Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign: Global Solidarity for Nov 9th Strengthens the Call to Stop the Wall!

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Global Solidarity for Nov 9th Strengthens the Call to Stop the Wall!
Latest News, PENGON/Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, November 10th, 2003

While in Palestine thousands took part in their national day against the Apartheid Wall on November 9th, solidarity from multiple regions across the globe was expressed, magnifying the call that the Wall in Palestine must stop and be torn down. These worldwide actions emerged from growing support with the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign since its inception just one year ago, and in particular to the Campaign call in June 2003 which designated Nov 9th as International Day Against the Wall.

Over sixty-five cities in some twenty-two countries from Asia, South and North America, South Africa, Europe, and the Middle East organized actions against the Apartheid Wall on or around November 9th. In the majority of cities several Palestine solidarity groups and organizations formed anti-Wall coalitions for events and actions. Organizers creatively crafted mock Walls to tear down, coordinated street theater actions and protests, or speaking forums to address the Wall’s brutal reality in Palestine.

Worldwide events for International Day against the Wall began Friday the 7th in Montreal where activists held a vigil and demonstration calling for the destruction of the Wall in front of the Israeli Embassy. Rome, Paris and Madrid witnessed national demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall the following day; in Rome, over 30,000 demonstrators took the streets expressing solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for liberation against the Israeli occupation.

Above: Osaka, Japan Nov 9, 2003

Above: Montreal, Canada Nov 9, 2003

Actions across the globe intensified on Sunday November 9th when demonstrators from San Francisco and Santiago to London, Oslo, Damascus and beyond had corresponding events against the Wall with resistance building in Palestine. In Sydney, Manchester and numerous other cities demonstrators erected mock checkpoints along a Wall replica which they forced passer-bys to walk through and distributed information about the Wall and its destruction throughout Palestine. In Osaka, Japan activists unrolled barbed wire across the sidewalk and projected images of the Wall onto street signs while speaking to crowds about the Wall and the need for its immediate destruction. Organizers in communities such as Rio de Janeiro and Stockholm displayed photos of the Wall and Palestine during actions and read poetry and statements of solidarity with Palestine while groups in Philadelphia and Cape Town focused on educational outreach about the Wall.

After November 9th organizers such as those in Amman, Boston, and groups in Holland are continuing activities throughout the week and/or building larger coalitions in solidarity with Palestine against the Wall and the oppressive Israeli policies. This growing momentum throughout the globe greatly amplifies the call from Palestine to Stop the Wall while strengthening grassroots mobilization of Palestinian communities. In Palestine, it was called that with this momentum and popular force November 9th will be the beginning of the fall of the Wall.

Updates from global events will individually be posted over the coming week in the Worldwide Activism section.