Dear colleague, Last January’s invasion of Gaza reminded the whole world of the Palestine question. Although the Israeli troops are now gone, the Gaza Strip remains subject to a blockade….
Dear colleague,
Last January’s invasion of Gaza reminded the whole world of
the Palestine question. Although the Israeli troops are now gone, the Gaza
Strip remains subject to a blockade that has no analogue anywhere in the
world, and the humanitarian crisis continues. In the West Bank and East
Jerusalem, the situation created by occupation and settlement continues to worsen.
Since 1967 the people of Palestine have been facing a gross denial of justice,
bringing in its wake the risk of other crises, potentially even more devastating.
It for this reason that we, academics and researchers, have decided
to join the international movement calling for an end to scientific cooperation
with Israel, especially in the military arena, as long as that state fails to respect
the decisions of the UN and the International Court of Justice and does not fulfill
its legal obligations as occupying power. As individuals, we have also pledged
not to cooperate with Israeli academic and cultural institutions.
To make our actions more widely known, we are in the process of
founding an organization, the AURDIP (Association pour le Respect du Droit
International en Palestine, Association for the Respect of International Law in
Palestine), in close cooperation with similar organizations around the world (see for example the British organization BRICUP, http://www.bricup.org.uk). A website will soon be operational, and the attached declaration will be published there.
We hope you are willing to sign this declaration, and to participate in
AURDIP’s future activities.
Cordially yours,