Growing Support for the “Artists Against the Gaza War” Petition in Israel.
The Zionist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported last night that hundreds of other artists have joined the movement to oppose the war in Gaza by signing the “Artists Against the Continuation of the War” petition and calling for its immediate end. This brings the total number of artists protesting the continuation of the war to more than a thousand.
Eyal Shar, director of the Israeli Film Festival, who is one of the main signatories of the Artists Against the Continuation of the War in Gaza petition, told Yedioth Ahronoth that the petition is not intended to create conflict and debate between different groups in Israeli society, but rather to express human values, compassion and a desire to end the war, return the prisoners and begin the healing and rehabilitation processes in Israel and the entire region.
The petition, titled “Statement of the Cultural Community: Stop the Terror in Gaza,” states: “We, the men and women of culture and art in Israel, against our will and values, share responsibility for the terrible events in the Gaza Strip, especially the killing of children and innocent people, the starvation, the displacement of the population, and the terrible destruction of the cities of Gaza. We call on all those involved in determining and implementing this policy to end the war.”
In the petition, they called for an end to the war and crimes in Gaza and for an agreement with Hamas to release prisoners.
The artists signed the petition at a time when international pressure on the Zionist regime has intensified due to the crimes of systematic starvation and genocide in Gaza, and the regime’s international legitimacy is currently at its lowest ebb.
Zionist news sources report that the Israeli regime’s genocide in the Gaza Strip has now been raised not only by left-wing organizations and activists in the occupied territories, but also by right-wing religious institutions and communities such as the “Jewish Left” movement and “Rabbis Voice for Human Rights.”
The Zionist regime’s Channel Seven also reported yesterday that about 60 Jewish and Arab organizations set up tents in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv to protest by staging a sit-in in the square. Their goal is to end the war in Gaza and they want to unite Zionists opposed to the continuation of the war by holding a rally and hunger strike against hunger and genocide in Gaza.
The protesters, issuing a call for the rally, emphasized that the time has come for widespread action with the cooperation of all those who demand an end to the war. They added: “We must not remain idle.” As long as children in Gaza starve, prisoners starve in Hamas tunnels, and young people lose their lives in unnecessary war, life in Israel will not be possible.
In this regard, the Guardian newspaper reported last week that a group of prominent Israeli public figures, including academics, artists, and public intellectuals, have published an open letter in the newspaper calling for the international community to impose “crippling sanctions” against Israel.
In addition to artists, the scientific community has also joined this campaign, and in this regard, the presidents of five major Israeli universities, including the Hebrew University, the non-governmental Tel Aviv University, the Weizmann Institute, and the Technion University, called on Netanyahu in a letter to end the starvation in Gaza and to order the army and other security institutions to take action to resolve the humanitarian crisis and prevent harm to innocent people.
The university officials described the “deliberate destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure” and the plan to create a “humanitarian city” as a lack of humanity, adding: “Such actions will lead to irreparable and endless damage for Israel.”
Opponents of Netanyahu’s policies and the families of the prisoners have also repeatedly gathered and demonstrated in the streets of Tel Aviv, calling for an end to the war and the release of the prisoners through a comprehensive agreement, and have warned that the continuation of the war endangers the lives of the prisoners.