29 November is the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people. It is also, for Palestinians everywhere and in all situations, a painful anniversary: that of the UN vote on 29 November 1947 on a partition plan for which they were never consulted, and which marked the starting point of the Nakba, the eviction of most of the Palestinian population from the territory of what was to become the State of Israel.
Year after year, the Palestinian people continue to suffer the continuous dispossession of their land and resources, the deaths and injuries at the hands of the occupying army, the imprisonments, the blockade of Gaza, the destruction of homes, the terrible situation in the refugee camps. This system which imposes the domination of one people over another through inhuman acts has a name, it is the apartheid regime, it is a crime against humanity.
On this day of solidarity, it is appropriate to recall the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people: the right to a free and decent life, the right to self-determination, the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
But current events also call for urgent concrete action. Since 22 October, the Israeli government has been attacking Palestinian civil society by targeting six leading Palestinian human rights NGOs: after designating them as "terrorist organisations", it took a military decision on 7 November to ban them. The lack of reaction from the President of the Republic, the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 26 October, which merely expressed its "concern" and asked for "clarifications" instead of challenging the legitimacy of the Israeli decision, and the absence of any statement of real support for the NGOs, are scandalous if we measure the threats that hang over these NGOs and over Palestinian civil society as a whole. Moreover, it is those who provide the International Criminal Court with evidence of its crimes that Israel would like to silence.
If solidarity with the Palestinian people still has a meaning, it is on this concrete and urgent case that it must be expressed as a priority. Following the letter sent on 25 November by 32 organisations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Association France Palestine Solidarité urgently calls on the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take clear positions and strong measures to protect these NGOs and the whole of Palestinian civil society threatened by these measures:
- clear support for these NGOs, accompanied by the demand that the Israeli decisions be withdrawn,
- the suspension of the signature of the research agreement between the European Union and Israel, a first measure of simple decency in such a context.
The Association France Palestine Solidarité calls on all members of the parliament and all people of conscience to mobilise in the same direction. The future of Palestinian civil society must be protected. It is here and it is now that it is at stake.
AFPS national executive board,
29 November 2021
