About us
The Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) is a human rights organization that explicitly recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to national existence and to live in security. We condemn all violations of human rights. PAJU was co-founded in Montreal by Bruce Katz, a Jewish Canadian and Rezeq Faraj, a Palestinian Canadian who have been friends for more than 25 years. Our group is comprised of Jews, Palestinians and other Canadians of good conscience who work together to promote peace in the Middle East and to educate the public on the Palestinian question.
Founders
Rezeq Faraj
Rezeq Faraj was born in Palestine before the 1948 Nakba (the Catastrophe) and creation of the State of Israel. He grew up in the Dehiesha refugee camp near Bethlehem where family members still live. In 1966, after a stay in Europe, Rezeq Faraj arrived in Canada. After 28 years in teaching, he retired in March 2003. Rezeq Faraj is the author of the book, “Palestine : le refus de disparaître”.
Rezeq has lectured as a speaker at various universities in Quebec, Canada and the United States. He is also author of numerous articles on the Middle East; his articles have appeared in various Canadian and American magazines and newspapers. Rezeq Faraj continues to pursue his work of increasing awareness of the cause of the Palestinian people and of defending the oppressed.
Bruce Katz
Katz was born and raised in Montreal. He is a language teacher by profession. In November of 2000 Bruce became one of the founding members of PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity) with his great friend and brother, Rezeq Faraj. Bruce Katz is also one of the founding members of the Canadian NGO, the CCCCH (Canadian Committee to Combat Crimes Against Humanity), an organisation committed to the establishment in international law of the principle of economic crimes.
Executive committee 2019:
Co-Président: Bruce Katz
Co-Président: Chadi Marouf
Secretary: François Brosseau
Conselers :
- Fred Jones
- Susana Khalil
- Serge Leclerc
- William Sloan
The PAJU Plate-Form
Adopted at the PAJU General Assembly, April 28th, 2002 at the 1212 Panet Street, Montreal
1 – PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity) is a non -governmental and non-violent organization dedicated to defending the human and national rights of Palestinians and Israelis.
2 – PAJU explicitly recognizes the right of the Israeli and Palestinian populations to exist and to live in security.
3 – PAJU is dedicated to achieving a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
4 – PAJU condemns all violations of human rights.
5 – PAJU affirms that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict can and must be solved through the application of International Law as expressed in the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all relevant United Nations Resolutions.
6 – Palestinian Statehood: PAJU upholds the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state on all the Palestinian territory that was occupied by Israel in 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
7 – Concerning the Occupation: PAJU upholds the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation in accordance with International Law.
7a) PAJU recognizes that the occupation is a fundamental cause of the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
8 – PAJU upholds UN Resolutions 242, 338, 181 and the 4th Geneva Convention. PAJU accordingly calls on Israel to withdraw from all territory occupied in 1967.
9 – Concerning Settlements: PAJU upholds the 4th Geneva Convention, which requires Israel permanently to evacuate all settlements and all Israeli settlers from all territory occupied in 1967.
10 – Concerning East Jerusalem: PAJU supports the creation of an independent secular Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, East Jerusalem being an integral part of the Palestinian territories illegally occupied in 1967.
11 – PAJU recognizes the special significance of Jerusalem for Christians, Jews and Muslims. We affirm that no religious community should have a privileged position in Jerusalem and that no one should be denied access to holy places in Jerusalem because of his or her religion.
12 – Concerning Refugees: PAJU affirms that the Palestinian refugee problem must be solved in accordance with the principles expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Clause 13, which is binding on all UN member nations including Israel.
13 – Concerning the Right of Return: PAJU affirms that the Right of Return of Palestinian refugees, as recognized in United Nations Resolution 194 and in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is a personal human right that belongs to each individual displaced Palestinian. This right cannot be renounced on their behalf by others. The implementation of the Right of Return should be part of a negotiated, just and lasting peace settlement for all.
The Paju Plate-Form Concerning Compensation: PAJU affirms that Palestinian refugees must be fully compensated for material loss of property and for suffering, in accordance with clearly established international legal precedents. Those Palestinians not returning to their original property must be fully compensated for their suffering and losses whether or not they return to Israel or Palestine.
15 – PAJU affirms that without a just settlement of the refugee problem and of the question of compensation, no just and permanent settlement of the Palestinian problem is possible.
16 – PAJU upholds the principle that negotiations between Israel and Palestine must be held under the auspices exclusively of the United Nations. These negotiations must be non-coercive in nature and negotiated in good faith between equals.
17 – Other matters to be negotiated: All other outstanding questions, such as water, political prisoners and economic and human development, including the continuing struggle against racism, must be settled at the negotiating table, between equals.
18 – Assisting Palestinian refugees: PAJU dedicates itself to helping Palestinian refugees in their daily struggle for survival until a peace settlement is achieved to which the Palestinian refugees and their representatives can freely give their consent.
19 – Raising public awareness of these issues: PAJU dedicates itself to using all forums available to it to promote peace and social justice for all communities in the region through a pursuit of the above-mentioned objectives.
20 – Concerning Palestinians in Israel: More than 1,200,000 Palestinians live in Israel. PAJU denounces the discriminatory policies that Israel applies to its Palestinian citizens. PAJU calls for the equal application of all rights, laws and policies by the Israeli government to all Israeli citizens without distinction.