(See the French version of the Call here.)
#StopImpunity
On July 9, 2014 it will be a decade since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion entitled Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which declared the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank illegal under international law. The Court was clear: it demanded the Wall to be torn down, sanctioned once again Palestinian rights and called upon the international community to enforce Israeli compliance.
What followed has been another decade of injustice and continued impunity with a lack of accountability for unlawful Israeli actions. Ten years later, the Wall and its associated regime of settlements continue to grow in Palestine, embodying a massive instrument of land annexation, pillage of natural resources and displacement. The Wall marks the final brick in Israel’s apartheid project that defines the segregated enclaves to which the Palestinians are to be confined – a more cruel version of the Bantustans established by the former South African apartheid regime. Worldwide, Israel has succeeded in illustrating that walls are an acceptable model for governments to exclude, marginalize, dispossess, discriminate and segregate one people from each other.
In the very moment that Israel has jeopardized the last round of over 20 years of failed talks, it is time for a ‘legal intifada’, an intensified popular struggle and more boycotts, divestment and sanctions. It is time for accountability.
We call on people all across the world to join efforts with us:
Make July the Month against the Apartheid Wall!
#StopImpunity
We encourage you to:
– Raise awareness about the Wall and its impact on the Palestinian people and our struggle for justice;
– Start and strengthen campaigns against the companies building and maintaining the Wall;
– Pressure your government to respect its obligations as outlined in the ICJ decision.
The decision of the International Court of Justice stated three obligations:
1) For Israel to tear down the Wall, undo all laws and regulations related to its construction and make reparations for the damage created
2) For the international community not to recognize, aid and assist
- the Wall,
- the regime associated with it (including the settlement project)
- the maintenance of the situation created by it.
This implies a clear call not to finance or otherwise support any activity related to the above.
3) For the international community to take effective action to end Israeli violations of international law, which may include sanctions.
In Palestine, people have continued to resist the Wall with popular protests, court cases and direct actions. Exactly one year after the ICJ decision, Palestinian civil society called for a global campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) in order to support our struggle for justice and liberation.
We thank all those across the globe that have taken action to pressure their governments, institutions and corporations to enact the ICJ decision, and beyond this, to overcome Israeli apartheid, colonialism and occupation. We ask you to expand and deepen the global BDS movement for justice.
Justice delayed is Justice denied! Stop the Wall Now! Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Now!
Initial endorsements:
Coalitions:
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign – Stop the Wall
Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC); 27 member networks
National and Islamic Forces (Coalition ofthe Palestinian political parties)
Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO); over 135 member organizations
Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, 25 member organizations
Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI); 11 member organizations
Land Defense Coalition; 6 member organizations
Organizations:
Addameer – Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights
Arab Agricultural Engineers Association (AAA)
Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights "Hurriyyat"
Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
Jordan Valley Solidarity
Kairos Palestine
Land Research Center (LRC)
Muwatin, the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy
National Association for Democracy and Law
Palestinian Businesswomen's Association (ASALA)
Palestinian Center for Democracy & Conflict Resolution (PCDCR)
Palestinian Centre for Peace and Democracy (PCPD)
Palestinian Farmers Union (PAFU)
Palestinian Federation of New Trade Unions
Palestinian Youth Union
Project Loving Care Society (PLC)
Rural Women Development Society
The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ)
Union of Agriculture Work Committees (UAWC)
Women and Family Affairs Center