I COMUNICATI SULLA SITUAZIONE ATTUALE DELLE DELEGAZIONI INTERNAZIONALI IN PALESTINA
appuntamenti, manifestazioni, presidi, iniziative, appelli
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Urgent Call to World
Civil Society:
Break the Conspiracy of Silence, Act Before it is too Late
ROMPETE il SILENZIO, AGITE prima che sia troppo tardi
Noi, sottoscritti, crediamo che sia imminente una massiccia offensiva su tutti i Territori
Palestinesi Occupati. Un simile attacco, mai eguagliato inprecedenza, richiede un'adeguata
risposta della comunitá internazionale. Per questo motivo urgiamo la societá civile
mondiale - incluse le organizzazioni per i diritti dell'Uomo, gruppi per la solidarietá e
singoli individui - di agire direttamente per fermare il massiccio attacco lanciato da
Israele contro il Popolo Palestinese e per porre fine all'occupazione bellica della
Striscia di Gaza, la West Bank e Gerusalemme che si protrae da 35 anni
-----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights <info@pchrgaza.org>
> > > > To: info@pchrgaza.org <info@pchrgaza.org>
> > > > Date: 29 -04-2002 17:20
> > > > Subject: [list2pchr]urgent message to global civil society
[please circulate as widely as possible; a copy of this declaration
will
also be available shortly at www.pchrgaza.org]
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 preparationfor 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:
1.. Raise your voices to break the conspiracy of
silence among governments that allows Israel, which enjoys the unlimited and unconditiona
l support of the US, to commit war crimes and other violations of international
humanitarian law with impunity.
2.. 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.
3.. 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.
4.. Continue and intensify your activities as part of
a sustainedand 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 determinedresistance, 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