Palestine 2012 initiative
Palestine Human Rights Campaign www.palestine.org.nz
Media Release 15 April 2012:
Welcome to Palestine 2012 initiative and the right of Palestinians to receive visitors
The Palestine Human Rights Campaign calls on New Zealand Members of Parliament to endorse the WELCOME TO PALESTINE INITIATIVE ON 17 APRIL 2012 by supporting the right of the people of the occupied Palestinian Territories to receive those who present themselves peacefully at Tel Aviv Airport, and who declare their wish to proceed to Palestine, to be freely allowed to do so. It is our hope that New Zealand MPs will agree that this fundamental human right is worthy of support.
A violation of international law, Israel's belligerent military Occupation of the West Bank isolates the territory from the outside world. Allowing Israel to continue turning away peaceful travellers to Palestine is tantamount to endorsing a long-running, illegal occupation.
New Zealand
MPs who support this appeal and confirm their commitment to
peace based on justice and freedom for all will be in
company with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and many other
distinguished human rights advocates around the
world.
ISRAELI ACTIVISTS
WILL ARRIVE AT TEL AVIV AIRPORT TO WELCOME INTERNATIONAL
ACTIVISTS
14 April 2012:
As citizens of
Israel, we feel great respect and appreciation for our
Internationals who come to visit the West Bank and express
solidarity with the Palestinian residents, living under
occupation and apartheid. Certainly, we will be there to
greet them on 15 April at the airport terminal, maintaining
a presence there between the hours of 12 noon until 8pm. We
will greet them with open arms, in a feeling of deep
appreciation and a personal friendship with some of them. We
will hold 'Welcome' signs, balloons, flowers, chocolates and
copies of the drawings by Palestinian children from
Bethlehem. We welcome them in the harsh reality where
Palestinians are excluded from meeting their invited guests
and escorting them from the airport – not to mention, of
course, being excluded themselves from flying from this
airport.
Palestinian organisations proudly announce the
forthcoming arrival of hundreds of visitors as part of the
"Welcome to Palestine" campaign. The visit's programme will
include the launching of a new school, getting into personal
contact with Palestinians and exchange of cultural knowledge
and study tours. Many Palestinian activists join every day
in the effort to provide the most effective programme
possible for the visitors.
We continue our preparations,
although a number of volunteers were harassed by Israeli
security forces. In one case an activist suffered a
late-night search of his home at 2am, having his personal
computer confiscated. Other activists were detained for long
hours of interrogation upon entering or or leaving the
country.
Dozens of our volunteers were actually
encouraged by this very harassment campaign, as the State of
Israel itself exposed the policy of siege and isolation
which is being imposed on the West Bank. Last July, hundreds
of Internationals bought tickets to board the flights to
Palestine. The State of Israel sent out a "black list"
containing the names of 342 people aged 9 to 83, preventing
them from getting on the flights. This provoked
demonstrations at airports across Europe, while Israeli
security forces turned Tel-Aviv Airport into a military
zone.
127 men and women were arrested at the airport and
detained for several days, solely due to their insistence
upon visiting the Palestinian families and organisations
which invited them. The campaign waged in the aftermath had
many positive implications. Under judicial pressure, many
airlines compensated the blocked passengers and fully
refunded the ticket prices fully; trade unions at airports
have joined in our call for preserving the Freedom of
Movement. The Workers' Union of the Charles de Gaulle
Airport in Paris recently published a clear message of
support for the "Welcome to Palestine" Campaign. The
publicity also exposed Israel's attempts to prevent citizens
of foreign countries from offering humanitarian support to
millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
What the State of Israel cannot tolerate, it seems, is the
fact that women and men who come to visit here between 15
and 21 April are not going to lie or hide. They refuse to
pretend that Palestine or the Palestinians do not
exist.
The State of Israel may call it "de-legitimation"
and spread various lies about those who are coming to visit
here these days. We, on the other hand, are appreciative and
grateful to all those visitors, who are striving for the
same things to which we aspire - peace, humanism, mutual
help and honesty.
The International Community recognises
the fundamental right of the Palestinians to receive
visitors from abroad, as well as the right of the citizens
of all countries to visit the Palestinians without
hindrance. Where the State of Israel tries to silence and
isolate us, we call upon others to join us, openly and
unafraid, without fear. At this time of Passover, known as
the Feast of Libert, we will strive with the many others –
locally and internationally – and strive to achieve the
goals of freedom and equal rights for all, the same basic
values we all share as human
beings.
ends