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More than 2,700 health workers signed a pro-ceasefire letter that excised a call to free Israeli hostages
(JTA) – Like many American Jews, Matt Greenberg has been bombarded with requests to sign open letters about the state of affairs in Israel and Gaza.
One that he received this week in a WhatsApp group particularly incensed Greenberg, who helms a Jewish social services nonprofit in Stamford, Connecticut. Saying that it would be published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, the letter called for a ceasefire in Gaza as the top priority of global health workers.
The letter also included little condemnation of Hamas, the terror group that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages. And a clause calling for the immediate release of all hostages was removed after signatories complained.
Greenberg was incensed by what he saw and decided to sign a competing pro-Israel letter also circulating in the medical community. So he clicked the link and added his name to “Call to Action: An Open Letter from Global Health Professionals.”
Only later did Greenberg realize he had signed the wrong letter. This passionate Israel supporter and head of his regional Jewish social services organization had mistakenly added his name to a petition that included a health advisor to the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, and couldn’t figure out how to remove it.
“I originally thought it was a pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian letter,” Greenberg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Obviously it was the reverse.”
He added, “I unfortunately didn’t read the letter well enough and properly to understand what it meant and what it was saying.”
Greenberg’s experience is a window into the dizzying stream of petitions and open letters that have been circulating in the weeks since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the start of Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza. Open letters and social media posts have become a major currency of protest, with statements from Hollywood celebrities, students at elite universities, and titans of arts and culture weighing in. So many letters are flying that even people who want to sign ones that align with their values can’t track them all.
Greenberg’s experience also points to the fact that deep division over what to say and do about the Israel-Hamas war extends into the global medical community, where there was apparently a dispute over whether to call for the release of the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas.
The most immediate priority listed in the Lancet letter is a ceasefire in Gaza, followed by establishing humanitarian corridors and “the recognition of human rights of all people in the region.” Hamas broke a 2021 ceasefire when it attacked Israel, and Israel and its allies reject the idea of a ceasefire because it would leave Hamas in control in Gaza.
The Lancet letter also pushes for organizations to be allowed access to investigate “alleged war crimes,” singling out the bombing of a hospital in Gaza that Hamas blamed on Israel but which multiple news organizations and countries, including the United States, have attributed to a failed Palestinian rocket. The letter says it ultimately hopes to address “antisemitism and Islamophobia worldwide.”
A note attached to the open letter explains that one addendum, “The immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” was added during the drafting process only to be removed 24 hours later “based on debate and feedback.” No further explanation was given. Hamas is currently holding an estimated 220 Israeli hostages.
“I can’t for the life of me imagine why any rational person would want to have that removed,” said Greenberg, who is CEO of the Schoke Jewish Family Service of Fairfield County. “There’s so much talk of humanitarian aid and all that kind of stuff, you’d think that would be a given.”
The open letter had not been published by Thursday afternoon, only saying that it had been submitted for publication to The Lancet, which has published an array of pieces on the conflict, including a call for humanitarian aid to Gaza and a separate letter, signed by 1,500 Israeli health care professionals, calling for “the immediate release of Israeli hostages.”
But the letter was still continuing to amass signatures, crossing the 2,700-signature threshold before pausing. Matt Greenberg was still listed at 1,743.
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The post More than 2,700 health workers signed a pro-ceasefire letter that excised a call to free Israeli hostages appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.