2001 COMMUNIQUE

The Peace through Justice Call

(2001 Communiqué)

More than ten thousand wounded (96% of them Palestinians), in four months, close to four hundred killed (11% of them Israelis). Holy places desecrated. House demolitions and tree uprootings by decree. Lynchings, pogroms, shootings, bombs and bombings, the norm… Blind hate and separatism fueled by the blood-smeared logics of talion and armed force.
After decades of ongoing feuds and wars, the 2000-2001 bridging proposals can bring solutions to the painful matters of territories and refugees. In the spirit of U.N. resolutions 242 and 194. The colonies recognized as a source of inequity and hatred have to be peacefully evacuated. The majority of settlements will be attached to Israel, exchanged for equivalent surfaces. Why delay any more the birth of a free Palestinian State ?
Both Palestinians and Israelis share the same tiny piece of land. Both breathe the same air, drink from the same sources… address each other with the same peace salute : Shalom, Salam…
We, as members of the same human species, mere scientists, researchers, and peaceseeking leaders, urge all inhabitants of the ‘Holy Land’ to abide by the force of international right and permanently end this conflict from the past.

Peace Lines, Peace Now, Palestinian Council for Justice and Peace, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, the Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation (Bethlehem-Palestine), Peace MidEast Dialog Group, MidEast Web for Coexistence; Democracy & Workers’ Rights in Palestine, the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, Library on Wheels for Non-Violence and Peace.

Signed by 18 Nobel Laureates :

Peace Laureates 3 : Mairead Maguire, 1976 (Ireland), Desmond Tutu, 1984 (South-Africa), Betty Williams, 1976 (Ireland)

Literature Laureates 2 : Günter Grass, 1999 (Germany), Wole Soyinka, 1986 (Nigeria)

Chemistry Laureates 5 : Elias Corey, 1990 (USA), Jerome Karle, 1985 (USA), Sir Harold Kroto, 1996 (G-B), Ilya Prigogine, 1977 (Russia), Jens Skou, 1997 (Denmark)

Medicine Laureates 5 : Günter Blobel, 1999 (Germany), Arvid Carlsson, 2000 (Sweden), Christian de Duve, 1974 (Belgium), Richard Roberts, 1993 (G-B), Maurice Wilkins, 1962 (G-B)

Physics Laureates 3 : Leon Lederman, 1988 (USA), Jack Steinberger, 1988 (Germany), Simon van der Meer, 1984 (the Netherlands)

Members of the European Parliament : Ole Andreasen (Denmark), Marie-Anne Isler-Béguin (France), Piia-Noora Kauppi (Finland), Giuseppe di Lello (Italy), Struan Stevenson (G-B), Margie Sudre (France), Ulrich Stockmann (Germany).