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The Anti-Apartheid Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization held the first national conference against apartheid, with the wide participation of members of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Organization, ambassadors, consuls and representatives of diplomatic missions, and a wide number of personalities, civil society organizations, factions, forces and activists, from various Academic, media and economic sectors.
The conference, organized by the Anti-Apartheid Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in cooperation with the NGOs Network, the Palestinian Human Rights Council, the Boycott and Divestment of Israel movement “BDS” and the Ministry of Justice, included three sessions on the Zionist movement, Apartheid, and international accountability, international law (prospects for confronting Israeli apartheid legally), and the international campaign to isolate and punish Israel; The settler-colonial state and apartheid.
Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Ramzi Rabah, said that the First National Conference against Apartheid aims to launch an international coalition to end apartheid, to work on the international arena in political, human rights and civil society tracks, and to enhance societal awareness of the Apartheid system, as one of the tools of colonial occupation, by identifying concepts and definition of apartheid, as one of the tools of Zionist settler colonialism.
A member of the Executive Committee of the PLO added that the conference aims to strengthen partnership and cooperation with all local, regional and international institutions opposing Israeli apartheid.
Ramzi Rabah pointed out that the Palestinian issue is going through a very dangerous stage, with the formation of the bloody occupation government that places among its priorities abortion of everything related to the right to self-determination, preventing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and fighting the issue of the right of return for refugees, as it is an issue that affects the Jewish demographic composition.
For his part, Fatah Dputy head Mahmoud Al-Aloul stressed the need to confront Israeli crimes and the Apartheid regime through popular resistance, intensify diplomatic efforts in the world through various United Nations institutions, and follow the legal path in order to isolate the occupation.
The Deputy Head of the Fatah movement referred to the dangers posed by the new, extreme right-wing government, by requiring new ministers to add powers to their ministries, in order to commit crimes against Arabs in all their places of residence, noting the need to prepare for confrontation by giving priority to confronting the occupation and jumping over internal Palestinian disputes.
For his part, Deputy Speaker of the Arab Parliament Khalil Attia said that the First National Conference against apartheid is an opportunity to unite efforts to confront the racist occupation policies in all its forms.
Khalil Attia stressed that the establishment of the Anti-Apartheid Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization constitutes a strategy in the struggle to expose the occupation, and a new step to end it, noting that the position of the Jordanian Parliament is a firm position by standing by the Palestinian right, and exposing the crimes of the Israeli occupation to the world.
The Head of the Higher Follow-up Committee for the Arab Masses in the Lands of 1948, Muhammad Baraka, pointed out that the previous Israeli government had the highest number of martyrs since 2000, explaining that the next Israeli government poses a real danger, and it is necessary to transform Israeli extremism from a crisis into an opportunity.
Muhammad Baraka expressed his hope that the conference would come out with a national strategy to confront “Apartheid,” and that it would be formulated by specialists and actors, in order to turn it into a work program for the next stage.
Participants in the three dialogue sessions talked about the importance of efforts to revive the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, investigate the crime of apartheid, and punish anyone found to be involved, individually or collectively, in it.
The participants stressed that the First National Conference against Apartheid comes at a necessary and urgent period, to complete and integrate efforts on several levels, through the development of a national strategy based on a comprehensive boycott in all fields.
The participants noted the need to launch a national coalition to coordinate efforts at the local, Arab and international levels to confront the Israeli apartheid regime.
At the end of the conference, the participants recommended the need to form national, Arab and international alliances that would establish a global front against Israeli apartheid, and campaigns to prevent the issuance of laws banning the Zionist occupation and racism.
The participants also called for the development of strategies and action plans to monitor all Israeli practices based on the Apartheid system, and for the establishment of an international legal coalition of specialized legal and human rights institutions, to create a global coalition chasing the occupation in international forums, and to launch an official and popular Palestinian, Arab and international campaign to consider the constituent parties for the Apartheid state they are terrorist organizations.