My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South Africa. Some of them became life-long companions. Through these friends I came to learn much of their age-long persecution. They have been the untouchables of Christianity. The parallel between their treatment by Christians and the treatment of untouchables by Hindus is very close. Religious sanction has been invoked in both cases for the justification of the inhuman treatment meted out to them. Apart from the friendships, therefore, there is the more common universal reason for my sympathy for the Jews. But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me. The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and the tenacity with which the Jews have hankered after return to Palestine. Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood? Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and in-human to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct. The mandates have no sanction but that of the last war. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home. The nobler course would be to insist on a just treatment of the Jews wherever they are born and bred. The Jews born in France are French in precisely the same sense that Christians born in France are French. If the Jews have no home but Palestine, will they relish the idea of being forced to leave the other parts of the world in which they are settled? Or do they want a double home where they can remain at will? This cry for the national home affords a colourable justification for the German expulsion of the Jews. ...And now a word to the Jews in Palestine. I have no doubt that they are going about it the wrong way. The Palestine of the Biblical conception is not a geographical tract. It is in their hearts. But if they must look to the Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs. They should seek to convert the Arab heart.... (November 1938)
Palestine Embassy in collaboration with Global March toJerusalem Cordially invites you to a High Tea-cum-Meeting On the occasion of send-offto Indian delegates for the ‘Global March to Jerusalem’ Speakers: Dr. Suresh Khairnar, Prof.Kamal Chenoy, Qamar Agha & Feroze Mithiborwala On Wednesday, 7thMarch 2012 From 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm At the Embassy of theState of Palestine Arafat Indira Cultural Centre EP-29-B, DiplomaticEnclave, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110 021 RSVP: FarhaIman & Badar Khan Embassyof the State of Palestine Organizing Committee Member EP-29-B,Diplomatic Enclave GlobalMarch to Jerusalem Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 9953977077/9891311683 Ph: - 24108062/63
Declaration of Support for the Global March to Jerusalem
We, the Advisory Board of the Global March to Jerusalem, are alarmed and deeply troubled by the continuing repression of Palestinians in Jerusalem and by the deliberate and systematic attempts to expel and reduce the Christian and Muslim Palestinian population of the city as part of the policy called “Judaisation,” which is being applied to every part of historic Palestine.
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 world is now witnessing a threat to the sovereignty, sanctity and inviolability of Jerusalem. The plan is not only to destroy the Muslim and Christian presence, but also to change and dismantle the social structure of Jerusalem, obliterating its indigenous Arab identity and changing the character of the city.
The people of the world have therefore taken it upon themselves to prevent this abomination, by mobilizing themselves in every part of the world and representing all religious, humanitarian, and cultural backgrounds in a global march to Jerusalem (GMJ) aimed at guarding the City of Peace from becoming a wasteland of intolerance. We therefore lend our names to support the convergence of people from all countries and continents of the world to Jerusalem, and to the nearest points to which they are able to approach, both inside Palestine and at the Palestinian borders with Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, as well as in their own countries, in a peaceful march towards Jerusalem.
We therefore support this effort, and encourage all of humanity to support it, by making the pledge set forth below, that all participants in the Global March to Jerusalem have agreed to accept.
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 done to change its Arabic & 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 at its Judaisation. We also condemn the continuation of the Zionist occupation forces in building the apartheid wall that aims to expropriate more Palestinian lands and convert the occupied areas into shrinking cantons isolated from each other.
We support the right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, to liberate their lands and to live on them in freedom and dignity like all other people on earth.
We support the non-negotiable & inalienable rights of the Palestinian People, including their families, to return to their homes and lands from which they were uprooted.
We reject all racist laws that distinguish between people based on ethnicity or religion and call for their cancellation and criminalization.
The Global March to Jerusalem does not represent any one faction or political party, but we call for participation of all social forces, political factions, and ideologies.
The Global March to Jerusalem is a global peaceful movement, which does not use violence to achieve its goals.
Signed,
The Advisory Board of the Global March to Jerusalem (partial listing of names)
Shaikh Dr. Abdul Ghani al-Tamimi, poet and preacher; chairman of the Palestine Scholars Abroad
Abdullatif Arabiyyat, Former Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament
Swami Agnivesh, Founder, Bonded Labour Liberation Front and World Council of Arya Samaj, former member of the Indian parliament and former chairperson of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
Ahmad Obeidat, Former Jordanian Prime Minister & Head of the National Front for Reform
Dr. Ahmed Mohammed attia Bahar, Vice President, Palestinian Legislative Council
Tan Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes, Malaysian entrepreneur; founder and CEO, Air Asia
Dr. Anton Shuhaiber, Gaza Christian Association
Arnold Hottinger,Swiss journalist and publicist; former Middle East correspondent for the Neue ZΓΌrcher Zeitung.
