FREE PALESTINE
END THE SIEGE ON GAZA – FOR THE RIGHT OF RETURN OF PALESTINIANS – END ISRAELI OCCUPATION

Assemble 1pm Temple Underground station / Victoria Embankment, rally in Trafalgar Square.

National demonstration and rally in central London 10 May on 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba: end the siege on Gaza, right of return of refugees, and an end to the Israeli occupation.

On the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (1948 Palestine catastrophe) a demonstration and rally to call for an end to the siege on Gaza, the right of return of refugees and an end to the Israeli occupation will be held in central London. It is organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the British Muslim Initiative and the Palestinian Forum in Britain and supported by numerous organisations.

Every day the situation in Gaza is becoming more and more desperate. The inhuman sanctions imposed by Israel amount to collective punishment of all the inhabitants of Gaza. The vast majority of these people were made refugees by Israeli invasions and military operations, from 1947 to the present day.

Electricity cuts are affecting hospitals, schools and other vital services, while 80% of families in Gaza rely on humanitarian aid. Patients are dying because they are unable to leave Gaza for urgent medical treatment elsewhere.

Organisations like the UN, Amnesty International, Christian Aid, the World Bank and various international and Israeli human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned Israel’s actions, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

The World Bank recently released a report which states that Gaza’s economy recorded zero growth in 2007 and concluded that Israel’s tightening siege has “considerably eroded whatever private sector backbone remained in the economy and in a manner that is progressively more difficult to reverse”.

On the West Bank, Israel continues to expand its illegal settlements, in opposition to international law (most specifically to the Fourth Geneva Convention) and to build the ‘Separation Barrier’, largely on Palestinian land. Scores of settlements along with barriers, checkpoints and permits exclude Palestinians from 38% of the West Bank.

Israel pays lip service to the notion of a peace process, but, according to the World Bank report, “Since Annapolis, settlement activity has continued largely unabated and in the case of the Jerusalem area, has even accelerated. Of the 885 settlement housing units tendered in 2007, 747 were issued in the five weeks after Annapolis.”

In the last few weeks, Israel has rejected offers of a long-term truce by both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

However, the Quartet (the EU, the US, the UN and Russia), meeting in London on 2 May, ignored the root cause of the problem – the ongoing colonisation of Palestinian territory. They simply condemned all violence and called on Arab countries to provide more aid to the besieged Palestinians.

It is therefore up to individual citizens and civil society worldwide to put moral and economic pressure on Israel to change its policies.

Next week, join us in calling for the implementation of international law:

• an end to the siege of Gaza
• the dismantling of the settlements
• the right of refugees to return to their homes

Justice for the Palestinians is a prerequisite for peace in the region.

Demonstration and Rally organised by: British Muslim Initiative, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestinian Forum in Britain.

Supported by: UNISON, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Unite the Union, Communication Workers Union, GMB, TSSA, RMT, Fire Brigades Union, National Union of Miners, Association of Palestinian Community UK, Amos Trust, Friends of Al Aqsa UK, Palestinian Return Centre, War on Want, Jewish Socialist Group, Pax Christi, Stop the War Coalition, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Britain Palestine Twinning Network, ICAHDUK, Friends of Lebanon, Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Midlands Palestinian Community Association.

For more information please contact:

Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Tel: 020 7700 6192
Email: info@palestinecampaign.org
Web: www.palestinecampaign.org