“Should we be incapable of finding a way for honest cooperation and honest arrangement with the Arabs, then we have learnt absolutely nothing from our
two-thousand years of suffering….”.

(letter from Albert Einstein to  Chaim Weizman dated  25 November 1929)

Gaza

Citizen Voices from 26 Countries in Europe

The Israeli Defence Force responded to signs of peace with acts of war.

It attacked a flotilla of boats in international waters that carried people and humanitarian goods.

It destroyed precious lives.

Brutality has not stopped there. Ordinary Palestinians awaiting much needed help have been victimized yet again.

We, as individuals who are not members of activist peace organizations but simply cherish the ideals of peace and justice, are deeply disturbed by what the Israeli government and its military have done and by the  disinformation  it  and its  supporters have spread in trying  to legitimize  acts of crime.

It is for these reasons that we are giving our names. By doing so we join, with anguish and  outrage, the many fellow citizens around the world who feel as we do.

We salute those Israelis who courageously object to the dangerous policies of their government and who condemn the recent attacks against the flotilla of peace for Gaza.

We appeal to the Israeli Government to accept the ideals of peace and dialogue and to respect  the dignity of others.

There is no other way to find a  solution in the conflict with Palestine and to end the suffering and the loss of life in Palestine and in Israel.

Dr Marin Marinow (Bulgaria)

Liljana Milanovic (Serbia)

Frank Farrelly (Ireland)

Carl Erich Wiberg (Sweden)

Alexei Sayle (United Kingdom)

Margherita Amodeo (Malta)

Elena Gallego Fernández (Spain)

Tatjana Teterwa (Belarus)

Alex Stuyven (Netherlands)

Zarema Katuschewa (Ukraine)

Birgitte Arnvig (Denmark)

Ragnval Dahl (Norway)

Marie-France Sangouard (France)

Pierre A. Krenger (Switzerland)

Dr. Anita Schächter (Germany)

Andrej Bekenjow (Russia)

Laura Cardone (Italy)

Jan Pelech (Czech)

Dr. Norbert Rozsenich (Austria)

Andreas Kourakis (Greece)

Kristrun Heimisdáttir (Iceland)

Eva Rizea (Romania)

Dr. Tanja Gorakova (Slovakia)

Damir Hajric (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Prof. Dr. S. de Henauw (Belgium)

Anita Campo (Estonia)

When year after year promises are not fulfilled, when instead demographic cleansing is the order of the day, when symptoms become the pretence for force and causes are ignored, when military action replaces peaceful dialogue, when honesty becomes travesty, there comes a time when the outcry of ordinary citizens  no longer remains a whisper but  becomes a crescendo. This time has come.

Hans von Sponeck

Former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq

June 2010