A petition launched by the activist group Zazim brings together Jewish and Arab citizens. The goal is to reach 10,000 signatures by 22 September, when the session promoted by France and Saudi Arabia is scheduled to take place at the UN General Assembly. The initiative is also supported by relatives of the victims of 7 October.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Nine thousand Israelis - going against the grain of the Netanyahu government's strong opposition - have signed a petition in support of the recognition of the Palestinian state ahead of the upcoming summit co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France on 22 September in New York.

The meeting will take place in the context of the UN General Assembly, during which Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium are expected to formally recognise the birth of the Palestinian entity alongside the State of Israel.

The petition, entitled ‘No to war - yes to recognition!’, had collected 9,055 signatures this morning, with more continuing to sign up. The initiative is being promoted by ‘Zazim - Community Action’, an Israeli grassroots movement composed of Jews and Arabs working together for democracy and equality.

Among the relatives of the victims of 7 October who signed it is Yonatan Zeigen, son of long-time Israeli-Canadian pacifist Vivian Silver, who told AsiaNews that peace is the only ‘common destiny’ for the two peoples.

‘We are Israeli citizens who oppose the continuation of the war in Gaza and believe in peace,’ the petition reads. ‘We call on the nations of the world,’ the document continues, ‘to recognise Palestine during the United Nations General Assembly.’

‘Recognition is a fact,’ it continues. ‘We must choose whether to join the world or side with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and Hamas, who oppose recognition’ by extolling the ideal of a ‘modern Sparta’ at perpetual war.

Israeli analysts and experts point out that there are no indications that Hamas opposes the recognition of the Palestinian state, so it can only welcome growing international support.

However, and this is the crux of the matter, the extremist movement that controls the Gaza Strip strongly opposes the two-state solution, which provides for the recognition of the State of Israel, which should be included in the announcement.

That is why, the promoters explain, the petition aims to “show the world that a large part of Israeli society understands that the recognition of a Palestinian state is also in Israel's interest”, putting pressure on the United States and Germany to also support the initiative.

The goal is to collect at least 10,000 signatures from Jewish and Arab citizens on the eve of next week's UN General Assembly, to ‘show the world that there is a strong and clear Israeli voice opposing endless war.’ And that it expects ‘international involvement to end the war and bring peace.’

The meeting at the UN headquarters will also include a summit on 22 September, co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, called the “High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Resolution of the Palestinian Question and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution”.

On this occasion, the majority of states are expected to vote in favour of recognising Palestine. The Franco-Saudi initiative to relaunch discussions on the two-state solution and the recognition of a Palestinian state is ‘an extraordinary opportunity,’ says Raluca Ganea, co-founder and executive director of Zazim. ‘A political solution with two states for two peoples, each with sovereignty, security and peace, is the only alternative on the table.’

Many of the signatories are members of bereaved families. Among them is Ayelet Harel, co-executive director of the Parents Circle-Families Forum for bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families, whose brother was killed in 1982 during the Lebanon War.

There are also relatives of victims of 7 October 2023 or of people kidnapped and detained in Gaza. Among them are Yotam Kipnis of Zazim, whose parents Lilach and Eviatar were murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri; Liora Eylon, who survived the massacre at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, but whose son was murdered; Maoz Inon, a peace activist whose parents Bilha and Yakov Inon were killed in Netiv Ha'asara; and Yonatan Zeigen, whose mother Vivian Silver was murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri.

The planned recognition of the Palestinian state has drawn strong condemnation from Israel, which has called the initiative a ‘reward for terrorism.’ ‘The only beneficiary is Hamas... When terrorists rejoice, you are not promoting peace, you are promoting terrorism,’ Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said last week.

In reality, the petition strongly rejects the idea that the creation of a Palestinian state is a gift to the extremist movement that controls the Gaza Strip and was responsible for the terrorist attack two years ago.

When questioned by the Times of Israel, Zeigen dismantles the Israeli government's official propaganda, stating that ‘a Palestinian state is not a reward for Hamas, but is precisely what can dismantle it’. Because Hamas, he continues, ‘is an idea based on resistance and uncontrolled violence.’

At the same time, he warns, the endless cycle of trauma and revenge in which both Israelis and Palestinians are trapped will result in violence until there is ‘a sense or hope of a better future.’ ‘7 October,’ Zeigen continues, ‘showed that the policy of “managing” the conflict and stifling any other prospects for the Palestinians backfires every time,’ while perpetual war and destruction fuel the cycle of violence.

‘There is a fundamental issue here, in which two peoples have a common problem: how to live together on the same land, in freedom, security and prosperity,’ explained Vivian Silver's son. And ‘the road to a solution,’ he adds, "does not lie in military force, but only when we meet the Palestinians on equal terms. To do this, we must end the occupation, annexation and conflict in general.‘

’We do not want to avenge the deaths of our parents. This,‘ comments activist Maoz Inon, ’will not bring them back to life and will only increase the horrors and terror in which we are trapped." ‘The road to our healing and that of our peoples cannot be paved with bloodshed. It will only be possible,’ he concludes, ‘through a process of reconciliation.’