Introduzione e programma del Social Forum di Ramallah

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM ON PALESTINE (RAMALLAH – PALESTINE) - DRAFT

I. Introduction

It is a pleasure for me to elaborate several ideas about the special social forum to be held in Ramallah in Palestine’s West Bank. Palestine is a place of rolling hills and beautiful landscapes. It is also, unfortunately, one of the focuses of the world today. In March and April this year, the Israeli army invaded Ramallah, and has kept it under rolling curfews for months on end. I guess this is one of the reasons that the World Social Forum has decided to make meeting about the Palestinian situation in the West Bank and Gaza a priority in terms of social development. I applaud this remarkable and courageous decision to bring hundreds of delegates to a place under siege. Yet, on a personal note, I wish instead that Palestine was free, and that the focus of the world could be elsewhere. But this is not so. Palestine is not free, and we need to refocus the conscience of the international community on what is one of the world’s last great struggles against colonization and military occupation.

Just to review, the remarkable idea of meeting in Ramallah grew out of a concept raised by the International Council of the World Social Forum before our second meeting in Porto Alegre - Brazil 2002. During the meeting in Porto Alegre II and after discussions with delegations from the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) and the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), the participants suggested a thematic Social Forum in the West Bank and Gaza. The Forum's secretariat decided to hold the forum in Ramallah-Palestine during December, and PNGO was made responsible for the logistics of the forum. In Bangkok, the international council decided to establish an international support committee to assist in the organization of the thematic forum. PNGO was asked to elaborate a concept paper with a proposal. ANND, the European Social Forum, the Asian Social Forum, the African Social Forum, and the World Social Forum Secretariate were selected to be the main parties of the international support committee. It was decided that the membership of the Social Forum Secretariate is open for all of those willing to participate. This paper is an outgrowth of these meetings. It represents PNGOs main responsibility in presenting an overarching concept for the forum in Ramallah.

II. Goal of the Meeting

We believe that the goal of the meeting in Ramallah must be the promotion of international solidarity with the Palestinians in our quest for national independence and the right to self-determination. The meeting must focus international attention on the justice of, and Palestinian right, to establish an independent and viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital and the right of the Palestinian Refugees to return to their homelands. This is our vision for peace. It is a vision that, if not met, will continue to cause conflict and bloodshed for years to come.


III. Context

Let us mention briefly the context in which Palestinians currently live. Israeli occupation forces reinvaded all major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank except Jericho in late March 2002. According to PNGO’s latest estimates, the Israeli army and settlers have killed 1996 Palestinians over 24 months of conflict; 886 were killed in the first seven months of 2002 alone. Of those killed, 178 have been victims of Israel’s policy of “targeted” assassination. Nearly 1 million Palestinians now live under Israeli army-enforced curfews. Amnesty International reports that thousands of Palestinians, mostly young men, have been put in Israeli military detention camps under conditions that subject detainees to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” In their most recent report of 4 November 2002, Amnesty International reports:

[S]ome of the acts by the IDF [in the invasions] amount to grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and are war crimes. These acts include…unlawful killings…; the torture and ill-treatments of prisoners; wanton destruction of property after the end of military operations; the blocking of ambulances and denial of humanitarian assistance; and the use of Palestinian civilians to assist in military operations.

Economic life in the West Bank and Gaza (WBG) is in severe recession. Major international organizations now provide food to Palestinians who, as a result of the Israeli tanks on their streets, are unable to go to shops, harvest crops or undertake simple economic activities. The Israeli invasion smashed much of the infrastructure of the Palestinian National Authority’s (PNA’s), hampering its ability of to act as a governing power in the Palestinian areas under the Oslo Agreements.

IV. A Way Towards Peace

Given the current circumstances, much has been made in the media about the end of peace movements in Israel and Palestine. Yet in the most recent poll of Palestinian public opinion undertaken at the end of August, “73% [of Palestinians polled] support reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples after reaching a peace agreement and the establishment of a Palestinian state.” Israeli commentators constantly claim that the remarkable shift from left to right in the political spectrum since September 2000 will shift back as immediately if what they believe is a hand of peace is outstreched. These perspectives illustrate that even at this time, there is a way forward. The question is how this is possible.

I believe that any meaningful peace must be based upon international law and legitimacy. Without an internationally sanctioned process, peace will be imposed as a matter of Israeli military force, to be ended whenever that force is not harsh enough –or lethal enough— to impose quiet. In these circumstances, the current atmosphere of mistrust will continue without building links between Palestinians and Israelis. Israeli colonization of the West Bank will continue. This is the non-peace process we have witnessed since the 1993 Oslo Accords. Real peace must mean real bargaining and a measure of justice for both sides.

What is international law and legitimacy? In a sentence, it is the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territories Israeli took, in a surprise attack in June 1967, and the establishment of a Palestinian state in these territories. In 1993, Palestinians bravely acknowledged the existence of Israel in 78% of Palestine, and moved to make peace through the internationally recognized two state solution with the new state of Palestine in the remaining 22% of our historical homeland. In fact, this is what international law stipulates. UN resolution 1397 unequivocally adovocates the vision of, I quote, “a region where two States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders.”

