IJAN salutes the organizers, participants and attendees ofthe Second Haifa Conference For the Return of the Palestinian Refugees and forthe Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine, which took place with greatsuccess 28-30 May 2010. IJAN was honored to be present and be a part of thatinspiring and historical moment and share with the other participants the senseof the Conference's ground breaking relevance.  The second Conference built on the success ofthe first conference, which took place in 2008, and was widely welcomed amongpolitical and social activists and militants that resist Zionism from within(in the part of Palestine that was occupied since 1948), Arab and Jew, as wellas on a wider Palestinian, Arab and International level.  

Abnaa elBalad, the initiator of the processthat led to the First Haifa conference, also convened the preparatory committeefor the second. The conference attracted delegations from all over theworld-noteworthy was the significant presence of representatives from Brazil,Venezuela and India, as well as several members from the German Die Linke party.  The conference brought together importantPalestinian voices, including Jamal Juma', Omar Barghouti, Haidar Eid ( throughvideoconferencing), Mohammad Kana'ane,  Ghada Karmi, and many others, aswell as the voices of the small but important contingent of Israeli Jews whoreject Zionism and colonialism. The Conference took place against thebackground of the worsening persecution of Palestinians in Israel and theincreasingly unhinged behavior of Israel's security forces. Ameer Makhoul, Directorof Ittijah, had just been arrested of fictitious "espionage" charges ( he isstill in prison), and days after the conference ended the Israeli Navy raidedthe peaceful Gaza flotilla and murdered nine Turkish human rights activists.

Against this backdrop, the Second Haifa Conferencerepresents one of the most important efforts to move beyond the repeatedfailures and dead ends of the different partition plans for Palestine, not onlyat the level of utopian ideas and visions but through laying the ground for areal political movement that can transform the politics of the region.

Conference on a JustPeace for Palestine

Sept. 22-23, 2010

India International Center, Auditorium,

New Delhi, India

Concluding Session: Speaking for Palestine

September 23, 5-8 pm, Constitution Club, SpeakersHall

Chair: Seema Mustafa,

Speakers: Prakash Karat, Mani Shankar Aiyar, A BBardhan, DP Tripathi, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Rashed Khan Menon, ManzurulAhsan Khan, Amena Ahmed, Mustafa Burghouthi, Jamal Zahalka, Jamal Juma'

September 22

Registration

9.00-10.00 am

 Tea

Inaugural Session: Palestine: Breaking the Siege

Chair: Salman Haider

Welcome: Seema Mustafa

10.30 am-1.00 pm

Speakers: Mustafa Barghouti, Jamal Zahalka, FatherMiguel d' Escoto Brockmann, Aijaz Ahmed, Ilan Pappe, Richard Falk

 Lunch

Occupation: Nakba and After

2.00-3.30 pm

Chair: Neera Chandhoke

Speakers: Jamal Juma‘, Lisa Taraki, MustafaBarghouti

 Tea

The Empire and West Asia

3.45-5.30 pm

Chair: Mushir-ul Hasan

Speakers: AchinVanaik, Ilan Pappe, Jamal Zahalka, MordecaiBriemberg, Nalan Dal

September 23

The Asian Response

9.30-11.30 am

Chair: Upendra Baxi

Speakers: Prabir Purkayastha & Ginu Zacharia, WaldenBello, Azril Mohamad Amin, K.P. Olli, Abdul Razak

International Solidarity and Boycott Campaign

11.45 am-1.00 pm

Chair: Richard Falk

Speakers: Lisa Taraki, Jamal Juma‘, MordecaiBriemberg, Thomas Sommer-Houdeville.

Action Plan: Ending the Apartheid

1.00-2.00 pm

Chair: Kamal Chenoy

Presentation: Lisa Taraki and Pallab Sengupta

 Lunch

Organized by: Palestinian BDS National Committee,Committee for Solidarity with Palestine, All India Peace and SolidarityOrganization, India Chapter for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Supported by: Action Aid India, Focus on the GlobalSouth, Center for Policy Analysis, Delhi Science Forum, COVA, International Jewishanti-Zionist Network and others.

IJAN India is becoming more active. The activisttaking the lead on IJAN in India is part of the organizing committee of a conference, "A Just Peace forPalestine - A Conference on WestAsia ." In cooperation with the Palestinian BoycottDivestments Sanctions National Committee (BNC), a group of Indian activists andintellectuals initiated a conference on the issue of Palestine ,in NewDelhi , on September22^nd-23^rd. The conference seeks to mobilize all those involved in people's movementsfor a just and equitable world across India and the region to collectivelystrategize and build a solidarity campaign for the liberation of Palestinianlands from Israeli occupation, self-determination and equality for all Palestiniansand the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

Indiaand the region has historically played a key role in garnering internationalsupport for Palestine, the South African anti-apartheid struggle and otheranti-colonial struggles. We believe that countries representing the non-alignedmovement, with its proud de-colonisation history, should once again play a keyrole in the struggle for justice and againstIsrael 's occupation,colonization, and apartheid policies.

TheConference aims to mobilize activistsin people's movements around Palestinian rights, develop an effective strategy forsolidarity with Palestine , connect to policy makers and activists inthe region, to inform the peopleabout the current situation in Palestine , and tobuild and strengthen campaignstargeting companies and institutions that are complicit inIsrael 's occupation,colonization and apartheid policies.

Belowis the conference program.