Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity

We, members of Israeli academe, are horrified by US buildup of aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership's enthusiastic support for it.

We are deeply worried by indications that the "fog of war" could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote "transfer" of the Palestinian population as a solution to what they call "the demographic problem". Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as suggesting forcible expulsion, most recently MKs Michael Kleiner and Benny Elon, as reported on Yediot Ahronot website on September 19, 2002. In a recent interview in Ha'aretz, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon described the Palestinians as a "cancerous manifestation" and equated the military actions in the Occupied Territories with "chemotherapy", suggesting that more radical "treatment" may be necessary. Prime Minister Sharon has backed this "assessment of reality". Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.

We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated, and to take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from taking place.

Prof. Nahla Abdo, Ottawa Prof. Zach Adam, Rehovot Prof. Colman Altman, Haifa Dr. Janina Altman, Haifa Tammy Amiel-Houser, Tel Aviv Chaya Amir, Tel Aviv Dr. Shmuel Amir, Tel Aviv Prof. Daniel Amit, Jerusalem/Rome Elinor Amit, Tel Aviv Prof. Yali Amit, Chicago Dr. Yossi Amitay, Kibbutz Gvulot Dr. Meir Amor, Montreal, Canada Dr. Yonathan (Jon) Anson, Beer Sheva Dr. Ariella Azoulay, Tel Aviv Prof. Shalom Baer, Jerusalem Prof. Ron Barkai, Tel Aviv Dr. Anat Barnea - Givat Chaim Ichud Prof. Dan Bar-On, Beer Sheva Dr. Avner Ben-Amos, Tel Aviv Tammy Ben-Shaul, Haifa Prof. Zvi Bentwich, Jerusalem Prof. Matania Ben-Artzi, Jerusalem Prof. Linda Ben-Zvi, Tel Aviv Avi Berg, Tel Aviv Dr. Louise Bethlehem, Hod Hasharon Prof. Anat Bilezki, Tel Aviv Uri Bitan, Beer Sheva Prof. Elliott Blass, Cambridge, MA Dr. Yair Boimel, Haifa Prof. Daniel Boyarin, Berkeley Prof. Victoria Buch, Jerusalem Shula Carmi, Jerusalem Smadar Carmon, Toronto Dr. Nicole Cohen-Addad, Tel Aviv Dr. Uri Davis, Sakhnin Athena Elizabeth DeRasmo, Haifa Ronit Dovrat, Firenze Prof. Aharon Eviatar, Tel Aviv Dr. Zohar Eviatar, Haifa Dr. Ovadia Ezra. Tel Aviv Prof. Emmanuel Farjoun, Jerusalem Pnina Firestone, Jerusalem Dr. Elizabeth Freund, Jerusalem Gadi Geiger, Cambridge, MA, USA Prof. Chaim Gans, Tel Aviv Dr. Amira Gelblum, Tel Aviv Prof. Avner Giladi, Haifa Prof. Rachel Giora, Tel Aviv Dr. Snait Gissis, Tel Aviv Dr. Daphna Golan-Agnon, Jerusalem Dr. Anat Goldrat-First, Netanya Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni, Tel Aviv Dr. Neve Gordon, Beer Sheva Dr. Yerah Gover, New York Prof. Charles W. Greenbaum, Jerusalem Dr. Lev Grinberg, Beer Sheva Ran HaCohen, Tel Aviv Prof. Uri Hadar, Tel Aviv Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem, Jerusalem Dr. Sara Helman, Beer Sheva Prof. Hanna Herzog, Tel Aviv Prof. Ze'ev Herzog, Tel Aviv Prof. Hannan Hever, Jerusalem Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass, Jerusalem Shirly Houser, Tel Aviv Tal Itzhaki, Haifa Prof. Eva Jablonka, Tel Aviv Andrea Jacobs, Austin, Texas Dr. Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, Haifa Aya Kaniuk, Tel Aviv Prof. Jacob Katriel, Haifa Prof. Tamar Katriel, Haifa Prof. Baruch Kimmerling, Jerusalem Dr. Gady Kozma, Rehovoth Dr. Haggai Kupermintz, Boulder, Colorado Dr. Ron Kuzar, Haifa Dr. Idan Landau, Beer Sheva Dr. John Landau, Jerusalem Dr. Ariela Lazar, Evanston Dr. Ronit Lentin, Dublin Prof. Micah Leshem, Haifa Erez Levkovitz, Jerusalem Prof. Rene Levy, Lausanne Prof. Shimon Levy, Tel Aviv Prof. Joyce Livingstone, Haifa Dr. Orly Lubin, Tel Aviv Dr. Ivonne Mansbach, Jerusalem Prof. Uri Maor, Tel Aviv Dr. Ruchama Marton, Tel Aviv Dr. Anat Matar, Tel Aviv Prof. Paul Mendes-Flohr, Jerusalem Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, Jerusalem Jo Milgrom, Jerusalem Menucha Moravitz, Ramat-Gan Susy Mordechay, Giv'ataim Regev Nathansohn, Tel Aviv Prof. Adi Ophir, Tel-Aviv Omer Ori, Jerusalem Prof. Avraham Oz, Haifa Dr. Ilan Pappe, Haifa Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA Amos Raban, Tel Aviv Tali Raban, Tel Aviv Shakhar Rahav, Berkeley Dr. Haggai Ram, Beer Sheva Dr. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Beer Sheva Prof. Zvi Razi, Tel Aviv Prof. Tanya Reinhart, Tel Aviv Prof. Fanny-Michaela Reisin, Berlin Prof. Freddie Rokem, Tel Aviv Prof. Henry Rosenfeld, Haifa Dr. Maya Rosenfeld, Jerusalem Ouzi Rotem, Philadelphia Hava Rubin, Haifa Amalia Sa'ar, Haifa Dr. Dalia Sachs, Haifa Dr. Hannah Safran, Haifa Tami Sarfatti, UCLA Dr. Nita Schechet, Jerusalem Hillel Schocken, Tel Aviv Ruben Seroussi, Tel Aviv Dr. Erella Shadmi, Mevasseret Zion Prof. Nomi Shir, Beer Sheva Dr. Miriam Shlesinger, Tel Aviv Aharon Shabtai, Tel Aviv Dr. Rann Smorodinsky, Haifa Orly Soker, Sapir-Jerusalem Dr. Yehiam Soreq, Tel Aviv Nurit Steinfeld, Jerusalem Prof. Gideon Toury, Tel Aviv Dr. Dudy Tzfati, Jerusalem Roman Vater, Tel Aviv Dr. Roy Wagner, Tel-Aviv Prof. Bronislaw Wajnryb, Haifa Tamar Yaron, Montreal & Kibbutz Hazorea Dr. Michael Yogev, Haifa Kim Yuval, Tel Aviv Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, Jerusalem Michal Zweig, Herzelia.

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)