In an open letter, eminent Swiss personalities from the artistic and scientific world ask the Federal Council to harden its position vis-à-vis the Israeli government. This is necessary to protect the population from occupied Palestinian territories.
Switzerland has obligations vis-à-vis the situation in Palestine, recall the signatories in the letter to the Federal Council. By his inaction, our country would be exposed to the accusation of complicity in the violations of international law committed by Israel, they write.
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The letter was broadcast on Sunday by Zurich lawyer Marcel Bosonnet, who represented, among other things, the American whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Among the signatories are notably the writers Peter Stamm, Pedro Lenz, Martin R. Dean, Daniel de Roulet and Melinda Nadj Aboniji, the directors Jacob Berger and Samir, the historian Svenja Goltermann and Elisabeth Joris as well as the pacifist activist Jochi Weil. The first signatory is the organization “Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina” (JVJP, “Jewish voice for democracy and justice in Israel/Palestine”).
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“Switzerland has not done enough”
The signatories are asking for, among other things, an arms embargo to Israel, a ban on importing goods from the Israeli colonies in the West Bank as well as sanctions against the Israeli high dignitaries.
“We consider that Switzerland has not done enough for each of its obligations, on UNRWA, on purchases and sales of military or double -use equipment or products from the colonies,” explains the RTS professor in international law in the University of Friborg Samantha Besson in the morning.
“There is also a lack of eagerness on the support of the self-determination of the Palestinian people, in connection with the recognition of Palestine,” she adds.
Responsibility
The International Court of Justice (CIJ) noted in January 2024 that a genocide threatened the Gaza Strip, recalls the letter. In accordance with the UN Convention for the prevention and repression of genocide crime, all states parties are required to make measures in such cases. Switzerland joined this agreement in 2000.
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“As a depositary of Geneva Conventions, Switzerland’s obligation is even stronger than that of other states,” says Samantha Besson. “Of course the responsibilities are more serious elsewhere, but we also have them. And each level of the work of responsibility counts”.
Already at the end of May, some 400 British and Irish writers as well as 300 French-speaking authors had launched public calls to request a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, accusing Israel of committing a genocide in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli government firmly rejects this accusation.
>> Does the population in Israel support the decision to take total control of Gaza? The report of a whole world:
Edel with ATS
