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29 December 2020 – Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza and Settler Terror

29 December 2020 by

Excellency,

I write to draw your urgent attention to the critical situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, due to the escalating illegal policies and practices of Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people. These unlawful and inhumane actions continue to cause widespread human suffering and to aggravate an already volatile situation.

In the midst of the holiday week and Christmas celebrations, Israeli warplanes launched an indiscriminate aggression on the Gaza Strip. For the second year in a row, the occupying Power has marred Christmas in Palestine through direct military attacks, targeting civilians, homes, and even a children’s hospital, causing civilian casualties and destruction to civilian structures and traumatizing yet again the Palestinian civilian population besieged in Gaza for more than thirteen years now by Israel’s immoral and illegal blockade that is the cause of grave humanitarian suffering. We condemn all of these illegal actions by the occupying Power against the Palestinian people.

Israel’s attack on 26 December on the Mohammad Al-Durra children’s hospital and a rehabilitation center for disabled persons caused extensive damage and spread fear among the children, their families and hospital staff, whose lives were threatened by such indiscriminate airstrikes. The bombardment of civilian areas is prohibited by international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. Several children, including a 6-year old girl, were injured in the airstrikes and significant damage was caused to nearby homes and properties. Such breaches by the occupying Power demand urgent international action, first and foremost to save civilian lives and to deter further violations.

We reiterate our call for international protection to the Palestinian people, in line with the provisions of international humanitarian law, against Israel’s cruel and repressive measures. Israel’s shameless exploitation of the pandemic, which is wreaking havoc in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as elsewhere in the world, should not be met with silence. The occupying Power must be called out for its violations and its deliberate exploitation of this time of pandemic to intensify its illegal practices and policies aimed at further entrenching its military occupation and inhumane blockade and undermining all Palestinian efforts to contain the virus and care for the civilian population.

The international community, including the Security Council, must demand that the occupying Power forthwith comply with its obligations under international law or bear the consequences for its unlawful behavior. This must include,inter alia, respect for the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Laws intended to protect children’s rights cannot be so systematically and flippantly ignored without accountability.

As the list of Israeli crimes expands daily, we must ask: how many more Palestinian children will have to bear Israel’s aggression and disregard for their lives until the law is upheld and given tangible meaning? Where is the outrage and action by those who are the custodians of the law, whether the Security Council, the General Assembly, the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, the States parties to the human rights covenants, all States Members of the United Nations as per their Charter obligations? We appeal to the international community to act, to uphold those obligations, to protect innocent civilian lives in Palestine, including those of the most vulnerable, the children.

Once again, we must also call attention to the havoc being caused by Israel’s illegal ongoing settlement campaign in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, which continues to severely undermine the prospects for a two-State solution on the pre-1967 borders as envisaged by international consensus. Last week, Israel advanced plans to so-called “legalize” more illegal settlement outposts. The aim is clear: to expropriate more Palestinian land for expansion of its illegal settlements and advancement of its de facto annexation plans, which have never ceased for one minute.

Despite Israel’s claims of “suspension” of annexation plans, disguising itself as a trusted partner for regional peace, the reality is that is has never ceased its annexation practices, not even for a single minute, as proven in its constant destruction and expropriation of Palestinian homes and properties, forced transfer of Palestinian families and blatant settlement construction with thousands upon thousands of settlement units advanced in this year alone.

We reiterate that whether annexation is implemented partially or totally, de facto or de jure, it is illegal and the international community must respond with serious, tangible action, in respect of international law and relevant UN resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), the provisions of which are unequivocal in this regard.

Absent accountability, the reality being imposed on the ground is undeniable: Israel is creating an irreversible, coercive environment where Palestinian cities, towns and villages are disconnected and fragmented, destroying the contiguity of our territory and the geographic, social and economic viability of our State. At this very moment, Palestinians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem are witnessing their lands vanish into Israeli-declared “state lands” as the occupying Power aims to expand and merge the noncontiguous illegal settlements of “Givat Hamatos”, “Gilo”, “Har Gilo”, and the so-called ‘E-1’ area. Enjoying the Israeli government’s direct support and continued international inaction, state-sponsored settler organizations are pushing to achieve a massive settlement bloc that will destroy the two-State solution.

Israel also persists with its repression and attacks against Palestinian civilians who dare to object to the occupation’s illegal colonization of their land, On 25 December, Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinian protestors in two separate incidents in demonstrations against Israel’s expropriation of Palestinian land near Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, and Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah. One Palestinian protester was injured by an Israeli rubber-coated bullet and others suffered suffocation from teargas and stun grenades fired at the civilian protesters. Mr. Ayman Alawi, the mayor of Deir Jarir, was shot in the head by an Israeli rubber-coated bullet as he joined the citizens of the town in protesting Israel’s expropriation of the village’s land for illegal settlement activities.

