Appeal for a Fair Settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict<br>Jews of Belgium State Their Position and Commit Themselves

Appeal for a fair settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Jews of Belgium state their position and commit themselves We, citizens of this country, have decided to state our position as Jews regarding the events that are setting the Near East ablaze. As such, we feel it our duty to condemn the policy of successive Israeli governments towards the Palestinian people, in utter disregard of United Nations resolutions as well as of fundamental human rights including the right to self- determination,

In expressing our opposition to this policy, we deny the Israeli leaders' claim to be acting in the name of the Jewish people. We also wish to bear witness to the diversity of Jewish public opinion in Belgium with regard to Israel, as opposed to the picture that some representatives of the Jewish community try to propagate. We refuse more specifically to be caught in a process of predefined reaction which aims to divert our conscience and deeds from supporting a just cause: that of peace based on the recognition of a sovereign and viable Palestinian State alongside the State of Israel, with Jerusalem as a capital of both countries.

We consider that the Palestinian people's struggle for national independence is legitimate. The occupation for more than thirty years, in violation of the principles of international law, and the forced exile to which the Palestinian refugees have been condemned have lasted far too long. Any occupation will sooner or later give rise to resistance on the part of those who suffer from this occupation. The climate of violence to which Israelis and Palestinians are today confined is the result of this long occupation.The roots of the confrontation are essentially political and cannot be reduced to a merely religious conflict. It is not enough to proclaim support for a peace to which virtually everyone lays claim. It is also necessary to state the conditions on which peace must rely.

It is important first of all to implement the decisions of the United Nations Security Council, and Resolution 242 in particular, demanding an Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967. We believe that a Palestinian State will not be viable if Israel maintains under its authority, on the West Bank, in Gaza and East Jerusalem, settlements illegal in terms of international law. The annexation by Israel of most of the land on which these colonies have been set up can only result in a patchwork partition of the future Palestinian State. Movement between Palestinian towns or from a Palestinian town to a destination abroad would then be dependent on the goodwill of the Israeli authorities. How could a sovereign state ever be able to accept such an arrangement? Yet this is what the Palestinians were offered at Camp David in July 2000.
It is also important that the viability of the future Palestinian State be guaranteed by measures to promote its economic development and by ensuring the equal share of water resources with neighbouring countries.
The current plight of the refugees is another major obstacle to real peace between the two peoples. The Zionist movement instituted, after two thousand years, the Jews' right to return. Fifty years on, surely the Palestinians are equally entitled to demand a right for the refugees to return to the land from which they were driven or, for those for whom a return is not feasible, a right to compensation for the property taken from them. Recognition by Israel of this principle would finally give the Palestinians the justice they demand and would open the door to a true reconciliation.

The Oslo agreement could have led in stages to a resolution of the conflict if moves towards peace had been able to outweigh the policy of unilateral decisions since pursued by Israel. Sadly, this opportunity was missed.

In the light of the blatantly unequal balance of forces between the two sides and leniency shown by the United States towards Israel, bilateral negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians have very little chance of success unless pressure is exerted by the international community and especially by the European Union. The persistence of the current situation constitutes a serious threat to peace and political stability in the whole of the Middle East.

We therefore ask the Belgian and European leaderships to ensure that international law prevail and to act determinedly so that Israel conform to it. We shall also take steps to make known all the appeals in this sense issued by those organisations involved, under extremely difficult circumstances, in the Israeli peace movement.

We share the hopes and beliefs of the many Israelis who long for peace with their Palestinian neighbours and who today recognise their right to a sovereign and viable State. They know that this is the best guarantee for themselves to live in security in their own country and to defend its democratic values. As for us, we shall remain active until a just and balanced agreement puts an end to a conflict that hitherto has brought only suffering and desolation.

Brussels, 25/12/2020 Signatories (227, 23-Feb-2001)

