“Palestine Network” Undermines the Right of Return

The Palestinian community in exile condemns the efforts by the Ramallah-based illegitimate Palestinian Authority (PA) to divide, co-opt and control us through the creation of “clubs” in our midst to build legitimacy for a future settlement with Israel that betrays fundamental Palestinian rights, in particular the right of return.

For more information see commentary by the US Palestinian Community Network.

Officials in the PA contacted several Palestinian activists in Europe, North America and South America inviting them to the “Palestine Network Founding Conference” in Bethlehem for late February 2010. The Palestinian Authority claims that the initiative is a response to “grassroots” demands, hiding the fact that international participants were handpicked according to their political orientation in a secretive process controlled by senior officials in the office of Mahmoud Abbas, first and foremost Rafiq Al-Hussaini, the “Head of the Palestine Network Taskforce”.

The Palestine Network comes at a time when the Palestinian Authority faces a legitimacy crisis. There has been an upsurge of global activism outside the control of the Palestinian Authority. US-trained security forces are cracking down on internal dissent. The Palestine Network aims to build a constituency that will act as the “Palestinian voice” in order to lend legitimacy to these unpopular policies.

The undersigned individuals and organizations pledge to boycott and resist the Palestine Network and reaffirm the integrity of the inalienable rights of Palestinians, first and foremost the Right of Return.

To endorse this petition, please email your endorsement to: [email protected] or complete the form below.

Endorsers

14 Friends of Palestine
Al-Awda New York (Palestine Right to Return Coalition)
Another Voice–Ramallah, Palestine
APPAF (American Palestine Public Affairs Forum)
Artists Against Occupation
The Austin Coalition for Palestine
The Brussles Palestine Collective
Canada Palestine Solidarity Committee
Casa Las Americas
Coordination de l’Appel de Strasbourg pour une paix juste au Proche-Orient
HammerHard MediaWorks, Chicago
Italo-Palestinian Friendship Association
Network for Colonial Freedom
Palestinian Revolutionary Communist Party
Right of Return – Egypt
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
US Palestinian Community Network
WESPAC Foundation

