BDS key to a
"just peace," says Palestinian Christian boycott activist
3 October 2012
“Kairos Palestine
addresses all Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice
embodied in Israel’s multi-formed oppression of Palestinians, Christians and
Muslims,” he said.
Kassis
also stresses unity between Christian and Muslim Palestinians, a topic he has
researched extensively. “In 2008, two colleagues and I conducted a study,” he
said. “We found that the main reason for Christian emigration was the lack of
political stability (around 35 percent) and the very least significant reason
was religious persecution and discrimination (less than 0.8 percent).
Muslim-Christian relations were strong and solid for the last 1,500 years” (“Palestinian Christians: Facts,
Figures and Trends,”
Diyar, 2008 [PDF]).
Like
the wider BDS movement, Kairos Palestine demands rights, not political
outcomes. “Kairos doesn’t talk about any specific political solution, but it
does talks about the necessary conditions in order to achieve a just peace for
all,” Kassis said. “A ‘just peace’ in our situation means ending the
occupation, granting the Palestinians the right to self-determination, granting
Palestinian refugees the right of return, acknowledging the consequences of
the Nakba [the systematic ethnic cleansing project
leading up to Israel’s foundation] on the Palestinians inside Israel, and
ending discrimination against them.”
“For
me personally, I think that a one-state solution is more
human, more civilized, and answers more fully to the needs of the
Palestinians,” he added. “Any other solution might divide the Palestinians
among too many places and obstruct their unity as one nation.”
Joe Catron is
a US activist based in Gaza, Palestine. He works with the Centre for Political
and Development Studies (CPDS) and other Palestinian groups and international
solidarity networks, particularly in support of the boycott, divestment and
sanctions and prisoners’ movements. He blogs at joecatron.wordpress.com and tweets at @jncatron.
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