CONVOCATION 28 January 2018: JERUSALEM, CITY OF DISCORD

JERUSALEM, CITY OF DISCORD

This past December the government of the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and has announced that the U.S. Embassy will be located in that city. The official version says that this is a way of giving impetus to the negotiations for peace in the area and to give support to the member parties. This has created a long list of consequences and one of the most serious is the trail of blood and violence that it is generating in Palestine.

The United Nations has approved a resolution against the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, said resolution backed by 180 countries along with 35 abstentions and 8 votes against. This resolution took place after the Security Council did not pass it because of the veto of the United States.

Jerusalem, sacred city for the great monotheistic religions, has always been at the center of conflict. For a long time, Israel has systematically not complied with the resolutions of the UN and violates the human rights of the Palestinian people, with the acquiescence of international organizations. In addition, the government of Israel is carrying out a policy to fence in and expel the Palestinian people from Jerusalem and from all the occupied territories in general. The decision of Donald Trump is the coup de grâce against a population that is cornered and mistreated.

The organization Women in Black emerged in 1988 precisely in Jerusalem when Jewish women said NO to the occupation. It was the first social collective that demonstrated publicly in Israel against the policy of occupation of the Palestinian territories by their own government. On that account, 30 years later, the Women in Black of Madrid continue demanding:

♀ That previous accords regarding Jerusalem be respected and that no nation recognize Jerusalem as the capital.

♀ That the government of the United States not intervene in the Palestine-Israeli conflict in order to tilt the political balance at the cost of the suffering and rights of the Palestinian people.

♀ That the Israeli government cease the occupation and the policy of violence against the people of Palestine and recognize the right of its citizens to dissent with their policy, and that the government cease the persecution and stigmatization of the Israeli pacifists.

♀ End of the violence of the armed Palestinians groups.

♀ That Spain revoke its military agreements and commerce in weapons with Israel.

♀ That international justice not leave in impunity the policy of violence of the Israeli government and its violation of international treaties.

We are in solidarity with the 63 Israeli secondary school students who have signed a letter in which they declare their refusal to serve in the obligatory military service despite the risk of being jailed which their decision entails. And, in general, we express our support and recognition of military objectors, pacifists and anti-militarists of Israel and Palestine.

Translation: Trisha Novak, USA – Yolanda Rouiller, WiB Spain

Pictures here