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CELEBRITIES CONDEMN SHARON’S ADDRESS TO THE UNITED NATIONS

— letter reprinted below

Thursday 15 September 2005

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Miriam Margolyes, John Williams and Jeremy Corbyn MP have joined other celebrities, trade union leaders and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in protesting at Sharon addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

A letter is being sent to Kofi Annan and the British representative to the UN, expressing ‘horror that Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon will be addressing the 60th UN General Assembly at a time when the world is remembering the 23rd anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres on 17-19 September 1982’, when 2000 Palestinians were killed.

The letter has also been signed by Geoffrey Bindman, Victoria Brittain, Tony Benn, Andy de la Tour, Ahdaf Soueif, John Keane, William Dalrymple, Susan Wooldridge and Jeremy Hardy.

Trade union leaders Barry Camfield (Assistant Gen Sec TGWU), Jeremy Dear (Gen Sec NUJ), Andy Bain (President TSSA) and Mary Compton (past president, NUT) have also signed up.

The signatories point out that ‘As Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon has carried out policies to destroy any hope of a just and peaceful settlement based on international law. He is systematically removing the Palestinian population’s basic right of existence on their land.’

Finally, the letter calls for the ‘60th Session of the UN General Assembly to:

Demand an end to settlements and the implementation of the UN resolutions including resolution 194.
Enforce the decision of the International Court of Justice to prohibit any international aid or assistance for the Apartheid Wall and to dismantle it urgently.
Prevent Sharon from using his Gaza ‘disengagement’ to cover up his annexation of 47% of the West Bank and the expulsion of Palestinians from their capital in Jerusalem.’

Betty Hunter, General Secretary of the PSC, said: ‘Ariel Sharon is a war criminal. He has systematically ignored United Nations resolutions and international human rights law and must be brought to account. The UN General Assembly should be working to implement the decisions it has taken with regard to Israel, rather than allowing him to address the UN.’

Further details: Palestine Solidarity Campaign - 020 7700 6192

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

www.palestinecampaign.org

Tel: 0207 700 6192

Letter follows:

United Nations UK office

Millbank Tower,

21-24 Millbank,

London SW1P 4QP

16 September 2005

Dear Mr Annan,

We wish to express our horror that Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon will be addressing the 60th UN General Assembly at a time when the world is remembering the 23rd anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, committed on 17-19 September 1982.

Ariel Sharon has a long record of committing war crimes and flouting UN resolutions and international human rights law. In 1952, he was as a commander of the Israeli army during the massacre in Qibya where 69 villagers were slaughtered. In 1982, he was the architect of the massacre in Sabra and Shatila that cost the lives of 2000 Palestinians.

He is one of the masterminds of the Israeli government’s settlement policies in the West Bank and Gaza and is currently also implementing the project of the Apartheid Wall against the rights of the Palestinian people and in defiance of international law. The decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismantle the Wall is being flouted every day, with bulldozers continuing their destruction of Palestinians lands and lives.

As Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon has carried out policies to destroy any hope of a just and peaceful settlement based on international law. He is systematically removing the Palestinian population’s basic right of existence on their land.

The Gaza ‘disengagement’ should not be heralded as a step towards peace by Ariel Sharon. Israel remains an occupying force in the Gaza Strip, creating what is effectively an open air prison for the Palestinians there. Ariel Sharon has treated UN resolutions, including on settlement building, checkpoints, curfews and the Apartheid Wall with contempt. Whilst the ‘disengagement’ was taking place in Gaza, Ariel Sharon was declaring his commitment to flouting UN resolutions by increasing settlement building in the West Bank and continuing to build the Apartheid Wall.

As Israel has repeatedly ignored UN resolutions, the UN founding charter and international law, the United Nations General Assembly should be challenging Ariel Sharon’s record of war crimes and working to implement the decisions taken by the General Assembly with regard to Israel, rather than allowing him to address the UN.

We ask the 60th Session of the UN General Assembly to:

Start the implementation of the UN resolutions including resolution 194.
Enforce the decision of the International Court of Justice to tear down the Apartheid Wall and to prohibit any international aid or assistance for this crime.
To prevent Sharon from using his Gaza ‘disengagement’ to cover up his annexation of 47% of the West Bank and the expulsion of Palestinians from their capital in Jerusalem.

Yours sincerely,

Also to: Sir Emyr Jones Parry,
UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative
to the United Nations in New York,
One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
885 Second Avenue (between 47th & 48th Streets)
New York, NY 10017

Fax: 1212 745 9316