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.

 Excerpted for IJAN's statement on Islamophobia:

"As the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) enters its third year of work, we identify the struggle against Islamophobia as a priority.Being committed to the liberation of Palestine, we note how Islamophobiaprovides cultural and ideological currency to Western support for Israel. Aspart of movements against war and military occupation, we condemn the role thatIsrael plays in the US-allied military agenda and economy. As allies in thestruggle against racism in our countries and communities, we assert that theadoption of Zionism by Western governments and political elites carries a highprice in terms of the well-being and safety of all people. 

Zionism is bound up with Islamophobia, which, in addition to targetingMuslims and other Arab and Middle Eastern people, including Arab Jews, spreadsbigotry and produces an environment of racist and ethnic discrimination.Zionism's impact on our societies is to feed and strengthen already pervasiveconservative, right wing and fundamentalist political and social trends towarddiscrimination based on cultural, racial and ethnic difference, socialexclusion, and violence that lead to poverty, restriction of movement, loss ofemployment, incarceration, separation, deportation and death."

To read the whole statement, click here or below.