According to a report published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 24 December, such illegal policies and practices by Israel, the occupying Power, have only escalated in the recent period. In just the two-week period between December 8 and 21, Israeli occupation forces killed one Palestinian, injured more than 70 others, detained over 150 Palestinians, and demolished 22 Palestinian-owned structures. Since OCHA began documenting the practice of home demolitions and forced evictions, 2020 has recorded the second highest number of demolished Palestinian-owned structures and properties. Such breaches of international law have dispossessed hundreds of Palestinian families, affecting thousands of people. Even in the midst of a pandemic, the occupying Power has not hesitated to render hundreds more Palestinians homeless as it pursues its illegal colonization and annexation schemes.

In this regard, the Israeli occupying forces are routinely accompanied by extremist Israeli settlers and settler militias in their violent attacks against Palestinian civilians, destruction and property, forced evictions and displacement, expansion of illegal settlements, and acts of incitement and provocation, including at holy sites in Occupied East Jerusalem. Likewise, aided and abetted by the occupation forces, Israeli settler violence and terror has escalated in the recent period, with settlers attacking Palestinian civilians, razing large areas of Palestinian land, and uprooting and burning trees across the occupied West Bank. While unconditional security is provided to settlers by the occupying forces, the Palestinian civilian population remains vulnerable due to the occupation’s starkly different treatment of Palestinians and settlers, with the latter enjoying rights and protection that the former is completely deprived of, as Israel imposes its racist, discriminatory, apartheid regime in Occupied Palestine in grave breach of international law.

Absent accountability, it is clear that such injustice and impunity will only continue to rise, causing more human suffering, diminishing hopes for a just solution, and further impairing the viability of international law, which is being trampled before the world’s eyes with no reaction. As we approach a new year, we urgently appeal to the international community to make this the year where the law is upheld and impunity is stopped. It is time for the international community to assume its responsibilities towards this unlawful situation in Palestine. International law, including the relevant United Nations resolutions, must be upheld and, where breached consequences, must follow. Only implementation and accountability can reverse these negative and destructive trends and salvage the possibility for a just, lasting and comprehensive solution by which the Palestinian and Israeli peoples can live in mutual peace and security. There is no other way.

This letter is in follow-up to our 699 letters regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which constitutes the territory of the State of Palestine.  These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 15 December 2020 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2020/xxx) constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations being committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. 

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have this letter distributed as an official document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Dr. Riyad Mansour

Minister, Permanent Observer

Filed Under: Identical Letters, Mission Documents Tagged With:

15 December 2020 – Escalating Israeli crimes in Occupied Palestine

15 December 2020 by

Excellency,

Despite our repeated appeals for international action to deter Israel from its criminal behavior towards the Palestinian people, the lack of serious efforts to hold the occupying Power accountable and ensure protection, as prescribed by international humanitarian law, has left the Palestinian people even more vulnerable to the brutality of this occupation.

The absence of accountability has without a doubt emboldened Israel’s crimes throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. While such abuse of the law and of human rights should be high on the Security Council’s agenda, its continued silence and inaction has regrettably allowed these violations to go unchecked and impaired the Council’s credibility and ability to uphold its Charter-mandated responsibilities, not only towards the Palestine question, but on other critical matters on its agenda, to the detriment of the international system as a whole.

As part of its relentless settlement colonization scheme, Israel has continued to confiscate Palestinian land, demolish Palestinian homes and properties, displace Palestinian civilians and expand its settlements, all in grave breach of international law and UN resolutions. Even in just the one week since my last letter to you, the occupation has undertaken countless more illegal actions in this regard.

The occupying Power has announced it plans to seize large tracts of land near the Palestinian city of Nablus for the expansion of its illegal “Yitzhar” settlement, whose settler population is notoriously known for incitement and violence. These illegal plans involve the expropriation of privately-owned and agricultural land from the villages of Asira al-Qibliya, Burin, and Madama, gravely impacting the lives and livelihoods of numerous Palestinian families as Israel aims to expand this illegal through the construction of new settler-only roads, outposts, military zones, and other colonial schemes used to entrench the occupation and advance its annexation attempts.

We must reiterate: the proliferation of illegal settlements, including in particular in areas in and around occupied East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nablus and Al-Khalil (Hebron), are severely fragmenting the territory of Occupied Palestine, consolidating the illegal annexation of Jerusalem, and destroying the viability of the two-State solution on the pre-1967 borders. The continued construction of tunnels, overpasses, and highways to connect these illegal settlements is cutting through and around Palestinian towns, setting the stage for an explosive settlement growth accompanied by the illegal transfer of more Israeli settlers and with this the pervasive violence that has traumatized millions of Palestinians.

This is all being carried out in grave breach of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the ICC, and countless UN resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), which explicitly demanded a halt to all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, we recall that the Council, inter alia, unequivocally:

  • Underlined “that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations”;
  • Called upon States “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967”.

