On the Occasion of Land Day 30/3/2003

A Candle Light Vigil in front of The Red Cross Offices in Ramallah

On this Land Day, we come to proclaim to the whole world that military force, no matter how mighty, can never extinguish the light of hope and truth burning within our souls and empowering us with an undaunted determination to resist oppression and injustice and to attain freedom.

Let not the world be deceived by the awesome forces that strike Palestinian and Iraqi towns with a self consuming vengeance, devastating their land and robbing their people of their lives and dreams. Such forces are bound to succumb to the gentle candle lights kindled with love and compassion , as they burst into a raging fire that will ignite the hearts of the masses everywhere, yearning for justice, peace and freedom.

On this Land Day, we come to raise our voices against the devastation of Palestinian and Iraqi land by the Israeli Occupation and by the American and British Coalition forces. A trove of cultural treasures and heritage, this land has been the sanctuary of millions of human beings across the ages whom it embraced with care and love despite their diversity, and with whom it shared its bounties. This land deserves to be honored, respected and preserved instead of being coveted, devastated, and defiled.

As we watch our children die every day, and the horrific scenes of death and destruction in Iraq, we demand that International Law prevail , if we are to secure a peaceful future for posterity. The United Nations and its bodies should be invested with the authority to act as a forum for all peoples, where even handedness and justice prevail. We must not remain silent as we watch the USA exploit its supreme power to dominate the fate of human beings and the will of the international community, and to hijack the UN and its bodies.

Israel, supported by the USA, can not continue to defy international law, conventions and resolutions. Occupation and its oppressive practices must come to an end. In the meantime, our people are in urgent need of international protection from the ongoing Israeli attempts at establishing facts on the ground which threaten our lives and lands and subject us to an endless process of dispossession. The building of an Apartheid Wall which is taking place under full view of the international community, is the latest outrage which continues to rob whole communities and villages of their land and water and to threaten them with isolation and displacement.

The aggression on Iraq must stop immediately and before it is too late. Its disastrous consequences on humanity as a whole, can not be overemphasized.

On this occasion we honor the memory of our men and women who have fallen in the defense of their land and their freedom, and salute those people from all corners of the globe, who are standing up for justice and peace at the risk of their comfort and lives. We join our voices to theirs, in the hope that our harmonious chorus, enflamed by the power of our determination and conviction , will dissipate the darkness of oppression and give way to the luminous lights of justice, peace, truth and freedom.

The General Union of Palestinian Women Palestine 30/3/2003