New IJV Web Site
This is the old web site for Independent Jewish Voices. This does contain lots of useful archive articles but none of the new material since the new site went live in May 2011.
Click here for the current IJV web site
Who We Are
We are a network of Jews in Britain who share a commitment to certain principles, especially with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in mind: putting human rights first, rejecting all forms of racism, and giving equal priority to Palestinians and Israelis in their quest for a peaceful and secure future. We believe that these principles, rather than group loyalty, should determine the parameters of legitimate debate.
Read the Declaration Sign the Declaration List of Signatories
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Goldstone & the question of intent
In its attempts to evade international accountability, Israel is silencing its own civil society
Justice Richard Goldstone
The struggle for accountability under occupation has led Palestinian victims to depend on international law. Fearful of international legal mechanisms, the Israeli government and its supporters reacted to the Goldstone report with personal intimidation and bullying of Richard Goldstone himself. They seem to have succeeded in bringing about a partial retraction of conclusions that threatened to bring Israeli policy-makers to international trial for the first time. However cautiously worded, Goldstone’s ‘reconsideration’ may drive another nail in the coffin of Israeli accountability, and at the same time exacerbate the growing attacks on Israeli human rights defenders.
Statement on Rocket Attacks from Gaza
We have been asked to set out IJV's position on the recent spate of rocket attacks aimed at Israel from Gaza and are pleased to do so. The IJV SG has issued the following statement.
In accordance with the statement of principles expressed in our Declaration upholding universal human rights and international law, we unreservedly condemn the rocket and mortar attacks on the south of Israel as well as the recent fatal bombing in Jerusalem and the murder of members of a young Israeli family. There can never be any justification for the deliberate or indiscriminate killing of civilians.
We similarly abhor the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children and the elderly, as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and we are deeply concerned that the mutual retaliatory violence in recent weeks may spiral out of control.
It is to be regretted that during the many months preceding the recent violent incidents, there had been no signs that the Israeli government was serious about furthering a process of peace with the Palestinians. On the contrary, settlement expansion in the minuscule space designated for the putative Palestinian state has continued apace. Unless an end can be found quickly to the Occupation, now in its 44th year, we fear a further escalation of violence on both sides that may result in suffering on a catastrophic scale.
The Steering Group of Independent Jewish Voices
From Antony Lerman, one of IJV's founders: What I learnt from the Egyptian revolution
The Egyptian Revolution & Israel
12th February 2011
As Jews committed to a peace and justice, we wholeheartedly support the Egyptian revolution and hope it will have a positive effect on its neighbours - including Israel. Mubarek has been a close ally of Netanyahu and they ahve worked together to blockade Gaza.
It is no surprise that the Egyptian military has announced it will maintain the peace treaty with Israel. There can be no interest in the Egyptian army in cutting links with (and funding from) the US and taking on the superior military force of Israel.
However the interesting question is: what will be the effect on Gaza? The blockade of Gaza is maintained by both Israel and Egypt. Egypt may maintain the peace treaty but will they continue the blockade?
A relaxation of the blockade could make life much easier for Palestinians in Gaza. Though, ironically, it may not help Hamas - who control the tunnels into Gaza and benefit from the blockade both financially and in terms of the support of a beleagured population.
After Wikileaks, how can people still ask about a partner for peace?
Letter to Jewish Chronicle, 5th Feb 2011 (not published)
Dear Editor
Your 4th February issue carries some curious letters. JD Norman states that the Palestinians and their Arab allies still claim 100% of Israel and the occupied territories. Clive Hyman believes the majority of Palestinians want a peaceful solution but “the same cannot be said for their leaders”.
I wonder if they have missed the recent wikileaks revelations about the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. These revealed that the Palestinian leadership did in fact offer remarkable concessions in order to establish a Palestinian state not in 100%, but in just the 22% of territories that is the West Bank and Gaza. Whatever doubts people may have had in the past, these leaks made clear that there is a Palestinian partner for peace. The difficult question that we must ask is whether there is an Israeli partner for peace.
It has long been apparent that the majority of Israelis want a peaceful solution that recognises Palestinian needs. But the leaks made clear that the current government is not ready to make a deal. The recent turbulence, in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, makes clear the urgent need for action. Surely the only long-term security for Israel lies in a permanent agreement with the Palestinians themselves, that provides security for Israelis and statehood for the Palestinians.
Yours
Henry Stewart
Palestine Papers: Where is the Israeli Partner for Peace?
28th January 2011
For years defenders of the Israeli government have argued that there is no Palestinian partner for peace. Only last week a letter to the Jewish Chronicle asked where is the Palestinian equivalent of Indpendent Jewish Voices.