To facilitate this illegal colonization of our land, Israel has heavily relied on the forced transfer of Palestinian population in order to replace them with Israeli settlers. This is blatant ethnic cleansing. In addition to the seizure of land, the demolition of Palestinian homes continues to be the crime of choice for enacting these unlawful and destructive schemes.

On 8 December, accompanied by a heavy military presence and bulldozers, Israeli occupation forces demolished several Palestinian homes in Shalal al-Auja, displacing more than 40 residents. They sealed off all entrances to the town before attacking residents who desperately attempted to save their homes. Shalal al-Auja has been relentlessly targeted by the occupation, with Palestinian residents routinely prevented from accessing their natural resources, particularly the spring and nearby water wells, which are exclusively accessed by Israeli settlers from nearby illegal settlements. Such inhumane policies clearly aim to deprive the Palestinian population and restrict their development, forcing them to pay for overpriced water supplies from the occupying Power’s companies, which directly supply illegal settlements with water exploited from Palestinian land.

Occupied East Jerusalem also continues to be heavily targeted by Israeli demolition and eviction practices. On 3 and 23 November, Israeli courts ruled to uphold the eviction of eight Palestinian families in the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, affecting 45 people, including children, and of the Sabbagh family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, impacting 32 people, including six children. If this illegal, inhumane plan is not stopped, all of these families will be dispossessed of their homes and forcibly transferred.

We note in this regard the important statement issued by European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah on 11 December regarding the imminent eviction of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, particularly in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, where entire communities of close to 200 families are now at risk of losing their homes. The EU statement once again underscored the illegality of Israel’s policies and stressed its obligations as an occupying Power under international humanitarian law and called on the Israeli authorities to reverse the rulings on the intended evictions.

Yet, regrettably, despite repeated warnings about Israel’s intensification of land appropriation, home demolition, and eviction policies and demands for cessation, little has been done in response to the continuation of these crimes. This has only emboldened the occupying Power to persist with its colonization of the Palestinian land and forced transfer of the Palestinian people. The time for action for accountability is now if we are ever to reverse these negative and destructive trends on the ground.

With utter disregard for the lockdown measures declared in the occupied West Bank due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Israeli occupying forces have also intensified assaults and attacks on civilians through arrest campaigns and nightly raids. In the week since my last letter, dozens more Palestinian civilians, including children, have been arrested, savagely interrogated, detained and imprisoned without charge. On 9 December, Israeli occupation forces conducted multiple military raids and detained 18 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, among them minors. In the month of November alone, Israel forces detained 413 Palestinians during raids in the occupied territories, including 49 minors under the age of 18 and seven women.

Palestinian children and youth continue to be especially targeted in such military raids. On 29 November, Mohammed Moqbel, age 16, was detained by Israeli soldiers during an incursion of Arroub refugee camp, north of Al-Khalil (Hebron).  Mohammed suffered a broken jaw when an Israeli soldier struck him in the face with a rifle and was physically assaulted by three other soldiers after he was already in custody. Instead of being provided with medical care, Mohammed was brought before interrogators who verbally assaulted him, and was left outside in the cold, bound and blindfolded, for six hours. He was later transferred to a hospital, where his hands and feet were shackled to the bed. Mohammed’s unwarranted detention was extended by an Israeli military judge on 1 December.

As found by Defense for Children International Palestine, “Israeli forces know that systemic impunity will allow them to continue to subject unnecessary violence against Palestinian children without ever being held accountable. Physical violence and ill-treatment of Palestinian child detainees is widespread and institutionalized in the Israeli military detention system.”

Turning to the situation in the Gaza Strip, we must again sound the alarm about the deplorable humanitarian and socioeconomic conditions there due to Israel’s 13-year blockade that has inflicted such severe deprivation, hunger and misery on its two million inhabitants. Farmlands continue to be targeted by occupation forces, with repeated incursions in recent weeks. On 9 December, Israeli military tanks and bulldozers advanced to the east of Juhor ad-Dik, near Gaza City, and razed lands and set up earth mounds for military posts located beyond Israeli territory and several hundred meters into Gaza, leading to intermittent fire by the occupation forces.

Despite Israel’s claims of so-called “disengaging” from Gaza, its illegal air, sea and land blockade blatantly contradict such claims and underscore its role and responsibilities as an occupying Power. The irony in Israel’s attempts to create alternative interpretations over its brutal blockade on Gaza is to cover its colonial intentions in the rest of Occupied Palestinian Territory.

More than 53 years of ruthless military occupation has proven that Israel has no regard for international law, and that statements alone will not compel its respect for the law, and will not avert the looming destruction of the two-State solution and peace prospects. Serious deterrent action is  required to appropriately reflect the global and principled commitment to the standing and universal application of international law. This must start with accountability measures.

The Council must demand a halt to the occupation’s violations in order to protect civilian lives, civilian properties and the chances for a just peace. Continued inaction will only undermine the foundations of international law and bolster agendas that seek to blur the lines between what is legal and illegal, and what is moral and immoral. This must be countered with utmost urgency.

