Documents
1. 'Cairo Declaration', 17 March 2005
The 'Cairo Declaration' was issued by 13 Palestinian political factions after three days of meetings in Cairo, Egypt.
(1) Those gathered confirmed their adherence to Palestinian
principles, without any neglect, and the right of the Palestinian
people to resistance in order to end the occupation, establish a
Palestinian state with full sovereignty with Jerusalem as its
capital, and the guaranteeing of the right
of return of refugees to their homes and property.
(3) Those gathered confirmed that the continuation of settlement and the construction of the wall and the Judaization of Jerusalem are explosive issues.
(4) Those gathered explored the internal Palestinian situation and agreed on the necessity of completing total reform in all areas, of supporting the democratic process in its various aspects and of holding local and legislative elections at their determined time according to an election law to be agreed upon. The conference recommends to the Legislative Council that it take steps to amend the legislative elections law, relying on an equal division (of seats) in a mixed system, and it recommends that the law for elections of local councils be amended on the basis of proportional representation.
(5) Those gathered agreed to develop the Palestine Liberation Organization (news - web sites) on bases that will be settled upon in order to include all the Palestinian powers and factions, as the organization is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. To do this, it has been agreed upon to form a committee to define these bases, and the committee will be made up of the president of the National Council, the members of the PLO's Executive Committee, the secretaries general of all Palestinian factions and independent national personalities. The president of the executive committee will convene this committee.
(6) Those gathered felt unanimously that dialogue is the sole means of interaction among all the factions, as a support to national unity and the unity of the Palestinian ranks. They were unanimous in forbidding the use of weapons in internal disputes, respecting the rights of the Palestinian citizen and refraining from violating them, and that continuing dialogue through the coming period is a basic necessity toward unifying our speech and preserving Palestinian rights.
2. Occupied Palestine – Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative - Joint Statement to the 5th Annual World Social Forum, January 2005
UNITED IN STRUGGLE
Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative
END THE ISRAELI MILITARY OCCUPATION
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, are part of the Palestinian and Arab people who have struggled for decades against colonization and a military occupation imposed upon us by Jewish settlers via the Zionist Movement and the state of Israel.
We are part of the worldwide movement of people involved in the struggle for justice, equality and freedom of the oppressed and marginalized and have come to the World Social Forum with a clear agenda: we wish to share with you our analysis of the root cause of this protracted conflict in Palestine and – based on common understanding – gain your effective support of our ongoing struggle.
What Is Our Struggle About?
The root cause of the protracted conflict in the Middle East is the denial of the right of the indigenous Palestinian-Arab people to live and develop freely in our land – i.e. the right to self-determination – through the imposition of a state in 1948. The state of Israel was built by immigrants for their own exclusive benefit. In this sense, it is not a ‘normal colonial state’ built through the exploitation of local resources and indigenous labor. Israel defines itself as ‘a state for the Jewish people’ only. Zionist-Israeli policy from the early 20th century until today has aimed to take control of the land and to exclude its indigenous people. Israel is a colonial apartheid state.
Conquest of the land and the exclusion of the Palestinian-Arab people have been accomplished through a variety of policies and practices initially applied inside the territory of the state of Israel (i.e. 1949 ceasefire lines). Similar measures have been duplicated on the Palestinian and Arab land occupied by Israel in 1967, i.e. the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights. These include:
Mass expulsion by military force and denial of refugee return rights (i.e. ethnic cleansing): There are some 6 million Palestinian refugees including their descendents from the wars of 1948 and 1967. Israel illegally expropriated their lands and homes, as well as the property of some 500,000 Syrian Arabs and their descendents expelled from the Golan Heights in 1967. Today these refugees comprise the majority of the Palestinian people.
Military occupation and attrition aimed at inducing people to leave because their daily lives become unbearable: In 37 years of Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, some 20,000 Palestinian homes and refugee shelters have been demolished and some 600,000 Palestinians have been detained for various periods Of time. During the current intifada alone (2000-2004) at least 3,300 Palestinians, 600 of which were children, have been killed and over 27,000 injured by Israeli soldiers and settlers. Public and private infrastructure has been destroyed. Several hundred thousand citrus trees have been uprooted. Palestinians face severe restrictions on their freedom of movement and access to land and water. These measures have accelerated a process of economic de-development.