Barbara Abramowicz, Bettina Abramowicz, Manuel Abramowicz, Marco Abramowicz, Stella Abramowicz, Mateo Alaluf, Quentin Alaluf, Valérie Alaluf, Daniel Apelbaum, Jacques Aron, Cécile Baldwin, Emmanuelle Balzano, Georges Bauherz, Hugues Pierre Baum, Mylène Baum, Joëlle Baumerder, Jérome Beghin, Marianne Berenhaut, Daniel Berkenbaum, Ivan Berkenbaum, David Berman, Henri Bier, Sarah Blau, Micheline Blust, Francis Borle, Dorette Brat, Ariane Bratzlavsky, Carine Bratzlavsky, Inge Brinkman, Didier Buch, Jerzy Buczek, Jacques Bude, Catherine Buhbinder, Maroussia Buhbinder, Anita Chaberman, Rosy Chauvier, Sarah Chemd, Eric David, Fransi De Villar Dille, Judith Debroux, Frédérique Devillez, Koen Dille, André Dimidschstein, Elise Draise, Gisella Drenger-Nudel, Agnès Dumont, Nathalie Dunkelman, Maurice Errera, Bernard Fenerberg, Patricia Fenerberg, Fanny Filosof, Maurice Fogel, Danielle Frank, Norbert Frankfort, Thérèse Frankfort, Annelise Früh, Laurette Frydman, Mady Frydman, Patricia Geller, Geneviève Gendebien, Pierre Gillis, Victor Ginzburgh, André Goldberg, Charles Goldenberg, Marianne Goldfinger, Rosa Goldman, Charly Goldmann, Maurice Goldstein, Jeannette Goldsztein, José Gotovitch, Louise Gotovitch, Anne Grauwels, Maya Grinberg, Simon Gromowski, Catherine Gross, Elie Gross, Laurent Gross, Léa Grunbaum, Julos Gruszow, Paul Gruszow, Marcel Gudanski, Marco Gudanski, Michel Gudanski, Edgard Gunzig, Alfred Gutmann, Boris Gvirtman, Sylvie Harold, Christiane Havet, Anne Herscovici, Charles Herscovici, Paula Hirsch, Marc Hordies, Berthy Hudes, Agnès Hurwitz, Henri Hurwitz, Manuelle Hurwitz, Léon Ingber, Christian Israël, Lolita Iven-Abramowicz, Jean-Pierre Jacquemain, Gaspard Jedwab, Virginie Jortay, Dolf Kacenelenbogen, Amélia Kalb, Willy Kalb, Catherine Kestelyn, Simone Klajman, Anna Klipper, Stéphane Kohn, Jacques Koplowicz, Rachel Kramermann, Estelle Krzeslo, Edith Kuropatwa, David Lachman, Alain Lapiower, Hélène Lapiower, Sarah Lefèvre, Cécile Lenkowitz, Florence Levis, Allégra Levy, Rosine Lewin, Dominique Liebermann, Henri Liebermann, Sophie Liebermann, Anne Liebhaberg-Scarpa, Adeline Liebman, Michèle Liebman, Riton Liebman, Sophie Liebman, Claire Liebmann, Daniel Liebmann, Jean-Claude Liebmann, Léon Liebmann, Laura Liebstaedter, Lili Liensens, Christophe Lisart, Anne Lucas, Arié Mandelbaum, Ariéh Mandelbaum, Marcelle Mandelbaum, France Marage, Vital Marage, Chantal Marissal, Noé Martens, Thérèse Massart, Nicole Mayer, Robert Minc, Yves Minc, Viviane Mora, Irène Moskovic, Annette Nicolle, Josée Noël, Emmanuel Nudel, Michel Nudel, Myriam Othmane, L. Pary, Tessa Parzenczewski, Jenny Peper, Jean-Marc Picard, Manuel Piette, Alain Potaznik, Léon Potaznik, Léon Prays, Gérard Preszow, Irène Prowizor, Fabienne Raindorf, Jean-Michel Raindorf, Nadia Raindorf, Norma Raindorf, Jacques Rajchman, Jacques Ravedovitz, Léon Ravedovitz, Adi Raz, David Roger, Pierre Roger, Claire Roger-Wolf, Cécilia Ronsse Nussenzveig, Suzy Rosendor, Sabine Rozen, Dominique Rozenberg, Edith Rubinstein, Daniel Saks, Anne Sapir, Marc Sapir, Robert Scarpa, Herman Schonker, Lisa Schonker, Noémie Schonker, Blanche Schtourner, Daphné Simon, Jacques Simon, Dora Simonovici, André Slezingher, Vincent Soubeyran, Michel Staszewski, Marcel Stelzer, Marka Syfer, Georges Sylin, Henriette Sztajer, Gitla Szyffer, Anne Thyrion, Daniel Tursch, Lisa Tzavara, Esther Vamos, Muriel Vamos, Arnaud Van Cutsem, Simon Van Dessel, Eric Van Praag, Dan Van Raemdonck, Pierre Van Thieren, Jean Vogel, Laurent Vogel, Ludmila Vondracek, Bella Wajnberg, Henri Wajnberg, Admon Wajnblum, Henri Wajnblum, Liliane Wald, Axel Wang, Nadine Wang, Richard Wang, Mathieu Weemals-Rosenfeld, Thierry Wenes, Gilbert Wolf, Larissa Wozek, Grégory Yarm, Léon Zaidenband.