The implementation of Security Council resolutions must remain at the forefront of global efforts to promote accountability and justice. The international community is at a critical moment with so much at stake, and the Palestinian people look to it to give true meaning to the law and to the stated commitment to human rights and equality for all, without which conflict will never end and peace and security will remain elusive. It is time now to come together to bring an end to the longest military occupation in modern history.

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter made available to the members of the Security Council for their immediate, valuable consideration and also distributed as an official document of the Security Council.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Dr. Riyad Mansour

Minister, Permanent Observer

Filed Under: Uncategorized

7 December 2020 – Letter on Israeli Killing of Palestinian Children and Attack on Church

07 December 2020 by

Excellency,

Despite our repeated appeals for international action to deter Israel from its criminal behavior towards the Palestinian people, the lack of serious efforts to hold the occupying Power accountable and ensure protection to the Palestinian people, as prescribed by international humanitarian law, has left our people even more vulnerable to the brutality of this occupation.

The failure to impose consequences that would reign in Israel’s unlawful actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, has propelled a vicious culture of impunity by which this colonial occupation has only become more entrenched, more destructive and more violent over time, with  home demolitions, land appropriation, settler violence and terror, extrajudicial killings, mass arrests, and de facto annexation unabated and escalating.

Such impunity, including direct attacks against civilians, among them children, have become more frequent and shockingly normalized by the occupation, even more so during the pandemic. Today, four Palestinian men were shot and injured during an Israeli military raid of the Qalandiya refugee camp, three of them reported to be in critical condition. On 25 November, Israeli soldiers shot and killed Noor Jamal Shuqeir, age 38, at a checkpoint in East Jerusalem, claiming that Mr. Shuqeir was involved in an attack. However, as details emerged, Israeli authorities revised their claims, stating that it remains unclear if Mr. Shuqeir intended to carry out an attack. According to footage released by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, Mr. Shuqeir was running away from an ambushing group of Israeli soldiers before being fatally shot. Such extrajudicial killings have become a systematic practice of the occupation, amounting to war crimes against the occupied civilian population.

In this regard, on 4 December, a 14-year-old boy, Ali Abu Alia was shot and killed by Israeli occupying forces in al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah. Ali is the fifth Palestinian child to be killed by Israeli live ammunition this year. Ali was among community members protesting Israel’s colonization policies in and around the village. There is absolutely no justification for such use of force against civilians and certainly not children.

The Palestinian people are compelled to ask; how many more Palestinian children will be robbed of their lives until Israel abides by international law? This heinous murder should remind the international community that children are protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention and other provisions of international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet, paradoxically, Palestinian children continue to be routinely killed and maimed by the occupying forces, while the perpetrators are routinely shielded from responsibility. We call on the international community to act to bring an end to the occupation’s state-sponsored killing of Palestinian children, for which Israel must be fully held accountable.

As the international community remains overwhelmed with the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, Israel intention to exploit these extraordinary circumstances is glaring. Rather than respecting the law and acting in solidarity with the international community at a time of global crisis, Israel is instead challenging every international norm and the international consensus on a just solution, bringing both to a breaking point. The fact is that, absent action making such rogue behavior consequential, Israel’s policy of ‘displace and replace’ has only intensified. Such systematic ethnic cleansing and colonization constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, and must be countered by the international community in both word and deed.

The proliferation of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in particular in areas in and around occupied East Jerusalem and Bethlehem in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention’s prohibition on transferring civilian population into occupied territory, is deeply rooted in Israel’s overall annexation schemes. The so-called “suspension” of such plans should therefore neither be cause for relief, nor applause, by the international community, as more Palestinian land is actually being devoured daily as the Israel lays the groundwork for de jure annexation.

We reiterate that whether annexation is implemented partially or totally, gradually or in one fell swoop, de facto or de jure, it is illegal and requires that the international community take serious, tangible action, in accordance with the clear obligations stipulated by international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016).

In this regard, it must be noted that, in the last month, there has been an alarming spike in Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes and forced eviction of families, deliberately rendering hundreds more civilians homeless in the midst of a raging pandemic. According to OCHA, Israel has demolished more than 500 Palestinian homes and structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the start of 2020, with East Jerusalem a prime target. These decades-old policies, coupled with settler violence and impunity, aim to achieve demographic and territorial control of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, by driving the Palestinian people off of their land, ensuring Israel’s control of territory with as minimal Palestinian demography as possible.

The extensive territorial fragmentation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory is reflected in the growing presence of illegal Israeli settlements and settlers. As Israel, continues to cut off, isolate and wall-in Palestinian villages, towns and cities, the threat of settler violence and terror has simultaneously increased in every aspect of Palestinian daily life. On 4 December, an extremist Israeli settler attempted to burn down the Gethsemane Church in occupied East Jerusalem in this holy season for the Christian faithful. Fortunately, the attack, which burned several pews in the church, was thwarted by local Palestinian citizens who handed the perpetrator over to Israeli authorities, who would later shockingly claim that the attack by a Jewish extremist against the church was somehow not motivated by ideological beliefs.

