06 July 2020; MEMO: Members of the Palestinian community in the United States have issued a declaration of principles which included a set of preconditions to support federal candidates in the presidential elections later this year.
The document, signed by Palestinian cultural, political, social and academic figures, included 13 preconditions namely recognising the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination as an inalienable right as well as the need for the Israeli occupation to immediately and unconditionally end and the refugees’ right to return to their homes in accordance with UN Resolution 194.
The Declaration considered the activities carried out by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a legitimate right in full harmony with the First Amendment of the American Constitution.
It went on to call for the immediate lifting of the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip while adding that the Nation-State Law, which was passed in 2018 and which limits the right to self-determination in Israel to Jews, is a racist.
The declaration called on the United States to reject Israel’s attempt to annex large swathes of the occupied Palestinian territories which was due to be instigated on 1 July but was postponed.
