Conclusions/Direction Setting of the Fifth Bil'in Conference

[Presentation from legal workshop]

Besides the international solidarity network workshop there were two others, one on legal work and one on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction [BDS] Campaign. There was excitement among all those present, which included many Europeans, with the continuing success of the BDS Campaign and the growing possibilities in taking legal actions. It was as if the whole world were sanctioning the Israeli occupation.

The following is a concise presentation of the points presented by each workshop. This summary was taken from http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/david_parker/3374

After a participative process the conference agreed upon the following:

1. TO PROMOTE LEGAL ACCOUNTABILITY:

1) To give support to the Russell tribunal for Palestine and its final conclusions stated in March 2010 in its first session in Barcelons. We recommend the creation of National Committees of the Russell Tribunal in our respective countries.

2) To promote legal actions against corporations profiting from the occupation, through: (A) sharing information between different countries about national corporations; (B) sharing the experience from previous cases and using it for the second session of the Russell Tribunal about corporations; (C) raising the responsibilities of the corporations and their collaboration in the apartheid regime.

2. TO PROMOTE BOYCOTT, DIVESTEMENT AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL:

1) In terms of Divestment the priorities should be: (A) to work globally against the EU preferential agreements (B) to work globally for avoiding the entrance of Israel in the OECD.
2) In terms of Boycott the priorities should be: (A) international and local campaigns on: international corporations that have a relevant local presence with important investments in Israel, banks and funds, Jewish National Funds, goods coming from Israeli free trade zones; (B) European and international universities should stop any kind of university agreements and exchanges with Israeli universities; (C) promoting boycott against Israeli tourism advertising; (D) prioritize all kinds of boycotts on the cultural level.
3) We must promote the exchange of: experiences, contacts, information, research on products and corporations, online forums, promotion of trainings and joining the Israeli apartheid week.

3. TO ESTABLISH AND SUPPORT THE INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR THE PALESTINIAN POPULAR NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE

The International Network for the Palestinian Popular Nonviolent Resistance, founded in September 2009, is enhanced by the 5th Bil’in Conference, widening the number of members and implementing a coherent strategy. The following actions have been chosen as the most prominent to be developed immediately after the conference:

1) We call upon all solidarity groups and organizations working in solidarity with Palestinian popular nonviolent resistance to join their efforts through the International Network for Popular Nonviolent Resistance. We call upon joining it through the website: www.internationalpopularstruggle.org.
2) Coordinating the sending of activists to Palestine from the organizations that are part of the network, informing in advance details about the teams and the contacts.
3) Realizing one global day of action in support of the Popular Struggle, with initiatives in each country. The first is foreseen on Thursday the 10th of June 2010.
4) Promoting international support for the struggle, with a regular small monthly donation on behalf of individuals/organizations.

This same article http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/david_parker/3374 presents a concise summary of the entire conference.