United in struggle
09 November 2009
The event drew an audience of over 200 Palestinians, Israelis and internationals, including many activists, organisers and other solidarity-oriented participants, generating a buzz of activity. Speakers included wide range of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals fighting to end the Occupation, such as War on Want partner the Palestinian grassroots campaign Stop the Wall, Al Haq the Palestinian human rights lawyers organisation, the Coalition of Women for Peace who run the WhoProfits database on corporations profiting from the occupation, and the Palestinian BDS National Committee, to name but a few. The conference included a wide array of lectures analysing the political, economic and legal dimensions of the continuing Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Golan, and arguing for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
One of the main issues discussed was the toxic effect of neoliberal economics in occupied Palestine. Eileen Kuttab (Birzeit University) skillfully exposed how neoliberal policies had become entrenched in Palestine since the Oslo Agreements through the idea of ‘economic peace' (ardently supported by Tony Blair through his role in the Quartet) promoting the subservience of the Palestinian economy to Israel's interests. Martha Myers, the country director for CARE International, emphasised increasing Palestinian aid-dependency at the expense of political sovereignty and international complicity in funding the Israeli occupation.
Salwa Alinat from the workers' rights hotline Kav La'Oved detailed the abuses inflicted on Palestinian labourers in settlement industrial zones and settlement plantations in the Jordan Valley, and showed a short documentary on dire working conditions in the Royal Life factory located in the Barkan settlement industrial zone.
Dalit Baum from WhoProfits went on to describe corporate profits stemming from the Occupation, including the service industry (transport including Veolia and Alsthom, telecoms including Orange, banking services including Dexia), the exploitation of natural resources (water, land, stone, Dead Sea mud) and profits made by private military and security companies and weapons companies which boast they have tested their methods and weapons on Palestinians to sell their expertise abroad. She encouraged the audience to keep consulting the database for new content as current investigations constantly yield new information. Not all information is stored on the publicly available database, so people interested in specific companies or settlements should send WhoProfits their specific requests for information. The conference also included discussion around the Palestinian Authority's emphasis on neoliberal ‘good governance' and continued negotiations with the Israeli government.
Stop the Wall campaign's Jamal Juma revealed how international support can complement and strengthen Palestinian grassroots mobilisation and non-violent resistance, while Huweida Arraf shared the experience of Free Gaza Movement's attempt to break the siege of Gaza. Many more invaluable contributions were made, including talks by veteran Israeli activist Michael Warschawski, Israeli pro-boycott academic Neve Gordon , Israeli journalist Shir Hever, and South African human rights advocate Solomuzi Mabuzo, which are all accessible on the Alternative Information Centre's webpage devoted to the conference.
The conference came at a time of heightened tension in Palestine, as extremist Zionist groups had broken into the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Haram al Sharif religious compound in Jerusalem on Sunday 25 October. Israeli riot police invaded the Muslim shrine, severely beating worshippers, protestors and journalists alike, sealing the compound and firing rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinians in the Old City. At least 27 Palestinians were injured and dozens were arrested. This was only the latest in a series of attacks and clashes in the city. The conference was followed by a day of solidarity in Jerusalem, including a tour of Israeli colonisation in occupied East Jerusalem and visits to Palestinian families rendered homeless by house demolitions and evictions carried out by Israel. During the visits, the Israeli police unlawfully arrested three participants, including a Greek diplomat.
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