Your Excellency Secretary General
Mr, Antonio Guterres,

On the 22nd anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 and the annual open discussion at the Security Council for the advancement of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, the Palestinian Women’s Civil Coalition for the Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 would like to bring your attention to the fact that the suffering of Palestinian women living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) has unprecedentedly escalated since this resolution was passed, due to the Israeli occupation’s ongoing, hostile policies, systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international humanitarian law that are disproportionally impacting women and girls in the OPT. These violations include extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, restriction on movement, military blockades, house demolitions, land confiscation and illegal de-facto and de-juri annexation, in addition to the ongoing isolation of areas of the OPT from one another. This has had both individual and collective impact on the lives of women, impeding their access to resources, compounded by the deteriorating economic situation due to the occupation’s control and dominance over land and resources. Added to this is the rise in poverty levels due to unemployment, military blockade on the Gaza Strip for over 15 years and the occupation’s exercise of systematic long-term violence against the Palestinian protected population in the OPT, settlement expansion combined with settlers’ violence and vandalism

The Palestinian Women’s Civil Coalition strongly believes that 22 years since the passage of UNSC Resolution 1325 has not resulted in concrete measures for the advancement of the women, peace and security agenda to Palestinian women living under Israeli prolonged military occupation. A lot still need yet to be made by the Security Council to maintain peace and security for Palestinian women living under military occupation. To the contrary, complications and challenges to Palestinian women have increased in terms of implementing the WPS agenda, due to Israeli impediments to its implementation. Israel, the occupying power, has also placed enormous obstacles before Palestinian women who seek to implement this resolution, given its continued occupation of the OPT and the absence of a just and durable solution to end this prolonged belligerent occupation. No concrete measures were taken by the international community to implement UN resolutions related to the question of Palestine, namely UN Resolutions 242, 338, 194 and 2334. Instead, Israel is intent on confiscating and annexing more land to build settlements, which has severed any path to the establishment of an independent and contiguous Palestinian state. Instead, OPT has been transformed into isolated islands more like the Bantustans of apartheid South Africa, as indicated in the most recent evidence based-report by Amnesty International, describing Israel as an apartheid regime, where one racial group is discriminating against other racial groups.

The Palestinian Women’s Civil Coalition, would also like to point out to the remarkable conclusions of a UN independent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) in its recent to the UN General Assembly in New York on 20/10/2022, which considered the Israeli occupation as unlawful according to international law. The report called on the UN General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice for an urgent advisory opinion on the illegality of this prolonged military occupation, and the impacts of the Israeli illegal measures and violations against the Palestinian civilian population in the 1967 OPT.

Your Excellency UN Secretary General,

As the UNSC is meeting to discuss the advancement of the WPS agenda, we would like to draw to their attention the double standards employed by the United Nations in dealing with its own resolutions, especially when it comes to Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the practices of Israel, the occupying power against Palestinian civilian population. Israeli illegal policies in the OPT , has not only curtailed Resolution 1325 from guaranteeing protection for women and involving her in security and peacemaking, it has also thwarted all international tools and mechanisms for the protection of civilians in times of war and under occupation. This is due to the failure of the international human rights and humanitarian law especially the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protections of Civilians at time of War and under occupation. The reason for this is that the UN itself is discriminatory and has double standards in its handling conflicts, and peoples’ causes due to the huge imbalance in justice and the policy of impunity, which Israeli, the occupying power enjoys. These policies have allowed Israel to escape from accountability or any punitive measures in accordance to UN Charter and more specifically Article 11 of UNSC Resolution 1325, which demands that perpetrators of crimes and violations during war are not afforded impunity. The fact that Israel is treated as a country above the law, and the absence of any form of accountability has only encouraged it to commit more crimes and violations. A case in point is the recent murdering of Palestinian Journalist Shirine Abu Akleh, where no one has been held accountable thus far, although the incident was caught on tape and there is hard evidence proving that her death was the result of premeditated and extrajudicial killing by the Israeli army.

During its evaluation and review of its action plan, the Palestinian Women’s Civil Coalition noted that Resolution 1325 and the nine subsequent resolutions, pinpointed the reasons for the outbreak and development of conflicts in various regions of the world to racial, religious and ethnic disputes. However, it excluded women under racist, colonialist occupation, which is the case of Palestinian women under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thus, it has disregarded all international resolutions pertaining to the rights of the Palestinian people, over and above Israel’s disregard for its responsibilities as an occupying power. This necessitates a special resolution addressing the status of Palestinian women under racist, colonialist occupation, and addressing the root causes of the suffering of Palestinian women and the major obstacle they face in meaningful political participation, and in moving forward in the advancement of the women, peace and security agenda.

Mr. Secretary General,

Finally, we in the Palestinian Women’s Civil Coalition for the implementation of Resolution 1325, thank your Excellency for your understanding, and for conveying our concerns to all nation states during the open debate on WPS in the Security Council this year. We call on you to dedicate ample attention to the status of Palestinian women during the 22nd Security Council meeting on Resolution 1325, with the objective to develop and push forth the WPS agenda and put into action the role of international tools of accountability. We ask you to provide the necessary protection for Palestinian women under occupation, by closely overseeing the implementation of this resolution and the party responsible for impeding its application on the ground, namely, the Israeli occupying power that has exacerbated the suffering of Palestinian women at all levels and increased discriminatory measures against them.

With our sincere thanks and appreciation,
The Palestinian Women’s Civil Coalition for the Implementation of UNSCR1325

Mr. President, Esteemed Members of the Security Council,

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to address you today, especially thankful to H.E. Ambassador Macharia Kamau, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary and the Republic of Kenya for the kind invitation.

For over 70 years, the UN and its various bodies have been seized of the Palestine question; repeatedly reviewing conditions, adopting resolutions, and dispatching fact-finding missions, to no avail. Sadly, this Council has been unable to assert authority, allowing this injustice to become a perpetual tragic human, moral, political and legal travesty.

