), without due regard for the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of the Palestinian people.
The Netanyahu government’s support for Zionist settlements in the West Bank as Israeli settlers expropriate the land of both Palestinian Arabs and Bedouin Arabs, as well as the prospective post-war IDF military occupation of the whole of the Gaza Strip that Netanyahu prefers, clearly violate the State of Israel’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions, for which the United Nations Security Council should hold the Netanyahu government legally accountable and subject to due justice under international law.
The International Court of Justice’s judgment of 19 July 2024 that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal should motivate all member-states of the United Nations General Assembly explicitly and unreservedly to condemn ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank, and to take direct and unambiguous governmental actions sanctioning the Netanyahu government.
We call upon the International Criminal Court to move expeditiously to issue arrest warrants for members of the Netanyahu government and the members of the Israeli armed forces who are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.
We call upon all members of the international community, both governmental and non-governmental, including members of civil society, to continue an enhanced and sustained boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against the State of Israel.
We call upon the citizens of the State of Israel to rise up and remove the Netanyahu government from power in the interest of halting all hostilities between the State of Israel and Palestinian militants and with due attention to avoiding escalation of the conflict into a regional war.
We call upon the Hamas organization unconditionally to release all remaining hostages being held in Gaza.
We call upon the governments of the European Union and the United States to cease military aid to the State of Israel, including a suspension of all transfers of weapons systems and weapons components.
We call upon all humanitarian agencies to expedite the continued provision of essential humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza especially, but also in the West Bank as the State of Israel initiates unprovoked military operations in this territory and causes internal displacement of Palestinians from their homes and properties.
We call upon the government of Israel to allow for the World Health Organization to carry out, without interference, a full-fledged vaccination campaign against polio in Gaza.
We call upon all nation-states readily to arrange for resettlement of Palestinian refugees whenever they seek asylum in flight from the hostilities in the Occupied Territories.
We call upon all member-states of the United Nations to remain seized of the matter and to seek diplomatic and other means of resolution of this protracted military conflict.