BASIS OF UNITY

Principles

1. The Association recognizes the grave injustices committed against the Palestinian people in 1947/8 and considers the Palestinian people inside historic Palestine and in diaspora as an indivisible national unit.
2. The Association affirms its support for the Palestinian people's struggle to realize their human and national rights including the right to self-determination, the right to return and the right to be compensated for confiscated properties as individuals and collectively in accordance with the U.N. Charter, the Fourth Geneva Conventionand all U.N. resolutions relating to the Palestinian question.
3. The Association opposes Zionism because of its exclusionist, aggressive and racist nature. The Law of Return excludes the indigenous Palestinians based on their religious affiliations. The Jewish National Fund (which receives Canadian tax deduction status) owns over 93% of the land in Israel, and does not lease or sell to non-Jews (Israeli citizens or otherwise). The Association supports the Palestinian struggle for full citizenship rights inside Israel
4. The Association opposes anti-Jewish and anti-Arab racism and calls on progressive peace-loving Jews and Arabs to unite against discrimination and racism. It also calls on Jews and Palestinians inside Palestine/Israel to build a tolerant, democratic and secular society where the human and national rights of both Israelis and Palestinians are protected and respected.
5. The Association opposes any foreign exploitation or domination of the Middle East, especially by the U.S. government and its allies.
6. The Association supports secular democratic organizations and national liberation movements that are struggling against reaction, exploitation, oppression and foreign domination in the Middle East.
7. The Association upholds the basic fundamental human and national rights of all peoples and affirms its opposition to injustice, oppression and racism in all forms.

Objectives

1. To build a Canadian popular base in support of the principles of the Association.
2. To support the Palestinian people's democratic and national struggle inside and outside historic Palestine with all material and political means.
3. To hold educationals and organize campaigns to fulfill the principles and goals of the Association.
4. To oppose illegal and racist Zionist practices:-- confiscation of Palestinian lands, demolition of homes, torture, building of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, annexation of occupied lands including east Jerusalem, discrimination against Israeli Palestinians, and all other Israeli human rights abuses.
5. To expose and denounce human rights abuses against Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority and against those Palestinians living in diaspora, especially in Canada, the U.S., Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan and other Arab countries.
6. To support the struggle of Palestinian refugees to realize their right to return to their historic homeland in accordance with U.N. resolutions.
7. To coordinate and cooperate with secular democratic Jewish organizations and individuals who support peace with justice and who support the democratic rights of both Israelis and Palestinians.
8. To carry on activities in support of the progressive forces in the Middle East, and to expose the hegemonic designs of the U.S. government in the Middle East.

General Operating Guidelines

• The Association will operate as a collective, with all decisions being made democratically, by majority vote.
• Membership is open to individuals who subscribe to, and work for, the objectives and principles of the Association, and who pay the required dues and assessments.
• Applications for new membership will be ratified by the collective, by majority vote.

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