So it would be disingenuous of me to come before you assuming I could inform you of something you do not already know. Nevertheless, I do appreciate the opportunity to communicate in a candid manner, not to recite endless statistics, nor to reiterate the ongoing pain of a people, deprived of their basic rights, including even the right to speak out, admonished not to “whine” or “complain,” as a means of silencing the victim.

The tragedy is that you know all of this; yet, it has had a minimal impact, if any, on the horrific conditions in Occupied Palestine.

I imagine it must be disheartening and frustrating for this distinguished organization and its members to find themselves trapped in this cycle of deliberate disdain and futility.

It is therefore imperative that this Council consider where it has gone wrong and what it can do to correct course and serve the cause of justice and peace.

Undoubtedly, the absence of accountability for Israel and of protection for the Palestinian people has enabled Israeli impunity to ride roughshod over the rights of an entire nation, allowing for perpetuation of a permanent settler-colonial occupation.

Mr. President,

Much of the prevailing political discourse overlooks reality and is diverted and subsumed by chimeras and distractions proffered by Israel and its allies under such banners as “economic peace,” “improving the quality of life,” “normalization,” “managing the conflict,” “containing the conflict,” or “shrinking the conflict.”

These fallacies must be dismantled. Volatile situations of injustice and oppression do not shrink. They expand and explode, with disastrous consequences. Similarly, the delusion of “imposing calm” under siege and systemic aggression, particularly as in Gaza, is an oxymoron, for calm or security on the one hand and occupation or captivity on the other are antithetical and irreconcilable.

Likewise, the fallacy of “confidence-building measures” is misguided since occupation breeds only contempt, distrust, resentment, and resistance. The oppressed cannot be brought to trust or accept handouts from their oppressor as an alternative to their right to freedom and justice.

The misleading and flawed “both sides” argument calling for “balance” in a flagrantly unbalanced situation is another attempt at obfuscation and generating misconceptions.

Israel’s impunity is further enhanced using such excuses as being the so-called “only democracy in the Middle East” or a “strategic ally,” or having “shared values,” or even for the sake of protecting its “fragile coalition.”

There has also been tacit and, at times overt, acceptance of Israel’s ideological, absolutist arguments, including the invocation of religious texts as a means to dismiss and supplant contemporary political and legal discourse and action. Hence, the so-called “Jewish State Law,” which allocates the right to self-determination exclusively to Jews in all of historic Palestine, is endorsed and normalized.

In the meantime, a massive disinformation machine persists in its racist maligning and demonizing of the Palestinian people, going so far as to label them “terrorists,” or a “demographic threat,” a dehumanizing formula exploited as a way to deny the right of millions of Palestine refugees to return.

Such slander has warped political focus and discourse globally. Some states have gone off on a tangent pursuing Palestinian textbooks for so-called “incitement,” or adopting the IHRA definition that conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, or criminalizing BDS, or intimidating and censoring academics and solidarity activists who stand up for Palestinian rights.

These distortions ignore the unequal and unjust laws designed to persecute Palestinians, individually and collectively. It is evidenced in the defamation of our political prisoners and the targeting of their families’ livelihoods, as though Israeli military courts or prison systems have anything to do with justice or legality.

The mindless refrain that Israel has the “right to defend itself,” while the Palestinian people are denied such a right, is perverse in that the occupier’s violence is justified as “self-defense” while the occupied are stigmatized as “terrorists.”

We cannot afford to disregard the context of occupation and its systemic aggression as the framing device for all critical assessments and action.

Excellencies,

Occupied Palestine, including Jerusalem, is the target of a comprehensive and pervasive policy of colonization and erasure, of displacement and replacement, in which Israel is appropriating everything Palestinian; our land and resources; our cultural and human heritage; our archeological sites, which we have safeguarded for centuries; our history; our cuisine; the names of our streets; and most egregiously the identity of Jerusalem, as we witness in the ethnic cleansing of the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan among others. Even our cemeteries have been desecrated such as the building of a so-called “museum of tolerance” on top of human remains in Maman’ Allah cemetery. And, Israel continues to stoke the flames of a “holy war,” with repeated assaults on our holy sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jerusalem is being targeted in a deliberate campaign of annexation and distortion. Israel now brazenly declares its intent to complete the settlement siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the territorial contiguity of the West Bank, with its outrageous plans for E-1, Qalandiya airport (Atarot), “Pisgat Ze’ev” and “Giv’at HaMatos.”

We cannot be distracted by symbolic gestures that create a false impression of progress. Claims that the “time is not right,” or that it is “difficult now” to work for a peaceful solution, give license to Israel to persist in its perilous policies. Likewise, repeating a verbal commitment to the two-State solution, while one state is allowed to deliberately destroy the other, rings hollow.

Mr. President,

All of this does not preclude our recognition of our own shortcomings. We do not shirk our responsibility to speak out against internal violence, human rights abuses, corruption, or other such practices that are rejected and resented by our own people. It is our responsibility to carry out democratic reform and revitalize our body politic while ending our internal divisions. This is a Palestinian imperative.

But we must caution others against exploiting our shortcomings to justify Israeli crimes or international inaction, or to condition any positive engagement on the creation of an ideal system of governance in Palestine while we languish under a lawless system of Israeli control.

We ask that you, trustees of the rules-based order, uphold your responsibilities: provide us with protection from aggression and empower our people to amplify their voice, both in governance and liberation.

Esteemed Members of the Council,

Peace is not achieved by “normalizing the occupation,” sidelining the Palestine Question, or rewarding Israel by repositioning it as a regional superpower. Such an approach maintains the causes of regional instability and insecurity, while enabling Israel as a colonial apartheid State to superimpose “Greater Israel” on all of historic Palestine.

Generation after generation, the people of Palestine have remained committed to the justice of their cause, the integrity of their narrative, the authenticity of their history and culture, and their inviolable right to live in freedom, and dignity, as an equal among nations and in the fullness of our humanity.

It is time to reclaim the narrative of justice and invoke our collective will to activate the UN Charter and affirm the relevance of international law.

