5 January 2021 – Israeli Human Rights Abuses and Violations

Excellency,

In light of recent developments, I am compelled to once again draw your attention to the critical situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, due to the ongoing and escalating illegal policies and practices of Israel, the occupying Power.

For the Palestinian people, this new year, as every year, has begun with grave violations of international law and human rights abuses perpetrated by the occupying Power as its ruthlessly entrenches its control over Palestinian land and Palestinian lives through brutal and exploitative measures, including in this time of heightened vulnerability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, Israeli forces shot and killed another young Palestinian man, ‘Ahed Ikhlil, age 25, from the town of Beit Ummar in the Occupied West Bank. This killing was preceded on 2 January by the shooting of Haron Abu Aram, age 24, at close range by Israeli occupation forces in Masafer Yatta. This young man is now permanently disabled, paralyzed from the neck down, making him the latest victim of Israeli impunity. In an attempt to justify the attack, Israeli occupation authorities claim the incident turned violent. However, video footage proves otherwise, as Abu Aram posed no threat and lay motionless on the ground after being attacked for trying to defend his land and his property, including a generator for his family’s home, which the Israeli soldiers were trying to confiscate.

Like many Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, Abu Aram was in the process of rebuilding his family’s home, which was recently demolished under the pretext of construction without a permit. Yet, as highlighted repeatedly by Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov, Israel, violating its Fourth Geneva Conventions obligations, makes it nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain such permits, as it aims to deliberately restrict Palestinian development and dispossess Palestinian families, creating a coercive environment impairing their well-being and livelihoods and forcing them to leave their land.

For all of these systematic abuses and violations, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators be brought to justice. The absence of accountability has clearly only emboldened such illegal behavior, with near-daily demolition orders issued and threats made against Palestinian families. In fact, according to OCHA, the year 2020 witnessed the highest number of demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures by the Israeli occupation forces since the documentation of this practice began and all indications are that Israel is set to continue this illegal, destructive practice if not deterred.

In 2020, exploiting the international community’s inaction, Israel also continued its violent arrest and detention campaign in Occupied Palestine. In the course of just one year, the Israeli occupying forces detained 4,636 Palestinians, including 543 minors under the age of 18 and 128 women. Israel has also persisted with its policy of administrative detention, the most arbitrary form of detention by the Israeli military holds Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial, often tortured and subjected to other forms of ill-treatment and human rights violations. 380 Palestinians are currently being administratively detained by Israel without charge, among them children and women.

Governments, human rights groups, and other international organizations have called for the release of these Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons without being charged, tried, or convicted. As expected, such calls are blatantly ignored by Israel, adding more to the massive record of documented violations perpetrated daily against the Palestinian people under its 53-year belligerent occupation.

Massive arrest campaigns and raids by the occupying Power are daily occurrences throughout Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, with utter disregard for the state of emergency in the West Bank due to the pandemic. In just one example, while conducting campaigns and raids on New Year’s Eve, on 31 December, Israeli occupation forces violently stormed homes and damaged properties, and arrested 16 Palestinians, including four minors.

Hundreds of Palestinians being held captive in Israeli prisons also suffer from critical illnesses, among them many who are chronically ill. It is known that at least 10 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel,  including 81-year-old Fouad Shoubaki, the oldest prisoner, have cancer and are in need of special medical treatment. From Israel’s medical negligence of prisoners to the inhumane practice of necroviolence by which the occupying Power withholds the bodies of Palestinians it has murdered, international law obligations continue to be trampled and the Palestinian people pay the ultimate price for such impunity and lack of accountability, deprived of their most basic human rights and fundamental human dignity.

We appeal to the international community to address Israel’s collective violence and dehumanizing practices against the living and deceased, in order to ensure respect for international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, by the occupying Power. Legal obligations are just that – obligatory, without exception – and cannot be disregarded and violated without consequence.

In this regard, it is no coincidence that Israel has begun the new year with plans to seize more Palestinian land and expand its illegal settlements. Undeterred as the international community once again failed in the past year to follow up its demands for a cessation of Israel’s colonization and annexation schemes with action, the occupying Power continues apace with such illegal measures. In fact, it seems to even be encouraged to do so as international partners fawn over recent agreements signed between Israel and Arab States while ignoring the reality of what is being perpetrated on the ground in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, on a daily basis.  That reality exposes Israel’s colonial agenda as clearly as ever: more Palestinian land without the people.

