Lobbying the UN and International Community

Refugees Invite US Secretary of State to Visit Jenin Refugee Camp: Following Israel's massive assault on the Jenin refugee camp in April refugee women and children from the camp issued a public invitation to US Secretary of State Colin Powell to visit the camp and see the destruction. The invitation was published in al-Quds newspaper in Jerusalem and distributed to all representatives of foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations in Israel/Palestine. Sanctions/Boycott Campaign Update : The grassroots campaign for a boycott of Israeli products continues to pick up support around the world, especially after the brutal military assault on Jenin refugee camp and throughout the 1967 occupied territories in April 2002. Solidarity committees in Europe have produced and disseminated flyers about the boycott in supermarkets and report that, in general, public response is positive.

 Israeli products can be identified by the product bar code, which begins with the numbers 729. Within Europe there is also
a broad consensus among NGOs and within the solidarity movement about the imposition of sanctions by individual governments and the EU.
This includes lobbying for the suspension of the EU Association agreement with Israel.

In the United States academics and researchers have launched a campaign aimed at obtaining maximum endorsement among academics of a letter calling for a boycott of research and cultural links with Israel, until Israel abides by all relevant UN resolutions (UNGA 194, UNSC 242, 338, 1402 etc.); complies with human rights as codified in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Conventions to which Israel is a signatory; and, opens serious peace negotiations with the Palestinians, along the lines proposed in many peace plans, most recently that sponsored by the Arab League.

A similar letter endorsed by more than 120 academics  and researchers in Europe was published in the British daily, The Guardian, on 6 April 2002. In the 1967 occupied territories supermarket owners report that increasing numbers of consumers are looking for alternatives to Israeli and American made products. The change is particularly evident in a rapid decline in demand for US manufactured cigarettes.

According to the last round (January- February 2002) of the PCBS survey on the Impact of the Israeli Measures on the Economic Conditions of Palestinian Households, released in April, 97 percent of households surveyed supported the boycott of Israeli products when an alternative product exists, while 23 percent of householdstotally boycotted Israeli products. Following the military assault on Jenin refugee camp, the Popular Committees in the refugee camps also issued a statement refusing to accept aid sent by the US government and USAID.

"The massacre was committed with US approval and weapons, which killed our people and fighters and destroyed our homes. The crime committed is large and extensive. Its traces cannot be erased by the aid and assistance, which is now being provided in order to humiliate our people and to desecrate the blood of our martyrs. All our greetings and all our respect to the people of Jenin, who have returned this aid to its owners, partners in the crime." The statement also called upon NGOs to refuse US government and USAID assistance. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) also decided to boycott US humanitarian aid.(See, 'Documents', page 42)