The time has come for courageous and determined action, not just to undo the injustice of the past but to chart a clear and binding course for a peaceful future of hope and redemption.

I thank you.

To view the full Speech as PDF

We, the undersigned global coalition of leaders –from civil society to academia, art, media, business, politics, indigenous and faith communities, and people of conscience around the world– call upon the States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to act decisively to put an end to Israel’s notorious use of arms and military equipment for the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights against Palestinian civilians by immediately imposing a comprehensive two-way arms embargo on Israel.

In the spring of 2021, the world once again watched in horror as Israeli occupying forces attacked defenceless Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and inside Israel. Palestinian civilians peacefully protesting against colonisation of their land were assaulted with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs, tear gas and skunk water. Israel’s deadly military aggression against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip was the fourth in a decade. Over 11 days, 248 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children. Thousands were wounded, and the reverberating effects of the use of explosive weapons on hospitals, schools, food security, water, electricity and shelter continue to affect millions.

This systematic brutality, perpetrated throughout the past seven decades of Israel’s colonialism, apartheid, pro-longed illegal belligerent occupation, persecution, and closure, is only possible because of the complicity of some governments and corporations around the world.

Symbolic statements of condemnation alone will not put an end to this suffering. In accordance with the relevant rules of the ATT, States Parties have legal obligations to put an end to irresponsible and often complicit trade of conventional arms that undermines international peace and security, facilitates commission of egregious crimes, and threatens the international legal order.

Under Article 6(3) of the ATT, States Parties undertook not to authorise any transfer of conventional arms if they have knowledge at the time of authorisation that arms or items would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes as defined by international agreements to which they are a Party.

Under Articles 7 and 11, they undertook not to authorise any export of conventional arms, munitions, parts and components that would, inter alia, undermine peace and security or be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

It is clear that arms exports to Israel are inconsistent with these obligations. Invariably, Israel has shown that it uses arms to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, as documented by countless United Nations bodies and civil society organisations worldwide. Military exports to Israel also clearly enabled, facilitated and maintained Israel’s decades-long settler-colonial and apartheid regime imposed over the Palestinian people as a whole.

Similarly, arms imports from Israel are wholly inconsistent with obligations under the ATT. Israeli military and industry sources openly boast that their weapons and technologies are “combat proven” – in other words, field-tested on Palestinian civilians “human test subjects”. When States import Israeli arms, they are encouraging it to keep bombing Palestinian civilians and persist in its unlawful practices. No one –neither Israel, nor arms manufacturers in ATT States parties– should be allowed to profit from the killing or maiming of Palestinian civilians.

It is thus abundantly clear that imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel is both a legal and a moral obligation. ATT States Parties must immediately terminate any current, and prohibit any future transfers of conventional arms, munitions, parts and components referred to in Article 2(1), Article 3 or Article 4 of the ATT to Israel, until it ends its illegal belligerent occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory and complies fully with its obligations under international law. Pending such an embargo, all States must immediately suspend all transfers of military equipment, assistance and munitions to Israel.

A failure to take these actions entails a heavy responsibility for the grave suffering of civilians – more deaths, more suffering, as thousands of Palestinian men, women and children continue to bear the brutality of a colonial belligerent occupying force– which would result in discrediting the ATT itself. It also renders States parties complicit in internationally wrongful acts through the aiding or abetting of international crimes.  A failure in taking action could also result in invoking the individual criminal responsibility of individuals of these States for aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in accordance with Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Justice will remain elusive so long as Israel’s unlawful occupation, settler-colonialism, apartheid regime, and persecution and institutionalised oppression of the Palestinian people are allowed to continue, and so long as States continue to be complicit in the occupying Power’s crimes by trading weapons with it.

In conclusion, we believe that the ATT can make a difference in the Palestinian civilians’ lives. It has the potential, if implemented in good faith, to spare countless protected persons from suffering. If our call to stop leaving the Palestinian people behind when it comes to implementation of the ATT is ignored, the raison d'être of the ATT will be shattered.

Joining organisations:

1. Action Sécurité Ethique Républicaines
2. Adalah Justice Project
3. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
4. AFPS 63
5. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
6. Aldameer Association for Human Rights
7. Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man
8. Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society
9. American Muslims for Palestine
10. Anglican Pacifist Fellowship
11. Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ)
12. Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
13. Arab Organization for Human Rights
14. Argenteuil Solidarité Palestine
15. Asociación Americana de Juristas
16. Association Belgo-Palestinienne WB
17. Association femmes plurielles
18. Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)
19. AssoPacePalestina
20. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network
21. Australian Centre for International Justice
22. Australians For Palestine
23. Badayl
24. BDS Australia
25. Begian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
26. Campagne BDS France
27. Canadian BDS Coalition
28. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
29. Center for Constitutional Rights
30. Center for International Policy
31. Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios Estratégicos para la Seguridad y el Desarrollo Social CIESED A.C.
32. CNAPD - Coordination Nationale d'Action pour la Paix et la Démocratie
33. Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine
34. Collectif 69 de Soutien au Peuple Palestinien
35. Collectif BDS 57
36. Collectif Judéo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine
37. Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines
38. Columban missionaries Britain
39. Columbia Law Students for Palestine
40. Combatants for Peace
41. Comitato BDS Campania
42. Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe
43. Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient asbl
44. Community Action Center - Al-Quds University
45. Confederación Intersindical Gallega (CIG)
46. Cultura è Libertà, una campagna per la Palestina
47. Dagropass
48. De Palestijnse gemeenschap in Nederland
49. Defense for Children -Palestine (DCI-Palestine)
50. Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
51. docP - BDS Netherlands
52. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
53. European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP)
54. European Legal Support Center
55. Femmes Unies pour la Paix dans la région des Grands Lacs
56. FILEF Sydney Federation of Italian Migrant Workers
57. Finnish-Arab Friendship Society
58. Friends of Palestine Tasmania Inc
59. Gaza Action Ireland
60. Gesellschaft Schweiz Palästina GSP/ASP
61. Global Kairos Asia Pacific Solidarity For Palestine (GKAPS)
62. Good Shepherd Collective
63. Housing and Land Rights Network
64. Human Rights and Democratic Participation Center “SHAMS”
65. Human Rights Network Nigeria
66. ICAHD Finland
67. ICAHD UK
68. Independent Jewish Voices Canada
69. Indian Writers Forum
70. Indo Palestine Solidarity Forum
71. International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD)
72. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
73. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
74. Jewish Voice For Peace
75. Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
76. Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
77. Karapatan
78. Kenya Human Rights Commission
79. Labor for Palestine
80. Manushya Foundation
81. National Association of Democratic Lawyers (South Africa)
82. National Justice & Peace Network (NJPN)
83. National Lawyers Guild, Palestine Subcommittee
84. Nederlands Palestina Komitee
85. Newweapons research group
86. Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
87. North Notts Unite Community
88. NOVACT
89. Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
90. Palestine Solidarity Network - Edmonton
91. Palestinian and Jewish Unity
92. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
93. Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall)
94. Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO)
95. Pax Christi International
96. Pax Christi, England and Wales
97. Paz con Dignidad
98. Platform of French NGOs for Palestine
99. Salaam ragazzi dell'Olivo, comitato di Trieste
100. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
101. SODePAZ
102. Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative
103. The Civic Coalition for Palestinians Right in Jérusalem
104. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
105. The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC)
106. The National Association of Human Rights Defenders
107. The Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
108. The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC)
109. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy-MIFTAH
110. UJFP French Jewish union for peace
111. Union syndicale Solidaires
112. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
113. US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
114. Visualizing Palestine
115. Vrede vzw
116. Vredesactie
117. War on Want
118. Women for Palestine
119. Women in Black Vienna
120. Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling

