1/. There are unfortunately many other countries in the world where basic needs and human rights are denied. Why concentrate on Palestine alone?

2/. Nowhere do you condemn anti-Semitism. Why such ambiguity?

3/. You don't either recognise Israel's right to exist. Why don't you?

4/. Are the Israel-boycott campaigns not of the same brand as the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses?

5/. You do not either condemn the Palestinians' acts of terrorism. If they gave up violence, the peace talks would start again, they would get a state and a lasting peace would be achieved.

6/. Both parties are equally right and wrong. They both have their moderates and hardliners. It is meaningless to side for one like you do. Would it be not more helpful to support reconciliation?

7/. Are you linked to a political organisation?

8/. Are you linked to a specific Palestinian tendency?

1/. There are unfortunately many other countries in the world where basic needs and human rights are denied. Why concentrate on Palestine alone?

We certainly wish we could fight efficiently all injustice in the world. We cannot and we have to concentrate on a specific cause and we wish every success to other groups who deal with others. 

Support to Palestine requires a very specific and continued action to educate the general public and the decision-makers who often have a faulty vision of the causes of the conflict. The reasons for this century-long conflict are in Europe and it is a duty for us Europeans to contribute to its settlement.

The Palestinian cause is a just one to work for: many of our members and supporters did not have a previous specific feeling to Palestine before to join.

2/. Nowhere do you condemn anti-Semitism. Why such ambiguity?

No such ambiguity. Anti-Semitism or judeophobia is a form of racism specifically directed against believers of the Jewish faith, their descendents or so considered. The statement that our group "welcomes whoever inspired by the universal democratic standards - anti-imperialism, antiracism and anti-sectarianism, wishes to support a solution to the conflict based upon the Palestinian people's right to self-determination", makes it clear that membership or cooperation with Palestina Resisteix is incompatible with any racist perspective.

However we know that defenders of Israel will always throw this accusation at us no matter what we do and even if there is no fact to substantiate this claim. We will normally treat this slander with contempt; however if we feel it necessary we will consider taking legal advice to file a libel suit.

4/. Are the Israel-boycott campaigns not of the same brand as the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses?

Of course they are not. Some boycotts are meant to foster oppression like the Nazis did against the Jews. Others aim to fight oppression as it has been the case of:

Besides, the boycott mainly targets businesses who deal with Israel and the religious, ethnic or political adscription of their owners is irrelevant or even very difficult to know as they most often belong to shareholders.

Several boycott campaigns have proved efficient in recent history (South Africa, Yugoslavia) and similar actions are required to cut the Zionist regime off relations in trade, institutions, sports etc...

5/. You do not either condemn the Palestinians' acts of terrorism. If they gave up violence, the peace talks would start again, they would get a state and a lasting peace would be achieved.

The Palestinians have every right to self-defence, as long as the international community fails to force Israel to abide international law. For instance, the First Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Convention, issued in 1977, states that armed struggle, as a last resort, is a rightful way to implement self-determination. Only those who recognise this right and refute the assimilation of resistance to terrorism are entitled to criticise the Palestinians' actions.

It is then quite obvious that the armed struggle should not be the only way of resistance and that it is not always practised in a correct form.

This does not lead to the conclusion that peaceful resistance is treated fairly by the Israeli forces. Members of Palestina Resisteix have been eye-witnesses or direct victims of such frequent aggressions.

Let us be clear about one thing: what Israel want is the Palestinians to surrender and renounce their rights. It will always find fault with anything they do to advance them. To fight for peace is not about pronouncing hollow phrases: it means to work decisively for a political order in the Middle East where the Palestinians would not have to resort to violence to have their rights respected.

6/. Both parties are equally right and wrong. They both have their moderates and hardliners. It is meaningless to side for one like you do. Would it be not more helpful to support reconciliation?

Neutrality and equidistance are not a badge of objectivity but of a poor understanding of the conflict. In its roots and present developments, the conflict features an aggressor, the Zionist power, which usurps, exploits and discriminates a victim that is the Palestinian people. As long as it remains so, reconciliation is not on the agenda. Nobody exhorted the Black South-Africans to reconciliation with the Apartheid regime.

7/. Are you linked to a political organisation?

We are not. Our group was born thanks to the initiative of individuals of distinct or undefined political adscriptions and it has remained so to this day. There are more than enough reasons for all genuinely democratic sectors of our society to realise how imperative it is to take an overt and clear stance in favour of the Palestinian cause and to act accordingly.  

8/. Are you linked to a specific Palestinian tendency?

Not either. The commitment of a group such as ours is to gather support to the Palestinian people as a whole and it would be wrong to interject ourselves in their internal debates.