Press Releases

2005 World Social Forum – Porto Alegre: Global Anti-War Movement Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions vis-a-vis Israel to End Occupation and Apartheid Policies.

For Immediate Release

No. (E/03/05)

10 February 2005


 

Delegates from more than 33 countries, including Iraq and Palestine, discussed strategies and actions of the global Anti-War Movement. The final statement was adopted on 31 January 2005 and includes a detailed call for action on 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 Israeli 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.” The final statement moreover affirms the call for a Global Day of Action March 19/20 to protest and stop war and end the occupations. OPGAI, a delegation composed of 10 Palestinian and Syrian civil society organizations including BADIL contributed to this final statement. The complete text is published on the BADIL website: www.badil.org. For coordination of the Global Day of Action in March, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

The 2005 World Social Forum convened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 26 – 31 January 2005. Over 100,000 people active in social movements and NGOs worldwide exchanged views and proposals for an agenda of global justice, peace and development as an alternative to the agenda of military and economic domination and exploitation guiding the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. For more information about agenda and campaigns of the social movements, including the 2005 Call of Porto Alegre/WSF, see: www.movsoc.org.