In terms of the Asian route, we did face many dilemmas and difficulties, due to the increasing political complexity in the region, arising out of the serious crisis in Syria. Thus the Asian convoy had decided to bypass Syria due to the raging conflict within. This brought up many problems in terms of the land route and the costs of the entire journey. We were also well aware that the two key strategic locations were Jordan and Lebanon, where the major mobilization would be organized. The only land route to Jordan was through Iraq and we tried our very best to negotiate with the Iraqi government for permissions. But unfortunately, that was not to be as the Arab League Summit was to be held in Baghdad on the 28-29th of March and that was the priority undoubtedly. The Asian … [read more]

This policy is inconsistent with all relevant United Nations resolutions on Jerusalem and contrary to the most basic principles of international law. Its purpose is plainly to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its non-Jewish population and transform a once proud symbol of international tolerance and religious and cultural diversity into an exclusionary and racist enclave. Jerusalem is our common universal heritage. It is the centre of spirituality and ideological significance for all of the monotheistic religions, and a beacon of emancipation and hope for the downtrodden. This historic city is venerated across the world for enhancing the spiritual heritage of all humanity; it has been a symbol of unity and equality, with a message of love, mercy and compassion. However the entire … [read more]

A overall list can be retrieved from the international website of the GMJ. It is to be completed soon. Meanwhile the North American GMJ site offers a good overview of the endorsers from there. Selected outstanding endorsers of the GMJ: • Archbishop Desmond Tutu • Noam Chomsky • George Galloway, British MP • Ronnie Kasrils, South African ANC leader and cabinet minister • Hanna Atallah, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem • Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, American rabbi in the Jewish Renewal movement • Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian democracy activist and former presidential candidate, Palestine • Medea Benjiman, Anti-war organizer and activist, USA • Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University, USA • Tariq Ali, … [read more]

Is the crisis in Syria heading down the path of the Libyan scenario? And to what extent are the regime’s stubbornness and bloodiness preparing to open the door to a foreign armed intervention, which would transform the Syrian revolution into a tragedy that would threaten the very survival of the Syrian state? The danger is present, though not very likely, as Syria lacks petrol – the booty that attracted Western greed as in the case of Libya, and Iraq before. America and its satellites act in a very pragmatic way. They are not concerned about tens of thousands of people injured or martyred. They may even prefer the situation as it is: the Arab Syrian army worn out in a bloody war against the people. And the Syrian regime challenged and undermined, but not overthrown, because the … [read more]

The National Coordination Body for Democratic Change has been closely following the movements leading to the ‘Friends of Syria’ conference. The NCB acknowledges the noble intentions behind the calling of the conference, especially since it is to be hosted by Tunisia, the country that sparked the Arab spring, whose its officials have always been resolutely against foreign military intervention in Syria and who abhor sectarianism and violence no matter where it emanates from. Tunisia has been dedicated to preserving the unity of Syria. It has sought to do this by attempting to unite the democratic resistance, unifying the efforts of the opposition rather than dividing them or creating tensions through favoritism and marginalization; and maintaining this unity through promoting the Arab … [read more]

El 30 de marzo de 2012, desde todos los continentes convergeremos y nos reuniremos a lo largo de las fronteras con Jordania, Egipto, Siria y Líbano, y con la participación de las delegaciones que desde cada país del mundo lleguen marcharemos pacíficamente hacia Palestina. Desde que la ocupación sionista de 78% de Palestina en 1948 y la subsecuente ocupación de Jerusalén y el resto de Palestina en 1967, hemos sido testigos de los crecientes intentos de judaizar Jerusalén y colonizar Palestina. Estos crímenes contra la humanidad se realizan bajo la protección política y el pleno apoyo de los sucesivos gobiernos estadounidenses y reforzados por su veto en el Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas. El objetivo del sionismo es obligar a los residentes palestinos a … [read more]

Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, a prominent publicist and daughter of the former president of the Central Council of German Jews, addressed the meeting and pledged her support for the GMJ. She stressed the necessity to overcome Zionism all together and called for one common democratic state for Arabs and Jews. She is considering to participate in the march as well. The Lutheran priest Jochen Vollmer criticised the unabated and biased support by the churches for Israel regardless of the blatant violations of human rights by this state. The quest for peace means also to defend the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, he said. Several prominent people from those three countries have publicly stated their endorsement so far: Annette Groth, member of German parliament for the party „Die … [read more]

We are now in 2012, and we are still living in exile or under the Israeli apartheid regime, the illegal construction of colonial settlements is confiscating the remaining parts of Palestine, the Separation Wall divides and separates villages and towns, and Palestinians in Jerusalem are threatened of being driven out of their homes and lands for the mere purpose of the Judaization of this sacred city. But we will not leave. We will stand and be firm. We will not permit thousands of years of our attachment to our land and our Holy City to be broken. We therefore invite and call upon all persons of courage and good will around the world to stand up and walk, with your fellow human beings, regardless of religion, of political affiliation - to stand up as responsible human beings and walk … [read more]

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 … [read more]

This meeting will be held to implement the decisions of the previous meeting, held in Amman last month, in which there was a consensus to form an International Central Committee representing all regions of the world and an International Advisory Board of eminent international figures for the march. The date for the onset of the March was agreed to be on the 30th of March, 2012, which marks the 36th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, when peaceful protest against massive expropriation of Palestinian land was brutally met with deadly force by Zionist troops. About 40 delegates representing the International Committees throughout the seven continents of the world will be attending the meeting in Beirut. The conference will adopt a structural process for the March, and its committee … [read more]

Editorial comment: As Anti-imperialist Camp we absolutely refuse any foreign military intervention as an attempt to destroy the revolutionary popular movement in Syria. It is the Muslim Brotherhood which has asked for such an intervention by Turkey. Following interview does not express our opinion. Q: What do you think of the recent agreement between Syria and the Arab League? The Arab League’s initiative was born disabled. There is no mechanism to follow up. The Syrian regime accepted the agreement unconditionally but so far nothing changed. The massacre continues. Our interest is not to punish Bashar and his regime. We do not want him to have the same dramatic end as Gaddafi or Saddam. What we want is that the killings end, that reforms are undertaken and that the Syrian … [read more]

previous Additionally, given the continued overwhelming supremacy of imperialism there cannot be any doubt for our geo-politicians that whatever regime comes into conflict with the imperial centre must be supported – regardless of its relation to the popular masses. Tertium non datur! During the last two decades this geo-political position did not differ much from the social revolutionary one. Imperial power has been at its highest, unfolding ruthlessly and attacking resisting regimes that represented old gains of long-gone popular struggles. Outstanding examples were Yugoslavia and Iraq, where the popular masses essentially remained passive while only politically advanced sections supported the regimes’ resistance against imperialism. Popular resistance movements like those … [read more]

previous The Arab ancien regime The Middle East has always been a neuralgic point of the imperialist world system. To simplify: there is Israel and petroleum. It is not by accident that the Palestinian resistance continued while after 1989/1991 nearly all other popular movements against the imperial capitalist elites ceded. Under these extremely unfavourable conditions this continued resistance, however, suffered deformations. In the absence of mass movements there was militarism. The other deformation was culturalism tending towards sectarianism. Its highest expression was al-Qaeda type Jihadism with its gesamtkunstwerk [all-embracing, holistic artwork] 9/11. It could deal some important symbolic blows to imperialism but without the masses it could not win. The old Middle … [read more]

previous First stage: peaceful and anti-interventionist When the democratic movement in Syria started, inspired by the advances in North Africa, there was the hope for quick victory as with its precedents. But the Assad regime refused to take the same road as his homologues in Tunisia and Egypt. The succession of Assad junior had evoked hopes for reform, but they have been frustrated since. All during the last decade the Baath apparatus did not allow them. Why then should they do so now? The only strong explanation for this total inability to respond at least partially to the democratic mass movement is the sectarian Allawi character of the Baath regime encapsulating itself. As in the other Arab countries the Islamist forces played no driving role in this first stage of the … [read more]

