Along with 1400 peace and justice activists from 43 countries, I went to Cairo on Christmas Day to participate in the Gaza Freedom March. As another participant in the March Robert Naiman reported here earlier, Egypt blocked our travel to Gaza through the border at Rafah. While this development was a disappointment, the participants in the March turned it into an asset and at the initiation of the South African delegation we drafted and adopted the Cairo Declaration to End Israeli Apartheid. It was endorsed on January 1, 2010 and promises to be a historic document in the struggle for Palestinian freedom. I was elated to be in Cairo to witness this amazing development.
The Cairo Declaration reads:
We, international delegates meeting in Cairo during the Gaza Freedom March 2009 in collective response to an initiative from the South African delegation, state:
In view of:
o Israel’s ongoing collective punishment of Palestinians through the illegal occupation and siege of Gaza;
o the illegal occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the continued construction of the illegal Apartheid Wall and settlements;
o the new Wall under construction by Egypt and the US which will tighten even further the siege of Gaza;
o the contempt for Palestinian democracy shown by Israel, the US, Canada, the EU and others after the Palestinian elections of 2006;
o the war crimes committed by Israel during the invasion of Gaza one year ago;
o the continuing discrimination and repression faced by Palestinians within Israel;
o and the continuing exile of millions of Palestinian refugees;
o all of which oppressive acts are based ultimately on the Zionist ideology which underpins Israel;
o in the knowledge that our own governments have given Israel direct economic, financial, military and diplomatic support and allowed it to behave with impunity;
o and mindful of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007)
We reaffirm our commitment to:
Palestinian Self-Determination
Ending the Occupation
Equal Rights for All within historic Palestine
The full Right of Return for Palestinian refugees
We therefore reaffirm our commitment to the United Palestinian call of July 2005 for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to compel Israel to comply with international law.
To that end, we call for and wish to help initiate a global mass, democratic anti-apartheid movement to work in full consultation with Palestinian civil society to implement the Palestinian call for BDS.
Mindful of the many strong similarities between apartheid Israel and the former apartheid regime in South Africa, we propose:
- An international speaking tour in the first 6 months of 2010 by Palestinian and South African trade unionists and civil society activists, to be joined by trade unionists and activists committed to this programme within the countries toured, to take mass education on BDS directly to the trade union membership and wider public internationally;
- Participation in the Israeli Apartheid Week in March 2010;
- A systematic unified approach to the boycott of Israeli products, involving consumers, workers and their unions in the retail, warehousing, and transportation sectors;
- Developing the Academic, Cultural and Sports boycott;
- Campaigns to encourage divestment of trade union and other pension funds from companies directly implicated in the Occupation and/or the Israeli military industries;
- Legal actions targeting the external recruitment of soldiers to serve in the Israeli military, and the prosecution of Israeli government war criminals; coordination of Citizen’s Arrest Bureaux to identify, campaign and seek to prosecute Israeli war criminals; support for the Goldstone Report and the implementation of its recommendations;
- Campaigns against charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
We appeal to organisations and individuals committed to this declaration to sign it and work with us to make it a reality.
It was incredibly refreshing to see the Palestinian issue represented so strongly by an international body and such a comprehensive document endorsed with little debate or discussion. As a new South African friend told me, we must equate Zionism with Apartheid and make it unacceptable to support any individual or government that supports this type of racism. It is the path to building a case for economic isolation of Israel to end the oppression of the Palestinian people.
How empowering it was to remove the American frame from the Israeli/Palestinian debate.
On a personal note, I thank everyone here for their support and concern for my safety while in Cairo. Friends in St. Louis helped document the journey of Hedy Epstein, J'Ann and me on the March. It is available here.
In Tahrir Square on New Year's Eve, the March attempted to symbolically set out for Gaza by blocking heavy Cairo traffic. We were attacked by plainclothes Egyptian police. Here's what I wrote later that day:
I am traveling with Hedy Epstein and J'Ann Allen. We are St. Louis,
Missouri activists in Cairo for the Gaza Freedom March.
We participated in the action taking over the street at Tahrir Square
on December 31. When the police quickly barricaded us in, we felt a
great fear of being crushed. Others sensed this too and mobilized to
protect Hedy from danger. French delegate Clare Didier, who out of
respect for Hedy had visited us in the hotel the previous night,
mobilized several people to create a buffer zone around Hedy to shield
her from falling or being crushed. Anthony Lowenstein from Australia
was positioned behind us and was critical in keeping the space behind
us. Many of us, including Hedy, fell when the crowds pushed from
behind. Immediately, many individuals worked to get Hedy up to her
feet. I had fallen too but was still holding on to Hedy's arm when we
got up and we started to be led toward the sidewalk. I saw a woman
just to my right being beaten by a police officer. I was so angry
that I punched the officer in the arm (and I admit this with
embarrassment since I'm a Quaker). The officer smiled at me and I
believe he was going to come after me. But suddenly one of the senior
police officers recognized Hedy and started yelling "Hasab! Hasab!"
which means VIP. Immediately the atmosphere changed and the police
created a buffer zone around Hedy and helped Hedy, J'Ann and me onto
the sidewalk. Many internationals saved Hedy from harm and Hedy saved
me from a potential beating.
Amandla! Intifada! Freedom!