Mass petition on Gaza
The international petition on Gaza published on September 4 signed by more than 4,500 scientists is unprecedented for many reasons. The signatories include the world’s most important scientists and mathematicians today, including fourteen Nobel laureates , five Fields medallists , and twenty Breakthrough prize awardees. The petition states: “We are deeply distressed by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We find it unbearable that an artificial shortage of food appears to be leading to a famine like situation. We are shocked by the enforced denial of medical facilities, the absence of even a modicum of education for children, the systematic annihilation of civil infrastructure (including universities) and the apparent general disregard for the rights, well being, and life of the civilian population of Gaza. …We call upon the Government of Israel to act immediately to end this human made humanitarian crisis.” “The humanitarian emergency demands immediate intervention. As scientists working collectively for humanity, we urgently call upon all governments, and all relevant international institutions around the world, to exert all available means so there is a halt to this tragedy.”
Though the petition has described its purpose as humanitarian, in its specific call for intervention by governments and international institutions, it is inevitably deeply political. There have been scientist peace petitions in past decades, but these have been mostly symbolic. This petition is likely to be more consequential , both for the large number of signatories from all countries, their great reputational renown, and also, the timing of its publication.
The Palestine issue will be discussed in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in the third and fourth weeks of this month. In the face of the genocidal situation in Gaza, several Western and G-7 nations who hitherto supported Israel unconditionally have announced that they will recognize the State of Palestine this September. These include Britain and France, (who are also members of the Security Council with veto power.), Canada , Belgium and Australia . Earlier efforts like Security Council resolution UNSC 2334 calling for stopping and reversing settler colonial occupation of Palestinian lands and a two state solution have not been implementable because of the opposition of the United States. The United States does not have veto powers in the General Assembly.
In this background, it is possible, even likely, that the 80th UNGA will decide to initiate and enforce the kinds of measures that compelled South Africa to end Apartheid in 1990. The scientists global petition has set the stage for active external governmental intervention to resolve the crisis.
The signatories include Nobel prize winners Prof. Roger Penrose (2020), Kip Thorne (2017), and James Peebles(2019) who are among the brightest stars in the field of astrophysics and gravitation, Alain Aspect (2022 ) from quantum entanglement, David Gross (2004) and Hugh Politzer(2004) from strong interaction particle physics, Sheldon Glashow(1979) and Gerard t’ Hooft(1999) from the field of electro-weak interaction particle physics, Kajita Takaaki (2015)and Arthur Macdonald(2015) from neutrino physics, Giorgio Parisi (2021) from complexity studies, Michael Bishop (1989) from cancer cell studies, Edvard Moser(2014) and May Britt Moser(2014) from brain cell studies. They include Field medallists (for mathematics) Edward Witten (1990) , David Mumford(1974), Maxim Kontsevich (1998), Cedric Villani (2010) and Alessio Figalli (2018).
Because more than 85 of the signatories are Israeli scientists and mathematicians, the petition dismantles the US/Israeli argument that such calls are ‘anti semitic’. With a majority of Israeli citizens, in opinion polls, already supporting ceasefire in Gaza, return of hostages and de-escalation , it will influence and impact public opinion and elections which are mandated to be held within the next year.
Indian scientists have played a significant role in this initiative. Of the 40 scientists who launched the petition, and who are the first 40 signatories in the list, twelve are from India, mainly from the world renowned Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences. They include the most senior and respected scientists and mathematicians in the country. More than 310 signatories of the global petition are from India.
The petition expresses the growing international consensus for arriving at and implementing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, ending the blockade by Israel of food and medicines, by external intervention if necessary. It will put pressure on all governments including the US and Israel to accept this consensus. Incidentally it will also put pressure on the Indian government to abandon its vacillations and opportunistic abstentions in the United Nations which are contrary to the well defined positions taken by our country over the past decades emanating from its early recognition of the state of Palestine in 1988.
Vivek Monteiro,
Mumbai
Trump’s comments
India must treat Donald Trump’s volte face as tactical noise and invest in resilient statecraft . His second term has swung between effusive praise for Prime Minister Modi and harsh tariffs on Indian exports, not to mention the dehumanising manner in which illegal Indian immigrants were deported. Today’s “friendship” can quickly turn into tomorrow’s pressure. This blow-hot-blow-cold approach is vintage Trump.
M. Jameel Ahmed,
Mysuru
Published – September 08, 2025 12:24 am IST