A public call to condemn the violence in Gaza
A public call circulated as an online petition and addressed to the Lithuanian government institutions. It was signed by 1,330 individuals and organisations.
The petition
Currently, Israel in the Gaza Strip (365 sq. km area), which it keeps under a complete siege, is conducting a campaign of indiscriminate bombing, during which more than a thousand civilians have already been killed, entire residential areas have been destroyed, the situation in hospitals is catastrophic. Israel is blocking the supply of electricity, fuel, food, medicine and humanitarian aid.
This is collective punishment, which not only contradicts morality and humanity, but also violates the norms of international law (specifically, the Fourth Geneva Convention (PDF)), which defines it as a war crime.
Collective punishment negates the fundamental legal principle, which stipulates that only the perpetrators, orderers and executors of the crime must be held accountable. Innocent people cannot be punished for what they did not do. But more than two million Gazans, about half of whom are children, are currently being punished for what they are not guilty of.
The bombardment comes after Israel launched a total blockade of the Gaza Strip on October 8, cutting off food, water and electricity to the entire Gaza Strip, which it has occupied since 1967, following an attack by Hamas.
We, the undersigned,
- we condemn the ongoing violence and killing of innocent civilians;
- we categorically oppose the support, financing, justification and incitement of acts of violence against the civilian population;
- we demand an immediate end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza, which is killing innocent civilians, including babies and children;
- we strictly distance ourselves from all and any calls to commit war crimes and/or crimes against humanity and from all and any Lithuanian political institutions or individual government officials expressing support for Israeli actions that can be recognized as crimes against humanity;
- we call for an end to the violence in Palestine by Israel, an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza, the military occupation and apartheid of Palestine, and the pursuit of peace, not the continuation of war.
