Solidarity sit in with Beshara Azmi in Damascus

The prosecution of Israeli-Palestinian Azmi Beshara, member of Knesset, begins today in an Israeli court.

Scores of political activists and lawyers observed a sit in on Tuesday in front of the headquarters of the European Commission and the UN in Damascus in solidarity with the member of the Palestinian Parliament member in the Israeli Knesset Azmi Beshara and with the Palestinian Intifada against the practices of the "Zionist occupation" authorities.

The observers of the sit in handed over their statement to the administrator at the EU commission Andre Blackmoore addressed to Brussels. They also handed a copy of the statement to the UNDP representative in Damascus Toaufik Bin Amara to be conveyed to the UN chief Kofi Annan.

The statement which was read by one of the woman activists condemned the trial conducted by Israel against Beshara and considered it as unmasking of the false "democracy in Israel" and called for "unmasking the intellectual and political racism of all successive Israeli governments against peace, human rights and the rights of people to self - determination."

The participants of the sit in called in their statement on people and international organizations to exert all efforts in order to put an end to "the organized terrorism operations conducted by the Israeli forces against the Arab citizens in the occupied territories and to lift the military and economic siege imposed by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian cities and villages and to halt its practices in uprooting trees and demolishing of houses as well as assassinating Palestinian political leaderships."

The statement also " called for an Arab and international move to restore back the UN resolution 3379 which considered Zionism as a form of racism.

The sit in was observed by intellectuals and lawyers from various organizations and representatives for the two commissions in charge of defending Beshara in both Syria and Lebanon.