Europe in the Global March to Jerusalem

Jerusalem has been a centre of the three monotheistic world religions for more than 1,000 years. This plurality has been threatened since the creation of the state of Israel and more so with the occupation of east Jerusalem and its annexation, in violation of international law. Jerusalem’s Palestinian inhabitants are subjected to a continuous process of expulsion from the city.

85% of its territory has been robbed by foreign settlers, while the Israeli state systematically destroys the livelihood of Palestinians. Every day, the Apartheid state of Israel demolishes Palestinian homes. Armed Israeli gangs, supported by the state, terrorise the old city’s inhabitants demanding, “Arabs out, Jerusalem is Jewish!” Jewish religious fanatics even attack Jewish women if they don’t abide by the rules emanating from their extremist interpretation of religion. All this is happening while the people of the Arab world are clamouring for democracy and self-determination.

After decades of submission to a world order dominated by NATO and Israel, the Arab masses have begun to rid themselves of their dependent and dictatorial regimes. People have taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers; demanding democracy and an end to the squander of their countries’ resources. For decades, these corrupt dictatorships have collaborated with Israel to safeguard Western interests in the region. The clearest testimony of this is the comprehensive blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip; destroying the future of 1.5 million Palestinians.

The sole reaction of the last settler colony in the world to the growing protest is increased brutality. The Apartheid state of Israel is hastening to create more facts on the ground, particularly in Jerusalem, before the balance of forces in the region turns completely against them. Once again, Israel’s claim to be the only democracy in the Middle East is exposed to be a racist fallacy – as only Jewish citizens are entitled to it.

Today, the Arab spring continues to fuel the Palestinian national movement. This initiative for the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) is a vital expression of this fact. Various forces from across the entire region, as well as all political, cultural and religious divisions, have come together – extending even to Europe.

It is, therefore, high time for each and every one of us to struggle similarly for democracy, equal rights and self-determination for occupied Palestine. This is an especial duty for the European opposition forces because Zionism is not only a product of European colonialism and racism; it still enjoys the support of our ruling elite.

The Global March to Jerusalem adopted the city of the three monotheistic world religions as a symbol of emancipation. Despite the on-going expulsion of Palestinians and the Judaisation of the city, it remains the common cultural heritage of humanity, which can never be erased.

We join this pluralistic initiative transcending cultural and religious borders on a simple political platform; carrying further ahead past initiatives. Our intention is to build a bridge for peace between the Arab region, Europe and other parts of the world.

We will meet before Land Day on March 30, 2012, in Cairo, Amman, Beirut and Damascus to start our common march to Jerusalem. In all these capitals, we would be joined by local preparatory committees.

Concomitantly, there will be mobilisations throughout historic Palestine: in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip, in Israel (by Muslims, Christians and Jews) and first and foremost, in Jerusalem also.

We call on you to:

a) sign the appeal issued by the international GMJ committee

b) build local organisational committees

c) register for participation in the march.

We say no to Zionism; and to an exclusive Jewish colonial state, which reacts to the legitimate struggle of the indigenous Palestinian people with the expansion of its Apartheid rule.

European preparatory committee for the Global March to Jerusalem
Rome, January 14, 2012

Zaher Birawi, leading Palestine activist, Britain
Gretta Duisenberg, Chair Foundation “Stop the Occupation”, Board member Free Gaza Movement, Netherlands
Leo Gabriel, Journalist and Anthropologist, Member of the IC of the World Social Forum, Austria
Dr. Hafiz al Karmi, Chairman Palestinian Forum in Britain
Mohammad Kozber, British Muslim Initiative
Wilhelm Langthaler, Anti-imperialist Camp, Gaza must live coalition, Austria
Mikalis Lukianos, Ship to Gaza, Greece
Daniela di Marco, Chair of Sumud – Anti-imperialist Voluntary Association, Italy
Moreno Pasquinelli, Anti-imperialist Camp, Italy
Ismael Patel, Chairman Friends of Al Qqsa, Britain
Attia and Verena Rajab, Palestine Committee Stuttgart, Germany
Elsa Rassbach, Film maker, journalist and peace activist, Berlin, Germany
Massimo de Santi, President of the International Committee for Education for Peace, Italy

