European Jews for a Just Peace European Jews for a Just Peace is a network consisting of groups from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom European Jews for a just Peace
European Jews for a Just Peace European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP), a federation of Jewish peace organisations from nine European countries, agreed at its founding conference in September 2002 (with amendments made at annual conventions in May 2004 and September 2005) to call upon: the Israeli government to change its current policy and implement the proposals in the following declaration all states to ensure their relations with Israel are in accordance with international law and comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights all governments, the United Nations and the European Union to put pressure on the Israeli government to implement the proposals in the following declaration: We believe that the only way out of the current impasse is through an agreement based on the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state and the guarantee of a safe and secure Israel and Palestine. We condemn all violence against civilians in the conflict, no matter by whom it is carried out. We support non-violent actions aimed at ending the Israeli occupation and Israeli breaches of international law. We call for: an immediate end of the occupation of the occupied territories: West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem with recognition of the 4th June 1967 borders; complete withdrawal of all Jewish settlements in all the occupied territories; the recognition of the right of both states to have Jerusalem as their capital; the recognition by Israel of its part in the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. Israel should recognise in principle the Palestinian right to return as a human right. The practical solution to the problem will come about by agreement between parties based on just, fair and practical considerations. It will include compensation, the return to the territory of the State of Palestine or of Israel, without endangering Israel’s existence. We call upon the international community, especially Europe, for political and financial support.
EJJP 2005 Annual Plenary Session. Refuse to support the Israeli occupation! In defence of international law and human rights: boycott, divestment and sanctions against the occupation. At its meeting in London in September 2005 the EJJP decided to add to its declaration of aims the following clauses: EJJP supports non violent action aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and Israeli breaches of international law For thirty-eight years massive land and water confiscation, roadblocks, extrajudicial killings, closures, curfews, and collective punishment have taken place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in contravention of international law. Oppression, segregation and humiliation, house demolitions, and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank and the barriers around the Gaza Strip determine the daily life of the occupied Palestinian people. Unfortunately, the Israeli Government is using its unilateral ‘disengagement’ from Gaza as a cover for the consolidation of the occupation of the West Bank and the annexation of large areas of Palestinian land. The Israeli government, throughout the years of Occupation, has felt entitled to breach International Law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and even the decisions of the International Court of Justice with the tacit acceptance of much of the international community. The United Nations and the international community as a whole have failed to implement any effective sanctions against Israeli breaches of International Law. Citizens’ action throughout Europe is therefore called for, to stop Governments operating double standards and continuing to appease Israel. All Member States of the United Nations in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations are committed to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter. The maintenance of an international system of justice, its authority and meaning for the international community requires that Israel must be compelled to end the Occupation. Israel, as a powerful state occupying the land of another people, is an equal member of the international community and must be held accountable for its policies and actions in the light of accepted international norms as are all other nations. Any other approach to the State of Israel is discriminatory, selecting it out, without justification, as a special case from all other countries. For all these reasons we consider the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land to be an international issue. We all have a stake in ending it. We are not willing to accept the blindness of the so called super powers, the indolence of the United Nations, the apathy of the “Quartet”, and finally, the indifference of the states of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. We are not willing to be silent about the fact that the occupying power, Israel, claims to speak for Jews world-wide and to be acting on behalf of our ancestors, many of whom were victims of the Nazi genocide, and supposedly for the sake of all victims of anti-Semitism and racism.. We are not willing to witness passively a policy course that has already caused too many casualties, unbearable destruction, and constant pain. Regarding ourselves as European citizens and, hence, believing that human rights is the political basis of European civil society, we share the responsibility for peace and justice with our friends and sister organizations in Israel, in Palestine, and in all countries of the international community. We are determined to take a major stand against the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territories, i.e. against the course of hatred and hostility that could culminate in a catastrophe - for Palestinians and Israelis. We are convinced that the Israeli leadership and decision makers, as well as most of Israel’s civil society, have the power to alter the intolerable situation, but are reluctant and/or unwilling to do so. For this reason, it is impossible to end the Occupation without pressure from outside. International non-violent but effective pressure, in support of the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the Occupation is a crucial way to break through this deadlock. The 2005 Annual Plenary Session of EJJP notes
The final resolution of the United Nations International Conference in Support of Middle East Peace that was published in Paris on July 2005, announcing for the next year the inauguration "of a global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end the Occupation and comply with international law and all relevant United Nations resolutions" The petition that was approved to be launched by the meeting of the European Co-ordinating Committee of NGOs on the Question of Palestine (ECCP) in Brussels on May 2005, that calls upon all citizens of the EU members to "urge our Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Council of the European Union and the United Nations to take political and economical measures, including sanctions, aiming at preventing Israel from continuing the construction of the wall and to oblige it to respect the ICJ Advisory Opinion".