Over past years, Israeli settlers have carried out several heinous attacks against Christian and Muslim sites, as well as priests and other religious officials, throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Such behavior has undoubtedly been fueled by Israel’s constant illegal measures, including its dangerous excavations and provocations in connection with holy sites, including its demolition last week of the stairway leading to the historic Yusufia cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem. The aim has clearly been to undermine the Palestinian people’s connection to their land and holy sites, including to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, the legal and historic status quo of which Israel continues to repeatedly violate, threatening to ignite a full-blown religious conflict.

Urgent action is required to prevent the proliferation of such provocative and hateful attacks. There must be accountability, which is a rare occurrence as Israeli settlers and fanatics, the direct beneficiaries of the two-tiered system in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, operate in a State-sponsored environment of impunity. We condemn this attack on the ancient Gethsemane Church, and call on the international community to condemn all such provocations and incitement and all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as reaffirmed in resolution 2334.

It is high time for the international community to stand for its commitments and obligations to address these ongoing crimes. We call on the international community, including the Security Council, to use all means available to it to uphold international law and implement UN resolutions and to demonstrate to the Palestinian people that they are not alone in the struggle for their inalienable rights and self-determination, as prominently enshrined in the UN Charter.

One thing that Israel, the occupying Power, fails to see is, although it enjoys the inaction of the international system, is that it is rapidly losing its credibility in the eyes of the peoples of conscience of the world, for whom resolving this grave injustice remains a matter of urgency and priority. We appeal once more for collective action, based on the longstanding international consensus enshrined in the relevant UN resolution, to bring a halt to these crimes against the Palestinian people by holding Israel accountable for its illegal 53-year occupation. This must include, inter alia, firm respect of the obligations of non-recognition, non-assistance and non-complicity with its illegal settlement colonization enterprise in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem. Only accountability can remedy this grave situation and also finally prove opportune that international law applies to all without exception, including to the Question of Palestine.

This letter is in follow-up to our 697 letters regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which constitutes the territory of the State of Palestine.  These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 17 November 2020 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2019/xxx) constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations being committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. 

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter made available to the members of the Security Council for their immediate, valuable consideration and also distributed as an official document of the Security Council.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Dr. Riyad Mansour

Minister, Permanent Observer

Filed Under: Identical Letters, Mission Documents, Uncategorized Tagged With:

General Statement after Vote by Ambassador Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, United Nations General Assembly, Resolutions under Agenda Item 38: Question of Palestine, 75th Session, 2 December 2020

02 December 2020 by

Thank you Mr. President,

I wish to take this opportunity to express the State of Palestine’s sincere gratitude to all the Member States that voted in support of the important resolutions that have just been adopted by the General Assembly under agenda item 38, Question of Palestine, once again by a resounding majority.

We convey additional appreciation to those countries that cosponsored these resolutions for their strong endorsement and support, and express in this regard our special appreciation to Senegal, Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, for leading the co-sponsorship of these resolutions, to Namibia, Vice-Chair of the Committee for presenting the resolutions to the Assembly; and to Afghanistan, Vice-Chair and Acting Rapporteur of the Committee, for presenting the annual report of the Committee, reflecting on the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people, the continued search for a just solution, and the Committee’s continuous efforts in this regard, in line with its General Assembly mandate, since it was established in 1975, forty-five years ago.

We renew our gratitude in this regard to all Members and Observers of the Committee and to the Division for Palestinian Rights and the Department of Global Communication’s Special Information Programme on Palestine for all of their efforts, advocacy and outreach in support of the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the achievement of a just, lasting and peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Question of Palestine as a whole in accordance with international law and the relevant UN resolutions.

Mr. President,

The resolutions adopted today constitute important contributions by the General Assembly, in line with international law and the letter and spirit of multilateralism, towards addressing the fundamental issues and prolonged challenges we continue to face more than seventy-two years since the Nakba that befell the Palestinian people in 1948 and the dire consequences and painful hardships they continue to endure to this day, including the continued deprivation and denial of the right to return of more than 5.6 million Palestine refugees and the cruel, fifty-three year Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land and oppression of the Palestinian people since 1967.

Central to all of the resolutions just adopted, both the programmatic and political, is the goal of a just, lasting, comprehensive and peaceful solution to the Question of Palestine that will bring an end to the Israeli occupation, fulfill the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination and freedom in an independent, sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the pre-1967 borders, and a just solution to the Palestine refugee question on the basis of General Assembly resolution 194 (III). These are the pillars of a just and lasting Palestinian-Israeli peace and of genuine security and stability for both peoples and the region, pillars on which the international consensus remains strong, as reflected in the overwhelming support once again for the resolution on the “Peaceful settlement of the Question of Palestine”.