Joining individuals:

121. Ahmed Ben
122. Ahmed Reda Tolba
123. Alaa Shalaby
124. Alaaeddine Tatak
125. Aline Shaban
126. Amin Abbas
127. Andrea Balduzzi
128. Angie Mindel
129. Ann McNicholas
130. Anne Peacey
131. Ashley Tellis
132. Atamjit Singh
133. Audrey J Bomse
134. Badee M.T. Aldwaik
135. Baruti Likoyi
136. Bernadette McPhe
137. Chirag Shah
138. Claudia Karas
139. Claudia Schiavelli
140. Denise Peillon
141. Denotter JJ
142. Devaki Khanna
143. Dr. Ibrahim Lada’a
144. Dr. Nerina Cecchin
145. Egbert Harmsen
146. Marc Fayard
147. Firoz Ahmad
148. Flavia Lepre
149. Françoise Abadie
150. Frstot Marie-Paule
151. Gabriel Mondragón Toledo
152. Geeta Kapur
153. Geeta Kapur
154. Georges Franco
155. Gillard Francois
156. Gina Cardosi
157. Githa Hariharan
158. Gregory Kotoy
159. Gyan Prakash
160. Haidi Ali Muhammad Eltayeb
161. Hélène Le Cacheux
162. Herman De Ley
163. Huwaida Arraf
164. Ian Ampleford
165. Ian Mc Cabe
166. Indu Chandrasekhar
167. Jake Javanshir
168. James Dickins
169. James Lafferty
170. John King
171. Joop Hoekstra
172. Julia Auf Dem Brinke
173. Julie Hart
174. Kalyani Chaudhuri
175. Karel Arnaut
176. Karin Brothers
177. Karin Verelst
178. Kathryn Kelly
179. Kellie Tranter
180. Lauren Speiser
181. Laurent De Wangen
182. Lee Rhiannon
183. Luisa Morgantini
184. M.N. Harakeh
185. Madeline Lutjeharms
186. Maha Abdallah
187. Maha Alami
188. Malini Bhattacharya
189. Mani Shankar Aiyar
190. Marcy Newman
191. Maria Bartolacci
192. Marjorie Cohn
193. Martin Mavenjina
194. Massimiliano Masini
195. Maxime Florentin
196. Maya Devi
197. Michael Letwin
198. Michel Gevers
199. Mohamad Arouki
200. Mohamed Aboelazm
201. Mohammad Al Nabulsi
202. Mohan Rao
203. Monique Vincent
204. Muralidharan K
205. Nalini Nayak
206. Nandini Sundar
207. Naresh Dadhich
208. Nasir Tyabji
209. Navdeep Mathur
210. Nick Deane
211. Nozomi Takahashi
212. Oishik Sircar
213. P A Azeez
214. Pamela Blakelock
215. Pamela Philipose
216. Paola Manduca
217. Patrick Lechopier
218. Persis Ginwalla
219. Pierre Bordone
220. Pushpa Achanta
221. Pushpamala N
222. Raffaele Spiga
223. Rajni Palriwala
224. Rev Joseph Ryan
225. Rey Asis
226. Rudolf Knutti
227. S. Raghunandana
228. Salim Yusufji
229. Sellin Jean-Christophe
230. Shafey Kidwai
231. Sharib Aqleem Ali
232. Sigour Brigitte
233. Sonia Fayman
234. Stephen Flaherty
235. Sue Ingham
236. Sumanta Banerjee
237. Terri Ginsberg
238. Valter Mutt
239. Vinay Bharadwaj
240. Vincent Basabé
241. Winfried Belz
242. Yousuf Saeed
243. YVes Goaer
244. Yves Jardin

To View the Letter as PDF

My dear friends,

You have no idea how happy I was when I found out I could write you a letter. Ireland is still carved in my heart because it brought back most of the peacefulness I lost living in my war-torn homeland.

War-torn homeland is a somewhat sad expression. Why do we cling to this country where peace is sliding away and pain is invading our thoughts and piercing our hearts?

I pondered this thought in my head as I walked across the streets of Ramallah. Ramallah is my city, thrown on the edge of the horizon, where people sing when the occupation persists. Ramallah is my own familiar place in the West Bank, in Palestine.

