From the 22nd to the 24th of June, the 2nd Migration World Social Forum (WSF) was held in Rivas Vaciamadrid in Spain. Representatives of 1193 organizations from 84 countries all over the world participated in the discussions and activities.
There was three days of presentations and discussions around various issues in seminars and classes organised under the common motto of, âFor universal citizenship and Human Rights. Another world is possibleâ. Moreover, the injustice suffered by the Palestinian people for almost 60 years was denounced in several events with one seminar focused upon the Apartheid Wall and the consequences of the Zionist policies.
Different Spanish organizations from the solidarity network against the Occupation of Palestine â Paz Ahora, Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Ãrabe, Paz con Dignidad y Mujeres por la Paz y Acción Solidaria con Palestina â organised this seminar and explained the manner of the racist and colonial policies of Israel. Of note was the Apartheid Wall and its associated infrastructures, the continuous aggression against the Palestinian people and the future of Palestine given that the international community is not willing to force Israel to comply with international law.
Salah Salah, active member of different Palestinian associations and institutions, contributed to the discussions on behalf of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The Palestinian representative to Spain, Musa Amer Odeh, was honoured during the opening event organized by the local authorities of the city.
The condemnation of the Wall and the images that show its reality and consequences moved the participants of the seminar to fully support the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. During the days of the WSF, activists have gathered hundreds of signatures asking the Spanish government to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement, the total cancellation of all military agreements and arms trade with Israel and that the EU states and the World Bank are not to provide funding for the construction of tunnels or bridges or terminals that sustain the situation created by the construction of the Wall.
In the final resolutions of this global meeting, a specific paragraph was unanimously approved by delegates condemning Zionist policies: âWe ask that the governments comply with their obligations to pressure states, such as Israel, that do not respect the UN resolutions and the decisions of the International Court of Justice to put an end the Occupation, to dismantle the Apartheid Wall, end the planned expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land and end racist legislation. We further demand the implementation of the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees.â