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Global Day to Break Israeli Siege
By
Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) |
June 01, 2010
Call for Action by the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)
Palestinian civil society calls for intensifying boycott and sanctions as Israel massacres humanitarian relief workers and international solidarity activists
Occupied Palestine, 1 June 2010 – The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) strongly condemns last night’s fatal attack by the Israeli navy on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip. The BNC conveys Palestinian civil society’s condolences to the families and friends of those killed by the Israeli assault and warmly salutes the principled solidarity and moral commitment of all those involved in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
In response, the BNC calls on international civil society to:
· Mobilize for an emergency Global BDS Day of Action on Saturday 5 June 2010 — the 43rd anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem
· Pressure governments to start implementing trade sanctions and arms embargos
We call specifically on transport and dock workers and unions around the globe to:
· Refuse to load/offload Israeli ships and airplanes, following the historic example set by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) in Durban in February 2009 and endorsed by the Maritime Union of Australia (Western Australia).
The Flotilla, which was attacked in international waters in violation of international law, was carrying relief supplies that Israel has persistently prevented from entering Gaza, including medical supplies, cement and food. Israel’s siege is considered a form of collective punishment, a war crime under Article 33 of the Geneva Convention. All of the relief workers and activists on board the Gaza Flotilla ships were unarmed. In legal terms, Israel’s military assault against the Flotilla is an act of aggression against the countries whose flags the ships were carrying; politically, it is an assault against human decency and all people of conscience around the world who support freedom and justice.
Israel’s impunity is the direct result of the international community’s failure to hold it accountable for its ongoing occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people. Israel’s most recent war crimes committed in Gaza and documented in the Goldstone report as well as crimes committed in 2006 against the Lebanese people did not trigger any UN or official sanctions, entrenching Israel’s feeling of being above the law. In fact, Israel’s grave violation of international law was recently rewarded when the OECD voted unanimously to accept its membership. The BNC urges international civil society to end this deep and fatal complicity.
The BNC also welcomes and affirms the call of the UN expert on human rights Prof. Richard Falk who stated, “It is time to insist on the end of the blockade of Gaza. The worldwide campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel is now a moral and political imperative, and needs to be supported and strengthened everywhere.”[1]
The UN Security Council has, unsurprisingly, failed to hold Israel accountable for its aggression against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.[2] The BNC calls upon the UN General Assembly, the European Union, the Arab League and their member states to undertake practical measures which will end Israel’s impunity for its massive and systematic violation of international law, including by:
· Immediately ending all collusion with Israel’s unlawful blockade of the Gaza Strip and pressuring Israel’s to guarantee unrestricted humanitarian access and freedom of movement of people and products into and out of the Gaza Strip;
· Bringing to justice all Israeli officials and military personnel who took the decision and/or implemented this latest massacre as well as earlier war crimes;
· Pressuring your government to immediately suspend arms trade with Israel, and to implement trade sanctions and arms embargos against Israel.
· In particular, we call on the EU to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the Mercosur to suspend the FTA, India to reverse decision to hold negotiations around an India-Israel FTA and to stop arms deals with Israel, and Turkey to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
The BNC also calls on people of conscience and citizen groups all over the world to intensify BDS campaigns against Israel as the most effective means of holding it accountable to international law and ending its fatal impunity.
For action ideas and updates, please see: http://bdsdayofaction.net/
For more information and coordination of action, please contact:
Ziyaad Lunat (Europe) ziyaad[at]bdsmovement.net
Michael Deas (Europe) bnc.europe[at]bdsmovement.net
+4412465822
How to participate in this call
This call is for activists, individuals, groups, communities and all others who are shocked and outraged at the Israeli breach of not only international law and UN conventions but also the values and principles of humanity.
The idea is simple. We need to focus the message that Freedom Flotilla is conveying of breaking the Israeli siege in Gaza and also challenge Israel’s blatant barbarism towards humanity. Global ‘Break the Siege’ dayis about connecting efforts happening all over the world in response to Israel’s impunity on one day dedicated to speaking out on breaking the Israeli siege for Gaza.
In this action, we are collectively calling for:
- an end to the siege in Gaza
- complete isolation of Israel in line with the global movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
- sanctions to be place on Israel until they abide by international law, UN conventions and basic human rights principles.
so, on June 5th, 2010:
- organize pickets, rallies, demonstrations marches in front of Israeli consulates in your countries
- if you don’t have an Israeli consulate in your country then organize around any complicit allies of Israel that you find strategic such as, major israeli companies or institutions, non-Israeli companies and institutions that support Israel.
- if there is already a rally organized then endorse the call to encourage other countries to get involved, send it to your contacts in other countries to start organizing their own protests and add a creative action at the protest or rally.
- forward this call to all organizers and activists to start protests or any kind of action
- if saturday does not work, then organize around that day such as friday, sunday or monday
- send us pictures and other documentation from your action
Thanks for all your support and looking forward to the day of action!
Let’s mark Saturday, 5th June 2010 as Global Day to Break Israeli Siege with protests and demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies and consulates all over the world. We call on you to join us on this day to demand in a global united voice, from our governments to join the growing critical mass around the world with a commitment to the day when Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as any other people, when the siege is lifted, the occupation is over and the 6 million Palestinian refugees are finally granted justice.
- Tags:
- siege
- flotilla
- gaza
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