As we grow older we become immune to the petty things in life and we chain ourselves to a daily routine. Living in Palestine forbids us from surrendering to an everyday existence that seems to repeat itself. We are thrown into a plan-less existence that reforms who we are as we live our life from day to day. This is a characteristic that the occupation has forced us to “gain”.

I decided to start my letter to you on a positive note, or maybe I did not know what else to say, since all this darkness and sadness around me is exhausting. I consider myself lucky compared to Palestinians in Gaza. Today the count of Palestinian victims reached 120; lives that were stolen by the Israeli army’s heavy weaponry. The lives of 120 artists, writers, students, children, mothers, engineers, doctors and fighters were extinguished. They were 120 persons whom we might have loved knowing, simply wiped out off the face of this world. The thousands of Palestinian victims are not just cold numbers; they are people just like you and me. Death harasses my very being and I am scared to become the next faceless victim.

Sometimes my friends, I wonder about a distant future, about things that might matter to me. Will I care anymore about my college degree or shape? Will I still care to count the books I read and listen to the songs I loved? Will I be able to busy myself with planning my life or simply doing something ordinary, like sitting on my front porch? Or, will I still be waiting endlessly at checkpoints, writing down the names of victims in an attempt to invoke their memory? I also wonder whether I will still be demonstrating against the Apartheid Wall that is yet to steal more lands and strength.

As I continued to walk home, tears streamed down my face at these thoughts and at recalling the tens of young people killed in downtown Ramallah by Israeli tank shells when their forces reoccupied it two years ago. I remember as I cross towards my old house, the Israeli soldiers that invaded it, holding me and my family at gunpoint and going through my books, CDs and pictures, by that disrupting any of my previously peaceful memories. Across the street from my house, I saw al-Khalil al-Sakakini cultural center where my little brother had his first piano recital and with it, came a sense of pride in him that replaced all our silly quarrels. A few meters down the road stands my school, where I read the graduation speech and made my mother proud.

How could I be anywhere else but home? This small universe has contained my laughter, dreams and indescribable fear and has shaped who I am today. Ramallah has defeated one of the strongest armies in the world just by the very act of holding firm and never giving up in the face of a force that wants to break our spirit and deny our existence. We will probably continue to suffer for a long time and your grandchildren will probably find us here 50 years from now still rooted in this soil, still waiting for a better future.

Writing to you is as comfortable as walking through my memories. I can visualize your loving faces from across the world, listening sympathetically to my story. Your support helped me then, as it does now, to overcome my anxieties about living under occupation. Tonight recalling your sympathy washes the occupation’s inhumanity off my face.

I was half awake when my alarm clock went off, it was 3:00am already, my bag was crammed with books and papers, I did not have the strength to pull myself together and close it, in my head I could picture the long journey along Allenby Bridge, personally my worst nightmare.

I walked silently to the door, dragging my bag and picturing the moment when I would arrive in Ireland, which seemed so far away when I remembered the route I had to go through, from Ramallah to Jericho, Jericho to Amman, then from Amman’s airport to Dublin.

When I got in the taxi I could see the faces of people covered with sleeplessness and exhaustion yet to come, yawning took over the scene and I was lost between the desire to close my eyes and drift to a more comforting place and the obligation to stay awake and carry on pointless conversations about the weather and the situation on the Jeser (bridge in Arabic), people trying desperately to be optimistic and skip that agonizing journey, at least in their heads.

We drove through the wrecked roads and as the morning approached, the colors of dawn seemed to steal the darkness of the night as we went further on.

When we arrived in Jericho, it was already 6 am.

I could see the sea of people miles away from their actual destination, carrying cards with numbers issued by the Israelis, which by the time I arrived already seemed countless.

After waiting in the bus and then in line on the Israeli side of this short but never-ending bridge for a time that seemed like eternity, we reached the Jordan valley, and for me then everything seemed different, the color of the sky, the smell of the hot summer air and the brown scenery.

My flight to Dublin was drawing soon; I tried to imagine what it must look like, the green hills and Saint Patrick’s Day, the cloudiness and the mellow sunshine, vague images constantly crossed my mind but when the plane landed, it was nothing like the picture in my mind.

I could see the reflection of Dublin’s beautiful houses and mountains in the clouds, and as I reached the registration desk, a kind gentleman asked me where I was from. When I said Palestine, he smiled, and for the first time in a long time someone did not correct me or look at me strangely, he recognized Palestine and yet smiled!

I felt welcomed, even before stepping into the roads of Dublin, the warmth of the people seemed to steal the unusual coldness of the weather, at least for me since I was used to Ramallah’s hot Julys.

Glencree, peace at the edge of the world

Glencree center for peace and reconciliation, 12 miles away from Dublin city center was my next stop, an astounding facility built in the middle of nowhere.

This thirty-year-old Peace Centre was originally built as a British army barracks. Its purpose was to capture local Irish rebels who were fighting during the United Irishman’s Rebellion of 1798 (Civilian Uprising against the British Occupation). In September 1974 it was re-established as a renowned Peace and Reconciliation organisation.

The location was extraordinary, it startled me, the silence of Wicklow’s mountains was so peaceful, for the first time in four years silence felt comforting and not soon to be shattered by Israeli bombs.

Six delegations arrived that day to participate in Glencree’s international youth exchange program, a nine day program meant to introduce young people to different conflicts.

Our first activity as participants was to prepare a presentation about our country’s conflict, tell our side of the story to allow people from other parts of the world into our own struggle as ordinary people.

We-the Palestinian delegation- decided to tell four different stories, about checkpoints, the Annexation Wall, the April 2002 incursion into Ramallah, and a comparison between the current and the past intifada.

I wanted to say so much but was overwhelmed with the short time we had, and was striving to deliver my side of the issue in a manner in which everyone sitting in that small conference room would be able to relate to.

When my turn came, my heart was beating so fast and I was scared I would stumble on my own words, but as I started telling my story, about my experience during the invasion of Ramallah, a little peace and confidence crept into my senses, and I could hear people breathing heavily behind my voice.