Demographic engineering aimed at maintaining a Jewish majority in Palestine: This includes the encouragement of Jewish immigration; construction of ‘Jewish only’ colonies (‘settlements’) on land illegally taken from Palestinian farmers (e.g. some 430,000 settlers have been transferred to some 227 Jewish-only colonies in the occupied West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and Gaza Strip); unilateral annexation of occupied land without the inclusion of its native inhabitants (eastern Jerusalem, Golan Heights); enactment of immigration, citizenship and land laws which deprive the indigenous Palestinian-Arab inhabitants and land owners of their rights to their nationality, their land and the transfer of these rights to the Jewish people/state of Israel for their exclusive benefit.
Forced separation of the Palestinian-Arab people and the people from their land: Since 1948 ‘closed military zones’ and permit/pass regimes have been enforced in all areas for this purpose. Permanent military checkpoints which were put in place in 1993, construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall which began in 2002 and Israel’s ‘unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip’ scheduled for 2005 are more recent, physical and visual expressions of the same policy.
De-legitimization of the Palestinian-Arab struggle: Propaganda campaigns and deliberate misinformation and distortions of the facts about the situation in Palestine have accompanied the Zionist-Israeli conquest since its inception. The most notorious slogan described Palestine as “a land without people for a people without land”. Today Zionist-Israeli propaganda deliberately employs western Islamophobia and the ‘war against terror’, the need to justify war and occupation in Iraq, as well as concern about anti-Semitism, in order to install fear and misinformation about the Palestinian-Arab struggle among western academia, media, policy makers and the public.
Where Are We Today?
The successful implementation of the policies and practices summarized above would not have been possible without the political backing and support provided by western powers including Britain and the United States. Our collective struggle has brought achievements. Today we are recognized as a people with rights. Hundreds of United Nations resolutions have affirmed our rights, condemned Israel’s colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal under international law and called upon Israel to provide effective remedy. In 2004 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed these rights and called upon Israel to provide effective remedies. However, many governments, the United Nations and the European Union have remained unwilling to apply political measures that could bring about Israeli compliance. Israel continues to operate outside and above the law.
The process of colonization, occupation and entrenchment of the apartheid-like system in Palestine and the Golan Heights thus continues at a rapid pace and the opportunity for the implementation of the internationally-favored two-state solution may well have been missed forever. Diplomatic efforts to bring about – with Israeli consent – the end of military occupation and the establishment of a sovereign and viable Palestinian state in the 1967 occupied West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip via the ‘Oslo peace process’ and the ‘Road Map’ have failed. US-sponsored Israeli-Syrian negotiations also failed to bring about peace based on Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. So-called ‘new windows of opportunity’ for a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace are empty rhetoric in a climate where the struggle for basic rights, justice and freedom is increasingly challenged and discredited in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere.
CALL FOR ACTION
Today the Palestinian people and the Syrian people of the occupied Golan do not enjoy basic protection by governments or the United Nations who have the responsibility and obligation to stop forceful conquest, occupation and apartheid and facilitate just remedies and solutions. Global civil society, grassroots movements and NGOs, have thus remained our only ally.
We therefore appeal to the participants at this World Social Forum to undertake urgent and broad action in order to help end the current situation in Palestine and bring about a new era in which the indigenous people can return to their land and properties and are compensated for damages and suffering incurred, and in which all people in Palestine can freely exercise their basic individual and collective rights in the framework of one or two sovereign states in line with their choice.
In particular, we call upon participants at this World Social Forum to focus individual and collective efforts on:
Developing Public Information and Awareness-raising Campaigns which can effectively challenge Zionist-Israeli propaganda:
- Focus on the root causes of the protracted conflict; highlight discrimination caused by Israel’s exclusive Jewish character and policies, the ongoing character of Palestinian-Arab forced displacement and dispossession and refugees’ right to return, restitution and compensation;
- Come to see and encourage visits to the Israeli occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights.
Building a Broad Israel Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions Campaign inspired by the model of the South-African anti-apartheid campaign:
- Launch new and engage in existing initiatives aimed at public boycott (e.g. consumer boycott of Israeli products, non-cooperation with Israeli initiatives in the field of culture, education and sports), divestment (e.g. de-investment by private companies and public institutions from Israeli institutions and/or stocks and bonds) and pressuring governments to impose sanctions on Israel. Choose initiatives which fit your local environment and link up with similar initiatives worldwide.
Build Local Support Networks for activists, journalists, teachers and politicians who are brave to speak out for Palestinian rights and threatened by Zionist lobby organizations.