It declares:
The Federation of the European Jews for a Just Peace and many of its affiliated groups will be supporting and pursuing an interwoven campaign of actions against the Occupation on all levels: local, regional, national, European and international. 1. We believe that a variety of interwoven measures targeted specifically at the machinery of Occupation and the Israeli Military-Science-Technology-Economy tiers that are linked to it will generally be appropriate. We will work with other organisations in the field and include in our activities actions against:
2. Divestment from companies supporting the occupation and engaged in the construction of the wall and settlements or the destruction of Palestinian homes and land. Working with local, Palestinian and Israeli groups and divestment campaigners to identify appropriate targets. 3. Campaigning for importers, wholesalers and retailers not to label as ‘Israeli’ those products that have been produced in whole or part, or which contain any components produced outside the 1967 borders but instead to label them as “settlement products from the occupied Palestinian territories”. 4. Supporting consumer boycotts of such products by publicising a consolidate list in conjunction with Gush Shalom, Palestinian organisations and local solidarity groups, using the EJJP website. Where retailers and wholesalers refuse to provide information on the provenance of such goods, they would be included on such a list, marked as potential settlement products. 5. Linking with other groups in compiling and updating information and in campaigning for divestment and consumer boycotts. This could help stem the fragmentation of political solidarity campaigns with the Palestinian People. The time has come to translate our criticism of and opposition to the Israeli governments and policies into effective, non-violent action. While these may be largely symbolic in the first instance, such actions are designed to activate a citizen base which can pressurise our own Governments. Initially the aim is to rescind the privileges accorded to Israel in trade and research collaboration by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, until such time as Israel meets the Human Rights obligations written into the Agreement.
Letter sent to the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) The 13th of October 2005 At its conference in London in September 2005, European Jews for a Just Peace, a federation of Jewish peace organisations in ten European countries, noted that the EUMC had produced a highly problematic ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’. On process The document states that ‘Jewish organisations like the European Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, other major Jewish NGO’s and prominent academics’ were consulted. We, however, though a federation of European Jewish organisations, were not consulted (though the American Jewish Congress was) and we know of other NGOs and prominent academics -- including experts cited favourably in your March 2004 report ‘Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003’ -- who should have been consulted but were not. Nor is it clear how the ‘consultations’ (which presumably gave contrasting emphases to how they would see a working definition) were aggregated to produce the current Working Definition. This is especially problematic given that the Working Definition differs significantly in tone from the definition given in your 2004 report; in our view, the new version is unhelpful if not downright misleading (see below under ‘On content’). In the interests of transparency, we would like to ask for some very specific information: which Jewish organisations were consulted; which other NGOs; which academics? Moreover, who exactly drafted the working definition in the light of these consultations? Working definitions of antisemitism -- and of Islamophobia and racism in general -- are of universal concern (indeed, were they not, the EUMC would have no rationale for its work). We would stress therefore how important it is that they are not perceived as partisan and/or partial. On content The problem is compounded by the list of ‘[c]ontemporary examples of antisemitism’, since they are all preceded by the rubric that they ‘could, taking into account the overall context’ be such examples. Equally, one supposes, they might not be. Yet the very inclusion of all of these as examples appears as prima facie evidence of antisemitism – otherwise why are they there? This list is then followed by a separate list giving no fewer than five examples of how ‘antisemitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context’. Some of the points in this second list are highly questionable and we must protest vigorously about them. For example: • ‘Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination’ assumes that all Jews equate self determination with Zionism. Not only is this not true today, it has never been true. There is a long and respected tradition in Jewish history and culture among all those who have wished or wish today for cultural, religious or other forms of autonomy falling short of a Jewish state; for a binational state in Palestine as did Martin Buber and others; or for a one-state solution today, whatever form it might take – a minority view in Israel today to be sure, but held by numbers of respected Jews. To make the assumption that all Jews hold the same views is in itself a form of antisemitism. • ‘Applying double standards by requiring of it a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation’. This is a formulation that allows any criticism of Israel to be dismissed on the grounds that it is not simultaneously applied to every other defaulting state at the same time. As campaigners for a just peace in the Middle East we can affirm that it is thrown willy-nilly to stifle any and all but the narrowest criticism of acts of the Israeli government that are in prima facie breach of clause after clause of the 4th Geneva Convention. Or again, the democratic norm that all citizens in a state should be treated equally sometimes sits uneasily with some notions of Israel as a ‘Jewish state’ and it is not antisemitic to point this out or to suggest that Israel should, indeed, be a ‘state of all its citizens’. • ‘Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel’. This is the flipside of a position, frequently expressed by Prime Minister Sharon and many Zionists, that refuses to make any distinction between the interests of Israel and those of Jews worldwide. Why it is permissible for them to make this elision but evidence of antisemitism when others do so is not clear. It might even be taken as evidence of double standards… In reality it is all too often Zionist rhetoric which fuses the notion of Israel’s interests with those of Jews worldwide and thus fuels what the EUMC identifies (other things being equal) as a potential indicator of antisemitism This is not to deny that there are circumstances in which criticisms of the state of Israel might indeed be antisemitic. But the presumption should not be that