Supporters of One Democratic State from both sides of the Green Line Meet in Ramallah

Press Release

At the invitation of “The Popular Movement for One Democratic State on the Historic Land of Palestine” (which announced its launch on May 15, 2013), some 25 of the activists of the Jaffa Group for One Democratic State came to Ramallah on Saturday, July 13, to a joint meeting. It was the first meeting of this kind bringing together supporters of a comprehensive democratic solution to the Palestinian cause from both sides of the Green Line. Members of the constituent body of The Popular Movement hosted the meeting, while the visiting delegation included political and social activists, veterans and youth, artists, academics, Arab and Jewish opponents of Zionism.

After the participants introduced themselves, there was a short presentation of the objectives of The Popular Movement and the Jaffa Group. It was clear that they share the same goal: resisting the occupation, settlements, ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination; bringing an end to the Apartheid regime in all its forms and in all places where it is present; ensuring the right of return for all Palestinian refugees to their homes and property and the establishment of One Democratic State on the entire land of Palestine. This state will be based on the implementation of the universal values ​​of freedom, justice and human rights. It will be a civil state which rejects all forms of discrimination and guarantees full rights for all its citizens. It is worth mentioning that “The Popular Movement” and the “Jaffa Group” both embraced in their founding statements The Munich Declaration for One Democratic State as a common denominator for supporters of this solution.

The participants stressed that ODS is a strategic solution, providing for the needs of the masses and the aspirations of the progressive and democratic forces in Palestine and around the world. Promoting ODS is not a tactic to pressure Israel to comply with the two-state solution. All also stressed that the two-state solution is unable to put an end to the bloody conflict in occupied Palestine as it can’t provide for a fair solution for the right of return for Palestinian refugees and end the apartheid which is applied in all parts of the country, nor does it provide a solution to the issues of Jerusalem, the borders, water and other contentious issues.

Many of the participants took an active part in the dialogue, not as two sides but as partners in the same struggle for a common future. Many stressed that the program of ODS is a program for struggle. It aims first to unify the ranks of the Palestinian people by adhering to a comprehensive and just solution and then to create the ground for real unity in opposing Zionism, unity in the struggle toward a common goal among supporters of democracy between the Palestinian Arabs and the country’s Jewish population.

Some participants explained that the popular struggle for ODS develops through current urgent struggles such as that against the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Mount Hebron, the Jordan Valley and all over the Naqab (Negev). Some recounted their experiences as participants in the social protest movement that has swept the Jewish community since the summer of 2011 and confirmed that alliance with the Palestinians’ struggle for democracy and justice for all is the only way to get rid of the existing system of exploitation, discrimination and repression. Some also stressed that imperialism is interested in perpetuating the occupation, repression and constant state of war, as are local parties benefiting from this situation. Therefore, they emphasized, the solution will be achieved by the popular masses which suffer most and pay the most expensive price.

At the end of the meeting, which lasted for more than three hours, it was agreed to form a joint coordination committee to develop a plan of action and joint activities to promote ODS. It was agreed to continue with joint meetings and closer cooperation between the two movements.

The Popular Movement for One Democratic State on the Historic Land of Palestine

Jaffa Group for One Democratic State

Obama’s visit will not promote peace

Press Release

With the planned visit of the President of the United States, we do not turn to Obama – we do not expect him to change his policy. We turn to you, our sisters and brothers, inhabitants and refugees of this land, who are suffering from occupation, deportation and war, from racism and exploitation: Do not trust and do not expect anything from the dealers in occupation and war. We will bring peace, we, the victims of the regime and its opponents, in our struggle for justice and freedom, despite their malice.

For decades they propagate illusions about the “peace process” – a process of dialogue between the rulers of the region under US Hegemony – which only aims at crisis management by those who profit from the continued occupation and war. This process allows the world to turn a blind eye to the existence of an apartheid regime that prevents Palestinian refugees to returning to their homeland, denies the rights of Palestinian Arab inhabitants, and maintains political and ethnic segregation and racial discrimination.

While Netanyahu and Obama talk about renewing the “peace process”, the American weapons industry continues to arm at full speed various regimes while Netanyahu is preparing the next war. Attack on Iran? Israeli intervention in Syria? A killing spree in Gaza? Either way, the inhabitants and refugees of this country and the people of this region will pay the price with blood.