On 3 January, Israeli occupation authorities approved plans to seize more large tracts of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area to facilitate the expansion of its illegal settlement network while further fragmenting Palestinian cities, towns, and villages. These plans are part and parcel of Israel’s plans to consolidate a ring of illegal settlements between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, causing irreversible damage to the contiguity of the State of Palestine and the viability of the two-State solution on the pre-1967 borders.

Clearing the area of Palestinian civilians and properties before seizure of the land continues to be the usual Israeli practice as it systematically and gradually swallows up the Palestinian land, dunum by dunum. More Palestinian homes, as well as internationally-funded humanitarian structures, have thus continued to be demolished, exacerbating the already severe crisis caused by the pandemic. In just one recent incident, on 29 December, Israeli occupation forces demolished Palestinian homes and structures in Yatta, south of Al-Khalil (Hebron), and Nweimeh, south of Jericho. The following day, Israeli occupation forces uprooted dozens of olive trees and razed large tracts of privately-owned land in the village of Jab’a, near Bethlehem.

Extremist Israeli settlers have continued their violent rampages, also uprooting and burning trees and agricultural crops, destroying the livelihoods of more Palestinian families, who continue to live under their constant threats, harassment and vulnerable to their violence. At the same time, extremist and fanatic Israeli settlers continue their dangerous incitement and attacks on holy sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque at Al-Haram Al-Sharif.

The international community must explicitly demand once again that Israel immediately cease all of its illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Settlement activities constitute a flagrant violation of international law amounting to grave breaches, i.e. war crimes. Israel must be demanded to abide by its legal obligations, including under the Fourth Geneva Convention, as reaffirmed in Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), or suffer the consequences of its rogue behavior. All perpetrators of crimes against the Palestinian people, whether Israeli government or military officials or settlers illegally transferred to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, must be held accountable to the full extent of the law, including international criminal law as codified in the Rome Statute.

Absent accountability, Israel’s over 53-year occupation is entrenching by the minute. Those familiar with Israel’s conduct know that a new year will not change its illegal behavior. As long as impunity is coupled with the lack of accountability, Israel will remain shielded while international law, including legislation by the Security Council, are trampled and undermined. The negative, dangerous and dark trends created by this illegal occupation can only be reversed through accountability that upholds international law and the relevant UN resolutions. The time for mandated action is more indispensable than ever; it is the only hope to reverse course and salvage the prospects for a solution that ensures that justice, freedom, equality, dignity and peace prevail. The implementation of Security Council resolutions and applicability of international law will depend on whether the Council seizes the opportunity to put an end to Israel’s crimes and violations, insisting on upholding the Charter without exception and fulfilling its responsibilities to confront injustice wherever it may occur.

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 29 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

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

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.

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:

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.

Statement by H.E. Riad Malki, Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine, before the Security Council Open Debate, 26 October 2020

Mr. President,

At the outset, I wish to thank Your Excellency Deputy Minister Vershinin for presiding over this meeting and for the leadership role of Russia in the pursuit of Middle East peace. Let me also thank my brother Mohamed Ali Nafti, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Tunisia, and H.E. Dang Minh Khoi, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, for participating in this meeting. I also wish to thank Mr. Mladenov for his briefing and efforts.

Mr. President,

It is time to drop the old talking points.

It is ridiculous to claim that the Palestinians “never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity”, when in fact the PLO signed an agreement with Israel just months after the start of the first ever negotiations between the two sides, despite all the shortcomings of those accords, which history has proven.

It is preposterous to consider that Israel’s right to security could justify its occupation and oppression of an entire nation for decades, or justify denying us our right to self-determination and to a sovereign and independent State, and or justify denying our own right to security.

It is absurd to claim that it is the Palestinian side that does not want negotiations, when Israel is the one trying, on the ground every single day, to illegally preempt the negotiations on all final status issues.

It is ludicrous to claim that the obstacle to peace is Palestinian intransigence, when our positions are actually aligned with the international consensus and the resolutions of this Council, while Israeli positions and policies are flagrantly in breach of international law and UN resolutions.