To endorse the GMJ send an email to camp@antiimperialista.org

Selected outstanding endorsers of the GMJ:

Germany

• Annette Groth, Member of Parliament for the „Linke“, participant of the Gaza ship
• Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, publicist and daughter of the former president of the Central Council of Jews
• Felicia Langer, German Jewish lawyer and human rights activist, laureate of the German „Bundesverdienstkreuz“ and the Palestinian medal “for special merits”
• Reuven Moskovitz, Holocaust survivor, author and peace activist, Aachen peace price laureate 2004, Amos price laureate of „Open churches“ 2011
• Viktoria Waltz, professor emeritus for land-use planning, university Dortmund
• Norman Paech, professor emeritus for international law, university Hamburg, former MP for the “Linke” and participant of the Gaza flotilla

Further endorsers from German speaking countries

• AK Süd-Nord (North South Work Shop) Bremen
• DEAM (Group for democracy in the Arab world and the Mediterranean) www.deam.msx.de
• Deutscher Koordinationskreis Palästina Israel (Co-ordination Palestine Israel) www.kopi-online.de
• Deutsch-Palästinensische Frauenverein e.V. (German Palestine Women’s Association)
• Women in Black Munich
• Initiativ e.V. Duisburg
• Institut für Palästinakunde e. V.(Institute for Palestine studies), Bonn
• Palästina Arbeitskreis (Palestine Workshop) Hamburg
• Palästina Forum Nahost (Forum Palestine Near East) Frankfurt/Main
• Palästinakomitee (Palestine Commitee) Stuttgart
• Palästina/Nahost-Initiative (Palestine / Near East Initiative) Heidelberg
• Palestinian Community Germany

Italy

• Alex Zanotelli, catholic priest and missionary
• Margherita Hack, astrophysics
• Danilo Zolo, philosopher
• Giorgio Parisi, nuclear physics
• Angelo Baracca, nuclear physics
• Giulietto Chiesa, presentent of the association “Alternativa”
• Manlio Dinucci, journalist
• Massimo Zucchetti, university Turin
• Jacopo Venier, journalist
• Leonardo Mazzei, People’s Liberation Movement
• Domenico Losurdo, University Urbino
• Aldo Bernardini, University Teramo
• Costanzo Preve, philosopher
• Moreno Pasquinelli, Anti-imperialist Camp
• Hamza Piccardo, publisher, founder U.C.O.I.I. (Association of Islamic Communities in Italy)
• Giovanni Bacciardi, Party of Italian Communists
• Ugo Giannangeli, Demoicratic Jurists
• Marino Badiale, University Turin
• Maurizio Fratta, Association Democratic Revolution

Britain

• George Galloway, Member of Parliament
• Tariq Ali, British Pakistani historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist
• Ghada Karmi, Co-Director, Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter
• Lauren Booth, English broadcaster, journalist and pro-Palestinian activist
• Zaher Birawi, leading Palestine activist, Britain
• Dr. Hafiz al Karmi, Chairman Palestinian Forum in Britain
• Mohammad Kozber, British Muslim Initiative
• Ismael Patel, Chairman Friends of Al Qqsa, Britain

• Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) www.palestinecampaign.org
• Stop the War coalition http://stopwar.org.uk
• British Muslim Initiative (BMI) www.bminitiative.net/BMI/EN/index.aspx
• Friends of Al-Aqsa www.foa.org.uk
• Islamic Forum of Europe (UK branch) www.islamicforumeurope.com
• Viva Palestina www.vivapalestina.org
• Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) http://mabonline.net
• Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) www.palestinianforum.co.uk
• Association of Palestinian Community (APC) www.apcuk.org
• Palestinian embassy in the UK www.palestineembassyuk.com

Spain

• Nicolau Flaquer Molina
• Cristina García Cecilia, professor for Arab studies, university Alicante
• Víctor Domínguez Lucena, professor, university Alicante
• Pilar Salamanca, Valladolid