All the country’s inhabitants pay the price of occupation and oppression, wars and militarization, directly and indirectly. The struggle for a just and lasting peace begins with the struggle for equal rights for all: for the return of Palestinian refugees, for the removal of the occupation, the elimination of discrimination in all its forms, and for social rights and concern for each person.

We, the residents of this land who want to live in freedom and democracy with equal rights for all – in our unity and struggle we will destroy the apartheid regime, smash the walls of separation, bring peace, return the Palestinian refugees to their homeland and establish the new society.

Full and equal rights for all are the basis

of living together in one country

Peace can be achieved by popular struggle against the occupation and the rule of racism and exploitation

Yaffa Group for One Democratic State

Jaffa, March 17, 2013

زيارة أوباما ليست خطوة في اتجاه السلام

بيان عامّ

مع اقتراب زيارة رئيس الولايات المتحدة، لن نتوجّه إلى أوباما – لن نتوقع منه أن يُغيّر سياسته. بل نريد أن نتوجّه إليكم، أخواتنا وإخواننا، سكان هذه البلاد ولاجئيها، يا من تعانون الاحتلال والاقتلاع والحرب والعنصرية والاستغلال: لا ثقة ولا أمل في تجّار الاحتلال والحروب. نحن الذين سنصنع السلام – ضحايا النظام ومعارضيه – بنضالنا من أجل العدالة والحرية، ورغم أنوفهم هؤلاء.

منذ عقود يوهموننا في خطاباتهم بما يسمى “عملية السلام” – المفاوضات بين حكام المِنطقة تحت الهيمنة الأمريكية – التي لا عمل لها غير “إدارة الأزمة” بأيدي المستفيدين من استمرار الاحتلال والحروب. وهم بذلك يجعلون العالم يغضّ الطرف عن نظام الأپارتهايد الذي يمنع اللاجئين الفِلَسطينيين من العودة إلى وطنهم، ويصادر حقوق المواطنين العرب الفِلَسطينيين، ويمارس الفصل العرقيّ والسياسيّ، والتمييز العنصريّ.

بينما يتحدّث نتنياهو وأوباما عن إحياء “عملية السلام” – تواصل صناعة الحرب الأمريكية – وبكلّ القوّة – تسليح الأنظمة المختلفة في المِنطقة، ونتنياهو يُعدّ العدّة لحرب جديدة. هجوم على إيران؟ تدخّل إسرائيليّ في سورية؟ حملة قتل متجدّدة ضدّ غزّة؟ في الأحوال كافّة، من سيدفع بدمائهم ثمن الدماء هم سكان البلاد ولاجئوها، وشعوب المِنطقة بأسرها.

يدفع سكان البلاد جميعهم ثمن الاحتلال والقمع والحروب والعسكرة، بشكل مباشر وغير مباشر. وإنّ النضال من أجل حلّ عادل ودائم يبدأ بالنضال من أجل المساواة في الحقوق للجميع: من أجل عودة اللاجئين الفِلَسطينيين، من أجل إزالة الاحتلال، من أجل القضاء على التمييز بشتى أشكاله، ومن أجل الحقوق الاجتماعية والاعتناء بكلّ إنسان، أيًّا كان.

نحن – مواطنات ومواطني هذه البلاد، الذين نريد العيش بحرية وديمقراطية ومساواة في الحقوق بين الجميع – بوَحدتنا وكفاحنا سنتخلّص من نظام الأپارتهايد، سنحطّم جدران الفصل، سنبني السلام، سنعيد اللاجئين الفِلَسطينيين إلى وطنهم، وسنؤسّس المجتمع الجديد المنشود.

الحقوق الكاملة والمتساوية للجميع هي أساس عيشنا المشترك في بلد واحد

يتحقق السلام بالنضال الشعبيّ ضدّ الاحتلال وسلطة العنصرية والاستغلال

مجموعة يافا من أجل دولة ديمقراطية واحدة

يافا، 17 آذار 2013

Announcement on the establishment of “The Jaffa Group for One Democratic State”

During recent months a series of meetings were held in the city of Jaffa where activists discussed possible routes of action to promote the solution of one democratic state in historic Palestine between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Participants in these meetings were both Arab and Jewish, both female and male – activists from various movements and parties, involved in political, social, cultural and ideological activities.