The parties identified final status issues that should be negotiated based on internationally-agreed terms of reference and parameters by 1999. Here is Netanyahu’s stance on these issues: Jerusalem, including occupied East Jerusalem, shall be Israeli. Illegal settlements shall remain in place. Refugees shall remain refugees. Israel shall continue to control our borders. Israel shall control all of the Jordan Valley and with it most of our natural resources. These positions are contemptuous and unlawful, and they translate into a simple truth: Israel does not want to end its illegal occupation, it wants to make it permanent. And we are the ones labeled ‘intransigent’?

It is time to abandon the failed recipes of the past.

We cannot allow Israeli unilateralism to prevail while the world continues calling for bilateral negotiations.

It is no longer enough to call on parties to negotiate, this call must be accompanied by measures to incentivize respect for obligations and to dissuade from illegal unilateral actions.

It is no longer enough to say settlements are illegal, one must ensure accountability, distinction and non-assistance.

It is no longer enough to speak of a two-State solution, it must be accompanied with the recognition of the State of Palestine and support to its sovereignty over the territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.

We could have tried to find answers to Israel’s violence through violence, to be heard and considered relevant. We did not.

We could have adopted a disruptive behaviour, since constructive behaviour is underrated these days. We did not.

We could have contributed to transforming this political conflict into a religious one, fueling it so we are not the only ones to feel its flames. We did not.

Despite decades of Israel’s oppressive policies, and of measures aimed to bring us to our knees, politically and financially, President Abbas called in his message to the General Assembly, as he has before this Council, the UN Secretary-General to undertake, in cooperation with the Quartet, mandated by this body to advance peace, and the Security Council, preparations to convene an international conference, with the participation of all concerned parties, early next year, to engage in a genuine peace process, based on international law, UN resolutions and the relevant terms of reference.

This call is the ultimate demonstration of our commitment to peace and to a path based on inclusion not exclusion, legality not illegality, negotiations not diktats, multilateralism not unilateralism. I know many of your countries have already expressed support to President Abbas’s initiative and we look forward to continue working with all of you to see it materialize, including through meetings of this Council, such as this one held during Russia’s presidency. 

Mr. President,

Israel decided, only under pressure, to freeze its plans for formal annexation of areas beyond occupied East Jerusalem. But it has not renounced its decades-long policy aiming to control maximum Palestinian land with minimum Palestinians, in other words maximum Palestinian geography with minimum Palestinian demography. Its de facto annexation continues with the advancement in recent days of 5000 settlement units deep into the West Bank, including in and around occupied East Jerusalem. The international community must act to salvage peace, or we will all bear the consequences.

As long as Israel does not bear the cost of occupation, and instead continues reaping its benefits, it will never negotiate in good faith. The international community must address the shortcomings of the past, by linking its relations with the parties to their respect of their obligations under international law and the peace process, by helping them reach an agreement and implementing it and by enforcing a binding timeframe.

The international peace conference can generate the necessary momentum and mobilize the international community at large to help the parties negotiate a peace agreement that will forever change our region. Anything else is volatile, and it is futile.

Two-third of our people were forced into exile, and we did not surrender. Tens of thousands were killed, and we did not surrender. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and we did not surrender. The equivalent of half of our male population, over 800,000 Palestinians, was arrested and we did not surrender. What makes anyone think we would surrender now?

Israel often wonders why we enjoy such international solidarity. It is because former colonial powers and liberation movements alike know these colonial policies well: violence, subjugation, intimidation, mass arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, humiliation, fragmentation of the land, confinement of the occupied people, expansion of illegal settlements, exploitation. They cannot support such actions. History has taught them better.

The international consensus, UNRWA’s mandate and role, the Palestinian people’s resilience have all been sorely tested. And yet they prevail. It is now time to take the initiative. There isn’t a people too many in the Middle East, there is an independent state missing. You cannot solve the Middle East equation by denying this fundamental factor. You cannot end this conflict without freedom for the Palestinian people, and our freedom will never be compatible with Israeli soldiers in our streets, Israeli drones in our skies and Israeli control over our borders.

