Archives for 16 May 2014

Excellency,

On this day, the Palestinian people somberly mark the passage of 66 years since Al-Nakba, the tragedy in 1948 by which the majority of Palestinians were forcibly uprooted and expelled from their homes and lands in Mandate Palestine, or fled in fear for their lives after the brutal massacres perpetrated by Israeli militias and forces against thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, children and elderly persons in villages and towns throughout the land in a clear act of ethnic cleansing. Violently displaced and dispossessed, more than 750,000 Palestinians became refugees in other parts of Palestine and in neighboring countries, namely Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Today, the Palestinian refugees number more than 5 million people, with the majority of them living in refugee camps administered by UNRWA throughout the region. [Read more…]

Excellency,

I regret to inform you of the continuing turmoil and deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, due to the illegal, provocative policies being carried out by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people. On a daily basis, Israel is perpetrating grave violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, threatening to further destabilize the already-fragile situation and seriously undermine the future of the peace process, which has been suspended by Israel’s unilateral decision to halt negotiations. [Read more…]