***Petition to support UNGA President Brockmann***
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/IJAN_Brockmann_BDS/
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The president of the United Nations General Assembly has called on the international community to consider "boycott, divestment and sanctions" against Israel, similar to those enacted against South Africa two decades ago.
Speaking at the United Nations, General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann expressed his love for the Jewish people, but said he disagreed with Israel’s policies.
He went on to say that the Holocaust and other historical crimes did not give Israel "the right to abuse others, especially those who historically have such deep and exemplary relations with the Jewish people."
He pointedly added that he wanted to remind Israelis that despite "the protective shield of the United States and the Security Council," nothing could excuse the failure to establish a Palestinian state.
"Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider following the lead of a new generation of civil society who are calling for a similar nonviolent campaign," said D'Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan diplomat who currently holds the one-year presidency.
"Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories appear so similar to the apartheid of an earlier era, a continent away, and I believe it is very important we in the United Nations use this term (apartheid)," he said. "We must not be afraid to call something for what it is."
A South African envoy to the U.N. speaking at the session also raised the specter of apartheid, comparing conditions in the West Bank and Gaza to those of two decades ago in his own country.
Meanwhile, Cape Town's Cape Argus newspaper reported that South African President Kgalema Motlanthe's name, signed as president of the republic, had appeared on a published petition protesting what he termed "Israel's colonial oppression" of the Palestinian people.
Adapted from the article "UNGA head accuses Israel of apartheid", written by Allison Hoffman and published in the Jerusalem Post on November 25, 2008. See: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404827209&pagename=JPost%...
Distributed by PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity)
The president of the United Nations General Assembly has called on the international community to consider "boycott, divestment and sanctions" against Israel, similar to those enacted against South Africa two decades ago.
Speaking at the United Nations, General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann expressed his love for the Jewish people, but said he disagreed with Israel’s policies.
He went on to say that the Holocaust and other historical crimes did not give Israel "the right to abuse others, especially those who historically have such deep and exemplary relations with the Jewish people."
He pointedly added that he wanted to remind Israelis that despite "the protective shield of the United States and the Security Council," nothing could excuse the failure to establish a Palestinian state.
"Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider following the lead of a new generation of civil society who are calling for a similar nonviolent campaign," said D'Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan diplomat who currently holds the one-year presidency.
"Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories appear so similar to the apartheid of an earlier era, a continent away, and I believe it is very important we in the United Nations use this term (apartheid)," he said. "We must not be afraid to call something for what it is."
A South African envoy to the U.N. speaking at the session also raised the specter of apartheid, comparing conditions in the West Bank and Gaza to those of two decades ago in his own country.
Meanwhile, Cape Town's Cape Argus newspaper reported that South African President Kgalema Motlanthe's name, signed as president of the republic, had appeared on a published petition protesting what he termed "Israel's colonial oppression" of the Palestinian people.
Adapted from the article "UNGA head accuses Israel of apartheid", written by Allison Hoffman and published in the Jerusalem Post on November 25, 2008. See: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404827209&pagename=JPost%...
Distributed by PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity)