FW: Urgent PALESTINIAN Call to World Civil Society - BREAK The Conspiracy SILENCE - Israeli Supporters

[Ruth Wodak]

-----Original Message-----
From: Rachel Giora [mailto:giorar at post.tau.ac.il]
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2002 11:58 AM
Subject: Fw: Urgent PALESTINIAN Call to World Civil Society - BREAK The
Conspiracy SILENCE - Israeli Supporters




Urgent Call to the World Civil Society - Break The Conspiracy of Silence!
  -  Israeli Supporters

  We the undersigned Israeli citizens support the enclosed by urgent appeal
issued by our Palestinian colleagues.
  We hereby call upon our fellow citizens to join us:

  Prof. Aharon Eviatar, Hoffit
  Dr. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin
  Prof. Avraham Oz, Tel Aviv
  Prof. Baruch Kimmerling, Jerusalem
  Dr. Daphna Levit, Tel Aviv
  Dr. Daniel Amit, Rome
  Dr. Edeet Ravel, Toronto,Ca.
  Haim Hanegbi, Journalist, Tel Aviv
  Dr. Ilan Pappe, Haifa
  Dr. Lev Grinberg, Jerusalem
  Pnina Feiler, Kibbutz Yad Hanna
  Dr. Ruchama Maton, Tel Aviv
  Adv. Tamar Pelleg-Sryck, Tel Aviv
  Dr. Tikva Honig Parnass, Jerusalem
  Yehudith Harel, Ramat Hasharon
  Dr. Yossi Amitay, Kibbutz Gvulot
  Uri Avnery, Journalist, Tel Aviv
Prof. Rachel Giora, Tel Aviv

  Please send your signature to:   Raji Sourani - pchr at pchrgaza.co.il

  and cc to: ye_harel at netvision.net.il

  And PLEASE:  circulate this appeal as widely as possible.



  29 March 2002:
  Urgent Call to World Civil Society


  Break the Conspiracy of Silence, Act Before it is too Late



  We, the undersigned, believe that a full-scale Israeli offensive
throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) is imminent and that
such an unprecedented attack demands from global civil society an
unprecedented response.  For this reason, we urge global civil society –
including human rights organisations, solidarity groups, and individuals
– to take immediate direct action to stop Israel’s all-out war against
the Palestinian people and its 35-year belligerent military occupation of
the Gaza strip and West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

  Today, Israeli occupying forces invaded the compound of PNA President
Yasser Arafat in Ramallah as part of a systematic and longstanding campaign
to undermine, humiliate, and destroy the Palestinian political leadership.
Israeli troops have also seized complete control of Ramallah and imposed a
total curfew.  At the same time, Israeli officials have begun a massive
military build-up, including the mobilization of 10,000 army reservists, in
preparation for an openly declared war throughout the OPT that promises to
be widespread, prolonged, and bloody.

  Earlier this month, escalating Israeli attacks – including willful
killings, indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment, complete economic
and social suffocation, and mass destruction of housing and agriculture –
culminated in full-scale invasions of Palestinian refugee camps and
villages that killed hundreds of civilians.  Statements by Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon today referring to Arafat as the “enemy” and
speaking of the need to “extirpate Palestinian terrorism everywhere it
exists” indicate that such attacks are set to resume, with greater
ferocity and scope, leading to disastrous consequences.

  Palestinian civil society groups have warned for years that Israel’s
freedom to act as a state above the law would severely undermine chances
for a just and lasting peace.  After decades of occupation, apartheid, and
ethnic cleansing and 18 months of all-out war against a civilian
population, we call for the international community not to wait for
massacres on the scale of those in Sabra and Shatila in 1982; the time for
action is now.

  The support for the Palestinian people shown by international solidarity
groups, manifested in numerous statements, visits, and actions, has proved
invaluable throughout this crisis.  Now is the time for global civil
society to use the momentum it has generated and the ethical integrity it
has demonstrated to forcefully demand immediate action from governments to
end the occupation, which is the root cause of the conflict.

  Governments, including those currently meeting at the UN Commission on
Human Rights, must face direct and unambiguous pressure from their own
people to immediately secure Israel’s respect for the Fourth Geneva
Convention and its complete withdrawal from the OPT as necessary steps
towards achieving a just and lasting peace.

  To this end, we call upon all those who oppose occupation, apartheid,
ethnic cleansing, and war crimes, who are committed to justice and peace,
who are willing to speak truth to power, to:

  Raise your voices to break the conspiracy of silence among governments
that allows Israel, which enjoys the unlimited and unconditional support of
the US, to commit war crimes and other violations of international
humanitarian law with impunity.

  Clearly, vigorously, and publicly demonstrate before governments and
international organisations to demand immediate and effective protection
for Palestinian civilians in the OPT, through protests, marches, media
campaigns, and other peaceful means.

  Demand that governments end military assistance to Israel, suspend
economic ties, and support the prosecution of war criminals, and urge other
states to do so.

  Continue and intensify your activities as part of a sustained and
systematic campaign to end the occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and
war crimes in the OPT and to support the legitimate rights and aspirations
of the Palestinian people.

  Now is the time for immediate and direct action, as the pattern of
escalating oppression and brutality that we have experienced over the past
18 months moves inexorably towards a disaster whose consequences we can
only begin to imagine.  In this dark hour of suffering and determined
resistance, we are sure that the worst is yet to come, but we are equally
sure that, with the support of global civil society at this crucial time,
peace and justice will prevail.

  Signed:

  Dr. Heydar Abdel-Shafi

  Dr. Hanan Ashrawi

  Dr. Mustafa Barghouti

  Dr. Azmi Bishara

  Rana Nashashibi

  Dr. Eyad Sarraj

  Khader Shkirat

  Raji Sourani






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