The undersigned organizations and individuals reject the presence in Colombia of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his crimes against the Palestinian people.
For more than five decades, Israel has illegally occupied Palestine, as confirmed by dozens of United Nations resolutions. During this occupation, Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been tortured or murdered; thousands of people have been detained without any legal safeguards; more than 45,000 homes have been demolished as a form of collective punishment; and a series of bombings have attacked schools, hospitals, and other civilian structures in Gaza. These are only a few examples from a long list of violations of international law.
Israel has illegally built exclusively Jewish neighborhoods, known as “settlements,” in the Palestinian territories, which constitutes a war crime. It has gradually and illegally taken over further Palestinian territory through the construction of a wall spanning over 700 kilometers; it has attempted to take control of Jerusalem in violation of international law; and it has prevented the return of the refugees whom it displaced in the wars of 1948 and 1967. Israeli policies against the Palestinians have been so discriminatory that Nelson Mandela himself referred to them as apartheid, stating that “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
For these reasons, many parts of the world have called for a boycott against Israel, like the earlier boycott carried out by international community in support of the people of South Africa. While the world increasingly backs Palestinian rights, the Colombian government has signed a Free Trade Agreement with Israel that whitewashes its illegal occupation and violates our own Constitution.
Colombia, which has experienced an armed conflict lasting more than 50 years and which is currently moving towards building peace, must offer its solidarity to help other peoples in the world to peacefully resolve their conflicts.
For these and other reasons, based on international law and numerous United Nations resolutions, we reject the presence of Benjamin Netanyahu on Colombian soil. As peacemakers, we condemn Israeli crimes and the many actions carried out to prevent a peace process between Israel and Palestine. We urge the Colombian government to condemn, in accordance with the law, the war crimes committed by Israel on a daily basis; and, also in accordance with the law, to join the many countries in the region and the world that have recognized Palestine as a State.
Signatories:
ORGANIZATIONS
Unión Sindical Obrera, USO
Asociación cultural colombo-árabe de Cartagena
Asociación de Profesores Universitarios, seccional UPN, ASPU
BDS Colombia
Centro de Estudios AlQurtubi
Colectivo Creando Memoria – Berlín
Congreso de los Pueblos
Cubanamera.org
Fundación Cultural Colombo-Palestina
Fundación Encuentro Cultural Colombo Árabe.
Fundación Nicolás Neira
Grupo autónomo de investigación Kavilando
Movimiento Político y Social Marcha Patriótica
Observatorio de Derechos Humanos, Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
Partido Comunista Colombiano
Somos Cauca
INDIVIDUALS
Víctor de Currea-Lugo, profesor U. Nacional
Helberth Choachi, docente U. Pedagógica Nacional.
María José Pizarro, Fundación Carlos Pizarro Leongomez
Daniel García-Peña, profesor universitario
Carlos Velandia, Gestor de Paz
Juan B. Jaramillo, Director Observatorio de Movimientos Sociales, Paces y Conflictos URAMBA
Lyes Marzougui, profesor universitario.
Marlon Cantillo Borrero, director Casa Cultural Islámica Ahlul Bayt
Jairo A. Suárez S. Presidente Corporación Colombo Cubana Medellín
Waldemar De Gregori, sociólogo brasileño.
José Aristizabal, activista por la paz
Jaime Zuluaga Nieto, profesor universitario.
Germán Roncancio Jiménez, profesor universitario
Mónica Cecilia Moreno Moreno, doctorado Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, U. Nacional
Álvaro Jiménez, Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas
Erik Werner Cantor, Director Corporación Promover Ciudadanía, ONG DDHH.
Eulalia Borja Bedoya co-Editora Revista semestral de ciencias sociales, Kavilando
Yani Vallejo Duque, abogado, defensor público, investigador Grupo Kavilando
Alfonso Insuasty Rodriguez, docente-Investigador Universitario
Germán Roncancio Jiménez, profesor Universitario
Isabel Otero Blum, psicóloga
Sergio Serrano
Sandra Serapio
Juan Carlos Ortega Bermúdez
Ligia Peñuela Peñuela
Fabiola Agudelo
José Lino Pérez Corredor
María Teresa Garrido
Santiago Falla
Alfredo Martínez
