“Call of Alternative Information Center to Global Social Movements”

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Sunday, 24 April 2011 10:31 Alternative Information Center (AIC)

When politics loses its moral underpinnings and condones racism; when aggression and oppression become a daily occurrence in the name of self defense or religion; when peace becomes a tool for the continuation of occupation and humiliation; when humans become daily targets of murder in defense of hegemony and control—silence becomes complicity.

For sixty-four years the State of Israel has perpetrated policies of aggression and colonialism, whether in historic Palestine, the Syrian Golan or Lebanon, policies that bring about the continued suffering of the Palestinian and other peoples under a colonial, military occupation.

Israel denies the Palestinian right to return, the right to self-determination and the right to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Israel further refuses to abide by United Nations resolutions and insists on flouting international law by clinging to its expansionist policy— its policy of oppression in the West Bank and Judaisation of Jerusalem, the construction of the Separation Wall and the continuation of the siege and aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Israel also continues to design and implement racist policies against Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The radicalization of Israeli oppressive policies in recent years stands in stark contrast to the current wave of democratic revolutions in the Middle East. The Middle East is dramatically changing, and international policies toward the region must also change. Accordingly, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) as a joint Palestinian-Israeli organization, calls out to the world’s social movements at this crucial time.

The Israeli-Arab conflict is not a clash of civilizations, a religious problem or a timeless hatred, but a conflict stemming from the political and cultural system of Israel’s ruling class. Our problem is with the colonialist Zionist ideology. We believe in the necessity of ending this bloody struggle on the basis of international law and United Nations resolutions.

We call upon YOU TO END INTERNATIONAL COMPLICITY with Israeli apartheid AT THIS EXACT MOMENT, repudiating the racist and colonialist practices and policies of Israel. This mobilization has become of utmost importance if we, together, want to open paths towards a shared future based on ending the Israeli occupation, implementing a just and comprehensive peace based on recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people (right to return, the right to self-determination, and the right to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital), and resisting all forms of racism, sectarianism, hate and chauvinism.

We call upon you to end the attempts of Israel and Zionist movements to monopolize the representation of Jews and Israelis by subverting their voice in support of colonialist, racist enterprises. The future of Israelis in the region is tied to the future of Palestinians, and the time has come to say “Enough!”

More than sixty years of war, build-up of conventional and unconventional weapons, oppression, occupation and hundreds of checkpoints, walls, and the siege of the Gaza Strip have not given Israelis peace, because peace cannot grow in the shadow of occupation and security doesn’t flourish at gunpoint. Security and peace are achievable only through ending the policy of aggression, expansion, occupation and sectarianism and working towards a shared future based on the principles of justice, equality and democratic values.

We, the Palestinians and Israelis of the AIC, call on the world’s social movements:

To support the 2005 united Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and United Nations resolutions

To pressure countries to halt their acquiescence to Israeli policies, without which Israel would be unable to continue its blatant violations of Palestinian rights

To mobilize global support for the Palestinian popular resistance