We reproduce the statement and call for active solidarity to Palestinian People by the Human Rights Defenders Group. We make part of the Campaign which will be taking place from Feb 22nd to Feb 29th, and we call all activists, organizations and left parties to participate too. Open Al-Shuhada Street! Stop Israeli Settlements on Palestinian territory! Stop the apartheid now! For a free, secular, democratic Palestine!
‘Open Al-Shuhada Street’ is a Palestinian Initiative that aims to organize an international solidarity day with the Palestinian residents of Al-Khalil (Hebron). It was launched in 2010 in Al-Khalil and internationally by organizing more than 35 solidarity events in several cities around the world.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have imposed procedures of forced evacuations, curfews, market and street closures, checkpoints, and military law in the city, which entails repeated random inspections, and arrests without any charges. In addition to there being no protection from the Israeli settler’s violence and pressures which led more than 15,000 Palestinian civilians to flee from their houses in the center of Al-Khalil, turning it into a ghost town in a clear systematic form.
The IOF closed Al-Shuhada Street for Palestinian vehicles in 1994, after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre. It then banned Palestinians from walking there in 2000, as a security measure for the 600 Israeli settlers whom occupied the center of the city.
More than 500 shops were closed because of military orders in the area, and more than a thousand shopkeepers were forced to close due to checkpoints and street closures. Meanwhile the illegal settlers enjoyed total freedom of movement in the closed streets and protection by the IOF.
The organized actions of the occupation and the settlers have made life extremely difficult for more than 22000 Palestinians living in Al-Khalil, and led to the expulsion of thousands from their homes.
On the 25th of February, activists from all over the world will organize actions in solidarity with the residents of Al-Khalil and all the Palestinians, including local protests and activities to demand the re-opening of Al-Shuhada Street and ending the Israeli Occupation.
Al-Shuhada Street was once a lively street for the residents of Al-Khalil, buzzing with trades, busy markets and the main vegetable’s and fruit’s market of the county. Now, however, the street has many settlements running along it and is a ghost town, after being completely shut to the Palestinians, while only Israelis and tourists are allowed to enter.
Hatred and intolerance slogans are sprayed on the doors of the closed Palestinian shops. The roads leading to the entrance and exit of Al-Shuhada Streets are also sometimes closed, leaving the residents with no choice but to climb roofs.
In the aftermath of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994, in which 29 Muslims were killed while praying by Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-American settler,the shops on Al-Shuhada Street were closed and vehicles passage was banned. Despite the lawsuits and the Israeli government admitting to the unlawfulness of closing the street and after 21 years, it is still closed. We see the case of Al-Shuhada Street as a symbol for occupation and racial discrimination in Al-Khalil and the whole of Palestine against Palestinians.
If you would like to organize an activity, or be part of our campaign from 19-29/02/2015 in your country, city or university, then please contact us at defenders.human@gmail.com or via Facebook and Twitter.
How can you get involved?
Everyone around the world can get involved with us to make a real-life difference. If you would like to organize an event, let us know so we can brief you on the aims and principles of our campaign.
Here are a few ways to get involved:
Organizing protests and marches.
Film screenings about Al-Khalil.
Organizing talks, workshops, and shows.
BDS campaigns.
Art exhibitions about racial discrimination in Al-Khalil.
Joining us on Facebook and Twitter.
Using #OpenShuhadaSt on Twitter to raise awareness about Al-Khalil.
Creating videos and sharing them through the media, and social websites.
Encouraging the international community to use diplomatic pressures to open Al-Shuhada Street.
Writing letters and petitions to Israeli ambassadors, and to government officials in your respective country, urging them to intervene and pressure Israel to open Al-Shuhada Street.
Writing letters to Palestinian families in Al-Khalil in solidarity.
Closing streets as a replication of the situation in Al-Khalil and its effect on the lives of the residents.
Visiting Al-Khalil to get a better understanding of the situation and the daily struggles of the residents.
Any other creative activity!
Contact us via E-mail: defenders.human@gmail.com
With our best,
Human Rights Defenders Group.