While direct military imperialist intervention remains unlikely, mainly Turkey is projecting power onto Syria. Also military means can no longer be excluded within a medium term range. Turkish intervention is, however, limited by the political constraint to appear in line with the Arab spring, for which Ankara wants to serve as a model and take the lead. The Arab revolt comes in the context and is an expression of the crisis of the US-centred imperialist system, which is both an economic and political crisis. The new and decisive factor is the popular mass movement, which scattered the imperialist ancien regime in the region. Thus the US needs to re-organise their order. They essentially try to do so by embracing sections of the movement and by co-opting these sections into the US … [read more]

• We assert the importance of Jerusalem‬ politically, culturally and religiously to the Palestinian people and humanity as a whole. We call for the protection of the Holy Places and all archeological sites and consider all the efforts made to change its Arab and cultural identity as a crime against humanity. We call on all international institutions to do their duties towards the city. • The defense of‬ Jerusalem and its liberation are a duty of all free people around the world and we call on all institutions, organizations, and individuals to participate in this duty. • We condemn the Zionist campaign of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine including all ongoing policies intended to change the demographic and geographic situation in the city and aimed … [read more]

Since the Zionist occupation of 78% of Palestine in 1948, and the subsequent occupation of Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine in 1967, we have witnessed growing efforts to Judaize Jerusalem and colonize Palestine. These crimes against humanity are done under the political protection and full support of successive American administrations and enforced by its veto at the United Nations. The goal of the Zionists is to force Palestinian residents out of Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine through acts of state terrorism, economic pressures, legal restrictions, and outright expulsions. The Holy city of Jerusalem is falsely called “the eternal capital of Israel” by Netanyahu and other Zionist leaders who clearly state that Jerusalem is non-negotiable. Such statements and related … [read more]

Editorial comment: As Anti-imperialist Camp we absolutely refuse any foreign military intervention as an attempt to destroy the revolutionary popular movement in Syria. It is the Muslim Brotherhood which has asked for such an intervention by Turkey. Following interview does not express our opinion. (Nov 20, 2011) Q: How you refer to the democratic demands and its highest expression, the constituent assembly? A: By burning himself, Mr. Mohammad Bouzizi lit the torch of freedom in the entire Arab world and opened a window of hope in the public mind. He encouraged the Arab youth to fight for the freedom and dignity that the Arab world has been dreaming of for decades. Since then, thousands of citizens in Syria have sacrificed their lives peacefully against the regime’s death machine … [read more]

Their hunger is ours. Thus, a solidarity strike has been initiated by a group of Palestinian youth from within the Palestinian occupied territories 1948, from all factions and political groups. We declare an open hunger strike and sit-ins in the city of Haifa that will commence on Saturday October the 8th, in solidarity with the demands of the Palestinian captive movement, and with the fierce struggle against the occupation and its prisons. The aim of this step is to declare full support for the demands of the captive movement. The most important among those demands is complete freedom from captivity. In addition, we wish to raise awareness and recruit public and institutional support and for the prisoners and their suffering, and to prepare the ground for a genuine popular protest … [read more]

On September 16, 2011, he addressed a public meeting in Vienna’s Austrian-Arab Culture Centre (OKAZ) on the “Syrian Intifada between repression and instrumentalisation”. We recount his intervention and the ensuing debate:* The components of the movement The Syrian Intifada is based on the lower strata of society. Its social roots are the same as in Tunisia and Egypt. It is a revolt against unbearable social conditions while the elites close to the regime still make huge fortunes. The initial force of the Intifada has been the poor but educated youth. As the regime is unable to fully control the internet, they used it to organise the protests. Within a few months the local co-ordinations formed two different revolutionary umbrella committees. 90% of the some 30,000 … [read more]