they are. This requires demonstration on a case by case basis. As formulated this listing fosters a presumption that those who criticise the state of Israel in all kinds of legitimate ways are in fact covert antisemites. We number ourselves amongst such people and we vigorously reject the implication. that we are either antisemitic or ‘self-hating’ Jews in the strongest possible terms. In our experience, such accusations are used to stifle legitimate criticism and the EUMC formulation, by lending any credence to such views, does a disservice to the genuine struggle against antisemitism. This document is a highly politicised one, reflecting a spilling over of Middle-East conflicts into Europe. All this might be merely academic were it not the very ‘purpose of this document’ is specified as being ‘to provide a practical guide for identifying incidents, collecting data, and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with antisemitism’. The working definition cannot bear this weight. Its effect, if unchallenged, will be to institutionalise theoretical confusions at the practical level. Thus we, European Jews for a Just Peace, are not willing to accept the EUMC ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’ as an adequate basis on which to proceed and call on the EUMC to reopen this question if its work is not to lose credibility among many of those who are committed to the fight against all forms of racism and xenophobia, including antisemitism. European Jews for a just Peace
WORKING DEFINITION OF The purpose of this document is to provide a practical guide for identifying incidents, collecting data, and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with antisemitism. Working definition: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." In addition, such manifestations could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for "why things go wrong." It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits. Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to: • Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion. • Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective - such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions. • Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews. • Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust). • Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. • Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations. Examples of the ways in which antisemitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include: • Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor. • Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. • Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis. • Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. • Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries). Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property-such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries-are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews. Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.
Rosh H'Shanah Statement It is both tragic and shameful that, on the Eve of Rosh H’Shanah, the Jewish New Year, the beginning of the High Holidays, the period of remembrance, spiritual self-examination, and repentance by Jewish people everywhere, destruction and new acts of terror were brought to the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Army. We remember that it was on the Eve of the High Holidays 2001 when Ariel Sharon caused increased humiliation, oppression, and death for the occupied Palestinian people. This memory has not paled, indeed it has been intensified by the continual, new crimes carried out by the Sharon Government. The European Jews for a Just Peace wish to express their unreserved condemnation of the inexcusable military air attacks on the Gaza Strip, including innumerable sound attacks by F-16 fighter jets. These unbearable sound explosions have terrifying effects, including physical consequences, hearing problems, colics, trauma, etc., on the entire population of the Gaza Strip, a population of approximately 1.300,000 Palestinians. They are of particular harm to babies, children, and pregnant women. Many of these air attacks have been carried out at night. The Israeli Army is thus terrorising a largely unarmed population with its military war machine. Many question the recent withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza Strip, asking whether this was done to give the Israeli Army a free hand in Gaza. Judging by the reprehensible acts of the last days, this seems to be the case. The European Jews for a Just Peace urgently call on the Government of Israel to cease its targeted, extrajudicial killings, of which at least 11 have occurred in the last 10 days. There can be no justification for the illegitimacy of these murders. Moreover, other than the illegality of such criminal actions it should be obvious to the Government of Israel, which claims to act in the interests of its people, and, indeed, to any objective observer, that this will only result in an escalation of violence, retaliation and pain for the civilian Israeli population. The European Jews for a Just Peace also condemn the arrests of hundreds of Palestinians on mere suspicion, which is in contravention of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The legitimation of such arrests would mean that any Palestinian can be taken prisoner by the Israeli Army on the grounds that he is a terrorist, without giving any proof whatsoever of his guilt. The European Jews for a Just Peace call on the international community, the United Nations and the European Union, to finally accept their responsibility and to put an end to the bloodshed in Palestine. We call on all peace loving forces to act in every way possible against the collective punishment meted out against the entire Palestinian population of almost 4,000,000 people. The injustice of the 38-year military occupation by Israel over East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is now largely being annexed to Israel by its so-called “separation barrier”, must end. It is totally unacceptable that the United Nations Charter, international law and innumerable United Nations resolutions and agreements have been treated with disrespect and are being ignored by the Israeli Government. Consequently, the international community, the United Nations and the European Union are urgently requested, in defence of international law, to take concrete action against the aggressive policies of the Government of Israel. On the Eve of Rosh H’Shanah, the Jewish New Year, The European Jews for a Just Peace declare that the many dead and wounded victims, destruction, hate and immeasurable pain of the last decades confirm that peace can never be based on military power and occupation. We hope that the New Year will give the international community and above all, the people and Government of Israel the strength and wisdom to take honest and confidence-building measures to achieve a just and lasting peace for both peoples.
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