Monthly Archives: July 2012

The Munich Declaration for One Democratic State (ODS) in Historic Palestine

27 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in ODS, Palestine, Right of Return

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

, ,

The Munich Declaration for One Democratic State (ODS) in Historic Palestine*

Munich, Germany- June 29-July 1, 2012

 One Democratic State (ODS) shall be established in the entire territory of historic Palestine between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River as one country that belongs to all its citizens including all those who currently live there and all those who were expelled over the past century and their descendants.

The country shall be an independent sovereign State in which all citizens enjoy equal rights and all can live in freedom and security.

ODS in Palestine will end ethnic cleansing, occupation and all forms of racial discrimination from which the Palestinian people suffered under Zionism/Israel.

The reunified Palestine shall be a democracy in which all of its adult citizens shall enjoy equal rights to vote, stand for office and contribute to the country’s governance. No State law, institution, practices or activities may discriminate among its citizens on the basis of background, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The State shall be based on separation between government and religion. It will not establish or accord special privilege to any religion; and shall provide for the free practice of all religions.

One of the primary objectives of the new state is to enable the Palestinian refugees to realize their right of return to all the places from where they were expelled, rebuild their personal life, and participate in creating the new state. Private property of Palestinian refugees shall be restored and restitution and compensation arranged. Restoring the rights of the Palestinians will be done while respecting the equal rights and protection of ALL citizens under the law.

Public land of the State shall belong to the nation as a whole and all of its citizens shall have equal access to its use. The natural and economic resources of the country shall benefit all of its citizens equally.

The State shall provide the conditions for free cultural expression by all of its citizens. It shall ensure that all languages, arts and culture can flourish and develop freely. All citizens shall have equal rights to use their own dress, languages and customs, and to express their cultural heritage free of insults or discrimination.

Citizens shall have equal access to employment at all levels and in all sectors of the society. Employment shall not be determined or restricted by language, race, religion, gender, or nationality. Education and vocational training shall not be segregated or specialized in any way that impedes equal access of all citizens to employment and other opportunities to fulfill their talents and dreams.

The State shall uphold international law and seek the peaceful resolution of conflicts through negotiation and collective security in accordance with the United Nations Charter. ODS will sign and ratify all international treaties on human rights and the people of a unified Palestine shall reject racism and promote anti-racism, social, cultural and political rights as set out in relevant United Nations covenants. The State shall seek and contribute to the establishment of a Middle East that will be free of all weapons of mass-destruction.

*A vision shared by all the current Declarations and Initiatives on the one democratic state option for the resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict. The Munich Conference calls upon the supporters and activists of ODS to unite for the establishment of an International Movement for ODS in Historic Palestine.

This declaration in Arabic

This declaration in Hebrew

My ODS Page

Reach Out Letter

Reach Out Letter in Arabic

Reach Out Letter in Hebrew

Communication between supporters of the One Democratic State solution in Historic Palestine

20 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in ODS, Palestine

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, ,

Dear Friends/Activists _________________

In this crucial period in the history of our region, full of developments and twists, it appears as if the Palestinian just cause has no prospect for a durable solution. With the continuation of the popular resistance against the occupation and all forms of ethnic
cleansing, racism and oppression, we regard it as necessary to promote a framework for a political solution based on democratic principles – the establishment of one democratic state on the historic land of Palestine. This solution ensures the return of Palestinian refugees, the end of occupation and the Apartheid system and provides for the rights and safety of all the inhabitants of historic Palestine.

Since 2007 several conferences and meetings have been held in support of the program of one democratic state in historic Palestine, including those in Madrid, Southampton, Haifa, Boston,  London, Dallas, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard, Stuttgart, and other locations.. We also held discussions on the internet, and as a result charters, declarations and basic principles were formulated. Since decades several books and articles have been published, arguing that the only option for comprehensive and just peace is this One Democratic State.

Many of us attended some of these conferences and were inspired by the discussion and the strength of the support to this program. These conferences were a good platform for exchanging views and experiences. After these constituent conferences, and the publicity that they gave to the idea, we now have to move to the stage of implementation, and it is necessary that the initiative for implementing this program
comes from within Palestine.

