#Action4Return September 18-26: Palestinian Return and Refugee Rights: Confronting Normalization, Towards Liberation

Palestinian refugees’ call: “We will not forget – we have rights and we will return!

Call to Action September 18-26, 2020

Marking the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, we call for global action for the rights of Palestinian refugees and for the liberation of Palestine from September 18-26, 2020. These days of action aim to protect the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Palestine through struggle, with unified and popular participation, confronting normalization and all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

We invite your organizations to get involved:

This call is initiated by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Al Naqab Center (Bourj al-Barajneh Camp). Palestinian Chess Club (Shatila Camp), Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Palestinian Youth Movement, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, Collectif Palestine Vaincra, NY4Palestine, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-Canada, Internationalt Forum – Middle East Group, American Muslims for Palestine NJ, Actions4Palestine, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine, Independent Jewish Voices-Toronto, Friends of Palestine Against Imperialism and Zionism, Women in Solidarity with Palestine-Toronto,  and Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland.

These days of action will mark the commemoration of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, the September 1970 massacres in Jordan and the signing of the Oslo agreements, all attacks on the rights and struggle of Palestinian refugees for return and liberation. They are days of Palestinian, Arab and international action to affirm the adherence of the Palestinian people to their national, human, political, economic and cultural rights – the right to return home, reclaim stolen land and property and complete the comprehensive liberation of Palestine.

These days of action also come amid intensified attempts by the U.S., Israel and Arab reactionary regimes to liquidate Palestinian rights, particularly the latest normalization drive by the United Arab Emirates. We note that these normalization efforts have been built on the devastating Oslo project of the Palestinian Authority, which continues to engage in security coordination with Israel.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have given their lives and have been jailed within Israeli occupation prisons for their struggle for return and liberation, for a democratic Palestine on the entire land of Palestine. Today, the true, trusted leadership of the Palestinian people, at the heart of the resistance, continue to be imprisoned and struggle within Israeli prisons, confronting all such attempts at liquidation and calling for action.

The nature of these normalization “agreements” as a pretext for yet more war on the Palestinian people is made clear by the continuous bombing of the Gaza Strip on a nightly basis by the Israeli regime; over 70% of the Palestinians of the Strip are refugees denied their right to return home for over 72 years.

This is a time for urgent action to protect Palestinian rights. We urge all supporters of Palestine, international boycott committees and organizations, Palestinian community organizations, youth and student groups, Palestine solidarity organizations and progressive social movements to join us in this call. 

Join us to take action to: 

  • Defend Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes and lands throughout Palestine, reclaim their properties and ensure restitution and reparations
  • Confront all normalization projects pushed by the United States and other imperialist powers in league with Arab reactionary regimes that aim to legitimize the ongoing Nakba
  • Uphold Palestinian refugees’ rights – the right to remain, the right to return – and support the steadfastness of Palestinian refugees in the camps and in exile around the world
  • Oppose U.S./Western sanctions that aim to isolate and weaken resistance to Israel, Zionism, imperialism, and reaction, and ultimately to liquidate the Palestinian national movement and the refugees’ struggle
  • Demand freedom for Palestinian prisoners and defend Palestinians’ right to resist colonization, apartheid and occupation
  • Stand together for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

To join the days of action, here are examples of actions your group can take

  • organize a demonstration or protest, especially protests outside embassies of countries involved in normalization like the UAE, Egypt and Jordan
  • distribute flyers about Palestine, Palestinian refugees and the struggle for the right to return
  • hold a lecture (in person or online via a webinar) on Palestinian refugees and the struggle for the right of return
  • join in social media actions to memorialize key days and highlight Palestinians’ right to return as the key to liberation
  • put up a table with information about  Palestinian refugees and boycott campaigns
  • highlight the history of Palestinians in Lebanon and their ongoing resistance
  • organize an action for the Palestinian prisoners and for Georges Abdallah, jailed for over 36 years in French prisons
  • take action to boycott Israel and complicit corporations like HP, G4S and Teva – and the boycott of the “Israel- Start Up Nation” propaganda team in the Tour de France, continuing until 20 September
  • escalate boycott campaigns in your university, union or other institution
  • poster walls in your community with signs
  • organize actions to support refugee rights in your community, especially refugees from Palestine, Lebanon and Syria who have been forced to migrate to Europe, including confronting racism and oppression, fighting against exclusion and upholding the right to remain and the right to return
  • join with fellow supporters of justice in Palestine to post your solidarity and support for the Palestinian people and their ongoing resistance for return and liberation, from the river to the sea, on social media

We invite your organizations to get involved:

Use these posters – and more – for your activities. We urge you to use the #Action4Return hashtag for your social media posts: 

Palestine Right to Resist – Right to Return: Download PDF

Palestine Right to Resist – Right to Return – Download PDF

Source: Samidoun


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