Celebrating Peace or Camouflaging Apartheid?
Ojos de Agua | 11.10.2007 11:54 | Culture | Palestine | Social Struggles | World
Celebrating Peace or Camouflaging Apartheid?
Boycott the Jericho-Tel Aviv Public Events on October 18th!
On October 18th, One Million Voices, an organization led by Israelis and international figures with the support of some Palestinians, is organizing a public event in Jericho and Tel Aviv, simultaneously. The event will include performances by renowned artists Brian Adams and Ilham Madfa'i. As stated on the organization's English webpage, the objective of the event is to “mark the first time that massive numbers of Israelis and Palestinians gather simultaneously to unite against violent extremism.”
According to the widely accepted boycott criteria advocated by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the event falls under the category of normalization projects and violates the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), endorsed by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, trade unions, political parties, and grassroots movements, for the following reasons:
1.Participants are required to join the One Voice Movement and sign a mandate -- ostensibly based on a "two-state solution," but without any commitment to international parameters -- which assumes equal responsibility of "both sides" for the "conflict," and suspiciously fails to call for Israel's full compliance with its obligations under international law through ending its illegal military occupation, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights (particularly the right of return), and its system of racial discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens.
2.The event is sponsored by Israeli institutions (mostly from the private sector) and endorsed by mainstream Israeli political figures from parties including the Likud and Shas. These Israeli "partners" are unquestionably complicit in maintaining Israel 's occupation and other forms of oppression.
We believe this event is being organized to promote a "peace" agreement that is devoid of the minimal requirements of justice, and that will leave the Palestinian people as disenfranchised as previous agreements have. The unfortunate and harmful support of Palestinian businessmen, religious and political figures, among others, for this event indicates either ignorance of the hidden agenda inherent in the whole initiative, deceptively camouflaged as a collective call for peace, or willingness to forfeit the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in return for advancing selfish interests.
We call on the Palestinian public and international supporters of a just peace in Palestine not to take part in this public relations charade that conceals a misleading political program that falls significantly short of international law tenets and the Palestinian national program.
We call on Arab and Palestinian artists, in particular, not to participate in this or any similar event whose real objectives have nothing to do with genuine peace.
We call on Palestinian board members of the One Million Voices to withdraw their support for this movement that only serves to blind the Palestinian public and sidetrack it from struggling, with the solidarity of its international supporters, for its UN-sanctioned rights, for justice, equality and freedom.
www.pacbi.org
Boycott the Jericho-Tel Aviv Public Events on October 18th!
On October 18th, One Million Voices, an organization led by Israelis and international figures with the support of some Palestinians, is organizing a public event in Jericho and Tel Aviv, simultaneously. The event will include performances by renowned artists Brian Adams and Ilham Madfa'i. As stated on the organization's English webpage, the objective of the event is to “mark the first time that massive numbers of Israelis and Palestinians gather simultaneously to unite against violent extremism.”
According to the widely accepted boycott criteria advocated by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the event falls under the category of normalization projects and violates the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), endorsed by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, trade unions, political parties, and grassroots movements, for the following reasons:
1.Participants are required to join the One Voice Movement and sign a mandate -- ostensibly based on a "two-state solution," but without any commitment to international parameters -- which assumes equal responsibility of "both sides" for the "conflict," and suspiciously fails to call for Israel's full compliance with its obligations under international law through ending its illegal military occupation, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights (particularly the right of return), and its system of racial discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens.
2.The event is sponsored by Israeli institutions (mostly from the private sector) and endorsed by mainstream Israeli political figures from parties including the Likud and Shas. These Israeli "partners" are unquestionably complicit in maintaining Israel 's occupation and other forms of oppression.
We believe this event is being organized to promote a "peace" agreement that is devoid of the minimal requirements of justice, and that will leave the Palestinian people as disenfranchised as previous agreements have. The unfortunate and harmful support of Palestinian businessmen, religious and political figures, among others, for this event indicates either ignorance of the hidden agenda inherent in the whole initiative, deceptively camouflaged as a collective call for peace, or willingness to forfeit the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in return for advancing selfish interests.
We call on the Palestinian public and international supporters of a just peace in Palestine not to take part in this public relations charade that conceals a misleading political program that falls significantly short of international law tenets and the Palestinian national program.
We call on Arab and Palestinian artists, in particular, not to participate in this or any similar event whose real objectives have nothing to do with genuine peace.
We call on Palestinian board members of the One Million Voices to withdraw their support for this movement that only serves to blind the Palestinian public and sidetrack it from struggling, with the solidarity of its international supporters, for its UN-sanctioned rights, for justice, equality and freedom.
www.pacbi.org
Ojos de Agua
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ONEVOICE CONCERT CANCELLED DUE TO GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION
14.10.2007 07:06
October 13, 2007
For Immediate Release
ONEVOICE CONCERT CANCELLED DUE TO GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION
Another Voice to hold alternate concert on October 18…
Another Voice is proud to have contributed towards the grassroots mobilization that has resulted in the cancellation of OneVoice's event in Jericho on October 18th. We acknowledge the efforts of all the organizations and individuals that have played a role in generating awareness about the major problems with OneVoice's campaign and how it undermines Palestinian rights, as well as OneVoice's fraudulent listing of endorsers and unethical means of collecting signatures.
The problems with OneVoice's campaign include, but are not limited to, failure to distinguish between occupier and occupied, implicit support of Israel's retention of settlement blocks, apparent disregard for the refugees right of return, failure to mention of Israel's illegal separation wall, and the absence of any reference to international law or human rights.
Most of the Arab artists have withdrawn their participation from the concert, including DAM Rap, Reem Talhami, Jamil Al Sayeh, and Al Asayel Group. In addition, many individuals and organizations that have been listed as endorsers, including Bishop Atallah Hanna, have pulled out upon closer examination of what OneVoice is all about. Furthermore, we have learned that several alleged endorsers, including President Mahmoud Abbas, were listed without their prior knowledge or consent. As for collecting signatures, the concert in effect serves as a bribe to the public, as concertgoers would be required to sign OneVoice's mandate prior to entry.
Another Voice spokesperson Natasha Aruri stated, "A concert for peace is one thing, and asking people to sign away their basic human rights is another. The OneVoice campaign is deceptive, and the reaction of the Palestinian public was a natural result."
OneVoice claims that the cancellation of their event was due to security issues. However, a source at the President's Office affirmed that there were no problems regarding security arrangements. OneVoice founder Daniel Lubetzky also claims "threats of violence" by "extremists," and that he did not want to "endanger people's lives." We are disturbed by this slander and challenge OneVoice to provide any evidence or information supporting these outrageous lies.
Another Voice is organizing a concert in Ramallah on October 18th, to sing and chant for freedom, justice, and true peace.
For more information, contact:
Natasha Aruri: +970-599-794-761
Huwaida Arraf : +972-547-473-308 / +970-599-130-426
Web: www.anothervoice-palestine.org
E-mail:
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