In their recent session in Paris, July 13, 2005 the UN International Conference of Civil Society for Peace in the Middle East unanimously adopted the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.
Through the call participating groups recommitted themselves to ending the Occupation of Palestine and to bringing down the Apartheid Wall as a key element in ending Occupation policies of settlements, land grabs and the destruction of farms and houses.
Participants committed to working within a framework that calls for international mobilizations and campaigns to pressure their respective governments to abide by international law and end economic dealings with the Israeli Occupation until the Occupation ends and the Wall is torn down. The ruling of the International Court of Justice was seen as a key tool for these campaigns.
After the reading of the draft Action Plan, Naâeem Jeenah, Spokesman, Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa and President of the Johannesburg-based Muslim Youth Movement, said that within the South African context the struggle against apartheid had been based on four pillars. Two concerned internal resistance to apartheid and the international isolation of the Apartheid state. It was those pillars, which were crucial to bringing about an end to the in South Africa.
It had taken 30 years for that call to take root. Palestine and the Palestinian people did not have 30 years. From the Conference onward, it was time to intensify efforts to isolate Apartheid Israel. He highlighted the importance of Palestinian groups to be at the lead of the campaign at the global level.
The resolve of the conference declaration is a yet another step towards the consolidation of the call for the isolation of Apartheid Israel and a clear indication to the UN, governments and international bodies that the people globally are calling the decision makers into their responsibility and are leading the way inside civil society severing ties with Israel on all levels.