PRESS
RELEASE
September 14, 2005
For Immediate Release
Protest Sharon's Presence at the United
Nations
Contacts
Samia Halaby (212-966-3517) halaby@verizon.net
Rama Kassed kased11218@aol.com
Charlotte Kates (732-207-7215) ckates@pegasus.rutgers.edu
Website: http://al-awdany.org
New York City, New York, September 14,
2005 - Organizers from Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return
Coalition, will be taking part in a protest against Ariel
Sharon's visit to the United Nations. The demonstration
will be held on Thursday, September 15, 2005, between 3:00-6:00
PM at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza (47th St. and 2nd Ave.).
On September 15, 2005, Ariel Sharon will
address the U.N. General Assembly. His speech will coincide
with the twenty-third anniversary of the killing of more
than 2000 Arab refugees, mostly Palestinian and Lebanese,
in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Then Defense Minister
Ariel Sharon, the chief architect of Israel's 1982 invasion
of Lebanon, was found by an Israeli commission of inquiry
to have been personally responsible for the massacre.
"We find it peculiar that the General
Assembly would permit a war criminal like Ariel Sharon to
address it, especially considering his explicit loathing
of the UN and its resolutions, particularly UNGA resolution
194, calling for the return of the Palestinian refugees
to their original towns and villages," said Dr. Zahi
Damuni, a leading organizer with Al-Awda, The Palestine
Right to Return Coalition. " Resolution 194 has been
reaffirmed by the UN practically every year since its passage
in 1948".
The September 15th protest is being coordinated
with similar protests in Palestine. The Grassroots Palestinian
Anti Apartheid Wall Campaign (GPAWC) www.stopthewall.org
plans to hold sit-ins in front of UN offices in the West
Bank. "Instead of condemning Sharon as a war criminal,
instead of expelling Apartheid Israel from the UN on the
grounds of its non-compliance with international law, UN
resolutions and its founding charter, the UN prepares to
applaud Israel's latest move towards the Bantustanization
of Palestine - the Gaza "disengagement" - refusing
to acknowledge that Gaza is and remains the world's largest
open air prison," said Mr. Jamal Juma, coordinator
of GPAWC. Mr. Juma can be reached at 00-972-522-550-212, or
by writing to mobilize@stopthewall.org
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org
________
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition (PRRC) is the largest network of grassroots activists
dedicated to Palestinian human rights. We are a not for
profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3) organization
as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the
United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations
to PRRC are tax-deductible. To make a donation, please go
to http://www.al-awda.org/donate.html
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