Appeal to release the Palestinian IC member Ameer Makhoul

Following the approval in the closing plenary in Paris of the appeal:

While we are united, as members of the International Council of World Social Forum, in meetings in Paris, we ask for the immediate release of Ameer Makhoul and all Palestinian political prisoners who have been illegally detained and condemned under Israeli military orders.
More than a year ago Ameer Makhoul, an active member of the WSF International Council and coordinator of Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community Associations and a leader in the movement for the protection of the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, was arrested by Israel.
The morning on 6 May 2010, Ameer Makhoul's house was raided by Israeli authorities. He was held in solitary confinement for twelve days, subjected to physical an
d psychological torture and deprived of basic human rights. His lawyers were finally forced to make a plea bargain with the prosecution to avoid a life sentence. Ameer's trial was a farce and a host of illegalities. On 30 January 2011, Ameer was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The persecution of Ameer Makhoul and other Palestinian civil society leaders - whether citizens of Israel or living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza - demonstrates Israel's increasingly extreme policy of repression. These acts are invalid and illegitimate, and in flagrant violation of international law. Since 1967, over 700 000 Palestinians, including women and children, were arrested and imprisoned in prisons and detention centers in Israel. The fundamental human rights of prisoners -men, women and children - are being systematically violated.

In a spirit of international solidarity, we call on civil society around the world to mobilize in support of the Palestinian people against Israeli repression and to pressure our governments to ensure Israel stops its violations of Palestinian human rights, ends the occupation and dismantles its apartheid regime.
There will be no peace without justice.
ABONG, ActionAid International, Alianza por un mundo responsable, plural y solidario, Alianza Social Continental, Alternatives, ARCI, Articulación Feminista Marcosur, ATTAC, CADTM, Caritas, CCFD - Terre Solidaire, CEAAL, CERIDA, CETRI, CIEMEN, Ciranda, CIVES, COBAS - Coordinamento Italiano per FSE e FSM, Comissão Brasileira de Justiça e Paz, CRID, CUT, ENDA, FAMES, FDIM, FLARE - Freedom Legality And Rights in Europe, Forum Mondial des Alternatives, FMAS, Focus on the Global South, Fondation Frantz Fanon, Fundación Galiza Sempre, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Herriak Aske, IBASE, IDEA, INESC, Institut Panos Afrique de l’Ouest, Instituto de Estudios de la CTA, IPAM, IPS, ISCA - UISP, Jubileesouth Asia/Pacific, Kurdish Network, May First/People Link, Mesopotamian Social Forum, NIGD, OJA, Peoples Health Movement, PNGO , Rede Ecosocialista Internacional, ROAD, Social Watch, Stop the Wall, Transnationals Information Exchange, UBUNTU, VK, World March of Women.