Mass Protests all over the West Bank in front of UN offices:Apartheid Israel builds ghettos not peace!
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Mass Protests all over the West Bank in front of UN offices:Apartheid Israel builds ghettos not peace!


September 15th,
2005



Mass Protests all over the West Bank in front of UN offices:
Apartheid Israel builds ghettos not peace!

Ramallah – Protests in front of the UN offices –

Protests in front of the UN offices mobilized the Palestinian people all over the West Bank.
The main demonstration took place in Ramallah, where hundreds of people marched through the city. From there,
a delegation representing all Palestinian political parties, the grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign and
civil society organizations headed to the United Nations head office in Ramallah to hand in a statement of protest.
In Jenin, the protestors carried black flags to symbolize the death of the United Nations as a body that can protect
the Palestinian people.
Further protests were staged in Jerusalem, Tulkarem, , Hebron, Salfit, Jericho and Bethlehem.

Twenty-three years ago, under the leadership of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli military surrounded two Palestinian refugee
camps in Sabra and Shatilla to allow the right-wing Lebanese militia to massacre over 2000 civilians. Ariel Sharon
carries the responsibility for the massacre in the Jenin Refugee Camp in March 2001, and for the implementation of
the Apartheid Wall project.

Today, Ariel Sharon stands before the General Assembly of the United Nations, speaking about ‘peace’ while his victims
commemorate the massacres of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatilla and demonstrate against the ongoing entrenchment
of Israeli Occupation and Apartheid in Palestine.

In eight localities all over the West Bank, protests were led by representatives of all national political parties, the
Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign’s popular committees civil society institutions and local dignitaries that addressed the
different demonstrations.
“The UN has to feel ashamed to give Sharon the platform to deceive the world with false words of ‘peace’ while they know
about the crimes he has perpetrated and is still committing. the UN has proven their lack of commitment towards their own
resolutions and principles to all those who still had any hope in this international body. In supporting US-Zionist interests,
they are failing the Palestinians once again”, stated Jamal Juma’, co-ordinator of the Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall
Campaign.

To express the outrage of the people at Sharon’s appearance before the United Nations and the international body’s failure to
force Israel to comply with its resolutions, the demonstrations organized by the National Committee to Resist the Apartheid
Wall and the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign ended outside the local headquarters of the United Nations. A statement was handed
over to Secretary General Kofi Annan whilst the crowds chanted slogans such as “Sharon should stand in front of the Criminal
Court and not on stage at the United Nations!” and “The Apartheid Wall and Ethnic Cleansing of Jerusalem are the Sharon’s
latest crimes in the pursuit of the Zionist project!” against the UN offices.

Despite the media’s celebration of Israel’s ‘disengagement’ from Gaza, all its borders, the sea, and even the airspace above
the Gaza Strip remain under Israeli occupation, leaving the Palestinian people under siege. The Palestinian people are well
aware that the aim of the Zionist “disengagement” is to weaken our resistance and to strengthen their grip over our land.

The Palestinian struggle is joined by supporters throughout the world who have prepared protest actions and letters against
Sharon’s appearance at the United Nations.

In New York, there will be a large demonstration outside the United Nations headquarters where Sharon will be making his speech. Under the
motto “Sharon: Not in New York but in The Hague,” activists are reminding the international community of its obligation to
prosecute Sharon for war crimes and to implement all UN decisions regarding the Palestinian people, including the Right of
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

The popular mass mobilization sends a clear message to the Palestinian Authority: Palestinian land and the inalienable rights
of our people are not up for negotiation. Neither Sharon nor Israel will ever give anything to the Palestinian people without
significant and sustained pressure. Only through resistance will we achieve our rights. This is the lesson that we have learned
from Gaza.

The demands of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign from the UN are:

  • To immediately suspend the vice-presidency of Israel at the General Assembly.

  • To take measures to withdraw Israel’s membership from the UN given its persistent violation of the principles of the UN’s founding charter.

  • To take concrete steps towards the implementation of all the UN resolutions regarding Palestinian rights, including resolution 194.

  • To enforce the decision of the International Court of Justice prohibiting any international aid or assistance for the Apartheid Wall and to dismantle it urgently.

Today’s demonstrations reflect the unwavering resistance of the Palestinian people against Israeli Occupation and Apartheid. Facing expulsion from our capital Jerusalem, we are being locked behind an Apartheid Wall and subjected to the expansion of a system of Jewish-only roads and settlements that is stealing 47% of the land in the West Bank. But we will continue our struggle against the system of Israeli Apartheid that is making us prisoners in our own land.

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