Not utopia but a necessary solution to pressing problems

The program for One Democratic State is not a utopia but a practical plan to solve the pressing problems of this country’s inhabitants.

The majority of the Arab Palestinian people – the indigenous inhabitants of the country – were expelled from their homes in 1948. They were robbed of their land, homes and other property; their villages and towns were destroyed; millions of refugees were and are still today awaiting return; those who stayed in their homeland suffer occupation, racism and oppression.

For the Jewish inhabitants the system of privileges and apartheid exercised by the State of Israel places them in permanent conflict with their Palestinian neighbors and the other peoples in the region, turning them into cannon fodder for imperialist wars for hegemony over the region.

The regime, based on partitioning the population according to origins and religion, cripples any attempt to fight for a more just society. It turns the great majority of the county’s inhabitants into victims of oppression and exploitation. The continuation of this regime threatens to inflict more wars, thus endangering all those living in the country and peace in the region and the entire world.

We see the establishment of a common society not merely as a solution to many burning issues but also as an opportunity to build a new, better and just society based on fully equal rights.

We aspire to a society which respects all creeds, cultural heritages, and lifestyles, and treats them as a source for enrichment of the society as a whole. Democracy and full equal rights for all the inhabitants of the country, for its Arab Palestinian refugees and for their descendants means not merely the removal of oppression but also true participation in the political process. It means protecting and nurturing the social rights that allow all citizens to live in dignity, to develop themselves and to be partners in developing the society.

The Vision of the One Democratic State

We pursue the establishment of One Democratic State as a just and sustainable solution for the suffering of the Palestinian People. It includes and guarantees the return of the refugees and puts an end to occupation, apartheid and all forms of national oppression and racial discrimination. It guarantees an end to a decades-long conflict and achieves the integration of the Jewish inhabitants in the country through partnership rather than conflict.

The program enables all the inhabitants of the country and the returning Palestinian refugees to be full participants in choosing and shaping the political process. They will live as citizens with equal rights. The Democratic State guarantees security and peace for all and prevents discrimination, oppression and exclusion. It will promote social justice and develop the economy and society for the benefit and welfare of all inhabitants.

The Democratic State should be a civil state maintaining separation between religion and state. All citizens will be able to vote, to run for public office and to participate in the running of the government. The state will legislate and act in practice against all discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, color, language, religion, political or non-political views, national or social origins, property, place of birth or any other consideration.

We do not want to rewrite anew the program for One Democratic State, which we recognize as implementation of the simplest human and democratic principles. This idea guided the Palestinian Liberation Movement from its inception during the British mandate and during its renaissance in the 1960’s. It was also supported by peace-seekers within Jewish society. Supporters of this solution have published many books and articles and discussed it at many conferences in this country and abroad. We specifically refer to the Munich Declaration (July 1, 2012) as a concise and clear message defining a common denominator for many of this program’s supporters.

Having agreed upon joint action for the democratic solution, the partners to this struggle preserve their particular visions of the character of the future state and the best means to build a society that will guarantee the rights and wellbeing of its citizens. However, before all else we must unite to lay the foundations of the new one democratic state.

What is the group and how does it operate?

This Democratic Solution will materialize by means of discussion, advocacy, persuasion and public struggle using all legitimate channels enshrined in international law. Israeli policies of expulsion, occupation, racism, exploitation and oppression have led to suffering, destruction, wars and a total lack of hope for a peaceful and equitable solution. It is therefore of paramount importance to simply bring into public awareness that a solution is available and feasible. Joint action by all who are part of this solution, including both refugees in exile and residents from all over the country, may prove more potent than any plan advanced by the regime to preserve the status quo. In order to help create conditions for change it is also important to raise support for One Democratic State on popular and official level both in the region and throughout the world.

The Jaffa Group is open to all women and men who support the goals outlined herein and are interested in joining our activities.

It will communicate and cooperate with like-minded groups and movements and will encourage the establishment of similar groups both here and abroad.

The Jaffa Group functions through open discussion among all participants to create internal accord, and aims to reach decisions by consensus. What is agreed upon becomes the position of the group.