Archives for January 2017

Excellency,

In our second letter this week, we are compelled to write to Your Excellency to place on record our unequivocal condemnation of Israel’s continued building and expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem. Clearly, with its continuation of  its insidious colonization of  confiscated and stolen Palestinian land, Israel, the occupying Power,  is sending a crystal clear message that it is determined to continue to arrogantly and aggressively defy the will of the international community, violate international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, as well as international criminal law as articulated in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as  defy the resolutions of the  United Nations, including the Security Council’s most recent adoption of  resolution 2334 (2016).  [Read more…]

Excellency,

I regret to inform you of the continuing grave breaches being perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in flagrant contempt for international law and defiance of the international community and with devastating consequences on the two-State solution and the prospect for peace. [Read more…]

Excellency,

I write to draw your immediate attention to the critical situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in which more Palestinian civilians, including children, continue to be killed, including by extrajudicial execution, and severely injured as a result of the excessive use of force by Israeli occupying forces. [Read more…]

Excellency,

As a new year has begun, the Palestinian people living under Israel’s nearly 50-year-old military occupation continue to face an unrelenting barrage of oppressive, illegal and destructive measures by Israel, the occupying Power.

Sadly, for the Palestinian people, 2016 ended the same way that 2017 began in that not for a minute has the occupying Power ceased its illegal policies and measures in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem.  Despite the repeated appeals and calls of the international community, including the recent adoption of Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), Israel continues with its violations against the Palestinian people and their land with total disregard of the law and without fear of consequences.  In fact, the current Israeli right-wing Government under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu seems to only be interested in causing more suffering for the Palestinian people, entrenching its occupation and destroying the contiguity and viability of the Palestinian land along with the prospects for realizing the two-State solution for peace. [Read more…]

Excellency,

I write to you following the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2334 (2016) on the 23^rd of December, a significant undertaking that has been resoundingly welcomed and accepted by the Palestinian people and their leadership, who remain steadfast in their commitment to the path of peace and achieving freedom, rights and justice on this path.  While long-overdue, this action by the Council is viewed as most timely, necessary and important, a view expressed by the overwhelming majority of the international community that has welcomed the resolution’s adoption. [Read more…]

Excellency,

As the Security Council continues its deliberations on the question of Palestine month after month, amidst constant calls by the international community for responsible action in line with its Charter duties, Israel, the occupying Power, continues to exploit the Council’s inaction with the continuation and intensification of its illegal and destructive policies and practices, in particular in connection with its colonial settlement enterprise, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

At this time, we must officially place on record our total condemnation of all Israeli schemes to violate, distort and undermine all applicable laws to this situation.  In this regard, the so-called Israeli “regulation bill”, which attempts to give so-called “legal status” to dozens of illegal Israeli settlements and “outposts” constructed on private Palestinian land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, constitutes yet another provocative and flagrantly illegal action by the occupying Power. This scheme clearly aims at further consolidating Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise and further privileging its illegal settlers on our land. On 7 December 2016, this bill was given initial approval by the Israeli Knesset and, if ultimately passed, would further entrench 55 illegal “outposts” and approximately 4,000 more units in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in direct and grave breach of international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 49 thereof.   [Read more…]