Palestinian intellectuals rally in Paris

In cooperation with committees for defending Palestinians' right to repatriation, a number of French and European intellectuals and politicians, Palestinian intellectuals and artists residing in Paris on Wednesday launched a campaign aimed at acquainting the international public with the Palestinians' right to return to their homeland, currently Israeli-occupied.

At a news conference on Wednesday in Paris, they called on the international community to implement UN Security Council resolution 194, which acknowledges the Palestinians' right to return to their homeland. The Palestinian intellectuals condemned the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and daily aggressions against the Palestinians.

Speakers at the news conference called on the French government not to forget the Palestinian people and to help them by calling for the implementation of UN resolutions.

While Israel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Palestine's usurpation, the speakers added, the price of the creation of Israel was not only forcing some one million Palestinians out of their own lands. The speakers stressed that Zionism is hostile to Jews because it is a colonial ideology which displaced the Palestinians, encomapssed racial discrimination and committed crimes against the Jews themselves.

Participants in the rally said a delegation will visit Lebanon to learn about the conditions of the Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Chatilla camps. They will also visit Qana martyrs cemetery. On May 16 a march will also be staged by Palestinians and a number of French and European sympathizers for the Palestinian cause.