|
H. E. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
The United Nations, First Avenue
New York, NY 10017 Honorable members of the United Nations Security Council RE: Immediate International Protection for the Palestinian People in
the Occupied Territory The United Nations was founded "to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and
for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the
peace . . . ." The ongoing ethnic cleansing in Palestine has thrown
into stark relief the need for the United Nations to live up to this
duty. Since the Palestinian people have time and again signaled their
refusal to acquiesce in their own subjugation, the inexorable march ofIsraeli human rights violations continues with renewed savagery. The Israeli military has escalated its assault upon the Palestinian
people, with dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded in recent
months. Since the so-called Israeli redeployment from Gaza, Israel has continued to attack unarmed Palestinian civilians. On June 9, seven people of the same family were killed by Israeli shelling on a beach in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Palestinian children have been killed in the first six months of 2006 alone, with the world community looking on. As of June 27, the Israeli Occupation Forces have launched a large scale attack on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, punishing over one million Palestinian civilians for the legitimate exercise of the inherent right of self-defense against Israeli combatants conducting a wide-scale assault on heavily populated areas. Meanwhile, these forces continue illegally to arrest and detain
thousands of Palestinians, confiscate Palestinian land, demolish
homes, impose a deadly economic blockade, and build an annexationist
Apartheid wall. The historic policy of "Hafrada" (the Hebrew word for Apartheid) has reached its apex, and the international community is confronted more vividly than ever with the fruit of its inaction. It is thus time for the United Nations to discharge its historic obligation. We therefore call upon the United Nations to intervene to defend the
Palestinian people by immediately undertaking the following actions:
· forming an international force to protect Palestinian lives
against violent attacks by the Israeli military;
· calling for the immediate release of Palestinian prisoners held
in violation of international law;
· holding Israel accountable for its war crimes against the
Palestinian people, its violations of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Right and the Convention Against Torture, and its blatant disregard for the principles enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Such actions would form the necessary beginnings of a just policy on
Palestine that is long overdue. The Palestinian people are under
brutal assault, and the moral failure of the international community
cries out for rectification. Respectfully, University Teachers' Association -Palestine
Addameer Prisoners' Rights and Support Group -Palestine
Arab Cultural Forum/Gaza -Palestine
New York Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions -USA
International Solidarity Movement, New York Chapter -USA
National Council of Arab Americans, New York Chapter -USA
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, New York Chapter -USA
Troops Out Now Coalition -USA
International Action Center -USA
Arab Muslim American Federation -USA
Gaza Community Mental Health -Palestine
Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation of Palestine/ Toronto -Canada
The Middle East Children's Alliance - USA
Arab American Club/ San Diego, California -USA
American Council on Middle East Policy -USA
The Right of Return Congress -Europe/UK
Deir Yassin Society -USA
Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign -UK
Teacher Creativity Center -Palestine
Collectif Guantanamo -France
Paz con Dignidad -Spain
The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) -Palestine
Aktionsbündnis für einen gerechten Frieden für Palästina -Germany
Collectif Judéo-arabe et citoyen pour la Paix/ Strasbourg -France
Coordination de l'appel de Strasbourg pour une paix juste au Proche
Orient -France
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition/NYC -USA
International Concerned Family And Friends Of Mumia Abu-Jamal -USA
The Society of Christian Heritage in the Holy Land -Palestine
Jerusalem Center for Educational Enrichment (JCEE) -Palestine
Indigenous Peoples Literature -USA
Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC) -Palestine
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom/ Washington,
D.C., Branch -USA
Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine -UK
Women's Affairs Technical Committee -Palestine
Network of Christian Organizations in Bethlehem (NCOB) -Palestine
Ohio State University's Committee for Justice in Palestine -USA
Palestinian American Congress -USA
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center/ Colorado -USA
Georgetown Students for Justice in Palestine -USA
Comite pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient -Luxembourg
Palestine Aid Society of North America -USA
Filastiniyat -Palestine
Workers World Party -San Francisco Branch
Belgian Interuniversity Cooperation with Universities in Palestine -Belgium
Women in Black/ Los Angeles -USA
WESPAC Foundation -USA
Baladna, Association for Arab Youth Association -Israel
Ittijah, Union of Arab Community Based Associations -Israel
The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA/Nazareth) -Israel
Himaya Association for the protection of Lands Rights -Israel
Ansar Al-Sajeen Association -Israel
The committee for the Defence of the Rights of Internally Displaced
Palestinians in Israel -Israel
Friends of Political Prisoners and Detainees -Israel
Jeel Jadeed Cultural Association -Israel
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
(PACBI) -Palestine
Welfare Association/ Great Britain -UK
The Nahif Development and Welfare Association -Palestine
International Solidarity Movement/ Seattle -USA
International Solidarity Movement/ Chicago -USA
The Culture and Volunteer Association, Umm el-Fahm -Israel
International Women's Peace Service/Palestine -Canada
Coalition for a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine -Canada
Verein fuer Antirassistische und Friedenspolitische Initiative/Dar
al Janub" (Union for Antiracism and Peace Policy/Dar al Janub)
-Austria
Jul 11, 2006 3:41 PM
Quote
|
