Over the last month we stepped up our protests against the Annexation Plan. Most significantly, Combatants for Peace partnered with an alliance of Palestinian and Israeli organizations working against the occupation, and organized on June 27th a memorable demonstration south of Jericho with several hundred Palestinian and Israeli activists. Together we rallied in this symbolical area of the Jordan Valley, an area that almost certainly was on Netanyahu’s short-list of areas to annex. Our Palestinian coordinator, Jamil Qassas, addressed the people present with the following words: “During the first intifada we fought each other, as all of us – Palestinians and Israelis – saw the situation only from the point of view of our own side. Today we know that there is another way – a common battle against violence, occupation and annexation. (…) Instead of planning one-sided measures that lead to despair and violence, I suggest Israelis recognize my existence here with respect.” Read the full report.

In parallel moves, Combatants for Peace wrote to all members of the UN Security Council to request that, in the case of an implemented annexation plan, they exercise their powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, and impose sanctions on the State of Israel, as well as on the three top Israeli officials responsible for the illegal move: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benjamin Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. The next day, the UN Security Council announced that very intention!

With our German Friends of Combatants for Peace we drafted and distributed widely in Germany a “Call for Action”, calling upon the German government to “take a leading role against annexation and to prevent any escalation of violence in the Near East".