IPSC Statement: Palestine and the uprisings in the Arab World

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Wednesday February 09, 2011 15:21 by Kev - IPSC

3rd February 2011

Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign Statement – first published 3rd February 2011

The geo-political status quo of the Middle East is undergoing a dramatic shake-up as the Arab peoples take to the streets to demand their democratic rights in popular uprisings. Mass mobilisations have seen the downfall of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia, while the fate of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency in Egypt remains uncertain as protestors refuse to leave the streets, and smaller scale protests have been taking place in Yemen[1], Algeria[2] and Jordan[3].

Recognising the Palestinian people as an important constituent part of the Arab world, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign salutes these popular manifestations of a desire for a truly democratic Middle East, free from the meddling of outside interests, where people control their own national destinies.

For a Palestine solidarity movement it is important to recognise that events in Egypt, in particular, could have important repercussions for the Palestinian national liberation movement. Since the signing of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978, the Egyptian state has developed ever closer ties with its Israeli neighbour, culminating in its shameful complicity in the illegal and inhumane Israeli siege of Gaza, including the building of an underground barrier[4] aimed at stopping the trafficking of supplies through the Rafah tunnels[5]. However, under domestic and international pressure in the wake of the murderous Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara aid ship in May 2010[6], Egypt opened the Rafah crossing with Gaza on a more regular basis[7], though there are still restrictions on who and what can and cannot pass through[8].

Read the full statement at the link below: