World Jews have taken a stand against Israel's devastating onslaught on the Gaza strip, as the four-day death toll steadily nears 390. Iran's Jewish Community released a statement on Tuesday, saying that Israel's deliberate killing of Palestinians is in direct contradiction to Jewish principles and beliefs.
Scores of Iranian Jews held extensive demonstrations in front of the UN Office in Tehran on Tuesday, to protest the Israeli aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip in the past four days.
"Torah-true Jews should not let their traditional beliefs and teachings bear the brunt of Israel's slaughter of defenseless women and children," read the statement, while expressing solidarity with the victims of the attacks.
On Saturday, Israel launched large-scale air strikes on Gaza in what is widely believed to be the most deadly attack on the coastal strip since the 1967 Six Day War. At least 385 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,800 others have been injured so far.
Canada's Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) has also released a statement, condemning Israel's military offensive against Gazans.
"[The Israeli attacks on Gaza] are completely disproportionate to the unsupportable firing of Qassam rockets by Hamas fighters which killed one Israeli. It's important to put this into the context of the deadly siege of Gaza by the Israeli forces, which continued in violation of the terms of the recent six month truce between Israel and Gaza," said IJV Coordinator Diana Ralph.
IJV representative, Judy Deutsch, also warned that Israel's "massacre" of innocent Palestinians would heighten the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and further promote violence in the region.
"The aim of these attacks is not to bring about peace but to strengthen the position of the Israeli government as it heads into elections next February," she said.
The group urged the Canadian government to recall its ambassador to Israel.
Elsewhere, a Yemeni Rabbi also made a statement. "What is committed against the Palestinian people makes us forced to stay inside our homes because some people do not understand that Yemeni Jews have nothing with what is happening in Palestine," Yemeni Rabbi Yahya bin Yaish said.
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