Beneath every act of violence is an unhealed wound.
– Gene Knudsen Hoffman, Compassionate Listening founder, international peacemaker
As we grieve for all who are affected by the terrible violence taking place in the Middle East and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Inclusive Development International joins the demand for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained persons. We call for concerted global action to bring about a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians that is predicated on respect for the shared humanity of both peoples.
Both the Jewish and the Palestinian peoples have deep, unhealed wounds that have been violently ripped open once again.
The horrific Hamas massacre on Oct 7–the worst mass-slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust–and rising antisemitism around the world, have deeply shaken the Jewish community in Israel and the diaspora, reopening the inter-generational trauma of centuries of persecution.
The unspeakable devastation and humanitarian disaster that has been wrought in Gaza by the Israeli military’s indiscriminate bombardment and forced deprivation of the civilian population– where UN humanitarian agencies have reported that a child is being killed every 10 minutes and 1.7 million people have been displaced from their homes since the bombing began–adds a horrifying new chapter to the Palestinian people’s history of displacement, dispossession and dehumanization. Meanwhile, Palestinians living abroad have had to contend with a surge of Islamophobia and violent expressions of hate since this war began.
The one thing that the past 75 years should have taught us is that there is no military solution to this conflict. The cycle of violence will continue until the Palestinian people enjoy freedom, dignity, security and self-determination in their homeland and Israelis feel secure within their borders from atrocities like October 7th.
We echo the demands of United Nations human rights experts for:
- A ceasefire agreement that brings an immediate end to the indiscriminate bombardment and siege of Gaza and the prompt delivery of humanitarian assistance, food, water, electricity and medical care to the civilian population of Gaza;
- The immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas;
- The release of Palestinians arbitrarily detained by the State of Israel;
- The International Criminal Court to urgently expedite its ongoing investigation examining Rome Statute crimes committed by all parties since June 2014, including the escalation of hostilities since the attacks of October 7, 2023.
As a US-based human rights organization that was founded to combat land-grabbing and forced displacement and advance just and inclusive development around the world, we stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle for human rights and liberation from illegal occupation.
We demand an end to arms shipments by the United States to Israel that facilitate its grave breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law.
We call upon the US government to instead use its influence to finally help forge a just and lasting peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians that guarantees equal rights, dignity and security to all people living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.