Refuse to support the Israeli occupation!  In defence of international law and human rights: boycott, divestment and sanctions against the occupation.

At its meeting in London in September 2005 the EJJP decided to add to its declaration of aims the following clauses:

1. EJJP supports non violent action aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and Israeli breaches of international law
2. EJJP calls upon all states to ensure that their relations with Israel are in accordance with international law and comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For thirty-eight years massive land and water confiscation, roadblocks, extrajudicial killings, closures, curfews, and collective punishment have taken place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in contravention of international law.  Oppression, segregation and humiliation, house demolitions, and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank and the barriers around the Gaza Strip determine the daily life of the occupied Palestinian people.  Unfortunately, the Israeli Government is using its unilateral 'disengagement' from Gaza as a cover for the consolidation of the occupation of the West Bank and the annexation of large areas of Palestinian land.

The Israeli government, throughout the years of Occupation, has felt entitled to breach International Law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and even the decisions of the International Court of Justice with the tacit acceptance of much of the international community.

The United Nations and the international community as a whole have failed to implement any effective sanctions against Israeli breaches of International Law.  Citizens' action throughout Europe is therefore called for, to stop Governments operating double standards and continuing to appease Israel.

The 2005 Annual Plenary Session of the EJJP

Recalls that:

The fulfilment of the principles of the United Nations Charter requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace between both Israel and the future Palestinian state.

All Member States of the United Nations in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations are committed to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter.

The maintenance of an international system of justice, its authority and meaning for the international community requires that Israel must be compelled to end the Occupation.

Israel, as a powerful state occupying the land of another people, is an equal member of the international community and must be held accountable for its policies and actions in the light of accepted international norms as are all other nations.  Any other approach to the State of Israel is discriminatory, selecting it out, without justification, as a special case from all other countries.

For all these reasons we consider the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land to be an international issue.

We all have a stake in ending it.

We are not willing to accept the blindness of the so called super powers, the indolence of the United Nations, the apathy of the "Quartet", and finally, the indifference of the states of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

We are not willing to be silent about the fact that the occupying power, Israel, claims to speak for Jews world-wide and to be acting on behalf of our ancestors, many of whom were victims of the Nazi genocide, and supposedly for the sake of all victims of anti-Semitism and racism.

We are not willing to witness passively a policy course that has already caused too many casualties, unbearable destruction, and constant pain.

Regarding ourselves as European citizens and, hence, believing that human rights is the political basis of European civil society, we share the responsibility for peace and justice with our friends and sister organizations in Israel, in Palestine, and in all countries of the international community.

We are determined to take a major stand against the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territories, i.e. against the course of hatred and hostility that could culminate in a catastrophe—for Palestinians and Israelis.

We are convinced that the Israeli leadership and decision makers, as well as most of Israel's civil society, have the power to alter the intolerable situation, but are reluctant and/or unwilling to do so. For this reason, it is impossible to end the Occupation without pressure from outside.  International non-violent but effective pressure, in support of the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the Occupation is a crucial way to break through this deadlock.

The 2005 Annual Plenary Session of EJJP notes

• The "Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Human Rights" that was launched by representatives of Palestinian civil society in May 2005
• The "Agenda of Struggle" that was approved by of the 5th World Social Forum in Porto Alegre on Jan. 2005 calling upon the social movements to "mobilize for de-investments and boycotts" with the explicit aim of "pressuring Israel to implement international resolutions and to respect the decision of the International Court of Justice for the immediate stop and destruction of the illegal apartheid wall and the end of the Occupation"
• The final resolution of the United Nations International Conference of the Civil Society in Support of Middle East Peace that was published in Paris on July 2005, announcing for the next year the inauguration "of a global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end the Occupation and comply with international law and all relevant United Nations resolutions"
• The petition that was approved to be launched by the meeting of the European Co-ordinating Committee of NGOs on the Question of Palestine (ECCP) in Brussels on May 2005, that calls upon all citizens of the EU members to "urge our Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Council of the European Union and the United Nations to take political and economical measures, including sanctions, aiming at preventing Israel from continuing the construction of the wall and to oblige it to respect the ICJ Advisory Opinion".
• That many Jewish and Israeli organizations support the idea of selective boycott and sanctions on Israel: Ta'ayush, Anarchists Against the Wall, Bat Shalom, ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolition), the Jewish Voice for a Just Peace (JVP/US), Not in My Name (US); Matzpen (Israel/International); New Profile (a Refusenik, feminist and antimilitaristic organization in Israel), Jews Against the Occupation (NYC Chapter); the petition of South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils and legislator Max Ozinsky, which has gathered more than 500 signatures of South African Jews; Jewish Voices Against the Occupation (US); Jewish Women for Justice in Israel and Palestine (US); Gush Shalom (Israel); Jews for Global Justice (US); and Visions of Peace With Justice (US), among others.

It declares:

• That there is nothing inherently anti Semitic in implementing boycotts and divestment campaigns against Israeli occupation.  Indeed we are undertaking such action in the belief that the end of the Occupation is in the long term interests of the Israeli people.
• That the situation in the different countries of Europe varies, so that different country groups of EJJP will need to decide the most appropriate form of action within the framework of direct non-violent action against the Occupation.
• That a selective boycott could be designed to encourage Israelis to move towards respect for Palestinian rights

The Federation of the European Jews for a Just Peace and many of its affiliated groups will be supporting and pursuing an interwoven campaign of actions against the Occupation on all levels: local, regional, national, European and international.

Proposed Actions

1. We believe that a variety of interwoven measures targeted specifically at the machinery of Occupation and the Israeli Military-Science-Technology-Economy tiers that are linked to it will generally be appropriate.  We will work with other organisations in the field and include in our activities actions against:
   • the sale of weapons and parts to and from Israel;
   • the sale and servicing of equipment for use in the Occupation;
   • the training and testing of Israeli military personnel and weapons in any part of the EU;
   • training and advice by Israel of Police and Military from EU countries.
2. Divestment from companies supporting the occupation and engaged in the construction of the wall and settlements or the destruction of Palestinian homes and land.  Working with local, Palestinian and Israeli groups and divestment campaigners to identify appropriate targets.
3. Campaigning for importers, wholesalers and retailers to label 'Israeli' products, that have been produced in whole or part, or which contain any components produced outside the 1967 borders as products from the occupied Palestinian territories.
4. Supporting consumer boycotts of such products by publicising a consolidate list in conjunction with Gush Shalom, Palestinian organisations and local solidarity groups, using the EJJP website.  Where retailers and wholesalers refuse to provide information on the provenance of such goods, they would be included on such a list, marked as potential settlement products.
5. Linking with other groups in compiling and updating information and in campaigning for divestment and consumer boycotts.  This could help stem the fragmentation of political solidarity campaigns with the Palestinian People.

The time has come to translate our criticism of and opposition to the Israeli governments and policies into effective, non-violent action.  While these may be largely symbolic in the first instance, such actions are designed to activate a citizen base which can pressurise our own Governments.  Initially the aim is to rescind the privileges accorded to Israel in trade and research collaboration by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, until such time as Israel meets the Human Rights obligations written into the Agreement.