Dr. Hatem Bazian, National Chairman, American Muslims for Palestine and Faculty member, University of California, Berkeley
Omar Shweiki, Kenyon Institute (CBRL), Jerusalem
Osamah Khalil, Uiniversity of California, Berkeley
Sobhi Samour, London UK
Malak Khaled, Oxford, UK
Dr.Jamil Fayez, Washington, DC
Haitham El-Zabri, Austin, TX
Den Mark Wichar, Vancouver, WA
Jose L. Acevedo, U.S.
Marie Kullman, U.S.
Mira Paquette-Perreault, U.S.
Suhail Shafi, U.S.
Michael O’Neill, U.S.
Marcy J. Gordon, U.S.
Ann Roos, New York, NY
Jane Sun, U.S.
Lillian Winter, UK
Jerilyn Tabor, New York, NY
Cathleen Krahe, Carbondale, CO
Michael Gilfillan, Thrums, BC, Canada
L. Susan Griffiths, U.S.
Isabel de Sena, Jackson Heights, NY
John Nettleton, U.S.
Rema Bedri, El Dorado Hills, CA
Joseph Bedri, El Dorado Hills, CA
Munira Zurub, Birzeit University, Palestine
Mechthild Schreiber, Germany
Noel Vanglabeke, Belgium
Kazue Tanaka, Japan
Aristotelis Marinis, Greece
Raja Ibrahim, Pistoia, Italy
Jean-Jacques Dunki, Basel, Switzerland
Oscar Revilla Alguacil, Madrid, Spain
Ra’id Khalil, U.S.
Dr. Musil Shihadeh, Cairo, Egypt
David J. Green, Everett, MA
George Awwad, U.S.
Jeanne Davis, U.S.
Zahi H. Masri, Louisville, KY
Henry Denkins, U.S.
Stephanie Frizzel, Garland, TX
Susan Witka, U.S.
Aida Porteneuve, Long Beach, CA
Larry La Caille, U.S.
Samir Khadra, U.S.
Claude R. Spiro, Somerville, MA
Bettina Lambert, Long Beach, CA
Izumi Van Cleave, U.S.
Jelica Roland, Hungary
Cesar Mata, U.S.
Peter Burk, U.S.
Vincent Ruiz Bouvet, Ventura, CA
Amber Garlan, Saint Paul, MN
Catherine Zeitz, Arlington, MA
Kinte Allah, Decatur, GA
Asif Huseni, U.S.
Thomas Kozlovsky, Madison, WI
Stefano Giusti, Italy
Debbie Berg, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Robert Kanter, U.S.
Larry Lambert, Palm Springs, CA
Tania Salmen, U.S.
Basem Khader, Chappaqua, NY
Johann Hollar, Saint Paul, MI
Mary Mutch, La Crosse, WI
Christina Klaus, Germany
David Ireland, Marshall, NC
Wendy Oser, Berkeley, CA
Nayeem Aslam, U.S.
Jem Bates, Australia
Said Zulficar, Cairo, Egypt
Samer Suleiman, U.S.
Daniel Vachon, Somersworth, NH
Jim Forsyth, Hayworth, CA
Rashid Patch, Oakland, CA
Allen Greenberg, New York, NY
Craig Teichen, Chicago, IL
Christoph Pilz-Chassot, Switzerland
Nancy Ann Siracusa, New York, NY
Abeer El Taher, Amman, Jordan
Marc J. Mancini, South Park, PA
Louise Danceanu, Romania
Rosemary Graf, Cummington, MA
Nada Khader, Pleasantville, NY
Julie Dunn, U.S.
Charles S. Wilson, U.S.
Lonnie Lopez, Seattle, WA
Khaled Mouammar, Richmond Hill, ON, Canada
Daoud Ali Chavez, Worcester, MA
Kathleen Russell, Spokane, WA
Patricia J. Barry, Los Angeles, CA
Bernard Elias, Redondo Beach, CA
Nancy Withington, U.S.
Barbara Hardwick, Redondo Beach, CA
Mary Williams, U.S.
Saeb Ahsan, U.S.
Zaki Marwan Younis, San Diego, CA
Raymond Gilbert Vanderlooy, Belgium
Jerry Bloomer, U.S.
Waddah Sofan, Oregon, U.S.
Edith Cacciatore, Novato, CA
Chris Kaihatsu, Chicago, IL
Larry Deyab, Cambridge, MA
Maryam Zohny, New York, NY
Jonathan Mitchell, U.S.
Shahriar Etemadi, U.S.
Thomas Pauley, U.S.
Grazia Bittner, Batavia, IL
Sal Siyam, U.S.
Silvie Strauss, Heidelberg, Germany
Tanya Akel, Los Angeles, CA
Ludwig Schönenbach, Bremen, Germany
John McFaul, New York, NY
Giovanna Salazar, Mexico City, Mexico
Annette Klepzig, Germany
Rogers Turrentine, U.S.
Matthew Burrows, Liverpool, UK
Mariko M. Kaonohi, U.S.
Ed Robertson, Canada
Arthur Daniels, Wellington, FL
James V. Murray, San Jose, CA
Douglas Freedman, U.S.
Amina Soliman, U.S.
Abdulkhudur A. A. Ali, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Jerold Hubbard, Johnson, KS
Shawn Nikfar, Spokane, WA
Charles Byrne, Urbana, IL
S. Jahangeer, U.S.
Paul Cunningham, U.S.
Sherri Long, Westhampton, MA
Judith Ackerman, U.S.
