November 2007
Out of our serious concern for our national cause and legitimate rights, which have been under direct and systematic attack from the Israeli Occupation and the United States, who wish to liquidate the Palestinian struggle by taking advantage of the split that has weakened us in the face of the huge pressure that they and their allies have brought to bear;
We the undersigned, political and mass movements, civil society federations and networks, private sector nstitutions and national figures, inside and outside Palestine, assert the following:
First: that the inalienable rights of our people must be the central principle for any Palestinian political action. These fundamental rights should never be a subject for negotiation and must not be ompromised:
1. The right of refugees to return to their homeland and properties, from which they were expelled, in accordance with United Nations Resolution 194. This right is a basic human right that is not negotiable
and therefore cannot be based on an ‘agreed upon solution’;
2. The right to self-determination, an end to the military occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state enjoying full sovereignty;
3. Occupied Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, free from colonies and colonial settlers;
4. The departure of all Israeli settlers from our land, which was occupied in an act of aggression in 1967, and the removal of the apartheid wall and all the colonies, which are illegal and stand in defiance of international law and international agreements.
Second: that any political step or negotiations at a local, regional or international level should be under international supervision, based on principles of justice and international law, and aimed at the implementation of the inalienable and historical rights of our people, and the establishment of a
timeline for such implementation, not negotiation on the rights themselves.
1. Because the Annapolis meeting is not based on these principles, and because it does not aim for the implementation of international law, we call on the PLO and the Palestinian Authority not to participate in this meeting; we further call upon Arab countries to boycott Annapolis and not to acilitate the United States’ desire to expand its aggression in the region and its attempt to crush all the forces opposed to its domination in the region.
2. In the event that the PLO and PA decide to attend the Annapolis conference, they must not bow to the American and Israeli demands for concessions on these fundamental rights under any circumstances,
under any justification.
3. We warn all individuals and organizations who attempt to meddle with the inalienable rights of our people and to promote normalization with the occupation and it institutions under slogans of “peace” and “dialogue”. These normalization efforts and initiatives must be widely boycotted by Palestinian society, and all normalizers must be exposed and shamed.
4. We call for a boycott of all bilateral, regional and international conferences or meetings not based on the principles stated above, now or in the future.
5. We stress the unity of the Palestinian people in all parts of our homeland and in the diaspora, and the unity of our national rights and cause
Third: We categorically reject any attempt to recognize Israel as a “Jewish state”, as this would necessarily mean:
1. Exempting Israel from the crimes of ethnic cleansing perpetrated against our people over the past sixty years;
2. Waiving the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland and their properties, from which they were expelled in 1948 and in the years after;
3. Justifying and reinforcing the Israeli system of racial discrimination and apartheid against Palestinian citizens of Israel, as a prelude to expel them from their homeland on the pretext of preserving the Jewish State;
4. Reinforcing the Zionist ideology which is based on racism, ethnic cleansing and colonialism.
Therefore, we consider that any recognition of this kind is equivalent to conceding the right of return, which would entrench the exile and dispossession of our people and put an end to our cause. Anyone contemplating
taking this path will bear the resulting historical responsibility.
Fourth: We assert the need to embark on serious and immediate action to find a solution to the recourse to armed internecine conflict in Gaza, through national dialogue, in order to end the division in Palestinian society in order to:
1. Reunite the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in one entity, and to agree to start preparations for early legislative and presidential elections based on the National Accord document;
2. In parallel with the above, start implementing the Cairo Agreement regarding the reform of the PLO through activation of the Preparatory Committee for the election of the Palestinian National Council with the participation of all Palestinian national and Islamic forces.
