As an organization that was founded to facilitate dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, it is devastating for us at Crossing Borders to watch the Holy Land being turned into a war zone. It is even worse to see ordinary citizens, children, sick people, and civilian infrastructures relentlessly bombed into rubble. It is indeed horrifying to see the world watching millions of people in Gaza having their most basic needs like water, food, and medicine cut off, while their homes, hospitals, and schools get bombed.
As the UN, the President of the EU, Amnesty, and Human Rights Watch have stated, this is a clear violation of international law and humanitarian principles.
At Crossing Borders, we condemn these atrocities in the strongest terms possible and call for immediate intervention by the international community before it’s too late.
At the same time, we strongly condemn the killing of Israeli civilians on 7 October, which ignited the current cycle of violence.
In this sad moment, we think of the several hundreds of Crossing Borders members and their families on both sides and wish for their safety.
In this recurrent cycle of tragedy, any serious search for a sustainable resolution needs to start with looking into the roots of the tragedy. Any honest person with a minimum of knowledge and a sense of humanity knows that the only way to end the carnage and build peace is to put an end to the illegal occupation and relentless brutalization of the Palestinian people. In international law, the occupying power has the duty to protect the civilians under its control.
It is naive to not expect that violence breeds more violence and the cycle goes on as long as its root cause remains, with the short-sighted backing from the powerful states of the international community.
This blind support of the brutal subjugation of the local people has exposed the double standard and hypocrisy on the part of some of the world powers. In the long run, such short-term and short-sighted support of either side will boomerang sooner rather than later.
Therefore, we call on those countries (the US and its allies) who have the power to help enforce the UN resolution for a two-state solution as the most viable way out of the violence.
May peace reign in the Holy Land.
Crossing Borders