Coordinate with Palestinian/Arab Civil Society Organizations:
- Maintain regular consultation and coordinate activities with Palestinian civil society organizations in Palestine (including those located in pre-1948 Palestine now Israel) and in exile and with Syrian civil society organizations in the Golan Heights.
‘UNITED IN STRUGGLE’ - OPGAI
FREE PALESTINE NOW
Prepared by the members of OPGAI:
Alternative Tourism Group, [email protected]
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights,
Bethlehem, Palestine, [email protected]
Defense for Children International/Palestine Section,
[email protected]
The Joint Advocacy Initiative (incorporating YWCA of Palestine and
The East Jerusalem YMCA, [email protected]
Environmental Education Center, [email protected]
Golan for Development, [email protected]
Ibdaa Cultural Center, [email protected]
Jerusalem Center for Women, [email protected]
Palestinian Grass-roots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign,
[email protected]
3. Anti-War Movement Assembly, Statement to the 5th Annual World Social Forum (excerpts), March 2005
On the day of elections in Iraq, anti-war movements, coalitions and organizations the world over came together in an Anti-War Assembly and called for massive mobilizations on March 19 and 20. Representatives from over 33 countries, including Iraq and Palestine, also discussed strategies and actions beyond March 20.
Palestine
We support the Palestinian people's struggle for justice, self-determination, a sovereign independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and the implementation of the right of return in accordance with UN resolution 194.
We call upon the international community and governments to impose political and economic sanctions on Israel, including an embargo on armaments. We call upon the social movements to mobilize also for divestment and boycotts. These efforts aim to force Israel to implement international resolutions, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, to stop and take down the illegal wall and end all occupation and apartheid policies.
We support the Israeli anti-colonialist, anti-Zionist activists who share this struggle.
Proposals for Palestine
– Send civilian missions to Palestine
– Launch a campaign of sanctions, boycott and divestments
– Launch a campaign for embargo on arms and suspension of economic
agreements with Israel.
4. Putrajaya Action Plan, March 2005
A three day International Conference on the theme 'Peace in Palestine' was held at Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia, from the 28th to the 30th of March 2005. The conference was attended by over 500 civil society activists from 34 countries, including Occupied Palestine and Israel. Through panel and workshop sessions, the participants sought to determine how civil society could contribute towards the quest for a just solution to the decades old Israeli Palestinian conflict. Their ideas are embodied in this statement, the Putrajaya Action Plan.
The Putrajaya Action Plan recognizes that the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the Israeli occupation from 1948 onwards of Palestinian land and the consequent subjugation and oppression of the Palestinian people. If this subjugation and oppression has lasted so long, if Israel has been able to violate international law with impunity, it is largely because Israel is protected by the United States of America, the world's only superpower. This makes civil society in the US all the more important as a site for strategic intervention in the quest for a just solution to the conflict.
The participants of the Putrajaya 'Peace in Palestine' Conference are unanimous in the view that unless justice is done to the Palestinian people, there can be no security for the people of Israel. This is why the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is a vital pre-condition for peace not only in the Middle East but also in the world at large.
United Nations resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must serve as a logical starting point for the restoration of Palestinian rights. There must be total and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank to its pre-1967 borders. A sovereign and independent Palestinian state that is at the same time contiguous and viable should be established on the Gaza and West Bank with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both Palestine and Israel. The Apartheid Wall must of course be fully dismantled. Palestinian refugees should be allowed to return to both Israel and the new Palestinian state while those who choose to remain in their land of domicile should be allowed to do so, with appropriate compensation. All Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails should be freed. Once Israel takes these steps, Palestine and other states in the Middle East and the Muslim world should extend diplomatic recognition to Israel. At the same time, the entire Middle East should adopt a comprehensive treaty banning all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.
What is being proposed here reflects to a considerable extent the sentiments of the global community which regards a two state solution - Israel and Palestine living side by side-- as the most feasible solution at this juncture of history. It does not however preclude the eventual emergence of a single unified democratic state in which Jews, Christians, Muslims and others relate to one another on the basis of genuine equality and justice. Such a state will become a reality only if it is in consonance with the wishes of the majority of Palestinians and Israelis.
If a significant degree of justice is delivered to the Palestinians and if they are treated as equals in their relationship with the Israelis, peace will prevail in the Middle East. Civil society groups the world over should do much more to promote this vision of peace which emphasizes equality, justice, human rights and international law.