• Campaign against the Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq (RESCOP) consisting of more than two dozen organizations www.ongporpalestina.org

Austria

• Paula Abrams-Hourani, Founder of Women in Black, Vienna
• Wolfgang Gombocz, professor emeritus for philosophy university Graz, member of the academy of science of Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Anna-Maria Steiner, Catholic theologian, Graz
• Leo Gabriel, Journalist and Anthropologist, Member of the IC of the World Social Forum, Austria

further endorsers from German speaking countries

• Anti-imperialist Camp (AIK) www.antiimperialista.org
• Dar al Janub, Association for anti-racism and peace Vienna www.dar-al-janub.net
• Committee Gaza must live www.gazamussleben.at
• Iraqi Community Austria
• Palestinian Community Austria www.filastin.at
• Association for Islamic education and culture Ibikiz www.ibikuz.net
• League Culture
• Co-ordination Forum for the support to Palestine

Ireland

• Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate
• Raymond Deane, composer and political activist

Switzerland

• Franco Cavalli, former leader of the Social democratic parliamentary fraction
• Franz Fischer, Palestine activists and CC member of the Labour Party
• Edward Badeen, lecturer for Islamic sciences and Arabic, University Zurich
• Sami Daher, artist, Pitteria Solothurn

• Labour Party www.pda.ch
• Palestine Solidarity Basel www.palaestina-info.ch
• GFP - Gerechtigkeit und Frieden in Palästina (Justice and peace in Palestine)
• BDS Zürich section www.bds-info.ch

other European countries

• Gretta Duisenberg, Chair Foundation “Stop the Occupation”, Board member Free Gaza Movement, Netherlands
• Mikalis Lukianos, Ship to Gaza, Greece
• Günter Schenk, member of the “Jewish-Arab Collective” and “Citizens for Peace”, Strassbourg, France
• Ron Ridenour, author, Denmark
• Yvonne Ridley, Vice President of the European Muslims League, England
• Nadine Rosa-Rosso, senior anti-imperialist activist, Bruxelles, Belgium
• Péter Székely, Ungarian - Latin America Solidarity Association
• Lászlo Kupi, Ungarian - Latin America Solidarity Association

Palestine

• Al-Rowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Centre www.alrowwad-acts.ps
• Al-Walaja Popular Resistance Committee
• Alternative Information Center AIC www.alternativenews.org
• BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights www.badil.org
• Beit Ummar Popular Resistance Committee
• Bil’in Popular Resistance Committee www.bilin-village.org
• Friends of Freedom and Justice, Bil’in www.bilin-ffj.org
• Handala Center www.handalla-center.org
• Holy Land Trust www.holylandtrust.org
• International Solidarity Movement www.palsolidarity.org
• Nebi Saleh Popular Resistance Committee
• Ni’lin Popular Resistance Committee
• Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People www.PCR.PS
• Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign www.stopthewall.org
• Palestine Justice Network www.palestinejn.org
• Palestine Solidarity Project www.palestinesolidarityproject.org
• Popular Struggle Coordinating Committee www.popularstruggle.org
• Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies www.sirajcenter.org
• Youth Against Settlements (Hebron)
• Youth Activity Center – Aida Camp www.key1948.org
• International Solidarity Initiative www.internationalsolidarity.org
• Palestine National Initiative www.almubadara.org

International endorsers (non European)

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• Ronnie Kasrils, South African ANC leader and cabinet minister
• Ann Wright, former United States Army colonel
• Izzet Sahin, International Affairs Secretary, IHH, Turkey
• Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, American rabbi in the Jewish Renewal movement
• Medea Benjiman, Anti-war organizer and activist, USA
• Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian democracy activist and former presidential candidate, Palestine
• Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University, USA
• Samuel F. Hart, U.S. Ambassador, ret.
• Benjamin Monnet, World Assembly Member, USA/Korea
• Dekmak Haidar, coordinator Quds association in Lebanon
• John Beeching, Hon. Chair Canadians for Peace and Socialism
• Dr S Sivasegaram, retired professor, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Further individual international endorsers

• Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver, and the Voice of Palestine, Canada

Further organizational international endorsers