V. Aims of the Meeting in Ramallah

Given our context, and the importance of international law and legitimacy, the meeting in Ramallah must have certain aims. These are:

1. To integrate the Palestinian National cause in the Global Agenda of social movements and civil societies, as it is an integral part of the world movment towards human freedom.
2. To stir the world public opinion in reaction to the Israeli abuse of human rights in the Palestinian territories.
3. To facilitate the coming of hundreds of supporters of the Palestinian cause from different continents to side with the Palestinians in our current crisis.
4. To strengthen and support the link with the World Social Forum, as it is the most important framework for international social movements and civil societies organizations.

I believe that the first aim of the meeting is to build on the current successes in the integration of the Palestinian cause into the global movment for human freedom. Throughout September and October, marches of hundreds of thousands people supporting Palestinian rights in cities throughout Europe and North America show the penetration of Palestine’s legitimacy in global discourse. Since the independence movements in the 1950s and 1960s, the idea of colonial domination has been throughally negated. While Israel may have a legitimate presence, its continuing colonization of the West Bank and Gaza, and its expoitation of Palestinian resources are not legitimate. Our meeting must stress the connection between Israeli exploitation and domination with the global agenda against exploitation in the developing world in general.

The second aim of the meeting in Ramallah must be to further influence global public opinion against Israel’s practices of occupation. Clearly the meeting will attract media attention as a result of its international constituents and the context of Israeli re-occupation of Ramallah. We must use this visibility to illustrate the legitimate rights of the Palestinians in the face of Israeli abuses. While Israel portrays the problem between the Palestinians and Israelis as one of terror, the real problem must be made apparent: Israeli occupation. The solution to this problem, and violence suffered by both sides as a result, is a just peace based on a two state solution. Two states to end violence against both Israelis and Palestinians.

The third aim is to facilitate the coming of hundreds of supporters of Palestinian rights from around the globe. This will not only be a logistical challenge. Facilitation means the presentation of a meaningful and factual experience in Palestine. The meeting must include elements of education about the Palestinian predicament. Part of the Israeli right wing agenda includes what I would term the complexification of the conflict into thousands of details, almost impossible for a normal person to comprehend. We must work together to make some of these small details clear to the meeting’s attendants. For instance, I would recommend that everyone walk through Kalandia checkpoint on their way to Ramallah. It may not be the highest kind of style for many of the dignified people coming, but Kalandia is a strong message. Missing it means missing our Palestinian reality.

Finally, in presenting a meaningful conference, Palestinians must work, through PNGO and other civil forums to strengthen our ties with the World Social Forum. This network, and its civil society foundations worldwide, offer Palestinians an important voice in world affairs, and in the advocacy of our own rights. Developing Palestinian presence in the forum will benefit the cause of Palestinian freedom. Developing legitimate grassroots foundations for the Forum will further enhance it as a medium for promoting social development and freedom worldwide.

VI. Proposed Activities

Day One: 27th Dec. 2002: Plenary Session:

9:00 – 11:00 The International Law, the International Legitimacy and the Palestinian Issue, with a special focus on International Protection.

11 – 11:30 Break

11:30 – 1:30 Workshops


1st Workshop: Jerusalem and Boarders.


2nd Workshop: Settlements and Water


3rd Workshop: Palestinian Refugees, Political Prisoners


Second Session:

2:30 – 4:30 The Establishment of the Independent Palestinian State: Challenges of Building and Democratic Transformation

4:30 – 6:30 Workshops:


1st Workshop: Between the two Intifadas, The 1st Intifada 1987 – 1992


Oslo Agreement and Transitional Period 1993 – 1999


The Final Negotiations – Camp David 1999


2nd Intifada – Al-Aqsa Intifada 2000 – present
2nd Workshop: Poverty, Unemployment, and Economic Development from Civil Society Perspective
3rd Workshop: Social Development from the Palestinian Civil Society Perspective

Day Two: 28/12/2002: Third Session

9:00 – 11:00 Globalization and its impact on the Palestinian National Cause: Towards activating international solidarity movements with the Palestinian people.

11:00 – 11:30 Break

11:30 – 1:30 Workshops: Elaborating continental plans towards affecting international opinion for solidarity the Palestinian people.


1st Workshop: Asia and Africa


2nd Workshop: Europe


3rd Workshop: North and South America

1:30 – 2:30 Lunch

2:30 – 6:00 Demonstration in Ramallah: For a just and continuous peace in the Middle East

6:00 – 8:00 Cultural Evening: the Palestinian Dancing Group

Day Three: 29th December 2002: Field Visits:

1. Field visit to Jerusalem city, and its historical and religious sites.
2. Acquaintance to the settlements activities in Jerusalem
3. Acquaintance to the racist fence, a tour in the different regions of the West Bank (settlements sites).

Day Four: 30th December 2002: Going to Gaza

9:00 – 12:00 Political, economic and social situation in Gaza Strip

2:00 – 5:00 Field visit in Gaza Strip

5:00 – 8:00 Return to Ramallah

VII. Logistics

PNGO nominated a steering committee for the Forum, which will be responsible for a successful conducting of the Forum. At the same time will be in charge for the coordination with the international support committee.

VIII. Dates
The proposed dates to hold the Forum are between the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of December, The venues and the final agenda will be finalised as soon as possible.