http://www.al-awda.org/alert-sharon.html
ACTION ALERT
For Immediate Release
September 11, 2005
For Immediate Release
ACTION: PETITION SENT TO THE UNITED NATIONS
OPPOSE SHARON’S ADDRESS TO THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY!
DEMAND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UN RESOLUTION 194!
DEMAND THE RIGHT OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND!
On September 15, 2005 war criminal Ariel Sharon is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly’s sixtieth regular session. Ironically, September 16 to 18, 2005 mark the twenty-third anniversary of the deliberate and systematic massacre of more than 2000 Arab civilians, mostly Palestinian and Lebanese, in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, the chief architect of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, was found by an Israeli commission of inquiry to have been personally responsible for the massacre.
The statement below calling for the boycott of Sharon’s upcoming address, as well as the implementation of UNGA Resolution 194, is today being sent to members of the General Assembly and other relevant parties.
The victims of Sabra and Shatila — those who perished, as well as those who continue to be saddled with the memories and horrors of the massacre on a daily basis, would never forgive us if we were not to do our utmost against Sharon’s visit to the UN.
Please join in this important campaign as we continue to encourage and add institutional, organizational and individual endorsements.
We also request that you circulate this statement as widely as possible.
Please email your endorsements to: opposesharon@yahoo.com
Provided is a list of organizational and individual signatories (lists in formation)
For information on the NY demo on September 15, please go to Al-Awda New York’s website
For other mobilizations of public protest against Ariel Sharon’s address to the United Nations, see: http://www.stopthewall.org
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WE, the undersigned, DEMAND that Ariel Sharon not be permitted to address the sixtieth regular session of the General Assembly. Sharon’s refusal to abide by international law, particularly as it pertains to the right of return for Palestinian refugees, is matched only by his long career as a war criminal:
* In 1952 Ariel Sharon was appointed commander of special 101 Commando Unit which carried out raids on West Bank village of Qibya in which 69 civilians were murdered, many of them women and children.
* The massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps occurred between September 16 and 18, 1982, after the Israeli invading army, then occupying Beirut and under Sharon’s overall command as Israel’s Defense Minister, permitted members of the Phalange and local allied militias into the camps. The over 2000 civilian victims of the massacre included infants, children, women, and elderly.
* In February 1983, a three-member official Israeli commission of inquiry charged with investigating the events, known as the Kahan Commission, named former Defense Minister Sharon as one of the individuals who “bears personal responsibility” for the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
* The Al-Aqsa Intifada started after Sharon visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Noble Sanctuary in Jerusalem under heavy Israeli military and police guard. The visit was a calculated step that sparked the expected resistance from the oppressed Palestinian people.
Ariel Sharon continues his utter disregard for international law. His refusal to abide by scores of United Nations’ resolutions addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict is legendary. Only recently, Sharon reiterated his rejection of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their
original homes and lands. Such outright disregard for the will of the international community constitutes a grave violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination, the European, the American and the African Conventions on Human Rights, and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
It also reflects Sharon’s refusal to implement UN resolution 194, which has been reaffirmed practically every year since 1948. Generally, the same position has been affirmed by the Treaty-Based UN Committees, the regional conventions on human rights and practically all human rights NGOs.
We find it peculiar that the General Assembly would permit a war criminal like Ariel Sharon to address it, especially considering his explicit loathing of the UN and the collective will of the vast majority of its member states.
We also DEMAND that the General Assembly embark on enforcing its resolution No. 194. The right of the Palestinian refugees and uprooted to return to their homeland is a historical right that is guaranteed by international law. It is an individual and collective right which cannot be relegated, diminished, reduced or forfeited by any representation on behalf of the Palestinian people in any agreement or treaty. As such, the Right of Return is not substituted or affected in any way by the establishment of a Palestinian state in any form. According to international law, agreements that purport to trade away the right of refugees to return to their homes,
or any other inalienable right, are illegal.