With this aim in mind, civil society groups and individuals at the 'Peace in Palestine' conference adopted a ten point programme which constitutes the essence of the Putrajaya Action Plan.
The Putrajaya Action Plan seeks to establish an International Centre on Palestine for Civil Society in the South (ICPCSS) to be located in Malaysia. ICPCSS will be governed by a Board whose members will be drawn from civil society groups in the South. The Centre will:
1) Coordinate the activities of existing Palestinian support groups and networks in the South; initiate the creation of new support groups and networks in countries of the South; forge close ties with Palestinian support groups and networks in North America and Europe; develop an effective relationship with the United Nations General Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people, the Division on Palestinian Rights and the International Coordinating Network on Palestine. Deepen links with the global justice and solidarity movements.
2) Encourage Palestinian support groups and networks in the South and in other parts of the world to interact more extensively with civil society groups in Israel committed to the vision of peace envisaged by the Plan. Women and youth groups in particular should be at the forefront of this interaction. At the same time, ICPCSS will initiate lecture tours of the United States by Palestinian support group activists from the South who will tell the other side of the story to the American people. Israeli and Palestinian activists should join hands and speak with one voice on common themes in these lecture tours.
3) Disseminate information and analysis about the root causes of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the pre-requisites for a just peace through community newspapers and radio stations in the United States. Persuade Arab, Muslim and South-based groups to engage and interact with grassroots community organizations in the US.
4) Increase the general level of awareness of the Palestinian struggle through maximum utilization of the various channels of mass communication. In this regard, internet in particular has a critical role to play. In similar vein, greater attention should be given to the production of television dramas and radio plays on Palestine especially in the languages of the nations of the South. There should also be more in-depth articles with historical perspectives in the print media aimed at correcting misconceptions about the Palestinian issue. As one enhances intellectual output, one should also develop a solid data base on the Palestinian struggle for justice.
5) Ensure that civil society groups in the South attempt to persuade their governments to adopt a proactive approach towards the plight of the Palestinians. Since most governments in the South endorse the Palestinian cause, they should demonstrate their commitment by campaigning actively for the rights of the Palestinians in regional caucuses and in international forums. In this context, Southern governments should be pressed to end all military dealings with Israel.
6) Strive to ensure that an impartial United Nations - and not the US --- plays the dominant diplomatic role in the resolution of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. For this to happen, international public opinion has to be mobilized on a global scale. The ICPCSS will work closely with other Palestinian support groups in Europe and North America to achieve this goal. The UN's pivotal role means that UN resolutions, international law and human rights in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will serve as the framework for achieving a just peace.
7) Study in depth and detail how civil society groups in the South could organize a selective boycott of Israeli goods and divestment from that country in order to pressure Tel Aviv to withdraw completely from the West Bank and the Gaza. At the same time, ICPCSS will encourage direct aid for infrastructure and services in Palestine and trade in products it is able to export; and demand the reversal of Israel's exploitative water programmes which adversely affect food production and seriously disadvantage Palestinians.
8) Support the right of the Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation in accordance with the principles of international humanitarian law. It follows from this that illegitimate forms of violence by both state and non-state actors must not receive sanction through distortions of religious and secular belief systems.
9) Promote active and continuous dialogue leading to effective action amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims not only in Israel and Palestine but also in various other parts of the world. This dialogue should aim to eradicate prejudices and misconceptions; to strengthen mutual respect and trust and to build joint solidarity actions in the cause of justice and our common humanity. To this end, academic centres for inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogue should be established in both Israel and Palestine and in other countries of the South.
10) Struggle relentlessly for the emergence of a multi-polar world which will facilitate the deliverance of justice for the Palestinians. It is the consolidation of uni-polar politics in the post cold war era which has exacerbated the sufferings of the Palestinians. It has also led to the marginalization of most governments and the UN. This is why governments, especially in the South, and people everywhere have a stake in striving for an equitable multi-polar world.
Adopting an Action Plan is not the real challenge. The real
challenge lies in ensuring that the objectives contained in the
Plan are successfully implemented. This demands sincere commitment
from everyone.
We, who are gathered at this conference, should pledge to ourselves
that we will do our utmost to realize the goals of the Putrajaya
Action Plan --- for the sake of the people of Palestine and Israel;
for the sake of Jews, Christians and Muslims everywhere; for the
sake of humanity; for the sake of peace.
30 March 2005.
Putrajaya, Malaysia.