Dichiarazione dell’Alleanza cooperativa internazionale sul conflitto israelo-palestinese. 9 gennaio 2009 (testo in inglese)

INTERNATIONAL Route des Morillons 15 Tel: (41 22) 929 88 38

CO-OPERATIVE 1218 Grand-Saconnex Fax: (41 22) 798 41 22

ALLIANCE Geneva E-mail: ica@ica.coop

Switzerland Website: www.ica.coop

Geneva, 9 January 2009

Statement on the Israeli-Palestine Conflict

Co-operation is rooted in peace and social justice. As one of the aims of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is to contribute to international peace and security” through the benefits of co-operation, it is fitting therefore that co-operators from Israel, Palestine and Iran, amongst others, have written to the ICA calling on the international co-operative movement to demand an immediate end to the violence in their region.

This we gladly do, acknowledging that the current offensive, as in the past, can only make the situation worse.

We support the United Nations’ resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and recognise that only through the auspices of the UN will a solution be found. That solution must ensure the right to peace, self-determination and statehood for all peoples in that region.

Our co-operative values of solidarity, democracy, equality and self responsibility offer a firm basis for such a solution and the ICA is ready to assist in that process.

We therefore call upon the governments of the G20, the European Union and the United Nations to promote and support comprehensive negotiations between Israel and Palestine in order to achieve a lasting peace based on social justice, security and economic development linked to the improvement of living standards. These are the values, principles and roles of co-operative enterprise whose development can make an important contribution to that process.

Ivano Barberini

President

Iain Macdonald

Director General