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WHY I'M GOING TO THE MIDEAST FOR THE GLOBAL MARCH TO JERUSALEM
You wouldn't know it from the mainstream media in North America but a huge global movement is unfolding in the Middle East: the Global March To Jerusalem (GMJ).
I will be heading soon to the Mideast to participate in one of the marches. As a Jew, whose family lost 70 members to the Holocaust in Poland alone, I feel a special responsibility to show that the State of Israel does not speak for me or act in my name in building illegal settlements in the West Bank, in maintaining an illegal blockade of Gaza, in constructing the Separation Wall, in dispossessing Palestinians of their lands, and in demolishing Palestinian homes, among other crimes against humanity. As a trade unionist, I would like to support the working people of Palestine who suffer terrible levels of unemployment and poverty as a result of Israel's illegal occupation. As a Canadian, I want to show the people of the Middle East that Stephen Harper's unconditional and one-sided policy of support for the apartheid regime in Jerusalem is not shared by all Canadians; in fact, I dare say, not by most of us.
The GMJ is a groundbreaking new initiative that is organizing non-violent, civil resistance on March 30, 2012. The march will unite the efforts of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all citizens of conscience in the world to put an end to Israel's disregard for international law through the continuing occupation of Jerusalem and the rest of Palestinian land. Our plan is to organize massive peaceful marches towards Jerusalem, or to the nearest point possible according to the circumstances of each country, inside Palestine and in the four neighbouring countries: Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. Internationals will participate in land caravans travelling through Asia or fly directly to one of the main sites for the march. Around the world solidarity actions will also take place to support the demands of the GMJ: to end the Zionist policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and Judaisation. Global participation in the march will confirm to the world that these racist policies and practices of the state of Israel against Jerusalem and its people are a crime not only against Palestinians but against all humanity.
Very large demonstrations are expected in Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, and South Africa. Sizeable protests are also expected in most West European capitals. Up to a million people are expected to take part in the Global March To Jerusalem and its solidarity actions around the world.
The GMJ takes place on Palestinian Land Day, which began in 1976 when Palestinian citizens of Israel organized protests, from the Negev to the Galilee, including a general strike, to protest the seizure by the Israeli government of thousands of hectares of land for "security and settlement purposes." In the ensuing demonstrations, six Palestinians were killed, about 100 wounded and hundreds more arrested. Like the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa, Palestinian Land Day was a pivotal event in the attempt to end the apartheid system of government in Israel and the Occupied Territories.
The GMJ has elicited the formal endorsement of hundreds of prominent personalities such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead McGuire, former British MP George Galloway, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, and author Noam Chomsky. And it has the firm support of Palestinian civil society. It also prompted a score of international artists to pool their talents in a downloadable CD to benefit the GMJ at http://www.gmj-na.org/album.html.
As if to make the point that criticizing the State of Israel is not an anti-semitic act, a demonstration by Jewish-Israelis inside Israel is also planned on March 30, along with their Palestinian-Israeli colleagues.
From Canada, a small number of delegates will fly to the countries bordering Palestine to join in the manifestations. In Canada, on March 30, we expect that there will be solidarity actions in a number of Canadian cities, including a solidarity action planned at 2:30 pm on the Mills Library Plaza at McMaster University.
Canadians, wanting to learn more about the GMJ, may click on our North American website at http://www.gmj-na.org/home.html. Hopefully, as March 30 approaches, the Canadian media will pay this global movement more of the attention it deserves.
Ken Stone is a member of the International Central Committee, Global March To Jerusalem, and a long-time resident of Hamilton.
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