The right of refugees to return has been exercised, with the support of the international community, in Kosovo, Bosnia, East Timor, Rwanda, Guatemala and many other places. Yet, it continues to be ignored and neglected in Palestine. This selective enforcement of international law and UN resolutions serves to undermine rather than strengthen efforts to build a
peaceful and just world.
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC) is the largest network of grassroots activists and students dedicated to Palestinian human rights. We are a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3) organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations to PRRC are tax-deductible.
http://www.al-awda.org/signatories.html
[September 11, 2005]
Organizational Signatories
The following is a listing of organizations that have so far submitted their endorsement in opposition to Sharon’s address to The UN General Assembly, and to demand implementation of UN resolution 194 and the Right of Palestinian Refugees to Return to their homeland. Please note, this list is in formation. To send your organizational and individual endorsements, email us at: opposesharon@yahoo.com . For background, please go to this Action Call
Action Center For Justice, Charlotte, NC
Aidoun Group – Lebanon
Aidoun Group – Syria
Aktionsbuendnis fuer Einen Gerechten Friedern in Palaestina, Germany
Al-Awda Popular Committees – Gaza, Palestine
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition – Egypt
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition – Espana
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition – Italia
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition – North America
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition – United Kingdom
Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center- Aida Camp, Palestine
Al-Shorouq Newspaper – British Columbia, Canada
Alternative Information Center, Palestine/Israel
Alternative Palestinian Agenda
Americans For Justice in Palestine-Israel
Americans & Palestinians for Peace (AMPAL), USA
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, USA
Anti Globalisation Activists Syria (A.G.A.S)
Anti-Racist Action-Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror (ARA-LA/PART-LA)
Anti-War Coalition – South Africa
Arab Committee to Support the Intifada – Brazil
Arab-American Forum, New Hampshire, USA
Arab American Union Members Council- USA
Arab Media Watch, UK
Arab Student Union’s (ASU) of The University Of Michigan- Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College
ASKAPENA (Herriekiko Euskal Elkartasuna – Solidaridad Vasca con los Pueblos)
The Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons in Israel ADRID
Association of Democratic Palestinian Educators
Association Palestine En Marche – France
Association Une Toile Contre Un Mur
Atlanta Palestine Solidarity (APS)
BADIL
Bay Area United Against War, BAUAW
Bourj Sahamali Refugee Camp
Break The Chains Collective, Eugene, Oregon USA
Break the Silence Mural Project, San Francisco, USA
Cafe Intifada
Canada Palestine Association
CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, France
Citizens for Fair Legislation, USA
Centro de Documentacion en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S.J., Quito-Ecuador
Christians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Indianapolis
Coalition to Free the Angola 3
Collectif Judeo-Arab et Citoyen pour la Paix, Strasbourg, France
Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe, Madrid, Spain
Comité de Lutte Contre La Barbarie et l’Arbitraire – France
Comité de Soutien au Peuple Palestinien , Ottignies-LLN , Belgique
Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient – Luxembourg
Comité Rennais France Palestine Solidarité
Committee for Democratic Palestine – Brazil
The Communist Party of Britain
USA Democratic Palestinian Women’s Organization
Democratic Union for Palestinian Youth
Democratic Palestinian Teacher’s Gathering
East Jerusalem YMCA
Egypt’s Renaissance and Support for Arab Rights Group
Enfants de la Palestine, Association des familles Franco-Palestiniennes
Filastiniyat, Palestine, Ramallah
Films For Justice In Palestine St. Petersburg, Florida
The Freedom Archives
Freedom Road Socialist Organization, USA
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
Free Palestine Alliance – USA
Free Palestine Club, Santa Monica, California
Generation Five, San Francisco, USA
Gesellschaft Schweiz Palästina, GSP, Association Swiss Palestine, ASP Switzerland
Glasgow Palestine Solidarity Campaign (Glasgow PSC) UK
