Over 100 orgs call for boycott of "Israel at 60" celebrations
The "Boycott-Divest-Sanctions" National Committee has called for a boycott of celebrations planned by Zionist regime to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
104 organizations have signed on to the appeal, including civil society groups, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, popular committees and political organizations.
The appeal challenges the celebration of the creation of Zionist regime, saying that the project of regime is a colonial project that completely disenfranchised the indigenous Palestinian population.
In addition, the appeal urges “international civil society in all its components, particularly institutions and individuals working in the arts, academia, sport, trade unions, and communities of faith” to boycott any events associated with the “
The following is the text of the appeal, and the list of signatories:
Palestinian Appeal to International Civil Society
Sixty Years of Dispossession and Ethnic Cleansing
Boycott the "
30 March 2008
How can you celebrate? The establishment of the State of Israel sixty years ago was a settler-colonial project that systematically and violently uprooted more than 750 thousand Palestinian Arabs from their lands and homes. Sixty years ago, Zionist militias and gangs ransacked Palestinian properties and destroyed hundreds of Palestinian villages. How can people of conscience celebrate this catastrophe.
In view of this multi-faceted oppression that is the reality of Israel today, we regard any Arab or international participation, whether individual or institutional, in any activity that contributes, either directly or indirectly, to the "celebrations" of Israel's establishment, as collusion in the perpetuation of the dispossession and uprooting of refugees, the prolongation of the occupation, and the deepening of Israeli apartheid. Inviting Israel as a "guest of honor" to the Turin and Paris book fairs, for example, is not only a deliberate betrayal of basic principles of human rights, including those enshrined in the laws of the European Union itself, but is also a deliberate attempt to cover up Israel's crimes against the Arab people, especially its successive war crimes in Lebanon and Palestine, and its acts of slow genocide against a million and a half Palestinians in the besieged and collectively punished Gaza Strip. In short, celebrating "
We urge international civil society in all its components, particularly institutions and individuals working in the arts, academia, sport, trade unions, and communities of faith to boycott the "Israel at 60" celebrations wherever they are held in the world. These celebrations, by definition, insult our history, violate our rights, and deepen our oppression. They also render the path to justice, freedom, equality, and sustainable peace based on international law longer than ever before.
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of
Department of Refugee Affairs - PLO
Beit Ul Moqaddas-The Arab Cultural Capital Project, Beit Ul Moqaddas
Higher National Committee for the Defense of the Right to Return
The General Union of Palestinian Women
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, PGFTU
Palestinian Farmers'
Popular Committee Against the Siege (PCAS),
Federation of Palestinian Refugee Camp Youth Centers
Higher National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba,
Refugee Affairs Department, Mobilization and Organization, Fatah Movement
Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)
Ittijah-Union of the Arab Community Based Organizations,
Palestinian Lawyers' Syndicate
Palestinian Journalists' Association, Beit Ul Moqaddas
Palestinian Engineers' Syndicate, Beit Ul Moqaddas
Stop the Wall-the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
Association of Residents of Depopulated Villages and Cities, Ramallah
Beit Ul Moqaddas
Federation of Independent Workers Committees,
Occupied Palestine Golan heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI)
Al-Aswar Organization for Cultural and Social Development,
University Teachers Association,
Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA-YWCA (JAI), Beit Ul Moqaddas
General Union of Health Service Workers,
A'idoun Group,
Palestinian Community in
Canadian Arab Federation
Muwatin the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy
Palestinian Association of
Center for the Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights (Hurriyat)
Wihdah Democratic Action Institute (Wa'ad)--
Federation of Agricultural Action Committees
Addameer, Ramallah
Ma'an
Voice of
Canadian Palestinian Association,
Taghrid Association for Culture, Development and Reconstruction,
Federation of Agricultural Work Committees,
Turathuna Charitable Society,
The Popular Committee at al-Burayj Camp,
El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe, Al-Bireh
Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East,
General Union of Services and Trade Workers,
The National Council of Arab Americans - Metropolitan
The Arab Muslim American Federation
The Palestinian American Congress,
Dramatists' Federation
Society for the Development of Women, al-Burayj Camp,
Yanbou' Cultural Forum, al-Reina
Palestinian Human Rights Monitor (Rassid),
Yabous Productions, Beit Ul Moqaddas
The Arab Student Observatory of Victims of Occupation and Blockade of the General Union of Arab Students (GUAS(
Arab Culture Society
Al-Siwar-Arab Feminist Movement to Support Victims of Sexual Assault,
Popular Art Centre, Al-Bireh
Federation of Working Women's Committees
Palestinian Federation of Women's Action Committees
Al-Najda Association for the Development of Palestinian Women
Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art (PACA)
Al-Quds Information Bank,
Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling, Ramallah
The Palestinian Working Women's Society for Development
Jimzo Charitable Society
Al-Lidd (Lydda) Charitable Society, Ramallah-Al-Bireh Governorate
Al-Lidd (Lydda) Social Association, Beitunia
Lifta Charitable Society,
Committee of Residents of Greater Masmiyya, Ramallah-Al-Bireh Governorate
Falsteen Al Gaad association – Deheisha refugee camp
Al
Palestinian Progressive Youth Union,
Palestinian Women's Information and
Said Mishal Foundation for Culture and Science,
Assala Association for Heritage and Development,
Beit Ul Moqaddas
International
Juthourr Cultural Society,
Women's Research and
Media Forum for Women Affairs Advocacy,
Palestinian Cultural Center,
Refugees Popular Committee,
Progressive Union Work Society,
Friends of
Al-Aqsa Charitable Youth Welfare Society,
The One Democratic State Group,
Arab Cultural Forum,
Palestinian Democratic Union-Fida
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