Memories came back to me and I could see clearly in my head the events of the day Israeli soldiers came into my home, their green soiled boots, their rugged voices and their vicious guns, and in five minutes I was back into that black day.

As I finished telling my story, I looked around and saw tears on sad faces, I could feel despair in people’s claps, and I hated myself for a moment.

I realized in that second that I was suffering everyday, that my life makes other people cry and feel helpless, and at that exact moment I woke up from all my peaceful illusions and my daily prophesies about a better future.

Our session seemed to prolong for ages, seeing people’s faces broke my heart, their confusion about this inhumane occupation raised my attention to something I am getting used to, the incomprehensible inhumanity of the Israeli occupation.

They asked us all sorts of questions, from the history of the conflict to whether we would ever be able to forgive this enemy. I began to ask myself whether I would, and the lack of a clear answer suffocated me, I could not forgive or reconcile, with the occupation or myself, not at that moment when the feelings of fear from that specific day haunted me.

When you are living inside the conflict, you try your best to live each day separately, you try to leave the mountain of pain on another side of your soul and wake up every morning with a clean slate, again, you try but it never really works.

When the cold night fell on Glencree that day, I was exhausted, breathless and numb, I saw myself growing older by day, the wondering eyes of people as I passed, wanting to do something to console me, not knowing whether they should smile or laugh or simply hug me to retrieve that glow in my dark eyes.

After a restless sleep, little Irish sunrays tickled my face and I was ready to move on.

Belfast: my West Jerusalem

To give us a better understanding of the conflict in Northern Ireland, we packed our bags the next day for a three day trip to Belfast, Bellycastle and Derry or London Derry.

The trip was very long; the deserted green roads seemed to stretch endlessly, then all of a sudden, we stopped at a semi border and were given 10 minutes to “exchange” our euros, then it hit me! We were in a different country, counting British pounds and buying The Times.

The whole idea was not alien to me but I was looking at the scenery and dozing off, the only difference as we crossed the border was the straight, less bumpy roads.

We arrived in Belfast shortly thereafter. The weather was darkening, and as a result, our only option was a bus tour through the streets and neighborhoods of Belfast.

River Lagan is not the only barrier cutting through the capital of Northern Ireland, there is a deeper wound slicing Belfast in two halves, the divide between the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.

Belfast seemed like it was built differently on each side of the so called “peace” wall. I wondered about the naming since on each side of the wall was hatred for the opponent, and so much tension and hostility.

When we entered the Catholic streets, you could see colorful Irish flags covering the place, busy streets and people. Driving further, we saw huge Palestinian flags drawn on the wall, I started jumping around the bus to get a closer look on a liberation sign for my war-torn country and nation, stamped on the walls of a European city thousands of miles away, and I celebrated some freedom with myself.

Five minutes later, we entered a deserted Protestant neighborhood, the first thing that caught my eye was a huge mural that said “prepared for peace but ready for war,” it took me a decent amount of time to digest the words and realize that they did not make sense. What puzzled me more was the complete change of view, that area was so cold and empty and just that second it hit me.

A few days before my trip I had gone to Jerusalem for the first time in four years, although because I have a West Bank ID, Israel does not allow me to enter my own capital.

I had begun my “illegal” trip by walking down the streets of the Old City which were alive, busy and colorful, and then I had gone for a drive in West Jerusalem. Just as I entered that area, my heart froze and nothing felt the same, the streets, the people and the spirit of Jerusalem were completely different, and being in the Protestant area in Belfast at that moment felt exactly the same. I dreaded being there, I was afraid of my own reaction, I did not want to hate Belfast like I hated West Jerusalem, but it was too late.

I wanted to crawl out of that city as fast as possible; I felt the British and Israeli flags covering that area blindfolding me, but then the voice of the tour guide saved me.

He was talking about the hostility mounting in the city daily; he pointed at windows of Catholic neighborhoods, more precisely, the lack of windows, since Protestant stones invaded their peace and shattered hundreds of beautiful houses on both sides of the road.

There was tension all over the place, you could feel it from your bus seat, all the hatred stole the scents of Belfast, and left it haunted by ghosts and long endless winters.

I was strangely relived when we crossed the Belfast border into oblivion again, on our way to Ballycastle (in Co. Antrim), a beautiful northern coastal town which was our next destination.

Derry: lost in the middle

Packed and ready again we drove on to Derry; the unique thing about it is that it has two names, Derry for Catholics and London Derry for Protestants, two names for one small town.

Our first activity was an open-top bus tour. The tour guide was from Derry and he knew the city’s history by heart, I could feel his love for this separated city and the passion he was trying to transmit to us, despite the sudden rain that soaked and partially blinded us as we started driving.

Just as I was drifting away with my thoughts through the rain drops, I was faced with a big mural that said FREE DERRY; looking closely I saw murals of Bloody Sunday.

On January 30, 1972, British soldiers opened fire on an unarmed peaceful demonstration killing 13 people and injuring a number of others, the march was considered “illegal” by the British authorities. That event left a deep wound in Derry’s people that refuses to heal.

Free Derry was one of the first areas that were “freed” by Irish republicans, the walls and buildings were bursting with colors and pictures portraying that single sad day that carried freedom on its tail.

When we returned that evening to our hostel, the owner asked us where we were from; when I said Palestine he smiled, and again I felt very welcome just from the name of my country, something that rarely happens in the world.

We sat down for some coffee and the man turned out to be a full bred pro-Palestinian and so was his wife; and when they asked us about life back home, about how the world perceives us, I felt like I was a queen of some fairytale country.

Waking up to morning in Derry was just as spectacular, light drops of rain were falling from the cloudy sky, and it looked and felt like Ramallah’s intimate winter.

After having a delicious Irish breakfast, we got ready for our walking tour, on Derry’s wall and around free Derry.

Despite the rain, we could sense the separation between the two neighborhoods, the wall was like a knife that harmed anyone who would get close, and the grayness of the weather added a rather depressing touch to the empty pathway.