Mr. President,

We reject the offensive remarks by the Israeli representative against the integrity of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people and against the States who have sponsored and voted in favor of these resolutions. This is not the so-called “Question of Palestine”, as he flippantly stated, it is in fact the longest standing item on the UN agenda. And, once again he went on to insult the General Assembly by claiming everyone in this chamber is “detached from reality”. On the contrary, this is reality and what has been said here in the General Assembly are not so-called “Palestinian talking points”, these are the international talking points, this is the international consensus, the consensus that Israel – the occupying Power – continues to reject, obstruct, deny, belittle, and attempt futilely to destroy.

The debate today in this chamber, with the participation of countries from every region of the globe, is clear expression of international law and its respect by the international community. The exception is Israel, which refuses to abide by international law, flagrantly trampling the Charter, international humanitarian and human rights law and UN resolutions, having gotten too accustomed to violating the law with zero consequences.

We reiterate what was stated in our intervention earlier today: it is high time for accountability for such blatant and systematic breaches of international law and violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people. Only accountability can change this miserable situation and give hope for a future of justice and peace. Peace cannot be built on the basis of illegality and oppression. Peace is built on the foundation of justice, that is international law, and upon compromise, and no one, no one, has made a greater compromise for peace than the Palestinian people and their leadership.

The hypocritical and degrading claim by the Israeli representative that this institution’s approach has “failed” perhaps should highlight even more the need for concrete action by States to implement the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and of course the Security Council, to give meaning and substance to the commitments made, to give life to the international consensus, and to ensure accountability for such illegal and contemptuous behavior, which we all know is what is causing so much grief and suffering in Occupied Palestine, what has undermined every single peace initiative and negotiations across over two decades, and what is preventing the establishment of genuine peace and security between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and in the Middle East region as a whole.

We urge mobilization of the necessary political will to change course of decades of inaction towards real action for a peaceful end to this conflict. We call for respect of these resolutions and the obligations and commitments affirmed therein. Implementation is not only paramount for the realization of just solution, but equally paramount for the credibility of this organization and the viability of our international rules-based order for the benefit of all countries and peoples.

Mr. President,

In closing, I wish to reiterate our deep gratitude for principled support given to the resolutions on the Question of Palestine and for the support and solidarity to the Palestinian people expressed in the debate and in the many messages of solidarity received in these past days, from all corners of the globe, from countries small and large, in commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. These resolutions reflect the collective will of the international community to uphold the law as it pertains to the Palestine question and ultimately contribute to a just, lasting and peaceful solution. For this, the General Assembly should be proud.

I thank you, Mr. President.

Filed Under: About Palestine, Mission Documents, Statements Tagged With: ,

Statement by H.E. Dr. Riyad Mansour, Ambassador, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations General Assembly, Agenda Item 38: Question of Palestine, Agenda Item 37: Situation in the Middle East, 2 December 2020, New York:

02 December 2020 by

Mr. President,

We thank you for convening the General Assembly address the Question of Palestine as we mark 73 years since the Assembly’s adoption of resolution 181 (II) and decision to partition historic Palestine. The consequences of that decision continue to unfold to this day as the Palestinian people have been left without remedy for the injustice done to them, enduring decades of exile as refugees since the 1948 Nakba, decades of foreign occupation and oppression, and denial of their most basic human rights.

Mr. President, we deeply appreciate the principled stance you have affirmed and your calls for respect of United Nations resolutions and the mobilization of international efforts to end this injustice and achieve Palestinian-Israeli peace and security, crucial for both regional and international peace and security.

Today, we also reiterate our deep gratitude for the support and solidarity extended by the international community, including unequivocal support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to live in freedom, independence and dignity in their homeland, an inalienable right we will never forsake.

The messages received on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – from governments, parliaments, civil society and peoples of conscience across the world – reassure us, even in these difficult times, of the strength of this support, firmly rooted in the UN Charter, international law, and the principle of the equality of all peoples and nations. Your solidarity has helped us persevere despite the many hardships and crises faced by generations of Palestinians, who remain steadfast in the struggle for their rights and the belief that justice and peace will ultimately prevail.

Mr. President,

While grateful for this global solidarity, we come today with an urgent appeal for action to back it up. Statements are not enough. The time is past due to fulfill the longstanding promises to Palestine that have kept an entire people in limbo for over a century. States must fulfill their obligations under international law, including in implementation of UN resolutions and obligations under the 4th Geneva Convention, if we are ever to heal these wounds and enter a new era of justice and peace.

Without action – without accountability and real consequences – it is painfully apparent that Israel, the occupying Power, will continue to ignore the international community and trample international law, violating the rights of the Palestinian people and destroying the prospects for genuine peace, security and coexistence. Words and commitments must be backed by serious action, employing all legitimate political, legal and popular means available. History teaches us that this is how all other forms of colonialism and apartheid were defeated. Palestine cannot be the exception.

