International Day Of Solidarity With The People Of Palestine—29 November

By All Africa Students' Union (AASU)

The homeland of the Palestinians, for thousands years, was taken from them without their consent to establish the state of Israel. This situation occurred in 1947 when the United Nations (U.N.) proposed a Partition Plan for Palestine titled “United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of Palestine.”

The Resolution recommended the partitioning of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Subsequently the state of Israel was established in 1948 while the Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights to self-determination, to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.

Since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, the people of Palestine has been killed, maimed and are living under constant violence and insecurity. In 1967 the Six Day War, which broke out, saw an emerging victorious Israel seizing control of more lands including the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 242, the “land for peace” formula, which called for Israeli withdrawal “from territories occupied” in 1967. However Israel continues, not only, to occupy, unscrupulously, these lands but annex more.

The Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including Jerusalem have been subjected to Israeli military occupation, repression and confiscation of their land for more than 20 years. This situation led to a Palestinian uprising called the intifada in December 1987. Between 1987 and 1993, over 1,000 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured, detained, imprisoned in Israel or deported from the Palestinian territories.

Some efforts have been undertaken, with no success, in order to find a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian tragedy. These include the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Camp David Summit in 2000, Taba Summit in 2001, the Road Map for Peace in 2002, and the Arab Peace Initiative (2002 and 2007). The Oslo Accords suffered a setback due to the assassination of the then Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin by an extremist Jew.

Today, though the overwhelming majority of the people around the world recognize the State of Palestine and its flag flies at the United Nations, the Israeli Government is building settlements and walls wherever it desires, with impunity, in Palestinian lands under the eyes of a helpless International Community but with the tacit support of the United States of America (USA). The reality is that these Israeli extremists consider Palestine as their ancestral land and the Palestinians as irrational terrorists who have no point of view worth listening to. We live in a World where people are confronted with numerous and dangerous situations threatening peace, security and for that matter our future as people. It is noteworthy to realize that all these unfortunate occurrences are the results of the injustice in the world where the gap between the haves and have-nots is on the ascendency and the lack of tolerance.

The people of Palestine have suffered for too long from injustice and brutality, and the time has come for their inalienable rights to self-determination and independence are respected. That is why in 1977 the United Nations General Assembly established, through its resolution 32/40 B, 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The All Africa Students Union (AASU) calls on all peace loving people to reaffirm their commitment to bring about the just peace that the peoples of Israel and Palestine deserve.

AASU would like to use this occasion to renew its unflinching support to the struggle of the Palestinian people and urge all its member and friendly organizations to continue relentlessly to back them in their quest for self-determination and independence.

Long live Palestine!
Aluta continua!
Awaah Fred
(Secretary General)
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