For this purpose a special meeting of activists supporting the solution of One Democratic State was held in Munich from 29/6 to 1/7/2012. We were aware that the participants are a small minority of the thousands of activists that support this solution. For this reason we agreed that our first task is communicating with all of them to facilitate their participation in the formulation of the proposed solution and the dialogue regarding the next steps toward its implementation. Thus, the participants in the Munich meeting requested us to coordinate communication with those concerned. It is our goal to convene, within one year, an inclusive comprehensive conference that will bring together as many supporters as possible of this solution from all different parties, movements and intellectual approaches (Please see the conference’s resolutions below).

Accordingly, we (Mazin & Yoav) initiate this communication with you as an activist, hoping that you will agree to share with us your opinions, and looking forward toward your participation in promoting this initiative. Specifically we would like to have your opinion and support concerning the initiation of working groups as they were proposed in the resolution below or in any other form. Would you be ready to join one of these working groups? What do you think of the prospect of a unified international conference to launch the movement for One Democratic State? Of course we are prepared to discuss these issues also over the phone or Skype.

We look forward to working with you for a peace based on justice, rights and equality.

Sincerely,

Mazin Qumsiyeh, Tel 0598939532 [email protected]

Yoav Bar, Tel 0544790989 [email protected]

Read the Political Declaration of the Munich Conference

Read this letter in Arabic

Read this letter in Hebrew

Decisions of the Munich conference for One Democratic State in historic Palestine, June 29-July 1, 2012

Resolution No. 1

The Munich Conference recommends that Mazin Qumsiyeh and Yoav bar will coordinate the communication with activists and groups from within and outside historic Palestine to build a comprehensive global movement for One Democratic State. They will issue initial report within a month.

Resolution No. 2

The Munich conference regards it as necessary to initiate the following working groups for promoting ODS:

  • A group for collecting and developing documents and publications that present the reasons for supporting ODS. These publications will be used to convince the world in what we know is justice and the way forward. This group will also produce messages and press releases as needed.
  • The communication group – to expand the network as fast as possible and to access various sectors of the public (Palestinians all over the world and Israelis at the beginning). Part of the mission of this group is to develop innovative ways to reach different communities (religious, political, social, educators, unions, etc).
  • Youth Group – as the youth is crucial for the future of the movement.
  • Activities Group – to coordinate influential activities that may change perceptions and promote the goal. Potential activities include actions such as boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and direct campaigns in coordination with the committees of popular resistance on the ground.
  • Financial group – to raise money for our activities and propose to the entire group how to spend the money to serve our goals.
  • Legal Group – to handle legal issues, locally and globally, including the legal formulation of a proposal for a new constitution. It will explore options to challenge the legitimacy of the division of historic Palestine and the legitimacy of a State based on race or religion.

Resolution No. 3

The Munich Conference recommends the convening of an international conference to launch a comprehensive global movement for One Democratic State within one year.

Free Haifa in Arabic حيفا الحرة

15 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by in Editorial Notes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

When I started this “Free Haifa” blog, my good friend and comrade and influential Palestinian blogger “someone virtual” (وحد افتراضي) was the first to welcome me on the battle lines of virtual ideological struggle… But he cynically remarked that “Free Haifa” may be interpreted by some as “Haifa Balash” (Haifa for no Money). Actually when you Google “free Haifa” you may find as many free courses and trips as posts of my free political writings. So now the real name of this blog is clarified beyond doubt with the intelaka – launching – of its young Arabic twin-blog “FreeHaifaArabic.wordpress.com” – with its crystal clear name “Haifa elHura” – حيفا الحرة  – where the freedom part in the title can’t be disputed.

As this blog is written from within the movement that is waging the struggle for Free Palestine, no doubt that Arabic is the main language of this struggle. Still, to my great shame, it is easier for me to write in English.