The scenery changed as we arrived to Free Derry, the murals looked so real up close, one could see and feel Bloody Sunday in front of their eyes, the enthusiasm, injustice, anger, cheering, shooting, chaos, blood, disbelief and lots of sadness.

Reading the names of the thirteen innocent victims made me wish we had a huge mural in Ramallah carrying the names of the thousands of innocent Palestinian victims, maybe this way when peace finally comes people will still be able to stand next to it everyday and say a little prayer, but then again, will there ever be peace or a mural big enough?

Back to Glencree: deeper understanding, common ground

Participants were exhausted with the amount of ideas they had to bear with after our trip to the North, seeing Belfast and Derry allowed us to form concrete ideas about the deep complex conflict in Ireland, but again, seeing is believing.

The road back to Glencree felt more familiar, I could recognize the change of colors as we passed by the pastures, but as we arrived to the main road leading to it, we could see clearly the narrow military road, Glencree’s barracks were the only survivor in that former-war zone.

Entering the main door felt different that day, we were accustomed to everything now, our bedrooms, the food, the conversations and mostly each other.

After a week I got to see the people behind the different faces and names, they were amazing, aware, hungry for more knowledge, and triggered by our testimonies to make an actual change in their understanding of our conflict.

I got to thinking about their impressions and how they could help. Being with people who made the effort to get as close as possible to the core of the issue helped me understand their immeasurably positive impact on our cause. Each individual, whether from Warrington, England or the Basque country could help spread the word.

Our final days were focused on brain storming and discussion sessions, our final art project and a trip to Dublin.

Since we reached Glencree late in the afternoon we had one short session, where several questions were addressed, mainly about our impressions at that point, and what we are to bring back to our countries after this rich trip.

Amid the discussion, several people inquired about the lack of reconciliation and peace centers in the West Bank and Gaza, mainly for children. I couldn’t agree more with the great need for such projects, but I was also wondering, what would a little kid think if he went to a center and learned about the equality of humans and love and peace, only to be forced to return home through a checkpoint manned by gun wielding soldiers, only to be woken up later that night to the sound of Israeli guns shooting at his kin? Would he remember any peace songs at that moment?

Later on they asked each individual about what they would take back with them home, and in a rather gloomy manner I answered that I would take back hopelessness. I could see people lift their heads up in surprise, and I went on to explain that if the Protestants and Catholics who believe in the same Christianity cannot find peace, what is our destiny, two nations entirely different in beliefs and power?

I felt guilty afterwards, because even though I did not believe that any peace is viable in the near future, these people have provided me with enormous strength to speak, write and stand up for years to come, each one of them gave me a priceless portion of courage and respect for my nation and self.

Dublin: beautiful Ireland

I was longing to see Dublin, and I couldn’t have been more right, it was beautiful, the Irish accent roaming the streets, Irish music flowing from the stores and pubs, I loved being in Ireland at that moment, I loved the streets, the colors of the sky and most of all the people.

We walked around the streets then had coffee and cakes, Dublin reflected a beautiful face of Ireland and Europe.

At about 7 pm we headed to the theatre, we went to see a play called “A Night in November” by the Irish playwright Marie Jones, performed by John Dunleavy.

The play is a one-man show, where Kenneth Norman McAllister, a Protestant middle-aged bureaucrat, who is trapped in a loveless marriage and a boring job, wakes up.

A night in November takes place when McAllister takes his hateful father in law to a football game between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, and is repulsed by the hostile behavior of the Protestant fans. At that moment the obvious truth hits McAllister between the eyes and pushes him into a different world.

Dunleavy’s face embodied every bit of emotion perfectly; I could feel my face wrinkle as he spoke and moved around that small stage, McAllister was changing right before my eyes, I was a witness to this unique transformation.

McAllister was alone, he was heading towards justice by himself, thousands of thoughts could have thrown him back into his peaceful narrow existence, but the light was too bright, there was no way back to blindness.

Kenneth started befriending his Catholic boss at work, and through him he saw the life he always wanted, the simple life that contained some love, empty of pretentiousness and coldness.

I saw myself and family in the Catholic boss, their house, their garden and the little details of the life they loved to leave reminded me of home, the flowers my mother leaves on the kitchen table every morning and the smile she has on even amidst the darkest days of invasion, she has hope.

I always say this is one of the very few virtues of being in an area torn by conflict; you concentrate on the little pretty details of life and become more human in order to survive the inhumanity that rapes you.

Later on, McAllister takes a huge leap towards “them” and decides to go to New York with hundreds of football fans to watch the match between the Irish Republic and Italy in the 1994 World Cup.

His challenge wasn’t leaving his old chauvinistic neighborhood to the airport, but leaving his old self behind and dressing in a green soccer jersey to support his Irish team, he was ecstatic, I saw a different face for the same actor, he displayed his emotions nakedly, and even I felt Irish for a moment.

He was welcomed by all the Irish people, he was one of them, they offered him rides and homes to stay in, for the first time in his life he felt like he belonged to a country, to a color and one crazy cheering crowd, he couldn’t have been more proud.

The similarities between the imaginary crowd and my people back home were staggering. Our unity, our homes and our suffering are, the same despite the vast differences between the two conflicts; we are all humans therefore our reactions are the same.

I left the theatre feeling differently about everything, it was like a leap of faith had just hit me in the face, we are not alone, never, we are surrounded by people who feel the same way we do, while I was scared in my house when Israeli tanks drew near, someone in Derry was scared of a British soldier who jumped out of his bushes in the back yard, while I was walking down the streets of Ramallah after one vicious bombing happy to be alive, someone in Belfast was celebrating surviving yet another attack.

Even though we all become so swallowed in our own conflicts, there is always this moment when we become one with humans elsewhere suffering as well, and it feels so powerful, it opens up a new window for us to breathe after a long suffocation.

We walked to our bus that night, and I could feel myself skipping through the streets of Dublin.

