***To download the call in PDF format, click here.***
***To download the French version of the call in PDF format, click here.***
As part of the national and international mobilization to mark the 60th year of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), in which millions of Palestinians were either slaughtered or displaced by the Zionist militias and army, the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign and its Popular Committees call for the Sixth Week against the Apartheid Wall.
Six years after the first mass protests started in the northern West Bank against the Apartheid Wall, Occupation bulldozers and military are still targeting our land and people. We have continued to stand our ground, halting the construction works with our own hands, defending our land and mourning our latest martyrs – Ahmad Mousa (12 years) and Yousef Amira (17 years) from Niâlin – that have given their lives in the struggle against the Wall. We call on you to stand in solidarity:
MOBILIZE AND RAISE YOUR VOICE
DURING THE SIXTH WEEK AGAINST THE APARTHEID WALL,
NOVEMBER 9 â 16 2008.
The Wall has almost been completed, resulting in the confinement of Palestinians in the West Bank into segregated Bantustans. 60 years ago, the depopulation or destruction of 531 Palestinian towns and villages, ruthless massacres and the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their houses and lands has turned the majority of the Palestinian people into refugees and placed those remaining in their homeland under an apartheid regime. Today, the Wall is threatening to finish the project of ethnic cleansing and land left that began in 1948.
Snaking through West Bank, the Wall has isolated 78 Palestinian villages, separating communities and wrecking livelihoods. Some are trapped between the Wall and the Green Line, where access is only allowed with permits through gates with restricted opening hours. Most are imprisoned from three sides by the Wall, settlersâ roads or settlements, with the only exit controlled by the Occupation. 14 of these villages face imminent demolition and are in serious danger of being wiped off the map.
The Wall is also sealing the fate of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin. Having faced expulsions since 1948, the Occupation is renewing the attack on them in order to clear the land in the Jordan Valley and around Jerusalem for annexation. Occupation authorities are pushing more than 6,000 members of the Jahalin Bedouin, residing east of Jerusalem, into rekuzim (âconcentrationâ) camps in order to make space for Jewish-only settlements.
The fight for Jerusalem has reached a critical stage, with the Occupation consolidating and expanding the settlement ring around the city. Construction on the light rail, which will link Jewish settlements with the city centre, is near completion. Home demolitions have increased sharply, settlement construction is booming and Occupation forces regularly raid and close Palestinian institutions, events and religious sites.
As the Occupation tightens its grip on the West Bank, we must not forget the people of Gaza who are subjected to medieval siege and forgotten by the international community, yet continue to remain steadfast. They were the first to blow up the Wall, and their actions exemplify the resistance and determination of the Palestinian people.
The International Court of Justice has ruled that the Wall is illegal and has required that it be torn down and all laws and orders related to it be reversed. The Court has reminded the international community of their obligation not to render any aid or assistance to the Wall and instead to ensure the implementation of international law, including the ICJ decision itself. To date, the international community has not promoted any concrete move towards rulingâs implementation.
Instead, the United Nations and the international community have turned a blind eye to or even abetted Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing. The US sponsored and internationally endorsed Annapolis process is to result in a âshelf agreement,â meaning that while the Occupation will have no duty to change its policies, it will have gained the signature of Palestinian negotiators compromising our rights.
The only effective means to promote justice in Palestine to date is the united Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions issued in July 2005. The global adoption of the call has so far provided much needed support for our struggle.
We ask you to support the resistance of the people by mobilizing against the Wall and the apartheid system it has created on ground. We call on whoever still believes in justice, humanity, liberation, and resistance against tyranny to stand with us and:
Show solidarity to the Palestinian struggle against the Apartheid Wall
Expose Israeli occupation, apartheid, and colonialism
End global support for Israeli apartheid
Visit our website and use our awareness raising material to prepare your events and protests:
âPalestinian Villages and Town between Isolation and Expulsionâ: a detailed study of the communities threatened with ethnic cleansing by the Apartheid Wall. Download the PDF here or contact us at global@stopthewall.org for hard copies. To download the French version, click here.
âPalestinian Villages and Town between Isolation and Expulsionâ â the factsheet: a short summary of the most important facts and figures. To download the factsheet, click here.
âThe Arab Jahalin: from the Nakba to the Wallâ: an in depth study on the history of the Jahalin Bedouin, from there expulsion from Tal âArad until the present. Based on a number of oral histories, the Jahalin narrate their own struggle. To download the PDF, click here. or contact us at global@stopthewall.org for hard copies.
âOn the way of return to Tal Arad – the Arab Jahalinâ: a 25 minutes documentary on the Arab Jahalin and their struggle for dignity and return to Tal Arad. To obtain a DVD, please contact us at global@stopthewall.org
âThreatened villages â 6 years of struggleâ: a powerful photo exhibit that illustrates the reality and struggle of the Palestinian villages threatened by the Wall and the Bedouin communities within the context of the ongoing Nakba. 36 photos, including captions. To download the PDF, click here. To obtain the hi-res photos of the exhibit and captions, please contact us at global@stopthewall.org
Develop your Boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns. For more information, materials and updates, see: www.bdsmovement.net
Mobilize against the Occupationâs policies and its Apartheid Wall!
Reach out to your media!
Reach out to your political representatives!
Stop support Israeli apartheid!