“We once again call on the Kadıköy Municipal Council to put this demand on the agenda at the meeting to be held next week, not to turn their backs on the Palestinian people’s struggle for existence, and to be involved in our efforts to isolate the occupying and racist regime.”
The struggle to terminate the sister city/sister municipality agreements between various provincial and district municipalities in Turkey and some cities in Israel continues.
BDS Turkey was protesting today (March 2) in front of Kadıköy Municipality in Istanbul, saying “There can be no brotherhood with occupation”.
In the protest where the banner “Cancel the fraternity protocols with the cities of the occupying state!” was unfurled, it was demanded that the “sister city” protocol between Kadıköy and the Israeli city of Petah Tikva be canceled.
The full text of the statement made by BDS Turkey is as follows:
The genocidal attacks of the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime in the Gaza Strip have been going on for nearly five months. So far, at least 30,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in these attacks, and nearly 2 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced.
On the one hand, the occupation forces are preparing to launch an intense attack on the city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have taken refuge, while on the other hand, the people of Gaza, who are deprived of all kinds of aid access in the largely uninhabitable northern regions of Gaza, are struggling with hunger and epidemics. Almost every day, there are reports of starvation deaths from Gaza, where hospitals are largely disabled.
Two days ago, the occupation forces committed another crime against humanity, killing at least 112 people by opening fire on Palestinian civilians waiting for flour and food distribution on Harun al-Rashid Street.
On the other hand, as a result of the ongoing attacks, the historical cities where the Palestinian people live are being destroyed by the occupation army, historical buildings that are the heritage of centuries are being turned into rubble, and cities are being deprived of all kinds of infrastructure opportunities.
While the process of genocide and urbanization continues at full speed, actions and events are held all over the world during the month of March, as part of the “apartheid week”, revealing the racist character of the Israeli regime and supporting the Palestinian people’s struggle for existence.
Today, as part of this series of actions and events, we are in front of Kadıköy Municipality to repeat a demand we have been voicing for a long time.
Since its establishment in 2009, BDS Turkey has been continuously voicing its demand for the cessation of economic, commercial, military, political, academic, and cultural relations with Israel, the isolation, isolation and sanction of the regime based on occupation, ethnic cleansing, and racial discrimination in all areas, and has intensified these demands during the genocide process that has been going on since October, and has repeatedly called on all interlocutors and organizations to cut relations with Israel with all its means has been found.
One of the addressees of these calls is Turkey’s municipalities, which have sister city protocols with Israeli municipalities.It is a shame to be in a “fraternal” agreement with the institutions of a “state” that has committed crimes against the people and humanity that have rarely been seen in history.
We have repeatedly called on the municipalities of Adana, Izmir, Antalya, Edirne, Marmaris, and Kadıköy, which have sister city protocols with Israeli municipalities, to terminate these collaborations. A few weeks ago, the Adana Metropolitan Municipality Council responded positively to our calls and unanimously decided to cancel the protocol with the Municipality of Beerşeba.
On the other hand, we formally and in writing requested the Kadıköy Municipality to terminate the sister city protocol with the municipality in Petah Tikva, one of the first places where the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people began and which was built on the houses and lands of Palestinians displaced by the first Zionist groups.
We once again call on the Kadıköy Municipal Council to put this demand on the agenda at the meeting to be held next week, not to turn their backs on the Palestinian people’s struggle for existence, and to be involved in our efforts to isolate the occupying and racist regime.
At the same time, we take this opportunity to reiterate our calls for the cancellation of the sister city protocols between Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and Tel Aviv Municipality, Marmaris Municipality and Ashkelon Municipality, Edirne and Antalya Metropolitan Municipalities and Bat Yam Municipality. We request that these applications, which we have made officially and in writing, be included in the agenda of the Municipal Council meetings to be held in the coming days, and we announce that we will follow the process.
Finally, the positive response to these calls and the cancellation of the sister city protocols by taking an honorable decision will be an important note in history and will serve as a call and an example for the decision-making authorities of the Republic of Turkey to end all kinds of export and logistics support, especially food exports, to Israel while the genocide continues.
There is no brotherhood with occupation!
Freedom for Palestine, boycott of Israel!
Sendika.Org