The final art project: flying back to childhood

To leave a lasting mark in Glencree, we had to finalize our exchange with a joint flag, so we woke up next morning prepared to launch ideas and draw a huge flag.

Before doing that, we were asked to write what stops us from using colors and drawing everyday on a piece of paper, it got me thinking about why I don’t own crayons or a coloring board, but failed to find an answer.

It’s not because I always have a million things to do, it’s not because I am busy or because I am preoccupied with this restless occupation, it is because I am growing up, I left behind childhood in a hurry and leaped prematurely into adulthood, although I promised myself not to do so. I always told myself I’m going to keep this little crazy child inside, and never give up on her, I just needed a reminder.

We had to draw our own little painting then take various ideas and put them on the big white board that was about to be invaded with colors.

We became kids, and it was such a relief. I drew a sun, rainbows and things I have forgotten existed inside me, and it was truly therapeutic.

Finally, we decided to draw darkness at the corners of our flag, representing our worries and sorrow, and then a sun bursting out of it, representing hope.

When I saw people’s different paintings I realized we all have fear and darkness inside, no matter where we lived or what we did, we all have our ghosts and demons, and we all were brave enough to confront them.

The flag was flowing with light, we all looked at each other proudly, I was 13 again, and wished I could be stuck there forever.

There was another colorful world waiting for us behind all our internal and external conflicts, a world that we could run to, any moment of the day.

The only way out is through

It was time to go home, that whole experience was over, I went that night to our meeting room to collect some papers, and as I was closing the door behind me I could hear our voices from the previous night, their faces weren’t leaving my head, I became accustomed to their laughs, words, solidarity and support, it was all so hard to leave behind.

I loved being a Palestinian that week, although it was hard to talk and remember my traumas all the time, I felt people’s hunger to understand and be part of our cause, not because they were pro-Palestinian or because we fed them with thoughts, but because our cause is a just cause and it would trigger any human being to rebel and seek freedom.

I had bits of ever person, event, city and county preserved in me. Sitting in the bus on the bridge waiting for endless hours wasn’t as exhaustive as it used to be. I closed my eyes and saw every detail of this trip clearly. My soul was still right there in Glencree, enjoying the wintry breeze.

Now I look at things from a different perspective. Just this morning I was stuck for an hour at the Qalandia checkpoint, but I knew there were people all around the world talking compassionately about me and thousands like me, as familiar faces belonging to an oppressed nation, refusing to stand still or die in ruins.

Those people with different colors and nationalities refused to be silenced or brainwashed, they opened their hearts and eyes to the truth and chose to go through that hard path in order to find peace.

I appreciate and will always remember each and every one of them. I think now is the time we go to the people, for they will help us find salvation. If you were in my place you would feel their energy, they gave me so much strength to go back home and write everyday in order to make a difference in their nations and mine.

The only sad part is the amount of hate and conflict still darkening our world; it is scary to try to imagine what might happen if we do not find peace soon, destruction is slowly eating up our planet; we have to take a stronger stand, sometime soon.

Ireland will always be in my memory and thoughts; it left a remarkable impact on my life and it will always feel a little bit like home. .

On July 13, Israeli cartographers started redrawing the route of the West Bank planned Wall to reduce “hardship for Palestinian residents,” after an Israeli court ruling, Israeli officials said.

Later this week, cartographers will present three different routes to the Israeli Defense Ministry for approval; the routes are expected to be closer to Israel than originally planned. The Wall in the West Bank is to run for 425 miles, one-fourth of which has already been built. The changes will be made mainly in the section still in the planning stages.

Israeli officials confirmed that the following changes are based on the “criteria” set by Israel’s Supreme Court in a ruling that was issued last month. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that the construction of the Wall on occupied territory is illegal has had no influence on the Israeli ruling.

According to Israeli officials, the old plan was based purely on security grounds, whereas the new one is to balance between Israeli security needs and Palestinian rights.

The biggest route changes are to be implemented in the northern West Bank, mainly in the city of Qalqiliya, in addition to Jerusalem.

These upcoming changes seem insignificant in comparison to the overall devastating impact of the built Wall which traps over 13,300 Palestinians living in 18 towns and villages, confiscates around 8,000 Acers of land and locks at least 50 Water wells which supply half of these isolated towns with water.

Qalqiliya, located in the northern West Bank, is completely walled in by the Separation Wall and a second barrier wall, effectively ghettoizing 86,000 Palestinians.

Of Qalqiliya’s 15,000 dunums of agricultural land, over 7,000 were confiscated or rendered inaccessible by the Wall, as well as 15 major water wells. A third of the city’s 1,800 businesses were closed due to the economical siege, which resulted in vast unemployment.

Furthermore, over 60% of Qalqiliya’s farmers are access to their lands isolated by the Wall, and the population in general is cut off from neighboring villages as the “gates” into and out of the city are opened only three times a day for brief periods.

Jayyous, a farming town located near Qalqiliya, with a population of 3,100 Palestinians, is yet another victim of this vicious Wall. The town was stripped of some 9,000 dunums of agricultural land, in addition to having its seven water wells confiscated, depriving over 550 families from their sole means of livelihood.

Zayta, located near the Green Line and a home to 3,000 Palestinians, endured the loss of over 875 dunums of agricultural land, 442 dunums of which were confiscated by Israel’s so called “border correction,” again depriving some 500 residents of their means of livelihood.

These numbers, grave as they are, cannot show the families that lie behind each acre of land, demolished house, and uprooted tree but they do highlight a history of deprivation and agony, disregard of basic human rights and neglect by the international community.

By the end of each day, thousands of Palestinians overlook Israeli bulldozers wiping their lands and businesses out of existence and demolishing years of work and aspirations.

The erection of the separation wall, not only in its current path, but in itself goes against any sort of cohabitation as it destroys any chance for coexistence or any future settlement.

Despite Israel’s undeterred continuation with its devastating separation wall, Palestinians make the daily choice of staying on the remnants of their lands, striving to earn their livelihoods and fight this injustice with all their strength.