NEW YORK, Feb 03 : More than 800 civil servants from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union released a statement Friday criticizing their governments\u2019 support of Israel as it presses on with its war against Gaza, warning that such policies could be contributing to war crimes and violations of international law. The \u201ctransatlantic\u201d statement said the administrations in the US, UK and EU, some of which are Israel\u2019s key Western allies, risk being complicit in \u201cone of the worst human catastrophes of this century.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officials say they privately expressed concerns about Israel\u2019s military operations to leaders of their governments and institutions but have been ignored. \u201cOur governments\u2019 current policies weaken their moral standing and undermine their ability to stand up for freedom, justice and human rights globally,\u201d the statement says. \u201cThere is a plausible risk that our governments\u2019 policies are contributing to grave violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide.\u201d The statement marks the first display of coordinated transatlantic dissent since Oct 7, when the Israeli military launched an air and ground operation in Gaza. More than 27,000 people in Gaza have been killed and nearly 2 million have been displaced since the war began, according to the health ministry in Gaza and the United Nations. The signatories called on their governments to \u201cstop asserting to the public that there is a strategic and defensible rationale behind the Israeli operation and that supporting it is in our countries\u2019 interests.\u201d They also urged Western governments to halt military support and secure a ceasefire that will increase aid for Palestinians and ensure the release of Israeli hostages. The statement said that it was coordinated by civil servants in European Union institutions, the Netherlands, and the U.S. and was endorsed by civil servants in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The names of the civil servants are not listed, but the effort reveals that the current pro-Israel policies have generated dissent among some who work in government. The statement comes a week after the International Court of Justice (ICJ)\u2014the highest court of the United Nations\u2014ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza caused by its military campaign. Israel has denied accusations of genocide in Gaza. The signatories to the new letter demanded that Israel comply with the ICJ order. \u201cOur governments have provided the Israeli military operation with public, diplomatic and military support,\u201d the statement read. The officials said they are concerned \u201cthat this support has been given without real conditions or accountability\u201d as Western governments \u201chave failed to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to blockages of necessary food\/water\/medicine in Gaza\u201d in light of the war\u2019s death toll. Meanwhile, the US federal court in California asked US President Joe Biden\u2019s administration on Thursday to reconsider its \u201cunflagging support\u201d for Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza. The court also ruled that the Israeli offensive against Gaza, which began in early October, \u201cplausibly\u201d amounts to genocide. UN experts have described Israel\u2019s war on Gaza as the deadliest, most dangerous conflict for journalists in recent history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK, Feb 03 : More than 800 civil servants from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union released a statement Friday criticizing their governments\u2019 support of Israel as it presses on with its war against Gaza, warning that such policies could be contributing to war crimes and violations of international law. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13278,13277],"class_list":{"0":"post-385023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-icj","9":"tag-international-court-of-justice"},"yoast_head":"\n