Petition to the UN: Restoring Historical Palestine

by the Bronx Antiwar Coalition

PETITION FOR THE RESTORATION OF HISTORIC PALESTINE

For over a month, the world has witnessed a humanitarian horror: Israel’s assault on the captive, civilian population of Gaza. Wielding one of the most sophisticated militaries on Earth, Israel has bombed hospitals, churches, mosques, and residential homes, displacing a population of 2.3 million, and killing over 25,000 people (Jan. 2024)  – approximately half of which are children.

Far from “defensive“, Israel’s violence has been indiscriminate, and accompanied by official declarations dehumanizing the Palestinian people in the name of collective guilt.

The world rightly calls for ceasefire. Every minute which passes means more death. The slaughter must end now. But as doctors and any student of history is aware, harm cannot be healed by focusing exclusively on immediate symptoms. To effect healing, the source of such injury must be addressed and cured.

75 years ago, Israel was formed by undemocratic fiat. To create its ethnostate/theocracy, the indigenous population was driven from the land in an act of ethnic cleansing–the continuation of which we witness today. A nation which regularly flaunts international law, including the possession of undeclared nuclear weapons, Israel is not only a threat to Palestinians, but to the entire world security.

To our dismay, such injustice is empowered by the political support and funding of the United States, the government in which we – the undersigned – reside. In the name of human rights, justice and world stability, we hereby call for the following to be implemented by the UN and ICC immediately:

* Demand an immediate Israeli ceasefire
* Open the Rafah crossing to bring in medical aid and fuel supplies for hospitals in Gaza
* Worldwide aid to Gaza refugees
* Free all Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails
* End all aid to Israel – military and otherwise
* Freeze all Israeli assets held in foreign banks
* Cut off all trade to Israeli-held companies
* Demand Israel immediately dismantle and surrender all weapons of mass destruction in its possession: nuclear, biological and chemical.
* Arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu, his immediate cabinet, top-ranking members of the IDF and any/all US officials complicit in Israeli’s war crimes. Such a list should include, but not be limited to: Naftali Bennett, Yoav Gallant, President Isaac Hertzog, Ghassan Aliyan, Joe Biden and Antony Blinken. Peace requires justice: such individuals must be remanded to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution. In the spirit of the 1945-46 Nuremberg trials, IDF/IOF soldiers credibly accused of war crimes must face justice as well.
* Creation of an independent, objective investigation into the events of October 7, 2023.
* As recompense for the errors of 1947, the UN should facilitate the creation of a new Single Palestinian State, incorporating the following traits:

A) Recognition of Right of Return to ALL Palestinians – including refugees from the Nakba who currently reside in other nations.
B) Land restitution to all Palestinians, in the form of: affording each a parcel of land/residence in whatever area of Palestine they prefer. Or direct monetary payment, should they wish to emigrate.
C) Granting full and equal citizenship to all Palestinians in the new nation.
D) Creation of an enforceable timetable for enacting new elections for all governmental positions, and the writing of a constitution for the new nation – including a Bill of Rights with universal guarantees for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, race or religion.
E) Removal of all illegal settlements.
F) Current Israeli citizens will not be expelled from the new (restored) nation’s borders but rather encouraged to stay and help rebuild, should they so choose.

To effect peace, there must be justice. And without correction of past injustice, a cease fire would be only a stop gap. To end the needless destruction of so many lives, the source of this conflict must be addressed – and healed.

Read the FULL petition And Sign here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hl9O3Zbx6QmygEwCUo1cR1yH-RJGiYnugS3-YtlOt9U/edit

Organizational Signatories:

The Bronx Anti-War Coalition
Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Palestinian Assembly for Liberation
Professor Ilan Pappé
PIC Abolitionist Network
Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network
Humanistic Lens
Judaism Not Zionism
Palestine Solidarity Alliance at Hunter College
NYU Law SJP
Sister’s in the Struggle
United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
Million Worker March
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
International Action Center
Workers World Party
Friends of Swazi Freedom
Jersey City Peace Movement
Bronx Green Party
The Outreach Team

Individual Signatories listed on the FULL petition here.