The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign has recently launched a petition for presentation to the Irish Government, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union. The IPSC intends to pressure the Irish Government to “get off the fence” and mobilise opposition in Europe to the Apartheid Wall which Israel is constructing through the West Bank. The Petition also calls on the Irish Government to support an IPSC campaign to end the special trade agreements which exist between the EU and Israel, until such time as Israel complies with the Geneva Convention and the many United Nations’ Resolutions regarding the Palestinian people.
The IPSC, through a series of Anti-Apartheid Wall petition signing events, has gathered over 15000 signatures from people throughout Ireland condemning the Apartheid Wall. These actions have also done much to raise awareness about the Apartheid Wall, as well as increasing solidarity for the Palestinian people. The IPSC petition is also available in an online version, which has been signed by over 1400 people from all over the world. The petition is available at the IPSC web site, www.supportpalestine.org and will be open for signature collection until the end of April.
The campaign to suspend the trade association agreements has been taken up in many other European countries, including Italy, where on May 3rd at 4:30pm there will be a sit-in near the Irish Embassy where participants will demand an end to the Occupation, that the Apartheid Wall be torn down and to suspend all trade agreements between the EU and Israel. A coalition of eight different solidarity groups is organizing the event, and thousands of flyers will be distributed detailing the history of the Israeli Occupation, denouncing its devastating effects since its origins in 1948. The flyers will also highlight the reality of the Apartheid Wall in Palestine, as well as reaffirm the right of return as sanctioned by the UN.
The suspension of trade agreements is seen as part of a larger campaign to pressure Israel to give the Palestinian people their internationally recognized rights. The call to boycott Israeli goods is voiced as “an answer of civil society to the reluctance of the European governments to proceed with economic sanctions against Israel.” International pressure and economic boycotts were decisive contributions to the end of Apartheid in South Africa and are today a strong means against 21st century Apartheid as carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people.
For more information about the IPSC visit: www.supportpalestine.org
For information about the Italian actions on May 3rd see: www.forumpalestina.org