On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November, the Malaysian Social Research Institute (MSRI) and the MSRI/Sponsorship of Palestinian Children express our continued commitment of support for the beleaguered Palestinian people, especially the refugees, wherever they are, including in Malaysia.

We condemn in the strongest terms the 41 years of brutal military occupation of the West Bank, the continued construction of the illegal Apartheid Wall in defiance of international law, the continued illegal annexation of land in the West Bank and especially in East Jerusalem, and the inhumane, total siege and blockade of Gaza.

It has become clear over the last few years, but especially so in 2009 after the war on Gaza, that the will of the USA and EU to implement the internationally recognized Rule of Law is lacking and is not applied to Israel in this conflict. The failure to act on the Goldstone Report is proof for this. It is left to civil society worldwide to act, support and defend the Palestinian people. 

The people of the world are increasingly mobilizing solidarity for the Palestinian people by organising boycott campaigns. The global BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions against Israel) movement is gaining momentum and has reached Malaysia as well.

There are roughly 7.8 mil.* Palestinians worldwide, of which 2.2 mil. live in occupied Palestine (West Bank and Gaza), as citizens or as refugees in refugee camps in their homeland, so-called internally displaced people; 900,000 live in Israel as Arab Israelis, as 2nd class citizens who, for example are not allowed to own land as only Jews can own land in Israel. The remaining 4.8 mil. live outside of Palestine, 2.5 mil. of which in refugee camps in countries of the Middle East such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

This year we celebrated 20 years of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Let us all work together to make sure that the Apartheid Wall will soon collapse too, that the occupation of West Bank and the blockade on Gaza is stopped. As long as Palestine is under occupation, a just and fair solution cannot be found, and the 2.5 million refugees cannot return home. 

FREE PALESTINE, END THE OCCUPATION!

Lia Syed
Executive Director
Malaysian Social Research Institute
 
MALAYSIAN SOCIAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, MSRI/SPONSORSHIP OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
49, Jalan U Thant (JKR 2825), 55000 Kuala Lumpur
W: www.msri.org.my, E : msri@streamyx.com