VOICES FOR JUSTICE

 
Judy Rebick Publisher, Canada
"If Israel is becoming a pariah in the world, it is not because of anti-semitism. It is because they are practising a form of apartheid even more egregious than that practiced in South Africa." [Source]

 
Yehuda Elkana Rector, Central European University, Hungary
"What happened in Nazi Germany should not be unleashed on others. And hence, I believe that Palestinians should be protected from Israel's occupation, as the violence is no less brutal than Nazi occupation." [Source]

 
Baruch Kimmerling Hebrew University, Israel
"The final aim is the politicide of the Palestinian people, a systematic attempt to cause their annihilation as an independent political and social entity. Politicide is a crime against humanity that is very close in its severity to genocide." [Source]

 
Gerald Kaufman Member of Parliament, UK
"There is no point in seeking to change Israeli policy by appealing to its government's better nature, since such a nature does not exist. Economic sanctions and an arms ban against Israel are the only way of breaking the impasse." [Source]

 
Naomi Klein Author, No Logo, Canada
"To argue that taking a clear stand against Israeli war crimes is somehow to 'discriminate unfairly' against Israelis and Jews is to grossly pervert the language of human rights."  [Source]

 
Lillian Rosengarten Gaza seige-breaker, USA
"Israel, you are no longer my Israel. You punish those you call Arabs, dirty Arabs. Sad peoples of Palestine, spat on and defiled. Oh ghetto of Israel, I ache for the reviled, proud Palestinians. But most of all I ache for you, for you know not what you do." [Source]

 
Ronnie Kasrils Government Minister, South Africa
"Israel even surpasses apartheid South Africa in its brutality, house demolitions, removal of communities, targeted killings, massacres, imprisonment and torture of opponents, collective punishment and aggression against neighboring states." [Source]

 
Shulamit Aloni former Education Minister, Israel
"We are pillaging the land and destroying the way of life of people who have lived in the same place for centuries. We have murdered 3,000 Palestinian civilians, and then pretend we are the victims. We are the violent ones." [Source]

 
Michael Ben-Yair former Attorney General, Israel
"We chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. We established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories." [Source]

 
Philip Weiss Journalist, USA
"Jewish anti-Zionists identified the problems with Zionism 60 years ago - that it meant contempt for the Arab population, dependence on a backroom lobby in the US, and the introduction of dual loyalty into American Jewish life." [Source]

 
Henry Siegman President, U.S./Middle East Project
"When a state's denial of the individual and national rights of a large part of its population becomes permanent - a permanence that has been the goal of Israel's settlement project from its very outset - that state ceases to be a democracy." [Source]

 
Tony Judt Historian
"The very idea of a 'Jewish state', in which Jews have exclusive privileges from which non-Jewish citizens are forever excluded, is rooted in another time and place. Israel is an anachronism. And not just an anachronism, but a dysfunctional one."  [Source]

 
Jeff Halper Peace activist, Israel
"Israel has created one bi-national entity in which the Jews have separated themselves from the Arabs and instituted a regime of permanent domination. That is precisely the definition of apartheid."  [Source]

 
Noam Chomsky Linguist, USA
"No state has the right to 'defend' occupied territories. It is Israel and the United States that are radically violating international law. They are now seeking to consummate long-standing plans to eliminate Palestinian national rights for good."  [Source]

 
Jennifer Loewenstein Lecturer, University of Wisconsin, USA
"In Jenin, I saw the bodies of people who were executed while tied up, or run over by tanks as a 'message' to the other inhabitants. Israeli tanks fired rounds at people trying to return to their 'homes' to see if there was anything left in the rubble."  [Source]

 
Gideon Levy Commentator, Israel
"[In Gaza] Israel shelled a UN-run school that served as a shelter for residents, who bled to death because the army prevented their evacuation by shooting and shelling. A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organisation."  [Source]

 
Tanya Reinhart Professor, Hebrew University, Israel
"Palestinian farmers whose land is being robbed sit on the ground in front of bulldozers. What could be more nonviolent than that? But the Israeli army shoots at sitting demonstrators, blocking all options of non-violent resistance."  [Source]

 
Avi Shlaim Professor of international relations, Oxford, UK
"Only a negotiated settlement can bring lasting peace and stability. It is high time the US got tough with Israel, the intransigent party and main obstacle to peace." [Source]

 
Daniel Barenboim Musician, Israel
"Can the Jewish people - whose history is a record of continued suffering and relentless persecution - allow themselves to be indifferent to the rights and suffering of a neighboring people?"  [Source]

 
Yonatan Shapira Airforce captain, Israel
"The role of the Jewish community is essential to Israel's future. As a Jew, you must stand up and criticize the government of Israel. No one can call you an anti-Semite. It is your job to be a non-insane Jew." [Source]

Jonathan Sacks Chief Rabbi, UK
"You cannot ignore a command that is repeated 36 times in the Mosaic books: 'You were exiled in order to know what it feels like to be an exile.' Therefore I regard the current situation as nothing less than tragic, because it is forcing Israel into postures that are incompatible in the long-run with our deepest ideals." [Source]

 
Irena Klepfisz Women in Black, USA
"The American Jewish community has insulated itself from the real meaning of what is going on and what Israel is doing. Israel is not David in this case. It is Goliath."  [Source]

Eyal Sivan Film-maker, France/Israel
"Zionism has failed to achieve its fundamental objectives of abolishing the ghettoes and making Jews safe. Israel is the world's biggest ghetto and in no other country are Jews less safe. We should be thinking, really, of a single, non-confessional and democratic Israeli-Palestinian state."  [Source]

George Soros Billionaire, USA
"The pro-Israel lobby has been remarkably successful in suppressing criticism. Politicians challenge it at their peril because of the lobby's ability to influence political contributions. Anybody who dares to dissent may be subjected to a campaign of personal vilification. I speak from personal experience." [Source]

 
Adam Keller Editor, The Other Israel
"Fair treatment of the Palestinians and respect of their rights was the clear condition for the creation of Israel. The Zionist movement was given a unique privilege and a binding obligation in return for that privilege, and it has failed to keep it." [Source]