Quakers call for action on Gaza
Quakers in Britain have released a statement calling for urgent action on Gaza
Against a backdrop of broken ceasefires and with almost 2,000 people dead, Quakers in Britain have released a statement calling for urgent action on Gaza.
The Religious Society of Friends in Britain has urged the UK government to recognise Palestine as a nation state, stressing that 134 countries have already recognised the state of Palestine.
‘The UK government should also play its part in creating a real opportunity for peace by drawing groups such as Hamas into the political process and thus away from violent resistance to the occupation’, the statement continued.
‘We have seen around the world how those once labelled as terrorists can come to be recognised for their statesmanship. It is our view that freeing elected Palestinian leaders now held as political prisoners would help Palestine to develop as a flourishing economic, political and civil society.’
Quakers in Britain have also called for a comprehensive arms embargo on all sides in the conflict, an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and the use of international law to hold all parties responsible for their actions.
‘The international community remains complicit in the conflict for as long as it fails to make full use of the mechanisms provided by international law, to hold all parties to account for their actions’, said the statement, which was made following last week’s Yearly Meeting Gathering.
‘Under international law, at all times, all parties should distinguish between civilians and combatants, though as Quakers we place equal value on every human life.’
The statement suggested that current events in Gaza would have a long-lasting impact on the region and its people: ‘Amid the present crisis, we are reminded that the people of the West Bank living under Israeli occupation face restrictions on movement; loss of land and water; demolitions; the continuing building of settlements; detention without trial and violence by settlers and the Israeli military. Such suffering often sows seeds of future violence.’
Quakers in Britain also said that they would continue to challenge both anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia.
‘We long for – and will work for – a time when the deep fear experienced on all sides is replaced by security and a just peace’, the statement concluded.
The Yearly Meeting statement was signed by Chris Skidmore, clerk of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain.
Its publication follows the decision by Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) to join with a joint open statement made the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to the international community from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. The joint open statement said: ‘As Nobel Peace Laureates, we join others worldwide who are calling on the international community to secure an immediate ceasefire to prevent any further deaths among Israelis and Palestinians.
‘As the situation continues to deteriorate and the disproportionate number of deaths in Gaza mounts, we are called by conscience to speak out in every way possible not only to end the current violence, but to address the roots of violence.’
The statement called on the international community to create ‘a context in which real peace is possible’. To do so, it argued, countries must condemn violations of basic human rights, hold accountable those who are responsible for breaches of international law and refuse military and economic aid that supports Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
The statement continued, ‘Only then will Palestinians and Israelis be able to live in peace and freedom’. It was signed by a number of Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Betty Williams, Tawakkol Karman and Muhammad Yunus.
Quakers in Britain have a long history of working with Palestine and Israel. The Society sends human rights monitors to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but not to Gaza. On behalf of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and other Christian agencies, Quakers in Britain runs the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).
See ‘The quiet witness of the powerless’ for details of an EAPPI event at YMG that involved representatives of all sides in the conflict.
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