A Call to Citizens Everywhere: Choose Your Action for Justice

TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 15 Sep 2025

Jan Oberg, Ph.D. et al. | Transnational Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service

Due to the host role-violating US ban on visas to Palestinians, the Special UNGA Segment on Palestine will be held in the UN Geneva from 22 Sep on. And it builds up to something historic.

***********************

9 Sep 2025 – A series of proposals that you can advocate for, send in a letter to your government or do yourself. It’s called people’s power or citizens’ diplomacy. SHARE!

The first of three appeals from TFF

Across the world, people are witnessing the systematic destruction of Palestinian lives, homes, and communities. The scale and intensity of Israel’s military operations — especially in Gaza — have led leading legal bodies, including the International Court of Justice, to warn of a plausible genocide. The time for statements is over. The time for action is now.

This initiative is for citizens everywhere — regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation — who believe in the dignity of all human life and the urgent need to uphold international law. You may not agree with every proposed measure, but if you agree with the overall purpose — to stop the ongoing atrocities and protect Palestinian civilians — then this is your moment to choose.

We offer a menu of concrete, lawful, nonviolent actions. Each is designed to pressure governments, institutions, and corporations to end complicity and enforce accountability. You can choose one or several. You can act locally or globally. What matters is that you act.

Your Menu of Actions

• Support a full civilian trade embargo. Urge your government to halt all non-humanitarian trade with Israel until it complies with international law and protects Palestinian civilians.

• Demand sanctions on Israeli state institutions. Call for the suspension of economic agreements, export credits, investment and cooperation with Israeli state-owned enterprises.

• Push for travel bans and asset freezes on Israeli leaders. Advocate for targeted sanctions against officials implicated in war crimes or crimes against humanity.

• Call for a total arms, ammunition, sparepart and intelligence embargo. Demand the cancellation of all military exports, training, and surveillance cooperation with Israel.

• Support the suspension of Israel from international organisations. Encourage the removal of Israel from bodies where human rights are a condition of membership.

• Demand the abrogation of association agreements (e.g., EU–Israel). Invoke human rights clauses to suspend preferential trade and research cooperation.

• Support suspension of UN membership (where feasible). Advocate for General Assembly action to restrict Israel’s participation pending compliance with ICJ rulings.

• Criminalise foreign political donations from Israeli state-linked entities. Push for transparency laws that prohibit financial influence from complicit actors.

• Boycott media that misrepresent genocide as “war.” Withdraw support from outlets that distort the reality of the occupation and mass killing.

• Call for a UN no-fly zone and protection mission. Support international efforts to protect civilians from aerial attacks and ensure the delivery of aid.

• Demand prosecution of Israeli leaders responsible for atrocities. Back ICC investigations and universal jurisdiction cases in national courts.

• Freeze Israeli state assets in global banks. Urge financial institutions to block access to funds linked to sanctioned individuals and entities.

• Support a long-term classical UN peacekeeping mission with Blue Helmets, Civil Affairs and Civil Police. Advocate for a robust civilian protection force to help rebuild Palestinian society.

• Push for a full stop to all exports and imports with Israel and for stopping every investment. Demand a comprehensive embargo with humanitarian exemptions and independent oversight.

Many other things can be done, smaller or larger. Everyone can do something. It’s called “people’s power.”

The above-mentioned proposals align with the fundamentals of nonviolent policies – a policy whose potential is virtually ignored by all governments, in this case and in all other cases. They align with the UN Charter’s Article 1, stating that peace shall be established by peaceful means.

We recognise that even these proposals will hardly change the genocidal intent and policies of the state of Israel. We also recognise that action is long overdue.

Therefore, we adhere to the UN Charter norm that, when all measures have been tried and proven to be ineffective in changing the criminal activity, Chapter 7 of that Charter must be activated. This can occur in various ways, most likely through the Uniting for Peace mechanism. It should be done in respect for the Palestinian UN representative, who has urged the UN to immediately implement a military UN protection force.

How You Can Act

• Share these and similar action proposals with your community, online and offline.

• Contact your elected representatives using pre-written scripts.

• Join or organise peaceful demonstrations.

• Support Palestinian-led NGOs and humanitarian aid efforts.

• Report your action to inspire others and build momentum.

This is not about politics. It’s about humanity.

It’s about ending impunity and restoring justice.

The tools exist. The laws exist. The moral clarity exists.

What’s needed now is your voice, your choice, and your action.

__________________________________________

Co-authors: Annette Schiffman and Biljana Vankovska

Prof. Jan Oberg, Ph.D. is director of the independent Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research-TFF in Sweden and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. CV: https://transnational.live/jan-oberg
https://transnational.live.

Go to Original – thetransnational.substack.com

Share this article: email mastodon facebook 🔗 copy link

DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

There are no comments so far.