[WCUSP] May statement on Israel/Palestine from International WILPF

[Marlene Santoyo]

My thanks to each of the WILPF women who worked on this statement.
I am passing it on to Jewish Voices for Peace with the understanding
that it
is still being discussed & not yet approved.

In peace,
marlena santoyo
===

From: wcusp-bounces at wilpf.org [mailto:wcusp-bounces at wilpf.org]On Behalf
Of Mary Day Kent
Sent: 2007 June 18 Monday 12:56 PM
 [WCUSP] May statement on Israel/Palestine from InternationalWILPF

WILPF International Executive Committee
I realized that some of you may not have easy access to the internet, so
here is the statement in the body of the email:

*Statement of the Middle East Committee*- 7 May 2007

Delegations from WILPF Israel ( Aliyah Strauss, Fathia Akafa), WILPF
Palestine (Hanan Awwad, Nariman Al Far), WILPF Lebanon (Samira Khoury)
and WILPF Germany ( Heidi Meinzolt – coordinator, Anja Witte, Nouria
Ali-Tani, Irmgard Heilberger, Barbara Lochbihler, Irene Eckert) and
WILPF international (Regina Birchem – int. president) met on May 7 in
Berlin, considering that this is the historic place of the tearing down
of a wall.

As the Arab Human Development Report issued in December 2006 states, the
situation of Palestinian women has seriously deteriorated because of the
ongoing Israeli occupation. We showed our solidarity with the
Palestinian women in the occupied territories, who are struggling for
peace and justice.

*We support the* *Arab peace initiative* declared in the Arab summit in
Beirut in 2002 and reaffirmed in Riyadh in 2007 and *request* that the
International Community, particularly the EU, adopt it as a *basic
initiative for peace in the region*. The UN Security Council
Resolution1325, which calls for the protection of women and the
participation of women in conflict solution and democracy building, and
in the prevention of conflicts, must be part of the implementation of
this initiative.

The most important points of this initiative are:
a) a call for the full withdrawal of Israel from the Occupied
Palestinian Territories to the armistice line of June 1967;
b) the offer of land for peace;
c) a nuclear free Middle East.

   2. We call for the *recognition of the elected Palestinian
      representatives* and of the formation of *the unity government* as
      a result of the Mecca agreement.
   3. We call for an *immediate lifting of the economic and political
      siege* imposed on the Palestinian people and the Palestinian
      government and the *lifting of the economic sanctions*:

a) Funds promised by the EU for Palestinian development must be
transferred to the Palestinian National Authority. The Norwegian example
should be followed by other European governments.
b) Money owed to the Palestinian people, taken as taxes by the Israeli
government, should be transferred immediately to the Palestinian
National Authority.
c) EU countries should not continue to block Palestinian bank accounts.
d) The political boycott of Hamas ministers and parliamentarians must
end.

   1. The immediate lifting of the siege will help the Palestinian
      leadership to *secure internal peace within Palestine*.

   4. We call for an *immediate release of more than 10 000 Palestinian
      political prisoners *held in Israeli prisons and detention camps
      particularly all women and children prisoners. This can lead to
      the release of the three Israeli hostages and improve the
      relationships in order to resume peace negotiations.
   5. We call *for the removal of all the checkpoints and closures
      *within Palestine and for the *respect of the geographical and
      political integrity* of Palestine.
   6. In accordance with the International Court of Justice we call for
      the *removal of the wall,* the separation barrier, which has been
      built for the most part on Palestinian land and serves as a tool
      of annexation of Palestinian land and water and the separation of
      Palestinian families.
   7. We call for *freedom of movement* for all Palestinian people.
   8. We call for *international protection* for the Palestinian people
      in particular women and children.
   9. We condemn the continuous expansion of the Israeli settlements
      located on the Palestinian land, and the creation of new bypass
      roads that confiscate thousands of acres.
  10. We condemn the acceleration of so called „security measures“ at
      the checkpoints and passage gates, which are a violation of human
      rights, humanitarian rights and human dignity. These measures
      include body scans for security checks - damaging the health of
      the people and extremely dangerous, for example, for pregnant
      women, the use of dogs at the checkpoints and the use of young
      Palestinian men by the Israeli military as human shields.
  11. We condemn the continuous closure of the Palestinian territories
      and the long security search process taking place at the Israeli
      checkpoints, giving no access for the Palestinian people to
      medical, educational and social services and threatening the life
      of patients.
  12. We condemn the bombardment of Palestinian civilian areas that has
      caused the deaths of hundreds of innocent people, in particular
      women and children. At the same time, we condemn the bombardment
      of Israeli civilian areas with rockets from the Gaza Strip.
  13. We condemn the extra-judicial assassinations of Palestinian
activists.
  14. We condemn the new Israeli law which prohibits a Palestinian
      married to an Israeli citizen to live in Israel or to receive
      Israeli citizenship.

This statement was issued in Berlin and will be distributed as such. At
the WILPF Congress in Bolivia it should be discussed in order to be
accepted by the congress.

Heidi Meinzolt – Coordinator of the Middle East Committee

For more information, please see our websites:
http://www.wilpf.int.ch
http://www.peacewomen.org
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org



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