The US Social Forum has established a PMA 2010 website to report back on the resolutions and decisions of the People’s Movement Assemblies at the USSF, as well as the Synthesis PMA of all 50 PMAs held at the Forum. The synthesis resolution adopted by the Social Forum includes an important call to adopt Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, as well as recognizing that Zionism is racism.
The following resolution was issued by the “The Way Forward: Strategy, Tactics and Seeding Boycott Divestment and Sanctions in the US” People’s Movement Assembly at the US Social Forum, June 22-26, 2010, in Detroit, MI:
Whereas: This Assembly endorses the 9 July 2005 Call from Palestinian Civil Society calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and the universality of human rights, which was reaffirmed in the joint statement of Palestinian civil society to the World Social Forum in January 2007, and inspired by the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and urgent need to end the siege of Gaza (NOW!) we resolve to support a comprehensive BDS campaign against Israel until it complies with its obligations under international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the wall;
2. Ending its system of racial discrimination and recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, including their right to full equality;
3. Recognizing the right of Palestinian refugees, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated in UN General Assembly resolution 194.
BDS can take many forms and looks different in each country/city, depending on the local political context and resources. This movement is versatile and flexible in nature and welcomes all campaigns that do not undermine the totality of the 2005 call for BDS from Palestinian civil society.
We stand in solidarity with domestic and other global struggles for liberation and we call on our friends and allies to endorse the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) issued by Palestinian civil society.
We further call for this support of BDS to be centered in the core of the U.S. social justice movement and internationally thus highlighting the intersections that exist across these struggles against Imperialism and Colonialism.