The message in the New York Times, signed by hundreds of US rabbis and Jewish public figures, is clear: “Jewish people say NO to ethnic cleansing!”
After a year and a half of destruction in the Gaza Strip, US President Donald Trump has proposed “taking over” Gaza and carrying out a mass expulsion of its roughly two million inhabitants.
The power of a single page
On Thursday, February 13, 350 rabbis and Jewish public figures took out a full-page ad in the New York Times and used it to condemn President Trump’s new proposal.
The ad reads: “Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say no to ethnic cleansing!” and is followed by a list of the signatories, which include Rabbis Sharon Brous, Roly Matalon, and Alissa Wise, as well as Jewish creatives and activists such as Tony Kushner, Ilana Glazer, Naomi Klein, and Joaquin Phoenix.
Violation of international law
President Trump’s proposal for mass expulsion of Gazans who have survived the Israel-Hamas war, according to commentators, is reminiscent of the 1948 Nakba, the “catastrophe” in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes by Zionist paramilitaries.
Some argue that ethnic cleansing, if carried out with the intent to destroy a particular group, can meet the legal threshold for genocide, as defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention. Similarly, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) classifies deportation, forcible transfer, and persecution on ethnic grounds as crimes against humanity (Article 7), whilst the Geneva Conventions prohibit the forced displacement of civilians in armed conflicts (Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention).
Rabbi Rosen: the plan is “immoral and unethical”
Rabbi David Rosen, former International Director of Interfaith Affairs for the AJC (American Jewish Committee) and current Special Interfaith Advisor at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, stressed the importance of the ad.
“It is important that the world knows as much as possible that the initiative of President Trump as it stands, and as it has been understood, is not acceptable,” he said.
Speaking to Vatican News’ Jean-Charles Putzolu, he explained that ethnic cleansing is not a solution. “Moving populations against their will is against the Geneva Convention,” he noted, before adding that “more importantly, it is immoral. It is unethical to move people away from their place of domicile.”
He stressed that people wanting to move voluntarily is one thing—“but it has been presented as a forced movement, and that is morally unacceptable from an ethical and moral point of view.”
A real-estate plan
In an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier over the weekend, President Trump said he would “own” Gaza and that it would be a “real estate development for the future.”
“Think of it as a real estate development for the future, he added. “It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”
After being asked whether Palestinians would have the right to return, Trump replied, “No, they wouldn’t.”
Speaking to The Guardian, Rabbi Yosef Berman of the New Synagogue Project in Washington, DC, responded to these comments by the US President saying, “Trump seems to believe he is God with authority to rule, own, and dominate our country and the world.”
“Jewish teaching is clear: Trump is not God and cannot take away Palestinians’ inherent dignity or steal their land for a real estate deal. Trump’s desire to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza is morally abhorrent. Jewish leaders reject Trump’s attempts to wring profit from displacement and suffering and must act to stop this heinous crime.”
Further reactions
J Street, a liberal advocacy group that champions a “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy” agenda, was among the first to denounce President Trump’s plan. They described the proposal as “absolutely unacceptable” in a statement shared on social media shortly after its announcement.
The Rabbinical Assembly, representing Conservative rabbis, has come out in firm opposition to the proposal, calling forced resettlement “anathema to Jewish values and international human rights law.” They emphasised the historical trauma associated with such actions, noting that “forced resettlement is a devastating part of Jewish history that we should not inflict on others.”
The advertisement was financed by progressive donors affiliated with the “In Our Name Campaign,” a collective of Jewish philanthropists aiming to raise $10 million for organisations that, according to its website, support “Palestinian-led efforts to build safety, dignity, and self-determination in Palestine.”
By Francesca Merlo | VaticanNews
Source Link: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2025-02/hundreds-of-rabbis-appeal-no-to-ethnic-cleansing-in-gaza.html
