Rompere la cospirazione del silenzio

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg@tin.it>]

 Break the conspiracy of silence

We, the undersigned, believe that a full-scale Israeli offensive throughout
the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) is imminent and that such an
unprecedented attack demands from global civil society an unprecedented
response.

For this reason, we urge global civil society - including human rights
organizations, solidarity groups and individuals - to take immediate direct
action to stop Israel's all-out war against the Palestinian people and its
35-year belligerent military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank,
including East Jerusalem. Israeli occupying forces have invaded the compound
of Palestine National Authority President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah as part
of a systematic and long-standing campaign to undermine, humiliate and
destroy the Palestinian political leadership. Israeli troops have also
seized complete control of Ramallah and imposed a total curfew.

At the same time, Israeli officials have begun a massive military buildup,
including the mobilization of 10,000 army reservists, in preparation for an
openly declared war throughout the OPT that promises to be widespread,
prolonged and bloody. Earlier this month, escalating Israeli attacks -
including willful killings, indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment,
complete economic and social suffocation, and mass destruction of housing
and agriculture - culminated in full-scale invasions of Palestinian refugee
camps and villages that killed hundreds of civilians.

Recent statements by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon referring to Arafat
as the "enemy" and speaking of the need to "extirpate Palestinian terrorism
everywhere it exists" indicate that such attacks are set to resume, with
greater ferocity and scope, leading to disastrous consequences.

Palestinian civil society groups have warned for years that Israel's freedom
to act as a state above the law would severely undermine chances for a just
and lasting peace.

After decades of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing and 18 months o
f all-out war against a civilian population, we call for the international
community not to wait for massacres on the scale of those in Sabra and
Shatila in 1982; the time for action is now. The support for the Palestinian
people shown by international solidarity groups, manifested in numerous
statements, visits, and actions has proved invaluable throughout this
crisis.

Now is the time for global civil society to use the momentum it has
generated and the ethical integrity it has demonstrated to forcefully demand
immediate action from governments to end the occupation, which is the root
cause of the conflict. Governments, including those currently meeting at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, must face direct and unambiguous pressure
from their own people to immediately secure Israel's respect for the Fourth
Geneva Convention and its complete withdrawal from the OPT as necessary
steps toward achieving a just and lasting peace. To this end, we call upon
all those who oppose occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and war
crimes, who are committed to justice and peace, who are willing to speak
truth to power, to:

1. Raise your voices to break the conspiracy of silence among governments
that allows Israel, which enjoys the unlimited and unconditional support of
the US, to commit war crimes and other violations of international
humanitarian law with impunity.

2. Clearly, vigorously, and publicly demonstrate before governments and
international organizations to demand immediate and effective protection for
Palestinian civilians in the OPT, through protests, marches, media
campaigns, and other peaceful means.

3. Demand that governments end military assistance to Israel, suspend
economic ties, and support the prosecution of war criminals, and urge other
states to do so.

4. Continue and intensify your activities as part of a sustained and
systematic campaign to end the occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and
war crimes in the OPT and to support the legitimate rights and aspirations
of the Palestinian people.

Now is the time for immediate and direct action, as the pattern of
escalating oppression and brutality that we have experienced over the past
18 months moves inexorably toward a disaster whose consequences we can only
begin to imagine.

In this dark hour of suffering and determined resistance, we are sure that
the worst is yet to come, but we are equally sure that, with the support of
global civil society at this crucial time, peace and justice will prevail.

Signed:

Dr. Heydar Abdel-Shafi

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti

Dr. Azmi Bishara

Rana Nashashibi

Dr. Eyad Sarraj Khader

Shkirat Raji Sourani