ASGP - Rally for Palestinian Refugee Rights.

SUBJECT: ASGP Endorsement for Mass Rally for Palestinian Refugee Rights

New York, 7 April, 2001

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

On April 7, 2001 thousands will march and rally in New York City and in other cities around the world to reaffirm the right of Palestinian refugees to return to homes and lands from which they were expelled in 1948 and thereafter. Spear-headed by The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, known by its Arabic name Al-Awda, these rallies will coincide with the fifty-third anniversary of the massacre of Palestinians in the village of Deir Yassin. This massacre is one of many atrocities committed in 1948 and thereafter, and which forced Palestinians to leave their homeland.

The rallies and marches on April 7 are intended to draw the public's attention to the plight of the refugees, human rights abuses and suffering inflicted on the Palestinian people. They are also intended to send a strong signal of support to Palestinian Christians and Muslims who continue to suffer human rights abuses under Israeli occupation. More than four hundred Palestinian civilians have been killed and over 11,000 injured by Israeli forces in the past few months. A majority of these injuries and deaths have been of refugees.

Palestinian refugees represent the oldest and largest refugee population in the world. Today, there are more than 5 million dispossessed Palestinians, a number equivalent to the population of the state of Maryland. Thesuffering of refugees is magnified by Israel's continued denial of their legal, historical and legitimate rights to repatriation and restitution as required by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions and United Nations Resolution 194.

In September 2000, thousands rallied in Washington D.C., London, and in the refugee camps in Palestine and Lebanon to demand the right to return. Those activities were organized by Al-Awda and co-sponsored and endorsed by over one hundred and fifty solidarity organizations as well as thousands of individuals. Invited speakers for the forthcoming rallies include Palestinian refugees, and national and international figures.

PROPOSAL:

Whereas the ASGP platform affirms that "Human rights are the foundation of emerging democracies and international relations"; that "Support of democracy, human rights and respect for international law should be the cornerstone of American foreign policy"; that "International law and international relations are inseparable"; that "We support peace in the Middle East based on respect for civil liberties and human rights";and that "We trust that non-violence provides the road to peace. [and] We understand the right of self-defense yet believe that we must move beyond behavior that perpetuates violence";

Whereas the Palestinian refugee right to return to their homes constitutes a human right that is unconditional and guaranteed by UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which has been reaffirmed every year since 1948, and by Article 13 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country";

Whereas the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) passed a statement on October 23, 2000 reaffirming Palestinian refugees' inalienable right to return to their homes and to receive material compensation for their losses;

Whereas international law including Article 2 of the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status"; and that the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) and the European Federation of Green Parties (EFGP) Green Common Ground Statement of February, 1999 states that "We oppose all forms of discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, age, or sexual orientation";

Whereas the Israeli 1950 "Law of Return"--which states that "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [Jew immigrating to Israel]," and "For purposes of this Law "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion"-constitutes discrimination against Palestinian refugees who, despite being native to the land of the current State of Israel, are prevented from exercising their right to return to their homes there because they are not Jewish;

Whereas feasible solutions honoring Palestinian refugees' right of  return have been proposed based on the fact that 78 percent of the Jewish population of Israel currently lives on only 15% of the land, the return of the refugees--if they chose to act on their right--is possible with no appreciable dislocation of Jewish residents within Israel;

Whereas over 80 peace, social justice and human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Global Exchange, Center for Economic and Social Rights, and Jews Against the Occupation, have co-sponsored the April 7th, 2001 Palestinian Right of Return Rally;

Whereas the CT Green Party voted on February 13th, 2001 to endorse the Palestinian Right of Return Rally; 

e propose that the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) support Palestinian human rights and peace between Israelis and Palestinians by publicly endorsing the Palestinian Right of Return Rally in New York on April 7, 2001 .

TIME LINE: DISCUSSION PERIOD WILL BE 3/17-3/24. VOTING PERIOD WILL BE 3/24-3/31.

RESOURCES: Articles enclosed:

Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) Right of Return Fact Sheets

WASHINGTON REPORT on Middle East Affairs, June 2000, "Special Report:
Boston Meeting Shows How Palestinian Refugee Repatriation and
Restitution Can Be Implemented"


WEBSITES:

The Palestinian Right of Return Coalition (Al-Awda): www.al-awda.org
Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR): www.cesr.org
Grassroots International: www.grassrootsonline.org
MADRE: www.madre.org
ASGP Statement on the Current Israeli/Palestinian Situation, October 23,
2000:
www.greenparties.org/press/statement/html


Ten additional selected background web sites on Israel/Palestine issue
and 24 sites by
Jews working for Peace with Justice.

B'Tselem (Israeli Human Rights Group) http://www.btselem.org
Palestine Right to Return Coalition http://al-awda.org
Common Dreams (excellent links) http://www.commondreams.org
Electronic Intifada http://electronicintifada.net
Media Monitors Network (MMN) http://mediamonitors.net.
Middle East Facts (includes indexed articles):
http://www.mideastfacts.com
Jerusalem Media and Communication Center (includes polls, news etc.)
http://www.jmcc.org
Palestine Media Watch http://pmwatch.org/pmw
Palestine Remembered http://www.palestineremembered.com
Trans Arab Research Institute http://www.tari.org

[Congressman Paul Findley published a book in the 1970s called "They
Dare to
Speak Out" about individuals who challenged the Israeli lobby
in US affairs. At the time, there were few but persistent and vocal
Jewish
voices against the Israeli brutalities and most of those he listed were
non-Jews. Today, there is a proliferation of groups and sites that
represent growing Jewish voices against Israeli policies. Those
thousands
of individuals are frequently labeled by Zionists as "self-hating Jews."

The myth that Zionism=Judaism has fallen just like all the other myths
used
by self-righteous Israel to justify its persecution and ethnic cleansing
of
the native Palestinians. Below is a partial listing of two dozen
web pages (many new) for Jewish groups who "Dare to speak out" (list
compiled by Ahmed Bouzeid and updated by Mazin Qumsiyeh)]

Jews Against Occupation http://www.angelcities.com/memberes/jato
Jewish Peace Fellowship http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org
Neturei Karta Homepage
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/5750/home.html
Jews NOT Zionists http://www.jewsnotzionists.org
Yesh Gvul, The movement for IDF men refusing to serve in the Occupied
Territories.
http://www.diak.org/Haayesh-gvul.htm
Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions
htp://www.salam.org/activism/home_demolitions.html
Bat Shalom, Israeli Women for Peace http://www.batshalom.org/
"Occupied Territory" http://www.occupied.org
Rabbis for Human Rights http://www.rhr.israel.net/indexa.html
Not in Our Name Coalition http://www.diak.org/not_in_our_name.htm
Oz v'Shalom - Netivot Shalom (religious Zionist anti-Occupation)
http://www.ariga.com/ozveshalom
Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation http://www.opentent.org/jews.html

Association for Civil Rights in Israel http://www.nif.org/acri/
Gush Shalom http://www.gush-shalom.org/
Jewish People Liberation Army
http://msanews.mynet.net/Scholars/Weizfeld/
Amira Hass, Gideon Levy and others writing articles in Haaretz
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/
Alliance of Middle East Scientists and Physicians
http://www.keck.ucsf.edu/~yoram/amesp.html
Visions for peace with justice in Israel/Palestine http://www.vopj.org/
Middle East Crisis Committee http://www.thestruggle.com
Search for justice and equality http://www.searchforjustice.org
Tikkun Magazine http://www.tikkun.org.

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