GAZA, 21 July: Sixty-four public figures, including seven Nobel Peace Prize winners, published a letter in the British Guardian newspaper calling for an international arms embargo on Israel for its “war crimes and possible crimes against humanity” in Gaza.
In their statement, they said that Israel has once again unleashed the full force of its military against the captive Palestinian population, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip, in an inhumane and illegal act of military aggression.
They added that Israel’s ability to launch such devastating attacks with impunity largely stems from the vast international military cooperation and trade that it maintains with complicit governments across the world
“We call on the UN and governments across the world to take immediate steps to implement a comprehensive and legally binding military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on South Africa during apartheid,” the statement said, quoted from the Aqsa Sharif site.
The 7 Novel Prize laureates who signed the document are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Betty Williams, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Jody Williams, Adolfo Peres Esquivel, Mairead Maguire and Rigoberto Menchu.
Apart from them also calling for this embargo are academics – Noam Chomsky dan Rashid Khalidi, film directors – Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, musicians – Roger Waters and Brian Eno, writers – Alice Walker and Caryl Churchill, and journalists – John Pilger and Chris Hedges. Two Israeli academics – Ilan Pappe and Nurit Peled, also support this call.
NS