National and Islamic
Forces
National Committee for the Commemoration of 60 Years of Nakba
Palestinian Grassroots Anti Apartheid Wall Campaign
The Union of Social Youth Centres in the Refugee Camps /Palestine
The Higher Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs
Union of Arab Community-Based Associations (Ittijah), Palestine ’48
The Executive Office of the Grassroots Committees, Gaza
Palestinian General Federation of Trade
Unions (PGFTU)
Union of the Women’s Centres in the West Bank Refugees Camps
Gathering of Expelled Villages and Cities People / Ramallah
National Committee to Defend the Right of Return / Ramallah
General Union of Palestinian Women
Badil – Palestinian Resource Center for Refugee and Citizenship Rights
Union of Palestinian Women Committees (UWC)
Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC)
Ma’an Development Centre
Palestinian Farmers’ Union
Palestinian Right of Return Defence Committee / Balata refugee camp, Nablus
Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HDIP)
Defense for Children International / Palestine (DCI – Palestine)
Yaffa Cultural Centre –Balata refugee camp, Nablus
Civil NGOs Gathering, Nablus
Palestinian Counseling Centre
The Local Committee to Protect the Environment in Nablus
The Society of Hawa’ Centre, Nablus
Handala Cultural Centre
Yabus Art Production Centre, Jerusalem
al-Marsad al-Arabi for Human Rights
Palestine Company for Media and Communication
Haifa Cultural Centre, Tulkarem
Committee to Defend the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel, Nazareth
Arab Cultural Committee, Nazareth
League for the Care of Arab Affairs in Yaffa
Friends of Arab Children Committee, Haifa
The Arab Institute for Human Rights, Nazareth
Al Ahali – Popular Development Centre, Nazareth
Friends of the Detainees and Prisoners Association, Nazareth
New Morisiquion Committee, Nazareth
Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
Centre to Defend Freedom and Civil Rights, Ramallah
Centre for the Return of Palestinians, Bethlehem
al-Anq’a Cultural centre, Hebron
The Coordination Committee of Civil
Societies Working in thePalestinian Gatherings, Lebanon
Returnees Committee, Lebanon
Returnees Committee, Syria
Family of Editors of Freedom Magazine, Syria
The Palestinian Centre for Archiving, Syria
194 Committee, Syria Besan Centre for Social
Development, Syria Palestinian Women’s Civil Committee, Syria
The Palestinian Cultural Centre, Syria
Union of the Right of Return Committees, Syria
Right of Return Committee, Switzerland
Right of Return Committee, Denmark
Right of Return Committee, Sweden
Right of Return Committee, France
Right of Return Committee, Greece
Right of Return Committee, Holland
National Organisation to Confront Fundamentalism Towards Liberalism
Popular Arts Centre
Nidal Center
Civil Coalition in defense of Jerusalem
Young Women’s Christian Association, Palestine (YWCA)
Young Men’s Christian Association, Palestine (YMCA)
Collaborative Committee for the Development of Animal Farming
Youth Development Committee
The Project of Rebuilding
The Forum of Cultural Graduates
Alternative Tourism Centre, Bethlehem
Refugee Centre, Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem
The Twinning Committee Between French Cities and Palestinian RefugeeCamps
The Executive Office of Refugees
Popular Committee of Deheisha Refugee Camp
Popular Committee of Aida Refugee Camp
Popular Committee of Tulkarem Refugee Camp
The Society of Phoenix Centre, Deheisha Refugee Camp
Avant-Garde Cultural and Theatre Training Centre, Aida Refugee Camp
Committee of Refugees and Right of Return, Syria
Sons of Nations to Defend the Right of Return Centre, Syria
Farah Childhood Centre, Syria
Guevara Youth Centre, Syria
Palestinian Youth Organisation, Syria
Palestinian Women’s committee, Syria
The Returnees Band for Art and Palestinian Folk Tradition, Syria
The Campaign to Free Ahmed Sahdat, Canada
The Right of Return Committee inVancouver
Taqaful Network to Support Palestinian Refugees, Canada
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Geneva
European Confederation for the Right of Return
One Democratic State Committee, Gaza
The Committee of University Teachers in Palestine, Gaza
Arab Cultural Forum, Gaza
Progressive National Democratic Gathering, Gaza
Social Media Centre, Gaza
Union of Independent Workers Committees, Gaza
Progressive Students Front, Gaza
United Palestinian Progressive Youth, Gaza
Palestinian Cultural Centre, Gaza
Popular Gathering for Right of Return, Gaza
