BDS National Committee Statement
Occupy Wall Street not Palestine!
We are part of the
world’s 99% yearning for freedom, justice and equal rights!
If a people one day wills to live fate must answer its call
And the night must fade and
the chain must break
-- Abou-Al-kacem
El-Chebbi (Tunisia)
Occupied Palestine, October
13 -The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC),
the largest Palestinian civil society coalition struggling for Palestinian
rights, is proud to stand in solidarity with the movements struggling for a new
world based on democracy, human rights and economic justice. From New York to
Athens, from Madrid to Santiago, from Bahrain to Rome, these huge mobilisations
provide a much needed reminder of something that Palestinians have always known
– that another world, a dignifying one, is possible and ordinary people can
create it.
Our aspirations overlap;
our struggles converge. Our oppressors, whether greedy corporations or military
occupations, are united in profiting from wars, pillage, environmental
destruction, repression and impoverishment. We must unite in our common quest
for freedoms, equal rights, social and economic justice, environmental sanity,
and world peace. We can no longer afford to be splintered and divided; we can
no longer ignore our obligations to join hands in the struggle against wars and
corporate exploitation and for a human-friendly world community not a
profit-maximizing jungle.
The Occupy Wall Street
movement and its counterparts across the US, Europe, Latin America and
elsewhere are -- at least partially -- inspired by the Arab Spring for
democracy and social justice. Leaders of the Arab popular revolts tell us that
they, in turn, were largely inspired by our own, decades-old struggle against
Israel’s occupation of our land, its system of discrimination that matches the
UN’s definition of apartheid, and its denial of the right of Palestinian
refugees to return home.
The rapidly emerging
movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it
complies with international law is a key and effective part of the Palestinian
struggle. Anchored in universal principles of human rights and struggling for
freedom, justice and equality, the BDS movement, established in 2005, is deeply
rooted in decades of Palestinian peaceful resistance to colonial oppression and
is inspired by the South African struggle against apartheid as well as the
civil rights movement in the US. It is adopted by a near consensus among
Palestinians everywhere, with all the main political parties, trade unions,
professional syndicates, women’s unions, student groups, NGO networks and
refugee advocacy networks represented in the BNC, the reference for this
growing movement to end Israeli impunity.
The Palestinian-led BDS
movement is a global effort of groups, from South Africa to Britain, from
Canada to India, and within Israel itself, all committed to ending Israel’s
denial of basic Palestinian rights. It is endorsed by towering moral leaders of
the calibre of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Holocaust survivor and co-author of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Stephane Hessel. It is supported by
world renowned cultural and intellectual figures such as Alice Walker, Naomi
Klein, Roger Waters, Judith Butler, Sarah Schulman, John Berger, Ken Loach,
John Greyson, and Adrienne Rich. Massive
trade union federations such as COSATU (South Africa), CUT (Brazil), TUC (UK),
ICTU (Ireland), among many others, have also adopted BDS.
The movement has scored in the last two years some spectacular
achievements when internationally renowned artists and music groups heeded the
cultural boycott of Israel and refused to perform there or cancelled scheduled
appearances. These have included the Pixies, Elvis Costello, Snoop Dogg, Meg
Ryan, Vanessa Paradis, Gil Scott-Heron, among many others. The Norwegian state
pension fund, among others, major European banks and some corporations have all
been convinced to divest from businesses implicated in Israel’s violations of
international law. Increasingly, BDS is recognized as a civic movement capable
of ending Israeli impunity and, crucially, contributing to the global struggle
against the war-mongering, racist agenda which Israel has persistently played a
key role in.
So as you break your own chains and build your own effective resistance
against corporate tyranny, we ask you to demand a just peace for all the
peoples in the Middle East, based on international law and equal human rights.
Palestinians, too, are part of the 99% around the world that suffer at the
hands of the 1% whose greed and ruthless quest for hegemony have led to
unspeakable suffering and endless war. Corporate power has not just profited
from our suffering but has colluded in maintaining Israel’s occupation and
apartheid to perpetuate an unjust order that profits oil and military companies
and multinational financial institutions.
We call upon all the spreading social movements of the world to think
critically when considering their attitude towards the Israeli ‘social justice’
protests, which have almost completely ignored the key issue at the heart of
all of the problems faced by ordinary Palestinians and even Israelis: Israel’s
costly system of occupation, colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian
people. Without putting an end to that multi-tiered Israeli system of
oppression, our entire region will never enjoy a comprehensive and lasting
peace, one that is based on justice and human rights.
Money for jobs, health and education, not for racist oppression and
occupation!
Nowhere is this more important than in the United States. Despite
Israel’s persistent denial of Palestinian rights, the US has provided Israel
with unconditional political and military assistance that directly contributes
to the denial of Palestinian rights, but also to the problems faced by ordinary
US citizens. Could the $24bn of military aid provided to Israel in the period
2000-2009 not been better spent on schools, healthcare and other essential
services? Did Israel not play a major role in prodding the US to launch and
continue its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at immense human and material cost,
mainly borne by the poorest in those countries?
But, we must remind ourselves all the time that this struggle will never
be easy, and reaching our objectives never inevitable. As Martin Luther King
once said:
"Change
does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous
struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man
can't ride you unless your back is bent."
The refreshing scenes of determined peaceful protest for justice from
around the world tell us that we, the 99% of the world, are in the process of
straightening our backs, collectively, with unwavering fortitude and boundless
hope.
BNC Secretariat
Wall St protests - End American military aid to Israel
Palestinian women demonstrating outside of Ofer military prison in support of Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike
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