UK Friends of Standing Together

Solidarity with Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor!

We, the undersigned civil society organizations in Israel, stand in solidarity with the directors of the film NAZA, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, and wish to express our appreciation for their courage and commitment to uncovering the truth.

We call on the authorities to put an end to the wave of incitement and threats of violence against them, and to refrain from any action intended to persecute them or their sources. The institutional responses to the film and the threats against its creators are reminiscent of those of authoritarian regimes.

We strongly oppose the dangerous and delusional idea of revoking the citizenship of journalists and documentarists because of their work. Citizenship is not a reward bestowed by the regime or the government; it is a fundamental right belonging to each and every one of us. We also remind those who may now be afraid to speak up that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are integral to the struggle for democracy, and that dictatorship and the silencing of dissent never stop with a single victim or a single issue.

Most of us, representatives of the undersigned organizations, have not yet watched NAZA. However, the subject it addresses—Israel’s policy governing the use of military firepower in Gaza—is of the utmost importance. The total destruction in the Strip, the number of civilians killed, including tens of thousands of children, and the evidence and allegations concerning the commission of offenses and war crimes demand investigation, public scrutiny, and accountability.

We call for the allegations to be investigated seriously and for journalists to be allowed to enter Gaza in order to conduct a rigorous examination of the truth, ensure accountability, and draw the appropriate conclusions from the findings.

  1. Akevot Institute
  2. A Land for All—Two States, One Homeland
  3. Academia for equality
  4. Adalah—The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
  5. B’Tselem
  6. Bimkom—Planning and Human Rights
  7. Black Flag in Academia
  8. Breaking the Silence
  9. Combatants for Peace
  10. Emek Shaveh
  11. Eyes on Gaza
  12. Gisha—Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
  13. Ha’Hafoshim
  14. HaMoked—Centre for the Defence of the Individual
  15. Human Rights Defenders Fund
  16. Interact
  17. Ir Amim
  18. Kahanism, racism and homophobia—not in our schools!
  19. Looking the occupation in the eye
  20. Machsom Watch
  21. Mehakzim—for peace and democracy
  22. Mothers against violence
  23. Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality
  24. Neve Shalom–Wahat Al-Salam
  25. New Israel Fund
  26. No Mental Health without Democracy
  27. OSOT Democracy
  28. Other Voice
  29. Parents against child detention
  30. Parents Circle—Families Forum
  31. Peace Now
  32. Physicians for Human Rights—Israel
  33. Policy Working Group
  34. Psychoactive
  35. Public Committee against Torture in Israel
  36. Shachaf—Release the Palestinian abductees
  37. Sikkuy-Aufoq—for a shared and equal society
  38. Silence is a crime Forum
  39. Standing Together
  40. Teach Peace
  41. The Peace Partnership
  42. Women’s cry—refuse the war
  43. Yesh Din
  44. Yesh Gvul
  45. Zazim—Community Action