Arthur Kennedy, Isla Vista, CA
Greg Starr, Canada
Troy Hill, New Haven, CT
Mizuko Yakuwa, Japan
Ronald Brown, U.S.
Robert Hutchinson, U.S.
Allen Wells, Sarnia, ON, Canada
Paki Wieland, U.S.
James Faris, U.S.
Brandon Barnard, Frederick, MD
Elaine Musallem Hagopian, Arlington, MA
Beverly Rodriguez, Martindale, TX
Greg Hanson, U.S.
Giovanna Ioannidou, Italy
Mohamed Mitha, London UK
Sylvia Schwarz, Saint Paul, MN
Obiora Embry, U.S.
Alice Mennie, London UK
Joan McCoy, U.S.
Lori Sines, Corbett, OR
Shigeki Konno, Japan
Manuel Davila Rodriguez, U.S.
Kenneth Boyle, Bentonville, AR
Elisabeth Kaltenhäuser, Breisach, Germany
Dieter Kaltenhäuser, Breisach, Germany
Monadel Herzallah, San Francisco, CA
Magda Saikali, Savage, MN
Joseph A. Belisle, South Hadley, MA
Günter Schenk, Strasbourg, France
Peter Gunther, U.S.
Raymond Deane, Dublin, Ireland
Eric Jethro, Leeds UK
Matti Gronlund, U.S.
Martine Derouaux, Belgium
Gabrielle Verdier, France
Herman De Ley, Belgium
Stephen Wong, Sydney, Australia
Huda Ameen, Syria
Kenneth Hall, Sweden
Paul Drake, New Zealand
Maria Klostermeier, Germany
Doug L. Turnbull, Australia
Nancy Ann Gathing, Madison, WI
Patsy Butler McMichael, Channelview, TX
Abdul Ilah Albayaty, Iraq/France
Edwina Smith, U.S.
David Nissen, U.S.
Luis Vega, Brooklyn, NY
Mallika Henry, Cambridge, NY
David Young-Williams, U.S.
Douglas Fisher, New Zealand
Hannu Kautto, Espoo, Finland
Kamal Hassan, U.S.
Ryan Nelson, Los Angeles, CA
Ali Shokouhbakhsh, San Jose, CA
Jerry Best, Penrose, CA
Alan Haggard, San Diego, CA
Reinaldo Contreras, Calgary, Canada
Henry Ode, U.S.
Siamak Vossoughi, U.S.
Lillith Rogers, U.S.
Jeff Ellenberger, New York, NY
Richard Brinton, Salinas, CA
Paul Stein, U.S.
Mary Lou Finley, San Diego, CA
Margaret Sawyer, East Haven, CT
Denise D’Anne, U.S.
Bruce Morgan, Riverside, CA
Stephen Mitchell, New York, NY
Jolie De Pauw, U.S.
Michael Letwin, Labor For Palestine, U.S.
Russell Bates, Berkeley, CA
David Letwin, U.S.
John Lewis-Dickerson, U.S.
Lenore Sheridan, San Jose, CA
Dr. Samir Abed-Rabbo, Flower Mound, TX
Esther Ho, Hayward, CA
Rula Lopez, U.S.
Naila Jirmanus, U.S.
James Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild, U.S.
Ben Leeman, Australia
Musa Al-Hindi, Omaha, NE
Dr. M. K. Hamid, Lancaster, PA
Sandra Gama, UK
Jean-Claude Touzin, Canada
Arab Abdel-Hadi, Art Counselor, Palestinian
Malak Abdel-Hadi, painter and sculptor, Palestinian
Shahira Mehrez, chairman of Shahira Mehrez and Co.
Stephen Mills, U.S.
Mezna Qato, Chicago, IL
Frank Gage, US
Friedo Breitenfeldt, Switzerland
Eddie Diaz, Florida
Marcy Newman, US
Sean Mulligan, US
J. Gamal-Eldin, Philadelphia, PA
Norbert Mueller, Germany
Faleh Husseini, Grosse Pointe Shores, MI
Timothy Johnston, San Francisco, CA
Dick Reilly, Chicago, IL
Terry Poplawski, Ukiah, CA
Khaled Barakat, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Charlotte Kates, US/Canada
Nada Noor, US
Shelia Cassidy, Riverside, CA
Robin Rae Swanson, US
Tanweer Mahmood, Dubai, UAE
Abdessalam Diab, Egypt
Paul Grohman, Yonkers, NY
Frank Starr, US
Susan Stout, Canada
Dr. Douglas Griffith, Cambridge, UK
David Cupples, US
Dina Kennedy, Washington, DC
Ann Eagan, US
Patsy Lowe, California, US
Jeanne Jensen, Novato, CA
Jose Luis Diaz, Puerto Rico
Anne Else, Omaha, NE
Annalucia Messina, Italy
Carl Zaisser, Vienna, Austria
Arwa Hazin, Totowa, NJ
Ranier C. de Intinis Jr., Merchantville, NJ
Frank A. Walter, Portland, OR
Jack Thornburgh, North Saanich, BC, Canada
Diana Arezzo, Arlington, MA
Agnes Kueng, Switzerland
Chris Weaver, Georgetown, CA
Zarina Bhatia, UK
Joyce Miller, New York, NY
M. Qutteineh, Belgium
Dana Bellwether, US
James Watts, Washington, DC
T. Cho, New York, NY

For Reference: Palestine Network Documents

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