<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Swiss Court Upholds Right of Palestine Solidarity Action to Hang Posters in Train&nbsp;Stations]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="createdate">Wednesday, 13 April 2011 11:29 </span> <span class="createby"> Tania Kepler for the Alternative Information Center (AIC) </span></p>
<div class="buttonheading"><span class="email"> </span><span class="pdf"> </span></div>
<div class="newsitem_text">
<div class="news_item_article">
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The  Swiss Federal Administrative Court has ruled that SBB, the national  rail service, violated freedom of speech of the Palestine Solidarity  Action group when it refused to allow the group to hang posters.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><img style="vertical-align:middle;border:0 solid #000000;margin:0;" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.alternativenews.org/english/images/stories/news/2011/April_2011/zurich_train_station.jpg" alt="zurich_train_station" width="600" height="451" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Main train station in Zurich, where a Swiss court says Palestine Solidarity Action may hang posters</span></span></em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The  Palestine Solidarity Action first put up posters in several locations  in the main Zurich train station in 2009. The posters stated things like  “ Sixty-one years of Israel, 61 years of injustice,&#8221; and &#8220;Israel was  established with violence on Palestinian land. The injustice demands  resistance!”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">After  three days, the group was ordered by the station&#8217;s management to remove  the signs, and were told they could not hang up their material.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The  Palestine Solidarity Action group did now allow this discrimination to  go unnoticed, and appealed to the Federal Administrative Court in Berne,  claiming the measure violated their freedom of speech.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The court has ruled in favor of the activists and ordered that SBB allow the group to distribute their materials.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">According  to the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, SBB, the Swiss train service,  argued in court that its policy prohibits the distribution of materials  on sensitive foreign affairs issues. The court rejected the claim,  stating that a train station is a public place and as such, it is a  place for exchange of opinions. By banning the posters, the judges  asserted, the station prevented citizens from being exposed to different  opinions on international affairs.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The  court said the posters, while controversial, did not pose a risk to  railway operation or public safety, also noting that they did not  include graphic pictures, and did not incite to violence or other  illegal activity. &#8220;Resistance does not mean violence,&#8221; they said.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Federal Railways now has 30 days to appeal the decision.</span></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p><a href="http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3520-swiss-court-upholds-right-of-palestine-solidarity-action-to-hang-posters-in-train-stations-">Source</a></p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://i2.wp.com/www.alternativenews.org/english/images/stories/news/2011/April_2011/zurich_train_station.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>