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May-25-2011 01:04printcomments

First Step in a Long Road

Thank you all for your interest and patience as we (collectively) try to get organized.

Palestine freedom
Artwork by the amazing Carlos Latuff, friend of Salem-News.com located in Rio de Janeiro.
To see more of his work, visit: Latuff Gallery

(BETHLEHEM) - We have taken a first step in a long road.  The hundreds who have signed onto this initiative for one democratic pluralistic state are now subscribed to this list via their provided emails (onestatemail@palestinejn.org but please see below before you send anything to this list).

In side discussions with some of the organizers, it was proposed that we create working groups in different areas.

There can be expanded or coalesced depending on our progress, activist interests, and collective decisions.

In my humble opinion (shared by others), less can be achieved via discussion involving hundreds of people via email than in dedicated active groupings/committees.

IMHO, the committees can be open to participation for those who can contribute actively to achieve the results as we stated in the text of the initiative and can make decisions by democratic and transparent ways.

Once constituted and get to work, committees can elect facilitators who will share results with the whole group via onestatemail@palestinejn.org. Here are suggested committees

1) Drafting committee: This committee can study declarations and draft frameworks available from before; e.g Houston and Haifa declarations, ANC charter, drafts published in books for example by Abunimah, Davis, Tilley, and Qumsiyeh.  I suggest Dr. Nur Masalha as interim convener of this committee and suggest committee members like Sami Jadallah, Oren Ben-Dor, George Bisharat, Ghada Karmi, Joseph Massad, and Francis Boyle.  I suggest that they seek input from Palestinians in different walks of life (refugees, inside and outside the Green line etc), and from Mizrahim and other communities in Palestine.

2) Media committee: tasked with getting the agenda of one state out in mainstream and alternative media in very strong way.  I suggest Ali-Abunimah as interim converner of this committee because of his many connections and strong leadership in media via electronic intifada etc.

3) Local committees: Each region and/or country can have a group of committed activists who meet together to plan actions for one-state.  For example Dr. Haidar Eid and others in Gaza are leading local work in Gaza for one state.  They would keep us posted and would develop more in cooperation with similar groups working within Palestine and in different countries.

4) Outreach committee: an umbrella committee that has representatives from local committees tasked with building the one state support.

5) Administrative committee: I think this should be a small group to administer things like facilitating communications between groups and committees, summarizing results to share with the general list etc. I suggest Dr. Ghada Karmi and her staff to help organize this.

Other committees suggested by members.

To proceed, I suggest that you send email indicating your interest/background and what committee you would be interested in working with to onestate@palestinejn.org

Then our volunteer will connect all those people interested in similar things together so that they can start the much needed work.

Thank you all for your interest and patience as we (collectively) try to get organized.

Mazin Qumsiyeh (Temporarily facilitating)

Many people of good faith yearn for a future that is a joint democratic pluralistic state that encompasses all of the historic land of Palestine (currently the political entities of the apartheid State of Israel and the post-1967 Israeli occupied Palestinian Territories). It is time to put our beliefs into practice by bringing together all these people to effect the needed transformation socially and politically. We call on you to join us to formulate all the needed mechanisms for this transformation.

We are seeking local and international legal experts to draft a constitution for our joint future state and we are seeking activists with other skills (media, lobbying, civil disobedience etc) to translate the vision into reality. In our joint future state, Palestinian Refugees will have the right to return to their homes and lands and to receive reparation for their suffering as supported by UNGA resolution 194. Return and self-determination are key pillars of peace based on justice.

The validity of all actual laws and policies will be subject to this constitution with a bill of rights.

This constitution is founded on the critical principle that all people who live in historic Palestine as well as Palestinians who will realise their inalienable right of return will have an effective equality of citizenship and will enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Substantively and procedurally, the constitution and structures to effect the needed transformation will be modified and adopted only via democratically structured institutions and, in this vein, we support efforts to reconstitute the Palestine National Council on democratic and representative foundations for all Palestinians regardless of where they currently live. The constitution will enable constant contestation of actual laws ensuring that structures of power never entrench themselves.

Equal citizenship will have the result that present apartheid-based laws will be abrogated and future social and economic rights will never again be attached to any patterned and structured identity test that necessarily results in discrimination, oppression and domination of those who do not pass it. We believe in popular resistance and an anti-Apartheid struggle to achieve our collective goals. We will build on the previous initiatives and conferences that focused on one state solutions. We urge the international community to support us in ending Israeli apartheid and achieving our goal of one democratic state via the use of Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) and all other means of pressure as articulated in the Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action 2005.

If you would like to join us, go to http://www.palestinejn.org/component/content/article/47-ongoing/124-join-the-one-state-initiative. By signing, you agree to the use of your name and to the outline above. Organizations may also join this effort by sending us the name of the organization, email address, physical address, phone number, and individual name of the person authorized to communicate with us on behalf of the organization to onestate@palestinejn.org.

(see: Act for One New State - Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh Salem-News.com)

_________________________________

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD - Popular Committee to Defend Ush Ghrab (PCDUG) "A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home. Mazin has been an Associate Professor of Genetics; Director, Cytogenetics Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine since 1999. He previously held a similar position at Duke University. Professor Qumsiyeh has authored over 110 scientific papers in areas of mammalogy, biology, and medicine including mammalian biology and evolution, clinical genetics, and cancer research. He has published over 100 letters to the editor and 30 op-ed pieces in International, national, regional and local papers on issues ranging from politics to environmental issues. His appearances in national media included the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, CNBC, C-Span, and ABC, among others. He is the founder and president of the Holy Land Conservation Foundation and ex-President of the Middle East Genetics Association, and Prof. Qumsiyeh won the Jallow activism award from the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee in 1998. Those are just a small list, visit Mazin Qumsiyeh's amazing and informative Website to learn more: qumsiyeh.org.




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