The release of the Palestine Papers this week reveals that the Palestinians prepared to make remarkable concessions for peace are there, as we have argued for four years, and are in fact situated in the Palestinaian Authority.
Which leaves the question, where is the Israeli partner for peace? There are many Israelis, probably the majority, who want to see a two state solution negotiated with the Palestinians. But it is clear that the Israeli government has no such wish. Faced with these remarkable concessions from the Palestinian negotiators the Israelis managed to avoid any resolution. They appear to see it as in their interest, with US support, to avoid a peaceful solution to the conflict.
There is a Palestinian Partner for Peace
Letter from Tony Klug, published (in edited form) in Jewish Chronicle, 28th January 2011
The incessant, ideologically driven, claims in your columns that there is no Palestinian support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict (letters, January 21) defy the evidence, including of successive opinion polls, that for years the majority of Palestinians (and Israelis as well) favour the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza alongside the state of Israel.
The recent leaks show how much a desperate Palestinian leadership was prepared to concede to achieve this goal. But this policy originated as far back as 1988 when the Palestinians made their great historic compromise in agreeing to build their scaled-down state in the territories captured by Israel in June 1967, thereby relinquishing 78 per cent of the land they had previously claimed, a position reaffirmed by the PLO when it formally recognized Israel under the 1993 Oslo Accord.
As recently as last year, the Arab League, including the PLO, reiterated for the third time the unanimous 2002 Arab Peace Initiative that holds out the prospect of full peace and normalization of relations between every Arab country and Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the territories captured in 1967 and a just and “agreed” solution to the refugee problem, to take account of Israel's concern regarding the demographic character of the Jewish state. Remarkably, the initiative implied that the Arab world stood ready in the future to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Even the Hamas leadership, in a recent spate of articles, has shown a more pragmatic side in indicating its preparedness to do a deal based on the pre-June 1967 borders.
These positions of course cannot be taken at face value and need to be tested. And mutually agreed land exchanges would have to be part of any deal, as the PLO leadership has acknowledged. But the world is tired of Israeli excuses and exasperated by the continuing expansion of settlements in the miniscule territory of the putative Palestinian state. Defiant Israeli government policies are progressively isolating the Israeli state, besmirching the Israeli people, implicating Jews around the world and condemning us all to perpetual conflict. This is not what Israel was supposed to be about.
(Dr) Tony Klug
Support the Jewish Boat to Gaza
The sending of a Jewish boat to Gaza once again calls attention to the human rights crisis represented by Israel's blockade of Gaza which, as a collective punishment of a people, is in violation of international law.
Although Israel has announced an easing of the blockade, significant amounts of materials needed to repair housing and infrastructure following Israel’s bombardment 18 months ago are still being refused entry. The vast majority of the people of Gaza are living in inhuman conditions. International pressure must be brought to bear on Israel to end the siege as well as its continuing occupation of, and expansion of illegal settlements on, Palestinian land.
We believe that this boat, which includes an Israeli Holocaust survivor, an ex-IDF pilot, and a former settler, is of immense symbolic significance in once again highlighting the blockade and re-asserting the Jewish tradition of standing up for the victims of injustice.
Article on Jewish Boat by Lynne Segal
Follow @jewishboat2gaza on Twitter. Or check the official Jewish Boat web site.
Check the New Statesman article on Rami Elhanan. Rami lost his child in a suicide bombing, and was on the Jewish boat this week.
End the Siege on Gaza
The IJV Steering Group condemns the attack on the Free Gaza flotilla and resulting loss of life, a breach of international law. The citizens of Gaza are effectively imprisoned and their human rights denied. We call upon the Israeli Government to lift the blockade of Gaza to allow both humanitarian aid and assistance for reconstruction. This is also the only guarantee of security for Israel’s citizens.
We note the International Crisis Group’s characterisation of the attack as the deadly symptom of a failed and dangerous policy on the part of many in the international community, including Britain, the EU and the USA, who have been complicit in isolating Gaza. This has encouraged Israel to believe it can act with impunity.
We call upon the new British Government to distance itself from the uncritical attitude shown by its predecessor towards Israel. We express our wholehearted support for the statements produced by Israeli peace and human rights groups. Finally, we call upon the international community to take serious and effective action to bring about an end to the occupation and a lasting solution to the conflict.
Statements from Israeli Human Rights Groups:
ACRI: Appalled by deaths ACRI calls for thorough, independent investigation.
Adalah:
B'tselem: Open an immediate investigation into the action to gain control of the flotilla to Gaza
Gush Shalom: A crime against Israel (by Israeli government)
PHR Israel: Extraordinary Petition for Habeas Corpus and Demand for Information on Gaza Freedom Flotilla Passengers to the Israeli Supreme Court
Background Articles
Gaza Analysis: Background by Tony Klug
See also 'Gaza Articles and Views' (left sidebar) from the Operation Cast Lead period.
Israel/Palestine: What's Going On
A story of hope: Tony Klug recounts a gathering in Berlin between right-wing Israelis and Fatah Palestinians. By the end of the four days, the Israelis said they understood Palestinian pain for the first time and wanted to explore how Palestinian human and national rights could be realized without jeopardizing Israel’s own national existence. The two groups produced an agreed proposal for moving forward.
Read the full article.
It’s now up to Obama to drive a solution in Israel / Palestine
Listen to Tony Klug here: Tikkun Audio
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Launch of JNews
JNews, an exciting new media development offering alternative Jewish perspectives on the Middle East, was launched in London on March 15th.
JNews provides the British media and the public at large with up-to-date, accurate news, as well as features, commentary and analysis by leading experts, some of which is specially commissioned by JNews.
JNews draws its material from a wide variety of sources and lays special emphasis on Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental outlets/agencies.
JNews offers a unique database of prominent experts from the UK, Israel and Palestine who can participate in media and public discussion.
Check the JNews website at www.jnews.org.uk for daily updates.
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In Support of the Goldstone Report
Independent Jewish Voices welcome the Goldstone Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza conflict. With Jews for Justice for Palestinians, the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights, the Jewish Socialists’ Group, Jewish Writers Against the Occupation and Scottish Jews for a Just Peace have written an open letter to Gordon Brown to express this viewpoint.
Read Goldstone letter and full list of signatories
565 signatures were received and the letter was published in a full page advert in the Times on 1st December 2009.
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A Time to Speak Out
"Fascinating and controversial", Jewish Chronicle (19/9/08)
"A time to speak out", a compilation of essays, is published by Verso Books. It will be available in bookshops or direct from IJV, with a reduction:
IJV offer: £8.75 (including post and packing). Order more than one book and extra copies will be just £6.50 each.
How to buy the book
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Opposing the Carnage in Gaza
Please find below the IJV statement, and a variety of viewpoints and analysis. Please feel free to contribute your views in our discussion section.
IJV Statement
"IJV stands for the application of the principles of human rights and international law to the resolution of the Middle East conflict..."
"Representing Israel" by Brian Klug
"It's not the 'liberal left' but some Jewish groups who find it difficult to separate the notion of Jews and Israel."Comment is Free.
A Crisis in Judaism by Brian Klug
"For many Jews today, Israel is not a normal state – it is a cause or ideal, and therein lies the problem..."
An Open Letter to David Miliband
"We are writing as concerned Jews who are utterly dismayed by Israel’s actions against the Palestinians...". The letter was published in the New Statesman on 15th January 2009 as an advert. Click through for the 200+ signatories.
Gaza: A Moral Maze by Tony Klug
"When I was young, I learned about the quintessential Jewish values of justice, peace and truth from the distinguished rabbis that taught me..."
Not in My Name by Brian Klug
"In the midst of the carnage in Gaza, it defies belief that my synagogue has asked me to march in solid support of Israel..."
Jewish Voices Against Israeli Attacks by Lynne Segal
"...significant numbers of Jewish people, inside and outside Israel, are devastated..."
Neither F16 Fighters nor Qassam Rockets will Bring Peace by Henry Stewart
"Last year in Lebanon Israel invaded and bombed
And made Hizbollah stronger..."
Trafalgar Square Counter Demonstration, 11th January
"Our signatories confirm that a visible Jewish/Israeli presence at anti-war demonstrations is proving a powerful tool ..."
Useful Links
Articles and useful sites on Gaza
And check out the Discussion Area. A recent post:
I've been on the left and on demonstrations all my life (Earliest photgraphed appearance age 3). Never before have strangers on a demo wept to see me, told me I was brave or wanted to photograph my placard. One man sent a picture of me on his mobile phone to his aunt in Ramallah. We clearly affected the people we marched with. We just have to hope that Brown, Obama etc were also affected by the size and diversity of the demonstrations across the world. JaneB
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"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink"
(Proverbs 25:21)
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How Peace Broke Out in the Middle East:
A Short History of the Future
by IJV Steering Group member Tony Klug
This essay, published by the Fabian Society, sets out a scenario for how peace could be reached between Israelis and Palestinians. For full details and to download the full publication,click here.
""A brilliant idea and a dream that is not beyond reach. The conditions are ripe - what is lacking is the political will and leadership." "
Professor Shlomo Ben-Ami, Former Israeli Foreign Minister
"Tony Klug offers us a tantalizing vision of what could be. It may not happen but, if it does, this is how it will unfold" "
Dr Ahmad Samih Khalidi, Former Palestinian negotiator and Senior Associate Member, St Antonys College, Oxford
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