3rd Cairo Conference, 24-27 March 2005
International Campaign against US and Zionist Occupation
Announcement and call for participation
to all activists, popular committees, social movements, civil society organizations, research centers, trade unions, political groups and parties, and friends struggling against globalization, imperialism, Zionism and occupation, in Egypt, the Arab region and worldwide:
The organizational committee (Egypt) for the 3rd Cairo Conference of the International Campaign against US and Zionist Occupation announces the beginning of the preparations for the conference, which will take place between the 24th and 27th of March 2005, under the slogan "With the resistance in Palestine and Iraq, and against globalization, imperialism and Zionism". The objective of the conference is to exchange views and experience and agree on future international activities and campaigns surrounding the main themes of the conference, foremost:
1- Supporting the resistance in Palestine and Iraq.
2- Struggle against the Zionist project in the Arab region
3- Challenging the US imperialist project and globalization policies in the Arab region and worldwide.
4- Supporting the struggles of Arab peoples for democracy against the Greater Middle East project and the despotism of Arab regimes.
5- Development of the antiwar and anti globalization movements and the Movements against political oppression in the Arab region.
The 3rd Cairo Conference will be formed of two components:
I. An international political conference
II. An international political forum surrounding the main activities of the conference.
The invitation to participate in the activities of the forum is open to all Egyptian actors mentioned above, fulfilling the following criteria:
a- Adoption of the principles and objectives of the conference, including the first and second Cairo Declarations.
b- Rejection of all forms of normalization or relations with the Zionist State.
c- Rejection of all forms of interaction, including the receipt of funding, from the US and British administrations and/or related institutions.
d- Rejection of all forms of Zionist settlement projects and settlements with the occupation appointed Iraqi government.
The invitation to organize forum activities is an open invitation, where each Egyptian body wishing to participate in the forum activities will be requested to organize its proposed activity under the slogan of the conference and is expected to abide by the above mentioned criteria and to bear the full organizational and financial responsibilities for its proposed activity including the provision of the location of that activity.
Participants in the forum are expected to coordinate with the organizational committee of the conference regarding the dates and time of their different activities. The organizational committee, on the other hand, will facilitate the invitation of Arab and international participants in the conference and forum. It will also advertise the forum activities both locally and internationally as part of the conference advertisements. Forum activities will also be included in the final conference program.
In view of the above the organizing committee of the 3rd Cairo Conference calls upon all above actors to participate in the enrichment of the activities of the conference and the forum, by organizing their independent activities (seminars, workshops, cultural events, exhibitions, cinema shows etc.). The organizing committee is committed to facilitate those activities and integrate them into the conference plan.
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International Campaign against US and Zionist Occupation
3rd Cairo Conference, 24-27 March 2005
With the Resistance in Palestine and Iraq.. Against Globalization, Imperialism and Zionism
General Framework
I. Objectives of the Conference
The objective of the conference is to exchange views and experience and agree on future international activities and campaigns surrounding the main themes of the conference, foremost:
1- Supporting the resistance in Palestine and Iraq.
2- Struggle against the Zionist project in the Arab region
3- Challenging the US imperialist project and globalization policies in the Arab region and worldwide.
4- Supporting the struggles of Arab peoples for democracy against the Greater Middle East project and the despotism of Arab regimes.
5- Development of the antiwar and anti globalization movements and the Movements against political oppression in the Arab region.
II. Structure
The 3rd Cairo conference is composed of two components:
1- An international political conference addressing the main themes, international campaigns and plans for international mobilization.
2- An international forum that targets the expansion of conference participation among the widest circle of activist, political groups and parties, trade unions, popular committees and civil society organizations adopting the principles and objectives of the conference in addition to the first and second Cairo Declarations.
A. The conference
The conference will start with an opening plenary on the evening of Thursday the 24th of March 2005, a final plenary on the morning of Sunday the 27th of March 2005, followed by a press conference, in addition to two plenary seminars on the morning and 4 parallel workshops in the afternoon of Friday and Saturday the 25th and 26th of March.
The plenary seminar will be in the form of a lecture where six Egyptian, Arab or international speakers will present six papers, three on each of the three conference themes. The presentation should not exceed 15 minutes followed by an open discussion. The organizing group (OG) will make those papers available to all conference participants.
The workshops are spaces for discussion and endorsement of action plans and campaigns to mobilize and coordinate efforts surrounding the four suggested themes. The OG will prepare four suggested working papers to be addressed by the workshops:
1- An international campaign to impose international sanctions on Israel.
2- An international campaign to enact the Palestinian right of return.
3- An international campaign to boycott Israeli products.
4- An international campaign to end the US occupation of Iraq.
5- An international campaign to remove US military bases from the Arab region.
6- An international campaign to encourage donations to the Palestinian and Iraqi people.
7- An international campaign to organize protest demonstrations in the different countries against visits by US and Israeli delegations.
8- The organization of two international demonstrations on the 28th of September 2005 and on the 20th of March 2006 in solidarity with the Palestinian and Iraqi people.
9- Formation of an international solidarity committee against torture and detention and violation of public liberties in all countries of the region and in solidarity with detained activists against Zionism and occupation in Palestine and Iraq and all prisoners of conscience in all Arab countries.
10- Establishment of an Arab network for activists against globalization, imperialism, Zionism and political oppression.
The above suggestions will be further developed by the OG and prepared in its final version, with the widest possible Egyptian, Arab and international participation, to assist as working papers for the workshops.