H.E. Atallah Hanna, Archbishop of Sebastia, Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Bouguerra Soltani, Algerian Government Minister and party leader for the Movement of the Society for Peace
Dr. Cornel West, Professor of African American studies. Princeton University; philosopher, writer and civil rights activist
Datuk Yasmin Yusoff, Malaysian actress and television host
David Hartsough, Director, Peaceworkers, San Francisco
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate
HE Dr. Dzukelly Ahmad, member of the Malaysian parliament
Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, Jewish German author, activist and publicist
Dr. Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law, University of Illinois
Dr. Franco Cavalli, oncologist and former leader of the Swiss Social Democrat Party parliamentary group
George Galloway, former Member of British Parliament and Founder of Viva Palestina
Dr. Ghada Karmi, Writer and Co-Director, Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter
Gretta Duisenberg, Founder and Chair, "Stop the Occupation" (Netherlands), Free Gaza Movement Board Member
Dr. Hammam Said, Head of the Jordanian Consultative Council of the Muslim Brothers
Hilarion Capucci, Archbishop of Caesarea, Greek Melkite Church
Ibrahim Nasrallah, Jordanian-Palestinian Poet & Novelist
Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Pastor Emeritus, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Prof. Judith Butler, writer and philosopher, University of California, Berkeley
Laith Shubeilat, Former Jordanian Parliamentarian
Lalita Ramdas, Chair, Greenpeace International
Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, Magsaysay Peace Award Recipient and anti-nuclear advocate
Dr. Leo Gabriel, Austrian socioanthropologist, journalist and documentary filmmaker; member, World Social Forum International Council
Fr. Louis Vitale, Order of Franciscan Monks; Pace e Bene; nonviolent resistor
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Jewish Renewal Movement
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, former Prime Minister of Malaysia
Mairead McGuire, Nobel Peace Laureate
Marzuki Alie, Speaker, Indonesian House of Representatives
Marwah Daud Ibrahim, Indonesian feminist, writer and Member of Parliament
Medha Patkar, Leader, National Alliance of People's Movements; Recipient, Right Livelihood Award, Goldman Environment Prize & Amnesty International Human Rights Defenders Award
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General, Palestinian National Initiative and President, Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
Neta Golan, Co-Founder, International Solidarity Movement
Dr. Norman Paech, former Member of the German Parliament; professor of law, emeritus, University of Hamburg
Sheikh Raed Salah, President of the Islamic movement within the 1949 Ceasefire Line
Justice Rajinder Sachar, Former Chief Justice, Delhi High Court, Member, UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Senior Advisor & Counsel, People's Union for Civil Liberties
Ronnie Kasrils, South African national liberation leader and former cabinet minister
Seema Mustafa, Syndicated columnist & former political editor, Asian Age
Prof Siddique Hassan, Director, Vision 2016 and Assistant Amir of the Jamat-e-Islami, Hind)
Subhi Ghosheh, Chairman, Jordanian Beitul-Maqdes Forum
Syeda Hameed, Columnist, The Indian Express, and Member, Indian National Planning Commission
HE Tony Pua Kiam Wee, member of the Malaysian parliament
Tujan Faysal, First elected woman Jordanian Parliamentarian
Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, Former Chief of the Naval Staff of India
Mrs. Wardina Safiyyah, Malaysian actress and television host
Dr. Yacoub Zaiadeen, Former Jerusalem Representative to the Jordanian parliament
Sheikh Yousuf Jumaa, former Palestinian Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs; former preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Dr. Zakaria Agha, M.D., member, Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee; former chair, Gaza Strip Medical Association
Dr. Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Author; Vice Chairman and Founder Trustee of SAGE Foundation; Professor of Islamic Studies, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
Felicitation of the 10 Mumbaikar’s of the 50 Indian Delegates to leave for the Asian Convoy across India,Pakistan,Iran, Turkey, Lebanon & Jordan
Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opp CST, Mumbai on the 3rd of March from 2.00pm to 3.00pm
Once again the Indian delegation is all set & due to leave for the first ever “Global March to Jerusalem”, scheduled for the 30th of March 2012. More than 50 Indians of which 10 are Mumbaikar’s will traverse across India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, by Ship to Beirut-Lebanon.
This is part of a larger international movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their 9 decades long struggle for the independent & sovereign state with Jerusalem as their capital.
Palestine is the central geo-political issue of our times & at the heart of the struggle against the brutal & fascist Israeli occupation lies the core issue of Jerusalem. Due to the systematic Israeli strategy of the construction of Settlements & the Apartheid Wall, Jerusalem as has been cut off from the West Bank & the Israeli’s have refused to even negotiate on this count & have stated that Jerusalem is the capital of Eretz Israel. The siege of Gaza carries on with 15 lakh Palestinians yet under a brutal siege, whilst the Zionist Apartheid Nazi state continue wage war on the civilian population to ethnically cleanse & thus occupy all of historic Palestine.
The situation of Jerusalem, which is the Holy City of three major faiths, is indeed very dire. Israel has violated every UN resolution & tenet of international law. The Palestinians are barred from entering Jerusalem & those who live with the city are being systematically cleansed.
Thus the international movements in solidarity with the Palestinian nation have decide to organize a Global March to Jerusalem on the 30th of March 2012. We will be congregating on the border states of Egypt, Jordan, Syria & Lebanon & marching towards the borders of occupied Palestine in hundreds of thousands.