Decades of appeasing this illegal occupation have not worked, and neither have the attempts to break will of the Palestinian people, as proven in recent years despite the pressures of one punitive measure after another. Attempts to bully and exhaust them into accepting partial solutions will never work; the Palestinian people will never accept less than their legitimate national rights, less than their full human rights, less than freedom.

A just solution rests in international law. It is that simple. International law is rightly at the center of the international consensus on the Palestine question and the parameters enshrined in General Assembly and Security Council resolutions and in the Madrid principles and Arab Peace Initiative.

We respect and have long aligned ourselves with the international consensus, in word and deed. The two-State solution was devised by the international community, but the Palestinian leadership was courageous enough to accept it, over 32 years ago, when it made the major, historic compromise of declaring the independence of the State of Palestine on the 4 June 1967 lines.

There is only one State that has never accepted the internationally-agreed parameters and never truly and honestly endorsed the two-State solution, instead continually working against it, undermining it every single day with countless illegal and destructive policies and practices: Israel, the occupying Power.

Mr. President,

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory since 1967, including East Jerusalem, is illegal in every aspect and must end. This occupation is propped up only through systematic breaches of international law, many amounting to war crimes, and long ago passed the threshold of legality. Whether the settlement colonization and annexation of our land, or the repression, collective punishment and apartheid against our people, all must end.

Those who believe Israel has actually suspended or ceased its annexation plans are, willfully or mistakenly, ignoring what is happening, every single day, in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem. Settlements are being rabidly expanded as Israel moves ahead with plans to construct thousands more settlement units in just the period since its so-called “suspension” announcement, especially in the Jerusalem and Bethlehem areas, proving over and over that it rejects the two-State solution and has no intention to end its occupation.

The occupying Power also persists with its wall construction, confiscation of Palestinian land, exploitation of natural resources, dangerous excavations under holy sites, and violations of the historic status quo at Al-Haram Al-Sharif. Hundreds more homes and civilian structures, including schools and clinics, have been demolished. Palestinian families are being evicted and dispossessed, rendered homeless even in this time of pandemic, as our civilians are forcibly transferred in an ongoing ethnic cleansing. Extremist settlers and militias, abetted by the Israeli military and openly funded and incited by the Israeli government, also continue their reign of violence and terror, attempting to drive our people from their land.

The scope and scale of the occupation’s human rights violations are too vast to enumerate here, but are corroborated by the many reports of UN agencies and international organizations. Palestinian children, women and men tragically continue to be killed and injured in daily military raids on Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps. Palestinians, especially young males, continue to be arrested, administratively detained, imprisoned, medically neglected and tortured, with nearly five thousand now captive in Israeli jails, including at least 155 children. The bodies of Palestinians killed by the occupying forces continue to withheld, obstructing their proper burial and deepening the trauma endured by their families.

Moreover, Israel continues to collectively punish the Palestinian people and impose a racist, apartheid regime controlling and blighting every aspect of their lives. The occupying forces routinely threaten, humiliate and abuse Palestinian civilians, particularly at the hundreds of military checkpoints restricting freedom of movement and fragmenting our land into walled-in, isolated Bantustans. Most shocking remains the illegal 13-year blockade by which Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into an open-air prison and methodically inflicted a humanitarian crisis on the entire civilian population in what constitutes a massive violation of human rights tantamount to a crime against humanity.

This cruel and deliberate deprivation of 2 million people is nearing the brink of disaster, averted only by international humanitarian support, foremost via UNRWA, which itself faces a financial crisis threatening continuity of its vital assistance to 5.6 million Palestine refugees across the region. We appeal for attention to this crisis, demanding an end to the Israeli blockade and calling for support to UNRWA to ensure the well-being of the refugees pending a just solution to their plight.

Mr. President,

Against this dire backdrop, humanitarian support and positions of principles remain of utmost importance. But neither assistance nor statements alone will ever be enough to rectify this situation. The occupation in all of its manifestations is illegal, immoral, an affront to the rules-based order, and must end.

To those who claim “the same old methods won’t work”, we say: We fully agree. The situation is beyond untenable and attempts to continue “managing” the conflict unacceptable and dangerous. The international community needs to break out from the old cycle of appeasing Israel even as it flagrantly breaches the law, violates human rights, and destroys the two-State solution on the pre-1967 borders.

The failure to uphold the law and human rights standards when it comes to the Israeli occupation and the failure to enact consequences for violations has only emboldened more violations. States must act on their responsibilities and commitments and end the double-standard of rewarding, rather than punishing Israel, for its illegal behavior. It’s singling out for exception treatment must end here and now. There is no alternative if we are to change the dismal situation that prevails.

