The Activities Of The Second Day Of The Fourth International Forum For Solidarity With Palestine

The activities of the second day of the Fourth International Forum for Solidarity with Palestine, organized by the Global Campaign to Return of Palestine, was launched in Al-Jiyye area south of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

At the opening of the first session of the second day of the forum, screening of a short film about the suffering of the prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons and the flagrant violations of human rights in breach of international laws and conventions.

Afterwards, Coordinator of the National Campaign for the Recovery of the Bodies of Arab and Palestinian Martyrs held by the Israeli occupation, Salwa Rizkallah, said that the number of martyrs’ bodies held is more than 235.

“We started legal action to retrieve a group of martyrs several years ago, and in 2010 we were able to retrieve the body of martyr Mashhour al-Aruri after 34 years of retention,” she said.

Later, a short film about the Palestinian martyr Mohammed Abu Khudair, who was kidnapped, tortured and burned alive by Israeli settlers in 2014, was shown.

As part of the forum events, a video report showing the violations by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian children was played. The report pointed out that since 2000, about 2031 Palestinian children have been killed according to DCI statistics, while some 10,000 Palestinian children have been arrested during these years. The largest part of them hailed from Al-Quds.

A short film about Israeli settlement in various parts of the occupied territories, especially in occupied Al-Quds and the West Bank, which confirms the Zionists’ intention to take full control over Palestine and emptying it of its people.

On the settlement issue, an activist from the occupied territories, Bakr Abdul Haq, said during the forum: “The goal of the settlements is to create large population centers in the vicinity of Palestinian cities and force the Palestinians to expand vertically, leading to a low economic level and social problems.”
He added, “There is a settlement plan extending from southeast Nablus to the area of Kafr Qasim in the West, which includes large settlement blocs and would divide the West Bank into two sections in which the occupation seeks to dissolve the Palestinian presence,” considering that what Palestinians are living today is the consequences of the American recognition that Al-Quds is the capital of “Israel”.”

Hussein Abu Khudair, the father of the martyred child, spoke at the forum describing the crime of the Israeli occupation against his son as “a brutal act that cannot be tolerated.”
“If it were not for our surveillance cameras, which documented the kidnapping of my son, the case would have been brought against an unknown person,” he said, adding that there was no support for the martyr’s family during the trial.Afterwards, two short films, the first about the suffering of Palestinian refugees in the camps and the second about the 12-year siege of the Gaza Strip were shown.

In the first session as well there were contributions by a number of prominent figures that are regarded as freedom fighters for the Palestinian cause, which focused on exposing the violations of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people.

After that, the second session of the International Forum started, where Belgian volunteer Miriam de Lee said “There are problems that we are facing in Europe that is governments are trying to stop activists, so we are trying to create an environment that allows people to express their boycott of Israel,”

Founding member of the Global Campaign to Return of Palestine Dr. Haidar Daqmaq hailed the ethical Palestinian resistance against the occupation and the great efforts exerted by the civil society and NGOs around the world to support the cause.
“We have cooperated with the Christian Eastern influential figures to activate communication between Eastern and Western churches to support the cause and face the winds of destruction and chaos that plague the Arab and Islamic world,” he added.
He pointed to the need to work on programs and events that entrench the principle of struggle for Palestine.

Member of the Blacks for Palestine Foundation, Christian Davies Bailey said, “We have published a solidarity and support statement for Palestine that was signed by activists, students and political detainees. On the basis of the statement, we have developed our relationship with the Palestinians in the United States and most parts of the world,”.
“We focus in our work on building community relations between African and Arab peoples to be able to liberate from American and Zionist hegemony,” he added.

For his part, Coordinator of the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine in Latin America, Edgardo Robin Assaad, addressed the forum and talked about the necessity of establishing a media bloc that is fast in spreading news, praising the importance of working in civil society organizations and its effectiveness.

Website | For her part, Yasmine Najjar, a Palestinian girl with a prosthetic leg, spoke during the forum about her suffering as for the installation of the artificial limb because the Zionists prevented her from traveling for treatment abroad on the grounds that this poses a threat to “Israel”.
Najjar pointed out that there is a large number of people with disabilities in Palestine, who were injured as a result of successive wars in Gaza, noting that the occupation entity focused during the first intifada on targeting the eyes of children with sniper fire.

Later, Palestinian freedom fighter Wael Jodi described the day of February 26, 1988 as “an unforgettable day,” as it was the day the prime minister of “Israel” asked his soldiers to break the bones of the stone children.
Facebook | Palestinian freedom fighter Wael Jodi describes the day of February 26, 1988 as “an unforgettable day,” since it is the day the prime minister of “Israel” asked his soldiers to break the bones of the stone children.

Until the third session of the forum, which aims to come up with a joint program that campaign members cooperate on the achievement and completion of its work and decisions, based on a working paper presented in advance was opened. The committees are divided objectively into three: the Return Committee, the Al-Quds Committee and the Committee for the Elimination of Normalization.

The Mufti of Al-Quds and the Holy Land Sheikh Mohammed Hussein during this session said, “Al-Quds is now subjected to more than one hostile campaign, the first is the “Israeli” occupation, which is trying to obliterate the Arab and Islamic civilization in the city through the imposition and drafting of laws; secondly, the decision to impose taxes on the holy places and to restrict the Palestinians’ movement and make their lives tough.”
It is necessary to create means of steadfastness for the Palestinians by supporting the educational and medical sectors, the Mufti added.
He, moreover, said that Trump’s latest decision “is an aggression against both international and human law,” stressing the necessity of implementing “the international resolutions that prevent the obliteration of the rights of peoples.”

For his part, the head of the Yaffa Center for Studies in Cairo, Rifaat Mohammed Sayed Ahmed, stressed that Palestine is a central issue in the Arab and Islamic conscience, noting that the duty of every Muslim and free man is to work to liberate Al-Quds.
“The media has an important role to play in supporting the cause. I suggest that we call May 15 a day of Palestinian wrath, or we could also call for a week or a month of anger, because we are facing a new Nakba (catastrophe) for Palestine,” he said.
“The issue of Palestine is a matter of survival and destiny, and it is not the right of this generation to confiscate the right of future generations to recover the occupied territories,” he concluded.

In turn, the Coordinator of the Arab Network for Food Sovereignty Abdel-Hassan Mohammed al-Ja’ja’ said that more than 61% of the West Bank area is under the control of the occupation, noting that only about 12% of groundwater is available to the Palestinians.
Al-Ja’ja’ pointed out that more than 95% of the water in Gaza is undrinkable, and that 50% of the population of Gaza is in a state of food insecurity.
“We are doing the necessary tests to the trees provided to the Palestinians; and we are doing everything that helps in sustainable development. We have accomplished a project to enable women in Al-Quds to produce pastries al-Ja’ja’ added.”

Afterwards, Muhammad Shaheen, a member of the Conqueror’s Combatants Association and Al-Quds Society of Turkey, said, “You all know that Al-Quds has historic ties with the Turkish state historically, religiously, culturally and in various fields.”
A follow-up session will be formed for coordination in order to prevent the implementation of the US decision, he added, pointing out, at the same time, that Turkey has an energy of individuals who love Al-Quds and the cause.

While the head of the Association for Education and Charitable Activities in Ivory Coast, Abdullah Bandi, stressed the need to exert efforts and invest the media to support the Palestinian cause.