Delegates from Asia, Africa, South America, America, Canada, South America, Europe & Australia, will be flying in directly to these border nations as well as into Palestine (both West bank & Gaza, as well occupied 1948).
It is the Asian Convoy, which has been organized by the Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine, that will be going by the land route all the way to Lebanon, whilst traversing Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey & by ship to Beirut.
Then on the 30th of March we will all march to the borders in the tradition of a non-violent popular people’s movement.
The Indian delegates will be felicitated by the Palestine Embassy in Delhi (7th March, 4-30-7.30pm) & then we congregate at the Rajghat (9th March, 9.00am), seek Mahatma Gandhi’s blessing & after a prayer meeting & speeches we leave for Amritsar, where we visit the Golden Temple & pay our respects to the martyrs of Jalianwala Baug, after which we cross over the Wagah border into Pakistan.
We will be visiting Lahore, Multan, Sukker & Karachi (10-14th March) in Pakistan. After which we will travel to Iran by air & will once again have programmes in Zahedan, Isfahan, Qom, Tehran & Tabrez (15-20th March). In Turkey (21-26th March) we will be going to Ankara & other cities & we will arrive in Beirut-Lebanon on the 27/28th of March.
This convoy is a movement of epic proportions, one that seeks to liberate Palestine & build the unity of the Asian masses & nations in our common struggle against Western Imperialism & Zionism. All those who are marching with us are Satyagrahis in the best traditions of the martyrs of our freedom struggle.
1) Justice Rajinder Sacchar ( Renowned lawyer and a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Member, United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Senior Advisor & counsel for the People's Union for Civil Liberties)
2) Medha Patkar ( Leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, National Convenor, National Alliance of People's Movements, Winner, Right Livelihood Award, Goldman Environment Prize & Human Right's Defenders Award, Amnesty International)
3) Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat (former Chief of the Naval Staff of India. Committed to Asian & Third World Solidarity)
4) Mahesh Bhatt (Noted Filmmaker & widely respected for his committment to the cause of religious harmony & Indo-Pakistan relations)
5) Adv. Mukul Sinha (Leading Legal & Human Rights luminary & noted for his struggle in Gujarat to protect the rights of the minorities. National Convenor, Jan Sangarsh Manch)
6) Admiral Ramdas (Winner of the Magsaysay Award for peace for his efforts in trying to demilitarise and denuclearize South Asia)
7) Syeda Hameed (Committed to the uplifment of Women & member of the National Planning Commission of India)
8) Seema Mustafa (Eminent columnist & former political editor, Asian Age & an expert on Palestine)
9) Advocate Yusuf Muchala (Renowned & respected jurist & legal crusader for human rights & justice, Advisor to the Muslim Personal Law Board of India)
10) Swami Agnivesh (ex-Member of Parliament, President - World Council of AryaSamaj, Chairperson – Bonded Labour Liberation Front )
11) Prof. Zeenat Shaukat Ali (Noted Writer & advocate of Womens' Rights & an expert on Palestine)
12) Dr. Suresh Khairnar (Renowned Gandhian & Socialist. Has devoted his life to the cause of religious harmony)
13) Prof. Achin Vanaik (Renowned Proffesor of Political Science & a leading voice of the Palestinian solidarity movement in India, leader of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament, CNDP)
14) Ghulam Pesh Imam (Philantrophist & active social worker)
15) Lalita Ramdas (Chair, Greenpeace International & Peace Acitist committed to India-Pakistan friendship)
16) Sandeep Pandey (Winner of the Magsaysay award & convenor of the National Alliance of People's Movements)
17) Adv Niloufer Bhagwat (noted legal & human rights luminary)
18) Anand Patwardhan (Documentary Filmmaker of national & international repute, having one numerous awards of popular & critical acclaim)
19) Shahid Siddiqui (Editor Nai Duniya, ex-Member of Parliament, leader of the Samajwadi Party)
20) Brigadier Sudhir Sawant (ex-Member of Parliament & National President, Shiv Rajya Party)
21) SS Yadav (Renowned Dalit Economist & Leader of the Republican Party of India)
22) Hanumant Upre (Writer & National Leader of the Other Backward Castes.)
Literary figures & writers from Marathi, Hindi & Urdu literary organizations have arranged the programme, which will also include video & slide shows & a panel discussion
on the Palestinian struggle.
The hosts include Kishore Jagtap, Farid Khan,Yawar Ali Qazi, Janab Faruqi, Harshwardhan Vartak & Arshad Mirza
2) Bhupesh Gupta Bhawan, Prabhadevi, Worli - 2nd March at 6pm.
This will include a gathering of Leftist & Socialist orghanizations.
The meeting will be convened by Comrade Prakash Reddy & Kishore Jagtap on behalf of the "India Palestine People's Solidarity Forum" & "Bharat Bachao Andolan"
3) Press Conference: Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opp CST. 3rd March, 2.00-3.00pm
The meeting will be presided by Brigadier Sudhir Sawant (ex-Member of Parliament).
4) Other programes with the Dalit & OBC organizations are being finalised