Accountability is the key to deter further crimes, spare the suffering of more innocents, and create a credible horizon that can take us from talking and dreaming of a just peace to making it a reality. Accountability is a legal obligation and is what can ultimately compel compliance in the face of decades intransigence and help us open a new chapter that brings both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples peace, stability and security.

The General Assembly’s resolution “Peaceful settlement of the Question of Palestine”, along with other relevant resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334, have long set forth the legal obligations of States and the pillars of a just peace. Those terms of reference and parameters continue to enjoy broad international support. Significantly, this international consensus has not wavered despite Israel’s constant undermining of the two-State solution and the punitive actions and pressures by the Trump administration. Clearly, when the will for justice and peace is strong, nothing is irreversible.

What is needed now is the political will to take concrete action, including lawful countermeasures to bring the necessary pressure to bear to bring a halt to Israeli violations, and collective efforts to salvage and restore peace prospects, which are diminished every day that action is delayed.

We urge all States to uphold international law in regards to the Palestine question, in word and deed, including through support for our UN resolutions and tangible efforts to implement them at the national and international levels.

We urge support for President Abbas’ call for an international peace conference in 2021 based on the international consensus enshrined in UN resolutions as the most effective means to resolve this conflict and establish a just and lasting peace. We call for activation of the Security Council in line with its Charter duties, the Quartet in line with its mandate, and all concerned regional and international partners for this purpose.

We urge continued support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination and independence, and call for recognition of the State of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, by States who have not done so.

We urge the continued provision of humanitarian and development assistance, including to the Palestine refugees through UNRWA, until a just solution to their plight in accordance with resolution 194 (III), which affirmed their right to return.

Lastly, we call for practical measures to ensure respect for the Charter and all relevant provisions of international law. This must include support for international accountability mechanisms, including legal action in courts, including at the ICC and ICJ. Israeli government officials, organizations, and corporations and individuals aiding and abetting this illegal occupation must be held accountable. We also call on all States to ensure they are not complicit with Israel’s illegal actions. States have a duty not to recognize as legitimate the unlawful situation created by Israel’s policies and measures in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, including as a result of its settlement activities; not to render aid or assistance in maintaining this unlawful situation; and to distinguish, in all of their relevant dealings, between the territory of the occupying Power and the territory occupied since 1967, including with regard to Jerusalem, as called for by Security Council resolution 2334 (2016).

One very basic yet crucial step in this regard is to ban the entry to markets of settlement products – produced in illegal settlements and with natural resources illegally exploited from our land. This is a minimal ask, as is the obligation to ensure that agreements signed between any State and the State of Israel are not applied to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. This is where accountability begins and how the road to a just solution and a better future is paved.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian people and leadership remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice and peace. The path we have chosen to resolve the Question of Palestine, the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict and cornerstone of peace and security in the Middle East, is a peaceful path. We are committed to diplomatic, political, legal and non-violent means to realize our rights. This includes negotiations, to which we long ago committed, but is not exclusive of other efforts and cannot be detached from respect for international law and UN resolutions, the guarantors of a just solution.

We urge all who believe in the purposes and principles of this organization and the rule of law to join us in our peaceful efforts. In this regard, we urge support for the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, whose mandate is rooted in the relevant resolutions and international consensus and whose work has always upheld the spirit of multilateralism, dialogue and peaceful settlement of conflicts at the heart of the UN. We reject the false claims that the Committee is biased or anti-Israeli; this is simply not true and the Committee’s efforts with partners from across the international community, including parliamentarians and civil society, both Palestinian and Israeli, is testament to that fact.

We are grateful to the Committee for its support for the Palestinian people’s rights and its constant, positive engagement aimed at promoting just, lasting, comprehensive peace, whereby the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, can live side by side with Israel, based on the pre-1967 borders, in peace and security. We thank Senegal and Ambassador Cheikh Niang, Chair of the Committee, for undertaking this important responsiblity over the years, and thank all other Bureau members – Vice-Chairs Afghanistan, Cuba, Indonesia, Namibia and Nicaragua – along with all Committee Members and Observers for their unwavering, principled support. We also thank the Division for Palestinian Rights, as well as the Department of Global Communications’ Programme on Palestine, for such commendable efforts.

In closing, we renew our appreciation to Secretary-General António Gutteres for his leadership on the Palestine question, including through the good offices of his Special Representative and UN Special Coordinator, and our deep gratitude for the tireless efforts of the many UN agencies assisting the Palestinian people – UNRWA, OCHA, UNDP, UNICEF, OHCHR, UN Women, WFP, WHO, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNCTAD and UNMAS – with the generous support of States, organizations and partners from around the world. We urge continuation of this life-saving and hope-giving support, while at the same time, once again, urging the international community to redouble the efforts to fulfill the political, legal and moral obligations towards the Palestine question, and to act forthwith to bring an end to the occupation, assist the Palestinian people in achieving their long-denied rights, including to self-determination and freedom, and finally achieve a just and lasting peace.

I thank you, Mr. President.

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