Global Exchange, San Francisco
Global Women’s Strike
Harrisburg Middle East Justice and Peace Group
Heartland Muslim Women’s Network
Houston Coalition for Justice Not War (HCJNW), USA
Human Rights Protection Center – Palestinian NGO, Beirut, Lebanon
Humans Against Israeli Occupation Team
International Action Center, USA
Interfaith Council for Peace in the Middle East, USA
International Socialist Organization
International Solidarity Movement
International Solidarity Movement in France
International Solidarity Movement – Northern California
Jews for a Free Palestine, San Francisco
Jews Against Zionism, UK
Jordanian Women’s Union – Amman – Jordan
Justice for Palestinians, USA
Justice in Palestine Coalition, San Francisco
Kolectivo Kahuin, Chile
L.A.U.G.H.O.E. Let’s All Unite to Gain Heaven On Earth
L’Associazione di Amicizia Italo-Palestinese, Italy
L.A. Palestine Labor Solidarity Committee
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
MarWen Media.com
Middle East Children’s Alliance, USA
Middle East Crisis Committee
Middle East Committee of Women Against Military Madness
Middle Eastern Student Society-California State University, Fullerton
MidEast: JustPeace, Traverse City, MI
Le Mouvement des Indigènes de la République, France
Movement for Peace and Justice Mumbai – India
Muslim Voters of America, Oak Park, Illinois
Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa
Najdeh Association, Lebanon
Nakba ’48, a student organization at the University of Florida
National Council of Arab-Americans (NCA), USA
Nederlands Palestina Komitee/ Netherlands Palestine Committee
Network of Christian Organizations/Bethlehem
New England Committee to Defend Palestine
New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW)
New York City Jericho Movement
New York Committee to Defend Palestine
New Jersey Solidarity – Activists for the Liberation of Palestine
Niagara Palestinian Association, Ontario
Niagara Coalition for Peace NC4P, Ontario
Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition
OPTICS (Organizing Pittsburgh To Increase Community Solidarity), Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Palestine Aid Society of North America
Palestine Community Centre – British Columbia, Canada
Palestine Media Watch
Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK
Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) – Chicago
Palestine Solidarity Group of Vancouver
Palestine Support Committee, Durban, South Africa
Palestine Youth Organization – Jordan
Palestine Youth Organization – Lebanon
Palestine Youth Organization – Syria
Palestine 13, local group of the French-Palestine Solidarity Association(AFPS), Marseille, France
Palestinian American Women’s Association
Palestinian Arab Association – Sao Paulo, Brazilia and Koromba
Palestinian Arab Cultural Center – El Rio Grande Do Sul
The Palestinian Community in Norway
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH
Palestinian National Initiative Southern California Chapter
Palestinian Refugee and Diaspora Center- Shaml
Palestinian Solidarity Committee – South Africa
Palestinian Women Democratic Association Party for Socialism and Liberation
PAYDAY, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Peace and Freedom Party, California, USA
Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee
Pomona Valley Greens
Progressive Democratic Alliance
RAWAN (the Radical Arab Women’s Activist Network)
RESOCI (Réseau Solidaire et Citoyen) France
Right of Return Congress
Right of Return Congress-USA
Riverside Area Peace and Justice Action, Riverside California
Scottish Palestinian Mediawatch
Socialist Workers Party, Belgian section of the Fourth International
Solidarity Association for Social and Cultural Development
The South Asian Collective in Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Stanford University Coalition for Justice in the Middle East (CJME)
Stanford University Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN)
Stop United States of Aggression, Belgium
The House of Peace and Non-Violence, St. Petersburg, Florida
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Southern California
Troops Out Now Coalition, USA
Union of Palestinian Youth Center
Union of Committees of the Right to Return
Union of Palestinian Women- Jordan
Union of Palestinian Democratic Youth
Union of Palestinian Youth
UNISON
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Vlaams Palestina Komitee – Flemish Palestine Solidarity Committee – Belgium
Young communist League
Women in Black-Los Angeles
NYCLAW: NYC Labor Against the War 