De Israelische Terreur 1040

Nu de westerse politici de zionistische terreur laten voortduren, is het tijd voor de zogeheten civil society om in beweging te komen, zodat we later niet hoeven te zeggen dat we van niets wisten.

'The date set for the Gaza Freedom March is fast approaching: 31 December 2009. Below is the latest update on this historic event, which will witness the convergence of thousands of international and Arab activists, intellectuals, artists, professionals, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, among others, on the besieged Gaza Strip, to express their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and to march with them to call the world's attention to the absolute urgency of ending Israel's criminal and genocidal siege on the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza.

The Palestinian BDS National Committee has strongly endorsed this March early on and called on all solidarity activists around the world to endorse it and participate in it or in its parallel activities. Dr. Haidar Eid, representing PACBI and the BNC in Gaza, is playing a key role in organizing for the March, along with many civil society organizations there.

I strongly urge all of you to endorse the March at the website below. I also hope that many of you will join the actual March in Gaza. A parallel march will be organized and led by the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee (the coalition of all major Palestinian groups inside Israel) going to the Erez checkpoint from the other side. In the occupied West Bank, several groups, mainly those involved in popular resistance against Israel's illegal Wall and colonies, will be organizing many concurrent, local protests in villages, refugee camps and cities. Some promise to be "spectacular."

If going to Gaza is not possible for you and you cannot join the March inside Israel either, please consider organizing -- or joining others who are organizing -- local solidarity events to coincide with the March, amplifying its message in your country. If even that is not possible, please consider donating to the organizing committee at the website below.

This is a timely and highly inspiring form of solidarity with the people of Palestine against Israel's siege. It is time to hold Israel to account and end its criminal impunity.

Omar Barghouti

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Historic Gaza Freedom March to Israeli Border Set For December 31
Global grassroots initiative inspired by Gandhi/Mandela
aims to break blockade

The Gaza Freedom March that will take place in Gaza on December 31 is an historic initiative to break the siege that has imprisoned the 1.5 million people who live there. Conceived in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and nonviolent resistance to injustice worldwide, the march will gather people from all over the world to march—hand in hand—with the people of Gaza to demand that the Israelis open the borders.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the December 2008 Israeli invasion that left over 1,400 dead, this is a grassroots global response to the inaction on the part of world leaders and institutions. Over 1,00 international delegates from 42 countries have already signed up and more are signing on every day. Participants include Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker, leading Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham, French Senator Alima Boumediene–Thiery, author and Filipino Parliament member Walden Bello, former European Parliamentarians Luisa Morgantini from Italy and Eva Quistorp from Germany, President of the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Michael Ratner, Japanese former Ambassador to Lebanon Naoto Amaki, French hip-hop artists Ministere des Affaires Populaires, and 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein.

We also have families of three generations, doctors, lawyers, diplomats, 70 students, an interfaith group that includes rabbis, priests and imams, a women’s delegation, a Jewish contingent, a veterans group and Palestinians born overseas who have never seen their families in Gaza.

The international delegates will enter Gaza via Egypt during the last week of December. In the morning December 31, they will join Palestinians in a non-violent march from Northern Gaza to the Erez/Israeli border. On the Israeli side of the Erez border will be a gathering of Palestinians and Jews who are also calling on the Israeli government to open the border.

Inside Gaza, excitement is growing. Representatives of all aspects of civil society, including students, professors, refugee groups, unions, women’s organizations, NGOs, have been busy organizing and estimate that at least 50,000 Palestinians will participate. People from the different sectors will march in their uniforms--fishermen, doctors, students, farmers, etc. Local Palestinian rappers, hiphop bands and Dabbkeh dancers will perform on mobile stages.

For more information see www.gazafreedommarch.org <http://www.gazafreedommarch.org> , especially FAQ section, or contact:
In the US: Medea Benjamin 415-235-6517 medea@globalexchange.org
Ann Wright 808-741-1141 microann@yahoo.com'
In Gaza: Haider Eid 970 599 441 766 haidareid@yahoo.com <mailto:haidareid@yahoo.com>
In Europe (Portugal): Ziyaad Lunat +351938349206 z.lunat@googlemail.com
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