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Brussels - The European-Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Initiative held an expanded meeting yesterday in the Belgian capital to discuss the current situation in Palestine. Topics included ongoing preparations for the International Conference against Israeli Apartheid and Settler Colonialism, as well as the expansion of the European solidarity and public pressure campaign. The aim is to stop the war of genocide in the Gaza Strip, war crimes, and settler activities in the occupied West Bank.
The meeting was attended by the delegation of the Anti-Apartheid Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, represented by the head of the department and member of the Executive Committee of the organization, Ramzi Rabah, along with the Director General of the Department, Dr. Maher Amer. Also present were the President of the European-Palestinian Initiative and the Secretary-General of the International Organization of Democratic Jurists, human rights defender Jean Vermont, and Pierre Galland, a European leader and former parliamentarian in the Belgian Senate who also served as the former president of the European Network for Solidarity with the Palestinian People (ECCP). Representatives from several European countries were in attendance, as well as a representative from the coalition Latino Anti-Apartheid from Mexico, and representatives from the Irish Sinn Fein party and the Belgian Intal Foundation.
Ramzi Rabah, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), head of the Anti-Apartheid Department, reviewed the current situation in Palestine and the continuation of the war of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement practiced by the Israeli occupation state against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, which has been facing brutal aggression for 191 days, during which the occupation committed hundreds of massacres, killing more than 33,700 martyrs, most of them children and women, and more than 77,500 injured, flouting all UN resolutions. The decisions of the International Court of Justice are part of the policy of the far-right occupation government that is trying to uproot the Palestinian people from their land.
In his speech, the member of the Executive Committee emphasized that the massacres and ethnic cleansing actions perpetrated by the occupation state since 1948 persist with the support and cover of US imperialism and certain Western countries. Despite the steadfast resistance of the Palestinian people, who remain committed to defending their land, rejecting displacement, and thwarting the goals of aggression, these injustices continue. The speaker advocated for the restoration of Palestinian national rights, including an end to the occupation, the right to self-determination leading to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return for refugees. This, the speaker argued, is the only solution recognized by the international community to resolve the Middle East conflict.
Rabah called for supporting and strengthening the role of the European-Palestinian initiative in its efforts and march to launch the widest campaign at the European level against apartheid and the formation of coalitions that serve this goal.
For his part, the head of the European-Palestinian Coalition against Apartheid, human rights defender Jean Vermont, praised the role of the Anti-Apartheid Department in the PLO, and the importance of action at all legal and international levels to combat apartheid and settler colonialism, and the need to activate international law to hold the occupying power accountable for its crimes and impose sanctions on it, considering that the current circumstance has become an inevitable entitlement to hold the occupation state accountable for its crimes, through the expansion of a pressure campaign led by the initiative with broad European coalitions, in order to reveal the truth The Israeli apartheid regime with all its manifestations, its racist legal system and its practices in violating international conventions and laws, and turning to international institutions and the United Nations in order to hold Israel accountable for the crimes of genocide, and to take pressure measures to enforce these resolutions.
Vermon discussed the initiative's commitment and readiness to facilitate the success of the upcoming international conference scheduled for this year. He emphasized the importance of engaging closely with European civil society institutions to encourage their attendance and active participation in the event.
Pierre Galland, a prominent European leader and former senator in Belgium, underscored the significance of the initiative as a coalition representing numerous European solidarity movements. He emphasized their unequivocal stance against Israeli apartheid and their demands for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories. Galland advocated for imposing a boycott on the occupying power due to its violations of Palestinian rights and the continuous escalation of settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem. He called for implementing deterrent measures against Israel to halt aggression in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Galland also stressed the importance of engaging with international institutions to fulfill their legal and humanitarian obligations in preventing genocide massacres against the Palestinian people. He reiterated that enabling Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination is essential for reaching a viable solution.
In the meeting, participants emphasized the crucial need for concerted European action to halt the genocidal conflict in Gaza and to hold Israel accountable for its egregious violations.
Furthermore, attendees underscored the significance of the European-Palestinian initiative, highlighting its role as a diverse coalition comprising various European solidarity movements and alliances. During the session, the administrative body of the initiative was expanded, with several countries joining, and an actionable plan was ratified. This plan prioritizes the amplification and broadening of solidarity movements supporting the Palestinian cause against apartheid and Israeli settler colonialism, along with the establishment of local European coalitions.
Additionally, there was unanimous consent to revitalize the United Nations Committee against Apartheid and to convene an expanded meeting of the initiative in September. These gathering aims to lay the groundwork for the European Conference against Apartheid, part of the ongoing international efforts leading up to the International Conference against Apartheid slated for later this year. This conference will feature participation from numerous global alliances.
The meeting took place in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, with representatives from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, France, Norway, and Greece, alongside representatives from Palestinian unions in Europe.