But this is not the only reason why the English “Free Haifa” will continue to be my main blog, at least for some time to come. Being a complete “external” foreigner with European political education and at the same time a complete “internal” Palestinian militant taking integral part in the struggle from within Palestine and the Arab Palestinian community in Haifa, may give me some advantage in translating the political thinking of the Arab Revolution and the Palestinian struggle to the outside world. In the Palestinian and Arab movements itself, in Arabic, there are many writers that can simply write it much better.

So “Haifa elHura” will be mostly used to publish materials that are important to the struggle – much of it a result of collective effort. As I said, Arabic is the real thing in this struggle. Until you read it fluently enough, I may help you get the picture right in “Free Haifa”.

Red Roses in the Arab Spring?

07 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by in Arab Revolution, Socialism

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

The regional democratic revolution, nicknamed The Arab Spring, is only at its first steps. After victories in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya there is a tight battle in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. And many other countries are still waiting for their time to come, not least Palestine. But, as elected governments are established after revolutionary victories, we are reminded that democracy is not an end for itself. What will those governments do and what will they bring for the people that elected them?

Lenin once said that Socialism is “Soviets plus Electricity”. To bring that concept into today’s Arab Revolution, we face the democratic tasks and the economic development tasks. On the side of democracy the soviet option is not currently proposed, but neither does anyone rely solely on the abstract forms of democratic representation. There are a lot of ways that the masses organize and they are conscious that their self organization is essential to keep the revolution going and to prevent a sellout. On the economic side the options are pretty blurred.

You could think that doing better than the old corrupt regimes should be easy enough. Put in place honest managers according to their merits, manage public assets to serve the public and not the regime’s cronies, do away with excessive repression and red tape.

But there are many real reasons why restarting the economy after the revolution is never that easy. First, some destruction and confusion is part of the revolutionary struggle – and you start below the point where the old regime left. Second, however rotten the old regime was, some things were working… Remove the corrupt managers and greedy capitalist cronies, and you may lack the knowledge or the connections to make things going, at least in first period. And this is before we speak of intentional sabotage by some that want to show that the people will not be able to live without them and the “sincere” reluctance of investors at the time of uncertainty…

The multinational companies, imperialist powers and their financial and trade institutes had an interest to keep the old subservient regimes in place. Now they may make life hard for any regime that is not doing their bid, or try to force humiliating bargains between political concessions and economic destruction.

As such an important part of the world is looking for a new economic development path, you would expect that regimes, political tendencies and experts from all over the world will be flocking to propose their solutions. But we are at a very delicate period in the historic economic and theoretical struggle between Capitalism and Socialism.

Five years into the economic crisis in the imperialist centers, which started with the Credit Crunch of 2007, the imperialist powers are still looking for a way out of the crisis themselves. They have very little to offer in advice or money.

On the other side, socialists from China to Latin America are confused by the politics of the Arab Spring. China is doing its things by itself, relies on becoming the first world economic power just by growing when the others are stumbling and tries to avoid ideological conflict. The big argument between Capitalism and Socialism tends to be reduced to a more pragmatic argument about the role of the state, cooperatives and other forms of collective ownership in a mixed economy.

For utilizing the state’s power and resources to economic development, to make them work for the people and not for the (un)chosen few, it is essential to develop the trade unions and political organizations of the working masses.

There is also a lot to learn, not only from China, but also from Latin America. Socialism made big advances in Latin America over the past ten years. It started from Argentine, which refused the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank and emerged from economic collapse to fast development. It continued with Chavez, who brought back the state’s oil company, and the oil’s money, to the service of the Venezuelan people. In country after another left wing governments proved that human development is the basic condition for real economic development.

There are as many failed experiments as there are success stories. Socialism is not a magic and not a ready-made receipt to solve all problems. It is just a conscious attempt to build the economy to serve the people. It is just calling the bluff of Capitalism, which tells you that by letting the rich follow their self interests, somehow they will make everyone’s lives better.

It is time for the new governments of the Arab Spring to start providing solutions to the acute social problems through people-oriented economic developments. The only economic method that proved itself capable of lifting hundreds of millions from poverty and liberating them from humiliation and backwardness is Socialism. If the Arab Spring is designed to blossom, we should start to see some red roses.