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Jews Worldwide in Solidarity with Omar Barghouti and the BDS Movement

June 6, 2016
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On the evening of June 5th, 2016, 49 years into the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Jewish organizations and individuals worldwide speak out in support of the right of Palestinians to non-violently resist Israel’s illegal and inhumane occupation.  In a petition sent to numerous national parliaments and European Union institutions, the undersigned groups call for all international bodies “to use all their available means of diplomacy and power to compel the Israeli government to immediately halt its intimidation campaign against Omar Barghouti and the Palestinian-
On the evening of June 5th, 2016, 49 years into the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Jewish organizations and individuals worldwide speak out in support of the right of Palestinians to non-violently resist Israel’s illegal and inhumane occupation.  In a petition sent to numerous national parliaments and European Union institutions, the undersigned groups call for all international bodies “to use all their available means of diplomacy and power to compel the Israeli government to immediately halt its intimidation campaign against Omar Barghouti and the Palestinian-led BDS Movement”.

Appalled by the state-led bullying against non-violent resistance, the undersigned “wish to underscore a basic truth which seems to escape the current Israeli administration and its apologists: international citizens’ boycotts against ongoing abuse of international law are a legally-protected and fundamental civil right. Civil boycotts are a key means of non-violent protest. They cannot, precisely, be interdicted, made illegal or punishable.”

So far, signatories of the petition include: Jewish peace organizations from the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy; as well as a hundred distinguished Jewish activists, such as Noam Chomsky, co-founder of Code Pink Medea Benjamin, former South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils, former Israeli human-rights lawyer Felicia Langer, the Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan and laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights Nurit Peled-Elhanan.

Sincerely

Yossi Bartal, on behalf of Jewish Voice for Just Peace, Germany  mail@juedische-stimme.de

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Jews Worldwide in Solidarity with Omar Barghouti and BDS activists

Petition:
Jews worldwide in solidarity with Omar Barghouti and Palestinian non-violent resistance

Attached: Petition text and signature list

To:

House of Representatives and Congress of the United States of America

European Commission, European Parliament

Governments and Parliaments of Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, Sweden and UK

Jews Worldwide in Solidarity
with Omar Barghouti and BDS activists

We, the undersigned Jewish organizations and individuals from various countries all over the world, call upon all governments as well as upon international bodies to use all their available means of diplomacy and power to compel the Israeli government to immediately halt its intimidation campaign against Omar Barghouti and the Palestinian-led BDS Movement.

Israel has officially declared its determination to use everything in its power to intimidate and supress the leaders and supporters of the international BDS movement—including the usage of targeted actions by intelligence agencies [1]. Israel’s Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked instructed the international department of her ministry “to prepare a plan of legal steps” in order to “move from defence to offence” against the BDS movement [2] already a year ago, with the full backing of the Israeli government, to run a massive campaign aimed at criminalizing the internationally-growing BDS movement, and at silencing any protest against the ongoing Israeli occupation.

Meanwhile Aryeh Deri, Israel’s Interior Minister personally took efforts to revoke the permanent residency status [3] of Mr. Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement. He has been barred from leaving the country ever since. His life and well-being have been threatened by Israeli officials repeatedly.

As Jewish organizations and individuals committed to human rights, to democracy and to the rule of law, we speak out against the widespread attacks by the current Israeli government against the BDS movement. Appalled by this state-led bullying against non-violent resistance to the illegal Israeli occupation, we wish to underscore a basic truth which seems to escape the current Israeli administration and its apologists:

International citizens’ boycotts against ongoing abuse of international law are a legally-protected and fundamental civil right. Civil boycotts are a key means of non-violent protest. They cannot, precisely, be interdicted, made illegal or punishable.

 

In steadfast defence of accepted universal human rights and established standards of international law and decency, we therefore demand:

  • The end to Mr. Barghouti’s residency restriction and the reinstatement of his right to free movement [4]
  • The guaranteeing of Mr. Barghouti’s and all other Palestinians’ freedom of movement [5], of political expression [6] and of assembly [7]
  • The immediate cessation of all political and legal attempts to criminalize support for BDS and the recognition and restitution of the inalienable right to non-violently resist unjust state actions like occupation and apartheid

 

Signing Organizations:

Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians (ACJC) Canada
Code Pink USA
European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP) Europe
Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada
Independent Jewish Voices(IJV) UK
International Jewish Antizionist Network USA (IJAN USA) USA
It's Kosher to Boycott Israeli Goods (Jews4Big) UK
Jewish Socialists’ Group (JSG) UK
Jewish Voice for a Just Peace (Juedische Stimme) Germany
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Ireland
Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group Germany
Jews for a Just Peace North Carolina (jfajpNC) USA
Jews for Justice for Palestine (jfjfp) UK
Rete’ Ebrei contro l’Occupazione (Network of Jews against Occupation) Italy
union juive française pour la paix (ujfp) France

[1] http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4784262,00.html

[2] http://www.herzliyaconference.org/eng/?CategoryID=544&ArticleID=2676&SearchParam=bds

[3] http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4784262,00.html

[4] Art. 15 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

[5] Art. 12 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Art. 13. UHRD

[6] Art. 19 ICCPR

[7] Art. 21 ICCPR

 

June 6, 2016
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