Palestinian civil society organizations would like to express their unreserved support of the hunger strike initiative against the construction of the Separation/Annexation Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the areas surrounding Jerusalem which was started by Member of Knesset Azmi Bishara of the National Democratic Assembly (NDA) at noon of 3 July 2004. Other prominent Palestinian figures immediately joined the hunger strike, including two women. The hunger strikers are based in a protest tent in the town of Al-Ram where the Separation/Annexation Wall will strangle the one remaining lifeline between Jerusalem, its neighbourhoods and surrounding villages as well as the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Severing the historic Jerusalem-Ramallah road will separate one home from another and tear apart members of the same family.

The hunger strikers would like to draw local, regional and worldwide attention to the system of Apartheid which is being put in place all throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the result of fragmenting Palestinian society and cutting off a large number of Palestinians from their land, schools, hospitals and places of work. In addition, the hunger strikers call for national and international protest activities and mobilization to stop the construction of the Separation/Annexation Wall.

Palestinian civil society organizations are extremely concerned about the recent ruling of the Israeli High Court of Justice which, although ordering the rerouting of the Separation/Annexation Wall in some places, did not object to its construction in principle. For this reason, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with regard to the legality of the Wall’s construction in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which is to be issued on 9 July 2004, has gained even more in importance and is urgently awaited.

In full solidarity with the ongoing hunger strike, Palestinian civil society organizations condemn the Apartheid policies of the government of Israel in the strongest possible terms. We call upon the international community to actively oppose the construction of the Separation/Annexation Wall in every conceivable manner and at all levels.

The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)
The General Union of Palestinian Charitable Societies
The National Institute for Palestinian NGOs
‘Aman’ Coalition for Integrity and Accountability
The Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC)
The Private Sector Coordinating Council
The General Union of Palestinian Women
Professional Unions

---

• Wednesday, July 7, 2004 at 7:30 pm
Attorney Mohammad Dahla and Jamal Juma from PENGON will provide information on the Israeli court decisions regarding the Wall
Place: Protest Tent

• Thursday, July 8, 2004 - All day
General Commercial Strike West Bank

• Saturday, July 10, 2004 at 3:00 pm
Women gather in protest at Al-Ram Intersection
Place: Al-Ram Intersection

• Saturday, July 10, 2004 at 4:00 pm
Women walk from Al-Ram Intersection to Protest Tent
Place: Al-Ram Intersection to Protest Tent