His Majesty The King,
Buckingham Palace,
London
SW1A 1AA
25th February 2025
May it please your Majesty,
In January, we wrote to urge you to ensure that Holocaust Memorial Day not only remembers historic genocide but also genocide being committed today, especially in Gaza.
We are pleased to learn that you met with some Muslim and Jewish leaders on 11 February to sign the Drumlanrig Accords committing themselves to a framework of “reconciliation, understanding and solidarity”.
However, we are very concerned that, in our opinion, those who participated do not represent mainstream Muslim communities. We believe this was arranged to mask the genocide in Gaza and misrepresent the aspirations of the vast majority of ordinary Britons.
We believe you are being misled by a vocal minority who seek to exploit inter-faith work in order to suppress criticism of Israeli war crimes.
While we support faith organisations promoting mutual understanding and solidarity, we find it impossible to countenance interfaith initiatives which ignore the overwhelming evidence of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes being committed in Gaza, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon over the last 16 months.
As the horrors have played out on our screens, we are saddened that Jewish representatives who attended the recent event, such as Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, have consistently refused to criticize Israel but have instead given their support to its genocidal actions.
Public opinion in the Muslim community and among British people in general, is overwhelmingly opposed to what many human rights organisations have described as a genocide. It is clear therefore that the Muslim leaders who gathered under your auspices do not have the support of the communities they claim to represent.
In contrast, the Convivencia Alliance is a coalition of Jewish, Muslim and Christian organisations supporting a just peace in Palestine based on One Democratic State with equal rights for all. We strive for a just peace in the Middle East and stand against injustice, wherever it arises. We repudiate all forms of racist oppression and colonial dispossession.
Our approach is based on a history of shared values of the monotheistic faiths and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We believe that any genuine cooperation between faith groups should take place on the unshakeable foundation of international law and fundamental human rights. Only then will our interfaith initiatives become effective and sustainable.
As representatives of the Convivencia Alliance we request a meeting with you to share our aspirations. If recent events have highlighted one thing it is that denying human rights will not bring peace to the Middle East. We respectfully ask that you will give leadership to genuine peacemaking initiatives based on respect for international humanitarian law to bring justice, peace and reconciliation, especially in Israel/Palestine.
We have the honour to remain, Sir, Your Majesty’s most humble and obedient subjects,
Revd Dr Stephen Sizer,
Chair of the Convivencia Alliance and Director of Peacemaker Trust,
Massoud Shadjareh,
Chair of Islamic Human Rights Commission,
David Cannon,
Chair of Jewish Network for Palestine,
On behalf of The Convivencia Alliance
