[Boycott - Campus News] Largest grouping of British universities against Israeli policy in history
Palestine News Network 10 February 2008 London / PNN – Some 30 universities from Britain are being joined by others throughout the world in protesting Israeli policy. This is the largest grouping in history of the annual “Israeli Apartheid Week,” supporting Palestinian rights.
The campaign coincides with the passage of 60 years of Al Nakba, the Catastrophe, which was the creation of the Israeli state. “It is also coming at a time that the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip is being accepted by the international community, and when the Zionist entity that lives on killing and ethnic cleansing must have its mask removed.”
South Africa, the United States, Canada, Mexico and Palestine are participating in the British-led campaign which begins on Monday.
The aim of the campaign, as indicated by the Executive Director of the Palestinian Centre for Return, Dr. Arafat Madi, the basic purpose of the organizing is “to raise awareness about the Israeli apartheid policies towards the Palestinians, and to mobilize international support to halt investments and increase support campaigns to boycott the racial entity, and demand the imposition of a boycott against the Israeli economy, as was the case in apartheid South Africa.”
Madi noted that the campaign will include lectures with academics, historians, jurists and activists and supporters of the Palestinian cause. It will begin with a series of documentary films about Palestine, in addition to cultural activities, theatrical and musical demonstrations.
The main demands of the campaign, according to Dr. Hafiz Karmi, President of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, are to “end the practice of racial discrimination against Arab citizens in Israel, the Palestinians, and calling for an end to Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories and protect the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, from which were vacated.”
The significance of this activity is that it is the first time that nearly 30 British Universities are participating. It is being organized by the Palestinian Centre for Return in cooperation with the Palestinian Forum in Britain, the Palestinian solidarity associations and federations of students in British universities and colleges (Action Palestine) and the Union of Islamic student associations in Britain and Ireland. The collective intention is to end the racist practices of Zionism in Palestine.
Dr. Al Madi has become important to the peoples of the world seeking to put pressure on decision-makers to take urgent action to isolate the apartheid regime of Israel, especially after the failure of the international community to protect the human rights of Palestinians and hold Israel accountable for its crimes committed in contravention to international law and non-compliance with myriad resolutions of the United Nations.
Source: http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2399&Itemid=1
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