Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will deliver a public lecture next week at UK’s Singletary Center for the Arts. Olmert’s lecture is part of a continuing campus dialogue on Middle East peace.

Such an event is a great step, but the choice of such speaker is outrageous and is wide of the mark. Olmert is one of the key Israeli leaders responsible for the disproportionate attack on the overwhelmingly civilian Gaza Strip that has caused over 1,000 deaths and over 5,000 injuries — mostly kids and women — that is equal to killing 200 thousand Americans and injuring more than half a million. White phosphorus was illegally used to burn the bones of infants, children, women and old people in Gaza, the world’s largest open air prison.

The UN investigation, led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone, presented a harsh report accusing Israeli leaders of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

This year, Israeli authorities indicted Olmert on multiple corruption charges that include accepting bribes, fraud, breach of trust, falsifying documents and income tax evasion. It is the first criminal indictment ever filed against a current or past Israeli prime minister. Furthermore, Olmert shares criminal responsibility for the siege on Gaza that leaves children hungry and 1.5 million people in desperate circumstances.

It is therefore up to us, civil society, to do what politicians are just too afraid to do. The correct message for Olmert in plain words: no for your disregard to human life, no for you to act with impunity and no for your criminal and corruption record. You cannot and should not be allowed to preach peace.

International law supports freedom from occupation and to live in peace for all. We all need to stand up for universal application of human rights and international law and let our voices be counted.

Dr. Ahmad Malkawi

College of Pharmacy