We the people of India extend our solidarity to the courageous people of Palestine in their struggle and resistance against the occupation of their land.  Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories has lasted for more than six decades in violation of international law, international humanitarian law and numerous United Nations resolutions. The occupation of Palestine must end! Gaza has been turned into a vast open-air-prison-cum-concentration camp for its 1.5 million inhabitants. The Palestinian population in the West Bank and in Jerusalem are under continuous repression, assaults and in a permanent state of siege due to the ever expanding settlements & the apartheid wall. The Palestinian people must have the freedom to exercise their right to self-determination including their right to establish on all the territories that Israel has occupied, an independent sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital. The structure of Zionist apartheid, based on ethno-religious discrimination that Israel has established, must be dismantled and it must grant equal rights to all its citizens, including the “Right of Return” to the Palestinians refugees.

Defend the right of Palestinian people to resist the occupation through all legitimate means 

The campaign and struggle to end the blockade of Gaza is an integral part of, and a step to this larger struggle for self determination of the Palestinian People and for a State of Palestine. The people of Gaza are being subjected to the Israeli policy of collective punishment for asserting their democratic right to decide for themselves the leadership and political organisations to lead their struggle, govern their society and represent them in all negotiations.

The genocidal nature of the war unleashed on Gaza, is also meant to serve as a warning to the rest of the Palestinian People. Israel, backed by the US and reactionary forces, is using war, terror and blockade to break the will of the people of Gaza.  The Blockade of Gaza since 2007 has resulted in lack of essential supplies, petrol for electricity, imminent shortage of medicines, food and water which has triggered a humanitarian crisis that the world needs to respond to with urgency.

The freedom and peace loving people of the world and democratic states have to defeat this nefarious design. Palestine is today one of the defining struggles for freedom, democracy and equality for peoples and nations.

Let us unite to win this battle

This struggle is broad, varied and multi-dimensional. It is humanitarian and for peace, freedom and human dignity. It is against occupation, imperialism, apartheid, Zionism and all forms of discrimination including religious discrimination. We call upon all organisations, movements and individuals to engage, contribute, actively participate and join the struggle. We commit to respect the right of all participants to share, emphasise and focus on any aspect and dimension of the struggle that is accordance with their own views, belief and ideology, provided they do not divide, weaken or vitiate the common and broad front against the blockade of Gaza and the very struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

After the terrible massacre aboard the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May 2010, citizens around the world are taking action to help break the siege which is suffocating the lives of the people of Gaza and denying them their very right to exist. 

Different movements across the world are mobilising to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip and to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. The IHH (Insani Yardi Vakfi or The Foundation for Human Rights, Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief), participated in the Freedom Flotilla in which 9 of its peace activists were murdered in cold blood by Israeli soldiers on board of Mavi Marmara. The “Free Gaza Movement” has challenged the siege by organizing ships to the shores of Gaza. The “Viva Palestina” has mobilized more than 500 vehicles and 60 ships that will reach Gaza in September. “The European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza” will be sending more than 9000 delegates. Many more organizations around the world are now galvanizing the global solidarity movement and will be contributing with their local and global actions.  Convoys from North and South Africa and ships from the USA, New Zealand, Canada & Australia are also due to join the global effort. 

We are committed to and believe that there must be a strong Asian involvement in the global movement to end the siege of Gaza and for the liberation of Palestine. It is important that India plays a part in initiating and building the Asian process for solidarity with Palestine.

It is against this background that the undersigned organisations undertake to organise an Asian land convoy to Gaza. This convoy will leave from New Delhi December and will travel across Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and ultimately through the Rafah Crossing into Gaza-Palestine. The Asian convoy will be joined by delegations and vehicles in each of the nine countries through which it passes. We will coordinate with existing and new organisations and alliances in each of these countries and commit together to develop an Asia level campaign to free Palestine. In each of these countries public meetings, press conferences, meetings with mass organisations and political parties will be organised.

In solidarity,

Endorsing Organisations

Al Hadi
All India Catholic University Federation
All India Majlis-i-Mushawarrat
All India Network of Individuals and organizations working with NHRIs (AiNNI)
All India Student's Association (AISA)
Alternative Information Center, Palestine (AIC)
Aman Bharat
Aman Vedika
Asha Parivar
ASHA/DBSS Diocese of Sambalpur-Church of North India
Asian Bridge India
Awami Bharat
Ayodhya Ki Awaaz
Bahujan Sewak Sangh
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM)
Bharat Bachao Andolan
Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)
Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Committee)
Collectif Urgence Palestine-Vaud, Switzerland
Countercurrents.org
Crescent Shikshan Prasark Mandal
CPI(ML)
CPI-ML (New Democracy)
Delhi Forum
Dynamic Action - Kerala
EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)
Forum against Oppression of Women
Free Gaza - India
Global Gandhi Forum
Help Hyderabad
Human Rights Defenders' Alert - India
Haneefa AP Muhammed
India-Arab cultural Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia Univ
India Palestine People’s Solidarity Forum
Indian Association of Lawyers
Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU )
Indian Isladhi Movement
Indo-Palastine Cultural Society Andhra Pradesh
Insaaniyat (Bombay)
Institute of Human Rights Education
Intercultural Resources
Jamat-e-Islami-Hind
Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Hind
Lokayat
Loknaad
Marxist Communist Party of India (United) - MCPI(U)
Mazdoor Ekta Manch
Muslim Intellectual Forum
Muslim Political Council of India
National Association of Peoples Movements (NAPM)
National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers  
New Socialist Initiative (NSI)
New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI)
Palestine Solidarity Movement
Partners in Justice Concerns - India
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
People’s Watch
Phule-Ambedkar Vichar Manch
Programme against Custodial Torture and Impunity
Programme for Social Action
Progressive Students' Union (PSU)
Provisional Central Committee-CPI(ML) 
Rede Brasileira de Ecossocialistas
Republican Panther
Revolutionary Youth Federation of India (RYFI)
Saheli Women’s Resource Centre
Sarva Seva Sangh
Solidarity Youth Movement
South Asia Peace Alliance (SAPA)
South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)
South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers
Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO)
Sudhanthra (Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Domestic Violence and Torture)
Teachers Working Group, Indonesia
Teesra Swadheenta Andolan
Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI)
United Forum for Justice
Vidyarthi Bharti
Yuva Koshish

