Statement of Solidarity with Palestine activist who was prevented from traveling

15 February 2015 – San Salvador: The International Women’s Articulation of La Via Campesina, gathered in San Salvador, El Salvador, with the participation of women representatives from the Americas, Europe, Africa and North Africa, hereby issues the following statement following the unfair decision of the Israeli forces to prevent comrade Meriam Ismael from leaving Palestine, thus depriving her of her natural and legal right to travel freely to San Salvador, El Salvador, in order to participate in the International meeting of La Via Campesina’s Women’s Articulation: 

We  

• Denounce this unfair and abusive decision which violates the freedom of mobility and the right to travel guaranteed by all the international human rights conventions and covenants. 
• Denounce the continuing attempts to prevent Palestinian women and farmers’ voices from being heard.
• Condemn the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the policy of settlements targeting Palestinian Lands and all the continuous injustice and cruelty committed by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people.
• Support the struggles of the Palestinian people for sovereignty and independence and express our full solidarity with all the Palestinian farmers and peasants whose lands are confiscated and olive trees uprooted and crops spoiled by the Israeli army and Zionist settlers. 

The Women’s Articulation of La Via Campesina reiterates the importance of uniting women in the struggle for food sovereignty and a change in the system. We consider it necessary, important and enriching to include the voices of Palestinian peasant women alongside our own.