December 12, 2014
Palestine is living through terrible times. It is fragmented, and every part suffers daily aggression.
The war against Gaza in the summer of 2014 reduced much of this overpopulated enclave to ruins: 2200 deaths (mainly civilians), massive destruction, tens of thousands of homeless refugees . The inhuman blockade continues.
In the Negev desert, the expulsion of Palestinian Bedouins from their lands proceeds apace, even though these people are nominally Israeli citizens.
In the West Bank, the Israeli army represses unarmed demonstrations with lethal force. It continues with the de facto annexation of the Jordan Valley.
But in Jerusalem particularly the Netanyahu government has been multiplying provocations. Every week sees the announcement of new settlement construction. In Silwan, the colonizers drive out the local population. On the Temple Mount, with the complicity of the police and army, religious fanatical and extreme right groups strut about and attempt to capture part of the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli occupation is both immoral and illegal in international law. It also endangers Jews around the world.
The Russell Tribunal qualified Israel as an apartheid state and found it guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
EJJP believes that European governments and the European Union bear a responsibility for this situation. One-third of Israeli exports go to the European Union, – more even than go to the United States, yet the EU has never sought to use this leverage to force Israel to end the occupation.
EJJP urges politicians on all levels to change the policy of business as usual.
EJJP urges all European governments to recognize the State of Palestine within the borders the 1967, including East Jerusalem. Measures must be taken against the State of Israel for its open violations of international law and its refusal to comply with UN resolutions.
EJJP accordingly urges the EU to suspend the EU/Israel Association Agreement until Israel complies with UN resolutions and international law. All forms of military and security cooperation should stop.
EJJP calls for a BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) against the Israeli occupation throughout the world, a non-violent action intended to pressure Israel to comply with UN resolutions and international law.