GENEVA, (PIC)
A Global Declaration signed by a number of dignitaries from around the world has warned that the ongoing atrocities in Gaza pose a moral challenge for the entire world. It emphasizes its rejection of turning a blind eye to the heinous crimes against humanity being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people.
The Declaration was published on 15th January 2024, and signed by intellectuals, professors, religious leaders, laurates, and artists. It stated, “It is with all sorrow and anger that we have been witnessing unimaginable horrors targeting more than two million Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip; a matter which poses a moral challenge for the entire world, and which requires urgent humanitarian awakening and strict principled review.”
The public figures signatories to the Declaration, which was published in eight languages, emphasized, “We reject the disregarding of heinous crimes against humanity that the people of Gaza are being subjected to which are akin to genocide and ethnic cleansing. We also vehemently condemn the military, political, and media support that this aggression has been receiving from international powers.”
The list of first signatories to the Declaration includes more than 100 dignitaries from many countries around the world, encompassing past leaders of states, governments, and ministers, as well as winners of prominent international awards, Muslim jurists, Church heads, intellectuals, writers, and artists.
The Declaration was published in English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Turkish and Bosnian/Serbo-Croatian and it “exposed that our world suffers grave inconsistencies, a compounded moral crisis, an intractable values’ dilemma, and misleading media practices.” The dignitaries warned of, “the consequences to global peace and peoples’ interests when international conventions, legislation, international law, and international humanitarian law are selectively suspended or not enacted.”
The Declaration affirmed that, “Support for the military occupation, policies of oppression and persecution, campaigns of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and war crimes, through narratives that claim to stand for ethics, principles, and humanity are in fact a deceptive framing that employs a moral, principle-based, and humanitarian slogan as a tool for murder, suppression, and confiscation of rights.”
The Declaration rejected, “the citing of or suspension of values, principles, and conventions in a selective manner according to how they correlate with certain political priorities and interest inclinations. The contradictory stances of international powers according to their interests lay bare the credibility of their positions in general.”
The Declaration added, “The horrific aggression currently being committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip has eroded the trust of numerous peoples throughout the world regarding the sincerity of the international order, the work of the International Criminal Court, and in the efficacy of values, principles, conventions, and slogans in real life.”
A number of signatories to the Declaration said, “It is truly frightening that some international, political, and media platforms would celebrate discourse that is dedicated to justifying the aggression, glorifying its perpetrators, and blaming its victims and holding them responsible for their scary fate of being killed, bulldozed, parched, starved, and displaced.” They added, “What is currently occurring in Palestine recalls to memory horrific images of the Colonial Era. This emphasizes the necessity of delving into that era’s atrocities and holding its players accountable, both morally and on matter of principle, and learning the necessary lessons therefrom for both the present and the future.”
The Declaration found it reprehensible “to grant certain people a higher human level than others as pertaining to status, rights, and care. It also rejected encroaching on the dignity of any peoples, groups, or human assemblies, whether openly or by insinuation.” The Declaration also accentuated that the atrocities being committed against Gazans are living proof of a world that suffers major deficiencies at the expense of the peoples and communities of the southern part of the planet; a matter which necessitates an urgent and unwavering corrective measure.”
Signatories to the Global Declaration said, “We warn of the trend of monopolizing the truth, confiscating values and principles and employing them selectively as per the interests of international powers. We also warn of imposing a singular narrative on the world upon which bias, hegemony, cancellation and justification are based.” They added, “A world which makes a deliberate decision to employ its values, principles, and conventions in a selective manner, through which human lives, rights, freedoms, and dignity are unequal, is a prejudiced one that will plant the seeds of anger in generations that realize the gap between noble slogans and horrific practices.”
The Global Declaration warned that “surrendering to discourse emanating from international, cultural, and media platforms, that justifies genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes represents a threat to the whole of humanity, not just to the Palestinian people.” The Declaration also warned of attributing descriptions of “Modernity”, “Civility”, “Humanity”, “Goodness”, and “Light” to policies of genocide and war crimes, and to justifying committing unspeakable horrors by dehumanizing oppressed peoples and poisoning the air of human coexistence and cultural interaction in a diverse world.”
The signatory dignitaries indicated that “Our world lacks an authority of ethical accountability that can stand against hegemony, domination, violation of conventions and established laws, and policies of genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and oppression.” They added, “It has become imperative to engage in a global philosophical, intellectual, and cultural discussion to ensure the extent of our world’s moral and principled readiness to heed international and humanitarian conventions, and to oppose campaigns of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and confiscation of people’s rights and freedoms.”
The Global Declaration encouraged pioneers of philosophy, thought, culture, literature, and art, as well as leaders of religious and social communities to “embrace their principled and ethical role of ensuring people are granted their equal rights, justice, freedom, and human dignity in Palestine and around the world, and in standing firm against injustice, oppression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and racist policies.”
The Declaration emphasized that “The voice of the human conscience must bravely echo loud before it is too late, as crimes against humanity violate all of humanity, not merely its direct victims in Palestine whose right to life, safety, security, freedom, and dignity are currently being stripped.”
The Global Declaration concluded that “A world that determines its position on acts of atrocities and violations according to the identities of the perpetrator and the victim, is one that grants no safety, rights, or justice for all. It is a world whose states and armies will stop at nothing to annihilate some humans so as to enable the agendas that favor their interests over their declared commitments.”
