Version imprimableSince Monday, the Israeli army has also been carrying out a violent bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip, where demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians of Jerusalem have multiplied, as in the rest of the occupied territories, killing – at the time of writing – at least 25 people, including children. In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians have been injured and dozens imprisoned.
The current events remind us that the Israeli colonial enterprise of violence, expropriation and humiliation continues every day, in the complicit silence of the so-called "international community". In France, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while affirming that it considers the colonization to be illegal, makes the Palestinians and the Israeli state equally responsible by “[calling] on all actors to show the greatest restraint and to refrain from any provocation to allow a return to calm as soon as possible.”
There is no such thing as colonial “calm”, and there is no shared responsibility in this new episode of repression: what is at issue is the apartheid policy of the Israeli state and the denial of the democratic and national rights of the Palestinians.
No “just solution” can be found without satisfying all their rights: an end to the civil and military occupation, equal rights, the right to self-determination and the right of return. Support for the Israeli state must stop! On the contrary, Israel must be sanctioned and made accountable for its crimes. This is the meaning of the BDS (Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions) campaign, whose development and reinforcement, in the absence of any other form of sanction and pressure, remain a necessity, as do the street mobilizations to express our solidarity with the Palestinians.
12 May 2021
Montreuil, France
