Open Shuhada Street! February 25, 2010 International Day of Action from Open Shuhada Street on Vimeo.

On 25 February 2010 activists and organizations from around the world will join together in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Hebron, through local protests, and petitions to the Israeli Government. We will be calling to re-open Shuhada Street to all Palestinians, bring life back into the city of Hebron, and to end the Occupation.

Our demands:

• Open Shuhada Street to Palestinian movement and commerce
• Full civil and human rights for all Israelis and Palestinians
• End the occupation

Background

Shuhada Street used to be the principal street for Palestinians residents, businesses and a very active market place in the Palestinian city of Hebron. Today, because Shuhada Street runs through the Jewish settlement of Hebron, the street is closed to Palestinian movement and looks like a virtual ghost street which only Israelis and tourists are allowed to access. Hate graffiti has been sprayed across the closed Palestinian shops and Palestinians living on the street have to enter and exit their houses through their back doors or, even sometimes by climbing over neighbor's roofs.

Photo by Issa Amro.

Shuhada Street was closed for the first time following the Baruch Goldstein massacre on February 25, 1994, in which a settler from nearby Kiryat Arba settlement murdered 29 Palestinians while praying in a mosque in Hebron.

In order to raise awareness about the injustice of the closure of Shuhada Street, we will coordinate a joint solidarity campaign/action all over the world which will take place on February 25, 2009, as an effort to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein massacre which took place 15 years ago on this date. We are calling on activist groups in cities around the world to participate in this action by gathering their forces together to symbolically shut down a major street in their cities and/or organize a protest/demonstration on February 25 in solidarity with Shuhada Street. We are focusing on Shuhada Street as a symbol of the settlement issue, the policy of separation in Hebron and the entire West Bank, the lack of freedom of movement, and the occupation at large. In addition to raising awareness about these issues, the campaign, if organized well, can be an important sign of the strength of global movement for human rights in Israel.

For more information about Shuhada Street and Hebron:
http://www.openshuhadastreet.org/shuhadastreet

Photo by Activestills.org

Our guiding principles

1. We recognize the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all people in Israel and Palestine.
2. We respect the right to life of Israelis and Palestinians. Therefore we reject violence, other than self-defense where absolutely necessary. We reject violent attacks irrespective of who carries them out.
3. We will engage in and support only non-violent forms of political action.
4. All people of the Middle East deserve the right to democratic participation and equality regardless of religion, ethnicity, culture, national origin, language, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or other status.
5. The resolution of the conflict in Israel and Palestine should conform to international law and be concluded through negotiations involving all parties, under the auspices of independent mediation. An acceptable solution will safeguard and advance the rights of all people in the region, and will promote peace.
6. We are a non-sectarian movement. We welcome both Jews and Muslims as well as people of all faiths and none.
7. We expose and vigorously counter anti-semitism and Islamophobia.