This petition for commitment was published a few years ago. It is as relevant today as ever.
Palestinians are the Priority
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an open statement of commitment to the Palestinian Solidarity Cause* deliberately shifting focus away from Israel’s war crimes and its supremacist Zionist ideology;
* imposing unilateral agendas by presenting both sides as victims;
* sabotaging service to the just cause of the Palestinian people;
* ignoring the issue of right of return for the Palestinians;
* utilising the platform of the Palestinian discourse to argue about anti-Semitism, which is not a Palestinian problem and not created by Arabs.
Our primary and single concern is solidarity with the Palestinian people.
As ethical human beings we consider it our obligation to:
* do all we can to allow the information to be diffused as widely and as quickly as possible;
* ensure the argument of the oppression and disenfranchisement of the Palestinian people stays in the forefront;
* present as clear and honest a picture as possible of the meaning of Zionism and the Jewish State;
* to cross the divide and to unite in our war against the Zionist crime.
We accept and believe in equality of all persons, regardless of their race, religion, political or other orientation. We believe that full and unconditional support of the Palestinian people is a condition sine qua non for activists to adopt, and we recognise that their attachment to their homeland is a fundamental and unalterable condition. To that end we advocate for one unified State with equal rights for all its citizens.
Any attempts at censoring reasoned critique of Israel and Zionism must be refused a priori, as it is in conflict with the goal of seeking to protect and support the Palestinian people – as their empowerment is the only way to peaceful coexistence for all the populations of the Middle East. Any attempts at dictating what the Palestinians should do will be looked upon with great circumspection and suspicion. Palestinians themselves wish to construct their own future and are not pawns to be shifted on the chessboard.
We demand free speech for sincere critics of Zionism and call for an end to campaigns created in order to ostracise its most vocal critics. Smear campaigns will not be tolerated, as we recognise that they are the instrument of choice of Zionists, and detract energy from our work. We will not hesitate to expose the instrumental usage of them, no matter the claimed principles of those who are engaged in creating such campaigns. On the other hand, open dialogue and reasoned argumentation is welcome and greatly encouraged as a tool to understanding and collaboration.
The indigenous people of Palestine are facing extermination by the hands of the Jewish State, and the world keeps silent. The sooner we draw public attention to Israel’s needless wanton destruction, the sooner we can do away with this horrifying, insufferable situation.
If you agree with this statement, please sign the petition.
We Write What We Like 
[…] ALSO http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/03/07/a-commitment-for-activists-palestinians-are-the-priority/ Tagged as: Activism, Jewish Identity, Palestine, Right of Return, Somoud: Arab Voices of […]
You are right to point out that the corporate sadness that many in the western world feel towards Palestine following the murderous onslaught of the 22 days at the beginning of 2009 by the forces of Israel against the mostly unarmed and defenceless civilians of the strip, is not the whole picture.
The Holy land or the Land of Palestine was the Jews believe given to them by their God but from the ancient of time this involved the uprooting of the indigenous peoples that were living there. History has been repeated with disastrous effect. The campaign for the ‘return of the Jewish homeland’ has been waged over many centuries but only in the last were they permitted (note the term used to disinherit the land occupiers) to take up the return to a separate land as a result again of corporate shame following the German holocaust.
If the Jewish State had abide by the 1948 limits set upon their land then some accommodation might have been possible. But progressively since 1949 onwards they have systematically forced the Palestinian people off their land and taken or stolen ever greater parts of the land. Settlements is only part of the story as is the wall which snakes its way through and round villages cutting off entire communities.
Again land is not the only issue here as all goods travelling through Israel are subject to high taxes resulting in Palestinian goods not be competitive in the open market, on the cost of all utilities being charged at greater cost and so the list goes on about ways in which the Jewish State makes life for their Arab neighbours uncomfortable, threatened and humiliated.
It has to stop and lines be redrawn…but who in the world will stand up against the Jewish state?
This is where the people of this world can be powerful and have a voice since no country seem to dare go against the might of the Jewish State or its backers…as individuals we need to be prepared to stand with our Arab brothers and sisters in their cause…here is not the place of religious bigotry but of human conscience and decency. We know that right is on their side…but we have to dare to stand up and say so. Today I signed a petition to state just that. Palestine I stand with you in peace for you to have restored to you what has been hacked away in so brutal a fashion.