The ACSC has initiated a campaign in order to collect funds to help with the costs of the Belgium case, such as travels of Palestinian witnesses to Belgium, etc. In order to support this initiative, it is possible to purchase vouchers (500 pesetas value) by contacting +34 91 531 75 99 or via e-Mail at csca@nodo50.org
Related links:
Iniciativas por el procesamiento de Sharon por crímenes contra la Humanidad
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This initiative is part of the activities initiated by the ACSC in order to find support in the Spanish State to the case against Ariel Sharon 19 years after the massacres of Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugees Mahmud Yunis and Sanaa al-Hussein from Shatila successfully tour the Spanish State in support of the case against Ariel Sharon September 24th, 2001 (CSCAweb) Following the initiative of the Arab Cause Solidarity Committee (ACSC), last September 17th a delegation of Palestinian refugees from Shatila camp began a tour in which Mahmud Yunis (one of the plaintiffs against Ariel Sharon in Belgium) and Sanaa al-Hussein (a Palestinian sociologist) visited several cities in the Spanish State. This initiative is part of the activities initiated by the ACSC in order to find support throughout the Spanish State to the case against Ariel Sharon 19 years after the massacres of Sabra and Shatila. The tour has been a great success and has fulfilled all expectations, thanks to the commitment of all social and political organizations and institutions involved in this initiative in Andalusia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Madrid. All the activities carried out throughout the State have been profusely covered by local and national media who were present at the press conferences that took place in the abovementioned cities. The media interviewed the refugees and expressed their interest in knowing about their experiences as witnesses and victims of the massacres that occurred in Sabra and Chatila in 1982. In Madrid, the refugees participated in a press conference organized by ACSC on September 17th, and were later received by the General Secretary of CCOO (Worker´s Union), Mr. José Mª Fidalgo, and by Mr. Javier Doz, in charge of the International Politics section within the Union. On Sunday 18th, the refugees were invited to the reception organized by the international section of the Spanish Communist Party during its annual meeting. The refugees had the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of the international politics sections within the SCP and the United Left coalition, as well as with Mr. Gaspar Llamazares, secretary general of United Left (UL). The encounters between the refugees and institutional representatives in Andalusia, Catalonia, and the Basque Country were equally gratifying. In Seville, following the initiative of the Platform of Solidarity with Palestine in Seville (supported by the Association of Solidarity with the Arab Peoples in Cordoba and the ACSC in Malaga), the refugees met with the President of the Andalusian Parliament, Mr. Javier Torres Vela as well as with the Andalusian Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. José Chamizo. In Barcelona, Mahmud Yunis and Sanaa al-Hussein were received by the President of the Catalonian Parliament, Mr. Joan Rigol, who was particularly interested in the present state of the Belgium case against Ariel Sharon and promised the refugees to pass on the full text of the case to the political parties represented in the Catalonian Parliament. The President was also interested in knowing the present state of the Palestinian people inside the refugee camps in Lebanon and the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The activities carried out in Catalonia were organized by the Catalonian Campaign for Lifting the Sanctions Against Iraq with the support of the local councils of El Prat and Rubí. The refugees visited the Parliament of Asturias in north-western Spain, where they were received by the President of the General Council of Asturias, Ms. María Jesús Álvarez González, and they met with a delegation of representatives of all political parties represented in the regional parliament. The representatives promised the refugees they would let their respective political parties know about the demand against Ariel Sharon and would study the possibility of issuing a joint declaration supporting the demand. The parliamentarians showed a great interest in knowing the present state of the case against Sharon and the possibilities of supporting it in the near future, with the coordination of the ACSC. The refugees were then received at the local council of the city of Gijón by the city mayor, Ms. Paz Fernández Felgueroso, where the mayor and various representatives of the United Left coalition party expressed their willingness to study the case in order to elaborate a joint declaration in support of the case against Ariel Sharon. They also explained to the refugees the state of some of the cooperation projects that have been carried out in the past year with the support of the local council in Palestinian cities inside the Occupied Territories. In Euskadi (Basque Country), representatives of the political parties represented in the Basque Parliament (Basque Nationalist Party and Basque Solidarity, Basque Socialist Party, and Batasuna) showed a considerable interest to know about the present state of the case in Belgium and promised they would consider together with the rest of parliamentarians writing a joint declaration in support of the case against Sharon. This declaration, they said, would also include an explicit mention about the need to arrive to a just peace through the implementation of all UN resolutions that explicitly mention the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their homes. The parliamentarians also talked about the possibility of establishing a parliamentarian commission devoted to Palestine and Palestinian issues, similar to the commissions already in existence such as the Kurdistan, the Tibet, and the Western Sahara commission. The activities in the Basque Country were organized by KI and Askapena. Besides the institutional visits and the meetings with the press, the refugees also met with different groups of lawyers in Madrid and Barcelona and participated in public acts in which the refugees narrated their experiences and their lives inside the refugee camps in Lebanon. The act in Gijón was particularly successful. The tour ended with a solidarity dinner party in Madrid on Saturday 22nd organized by the ACSC and the Peace and Solidarity Association "Haydee Santamaría" in the city of Leganés. The ACSC would like to express its satisfaction with the tour. It would also like to express its gratitude to Mahmud Yunis and Sanaa al-Hussein for their efforts and the courage they have shown throughout the tour, particularly within the context of the grave international situation we are living. The ACSC would also like to reaffirm its willingness to promote any activities in order to support the Belgium demand against Ariel Sharon for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The ACSC has initiated a campaign in order to collect funds to help with the costs of the Belgium case, such as travels of Palestinian witnesses to Belgium, etc. In order to support this initiative, it is possible to purchase vouchers (500 pesetas value) by contacting +34 91 531 75 99 or via e-mail at csca@nodo50.org ACSC, Madrid September 26th, 2001 |