Individuals

Abdul Basit Ismail
Abdul Samad Rayyakudiyil Abdul Rahiman
Abdul Wahab Khilji
Achin Vanaik
Adv Vinay Aravind
Afnan Ahmer
Afnan Ahmer
Agdish Nagarkar
Aleem Faizee
Amar Kanwar
Ambarish Rai
Amir Bashir Baba
Amit Sengupta
Amit Sengupta
Amol Madame
Amulya Nidhi
Anabel da Gama
Anand Grover
Anand Patwardhan
Anand Swaroop Verma
Anil Chaudhary
Anjali Nakul Kate
Ankita Agarwal
Anoop Kumar
Anshika Varma
Arif Kapadia
Arif Kapadia
Arka Mukhopadhyay
Ashim Roy
Ashish Kothari
Ashish Kumar Rajhans
Asif Khan
Asit Chakrabarty
Aslam Ghazi
Aslam Khan
Azam Azaditabar-Carlson
Azimur Rehman
Badar Khan
Badri Raina
Bajrang Sonawane
Basheer Kollyath Hamsa
Belal Ahmad Shah
Biraj Patnaik
Bishruddeen Kizhakkanat Mohammedali
Biswajit Chakrabarty
Bobby Kunhu
Brigadier Sudhir Sawant
Charul Jayendrakumar Bharadwa
Chetna Birje
Connie Hackbarth
Damanan Odyathuchalil Chandrasekharan
Dilip Banerjee
Dr. Anand Teltumbde
Dr. Sujata Ashwarya Cheema
Dr. Syed Liaqat Ullah
Faiza Ahmed Khan
Feroze Mithiborwala
Gausuddin Shaikh
Gautam Mody
Gautam Vishwanath
Ghazala Azad
Gopal Rai
Gulzar Karishma Malik
Harsh Dhobal
Harsh Pati Dobhal
Henry Nurdi
Humra Quraishi
Ihtishaam Ansari
Imran Khan Pathan
Irfan Engineer
Ismail Abdul Basit
Jai Sen
Jaivardhan Singh
Javed Naqvi
Jharna Jhaveri Sarkar
Jharna Jhaveri Sarkar
Kabir Arora
Kalyani Menon-Sen
Khalid Riaz
Kuldip Kumar
Laxman Singh
Liaqat Ullah Syed
Madhura Chakraborty
Manohar Kothekar
Mansoor Zahoor
Manzoor Ahmad Khosa
Md Moinuddin
Md Monazir Alam
Md Moosa Azmi
Md Talha
Md. Ziauddin Ahamed
Medha Patkar
Mehmood Madni
Michel Lambert
Mohamad Husen Farid Shaikh
Mohammad Abdul Bari
Mohammad Irfan
Mohammad Moinuddin Ali Khan
Mohammad Moosa Azmi
Mohammad Salman Usmani
Mohammad Talha
Monalisa Naskar
Monisa Qadri
Muhammed Ali Khan
Muhammed Thalhath M
Mukta Srivastava
Mukul Sinha
Mulniwasi Mala
Munawwar Azad
Munawwar Iqbal
Munawwar Khan
Munnawar Iqbal
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar
Muthukrishnan Alagarsamy
Niloufer Bhagwat
Nityanand Jayaraman
Pandit Jugal Kishore Shastri
Pedro Ivo Batista
Pradyumna Jairam
Purnima Gupta
Putul Mishra
Qurratulain Sundus
Radhika Mukherji
Raina Badri
Rakhi Sehgal
Ramapisharody Damodaran
Rana Mangal Sengupta
Ranjana Padhi
Refaat Sabah
Reshma  Jagtap
Ritu Menon
Rohini Hensman
Sahab Shabbir
Salman Usmani
Sandeep Pandey
Sandeep Pandey
Sanjay Shinde
Sarba Khadka
Savyasaachi
Sayeed Khan
Sayeeda Hameed
Selvin Raj
Shabnam Hashmi
Shafi Thekkath Valappil
Shahdab Begum Md. Shamim
Shaheen Kattiparambil Moidunny
Shahid Siddiqui
Sheikh Md Hussain
Shyam Sonar
Sr.Karuna SSpS
Sudhir Dhawale
Sujan Dutt
Sukla Sen
Sumi Saikia
Sunil Kumar
Suresh Khainar
Suroor Mander
Sushovan Dhar
Swapan Mukherjee
Syed Abbas
Syed Iftikhar Ahed
Syed Zahid Qadri
Syed Zahid Qadri
Syed Wali Peeran
Tasleem Ahmed Rehmani
Tusha Mittal
Varsha V V
Vasanthi Raman
Vilas Gaikwad
Vinay Mahajan
Vinayak Kottawar
Viswavalsalan Kizhavoor Padmanabha Panicker
Winnie Thomas
Yawar Ali Qazi
Yawar Ali Qazi
Yunus Shaikh
Zahirabbas Rupani
Zahid Qadri
Zahir Abbas Rupani

Updated: 16 November 2010