B. The Forum
The forum is an open space, accessible to all Egyptian bodies and individuals, including public figures, groups and trends, who agree on the principles of the conference. The aim of the forum is to organize varying activities of an international nature surrounding the timetable of the main conference and within the framework of its objectives. Organizers of forum activities should be committed to the objectives and principles of the conference and should be capable of assuming responsibility for their respective activities and abide by the timeframe proposed by the OG.
Forum activities may include seminars, workshops, cultural events, cinema shows etc., which will be organized simultaneously in different locations that may include the main conference venue, or any other premises offered by the organizing bodies e.g. writers´ union, professional syndicates, centers etc.
The forum will help expand the base of participation among Egyptian activists and will develop the Cairo Conference as a vital and periodical focal event in Egypt and the Arab region. It will also mobilize international participation in the conference activities and help break the media silence surrounding the conference.
The organization of the forum will be as follows:
1- OG will issue a call, including the principles, objectives and framework of the conference and will address it to all Egyptian national actors inviting them to participate in the activities of the forum.
2- OG is also responsible for encouraging certain bodies it considers important, to contribute to the forum activities. A few examples will be highlighted further down in this document.
3- OG will approve all suggestions it will receive from any body provided it fulfills the aforementioned criteria. It will also try to coordinate suggestions of a similar nature.
4- OG will undertake the follow up of the different suggestions to ensure that all organizational concerns are met and to coordinate locations and time table of the different activities.
5- In case of suggestions that fail to be properly organized by the time of the conference, the OG will consequently exclude the activity from the conference agenda.
OG will approach several bodies, in particular:
1- Writers and artists will be invited to establish a committee against imperialism and Zionism, with a view to call for an international writers´ and artists´ forum against war within the Cairo conference. OG will facilitate the logistics of the formation of that committee and its contribution to the conference.
2- Independent workers´ groups and workers´ groups in opposition parties will be invited to establish a committee to organize an international meeting within the forum bringing together national, Arab and international trade unionists and workers struggling against colonialism and Zionism.
3- Egyptian medical syndicate or any of its committees to organize an event on torture and crimes of war.
4- Egyptian Bar Association or any of its committees to organize an event on the Palestinian right of return and the legitimacy of resisting the occupation.
5- Egyptian Press syndicate or any of its committees to organize an event on challenges facing journalists and correspondents challenging Zionism and the occupation.
6- Egyptian collective of "Engineers against Sequestration" to organize an event mobilizing for an international campaign for the banning of Israeli nuclear weapons.
7- Independent women´s organizations, activists and women bureaux of opposition parties to organize an international women´s gathering in solidarity with the women in children in Iraq and Palestine.
8- Egyptian opposition MPs to organize a consultative meeting with international MPs against the war with a view to establish an international parliamentary conference against war and Zionism.
9- Independent farmers´ groups and farmer committees inside opposition parties to organize and international farmers´ meeting within the activities of the forum.
10- The Cairo group of the World Tribunal on Iraq (coordinated by Hisham Mubarak Law Center) to organize a people´s trial for war criminals in Palestine and Iraq.
11- Independent and committed civil society organizations and networks to organize an Arab meeting with a view to establish a network of Arab NGOs in solidarity with the resistance of the Palestinian and Iraqi people.
12- Research centers to organize respective activities in the forum.
13- Independent cinema, theater and cultural groups to organize their events in the Cairo forum.
Notes:
…• The above activities are suggestions proposed by OG to the respective groups and formations, who, if willing to contribute to the forum, will be free to determine the content and nature of their contribution.
…• The forum is also open to any other suggestions provided they are committed to the objectives and the principles of the conference.
C. Preparation for the Conference
1- The OG of the 3rd Cairo Conference is a framework that represents Egyptian groups and trends against globalization, imperialism, Zionism, occupation and political oppression. It constitutes a cohesive group irrespective of its varied ideological backgrounds. It will be expanded on an objective and practical basis based on actual need for additional efforts, team spirit and respect of consensus, agreement on the 1st and 2nd Cairo Declarations with the principal exclusion of any party or individual involved in normalization with Israel, or in any sort of cooperative relation with the US administration or any of its institutions including receipt of its funds, or supportive in any way of the Zionist "peace" projects or the occupation-appointed government in Iraq.
2- OG will open a broad-based consultation with Egyptian, Arab and international parties regarding the general framework of the conference, the suggested themes, the conference schedule and the suggested international campaign with a view to develop each of them further. OG is open to suggestions provided they are practical and feasible given the available resources and context.
3- OG will form a series of committees to prepare and manage the organization of the conference. Immediately formed committees include:
a- A consultation committee to prepare the papers of the conference (the six pieces of research which will be presented to the two plenary sessions and the working papers for the workshops. The committee will contact the writers, follow up the timely submission of papers, hold preparatory meetings to discuss and prepare the working papers, undertake the widest possible Egyptian, Arab and international consultation regarding those papers and the schedule of the conference.
b- An administrative committee responsible for: financial management of the conference, identifying the premise for the conference, arranging for translation, contact participants to schedule participation in conference and forum, send out invitations and arrange for the reception and accommodation of participants from outside Egypt.
c- Forum Committee responsible for: inviting Egyptian parties to participate in the activities of the forum, follow up and coordination of those activities and ensuring fulfillment of criteria of participation.
d- Media Committee responsible for: setting up a website for the international campaign – Egypt, advertising the conference and forum, mobilization of media and organization of press conference.
The first three committees are responsible to feed the media committee periodically with updated information related to conference and forum.