Ask Maher Al-Akhras who has been on hunger strike for over 90 days to denounce, at the peril of his life, the most arbitrary form of detention, the so-called administrative detention, ask Amer Snobar, barely 18, and beaten to death yesterday by Israeli soldiers who had apprehended him and kept hitting him on his head and neck with the butt of their rifles until he could no longer breathe, ask the mother of the child killed on his way to school, the athlete whose leg was amputated after a sniper acted as if he was playing a videogame, the owner of a house built by years of sweat and destroyed in an instant, and the farmer whose crops were burnt by settlers, they will all tell you “we will not coexist with occupation”. We want to end occupation, so we can coexist, so we can know justice, so we can be free, so our region can know true peace and security.

Thank you Mr. President.

Statement of Solidarity and Appreciation to the City of New York from 167 UN Member States and Permanent Observers upon the initiative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

As the world faces its gravest test since the founding of the United Nations, and countries grapple with the devastating consequences of COVID-19, we all recall the very reasons for joining this Organization. The existence of the United Nations stems from our understanding that global peace, prosperity and security cannot be achieved without global solidarity. COVID-19 stands as undeniable evidence that now, more than ever, we must work together to overcome the challenges we face.

New York City has been the home that has welcomed and nurtured collective action against global challenges. It is in New York City that multilateralism has found its most comprehensive expression. It is in New York City that the headquarters of the United Nations stand as our collective voice for peace, prosperity and solidarity.

Today this great city of New York is facing one of its biggest challenges in decades. COVID-19 has hit the City hard. Thousands of innocent lives have been lost. Thousands are struggling with the disease. The thriving, vibrant life of New York City has been disrupted.

We are fully confident that New York will overcome this crisis. New Yorkers will triumph over this challenge and will emerge stronger, more resilient. The heart of the City will beat stronger with determination, with achievement, with hope and with the promise of a better tomorrow.

We, members of the United Nations, stand in full solidarity with New York City and its great people.

We extend our deep appreciation and gratitude for the Heroes and Sheroes of New York City, who put their lives at risk every day, to save our own. Without the dedication and courage of New Yorkers: leadership, healthcare workers, police, fire fighters, and brave essential workers, this time of uncertainty would have been far more difficult. We salute them all.

We offer our deepest condolences for the loss of life that New York City has endured from the virus. Those who passed will remain in our hearts and prayers. Our thoughts and prayers are also with those who are battling this vicious disease.

We, the representatives of our Nations to the UN, have come to know the spirit of New York City. We know the strength of its people. We know that New Yorkers will win over this vicious enemy. We share our commitment, and stand in unity with the City of New York as we collectively work to defeat this unconventional enemy. And we will defeat it.

THANK YOU NEW YORK CITY

April 19th, 2020

Member States and Permanent Observers that have extended support to the Statement:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Albania
  3. Algeria
  4. Andorra
  5. Angola
  6. Argentina
  7. Armenia
  8. Australia
  9. Austria
  10. Azerbaijan
  11. Bahamas
  12. Bahrain
  13. Bangladesh
  14. Barbados
  15. Belgium
  16. Belize
  17. Benin
  18. Bhutan
  19. Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
  20. Bosnia and Herzgovina
  21. Botswana
  22. Brazil
  23. Bulgaria
  24. Burkina Faso
  25. Burundi
  26. Cabo Verde
  27. Canada
  28. Central African Republic
  29. Chad
  30. Chile
  31. China
  32. Colombia
  33. Comoros
  34. Congo
  35. Costa Rica
  36. Cote d’Ivoire 
  37. Croatia
  38. Cuba
  39. Cyprus
  40. Czech Republic
  41. Denmark
  42. Djibouti
  43. Dominican Republic
  44. Ecuador
  45. Egypt
  46. El-Salvador
  47. Equatorial Guinea
  48. Eritrea
  49. Estonia
  50. Fiji
  51. Finland
  52. France
  53. Gambia (Republic of The)
  54. Georgia
  55. Germany
  56. Ghana
  57. Greece
  58. Grenada
  59. Guatemala
  60. Guinea
  61. Guyana
  62. Haiti
  63. Honduras
  64. Hungary
  65. Iceland
  66. India
  67. Indonesia
  68. Iran (Islamic Republic of)
  69. Iraq
  70. Ireland
  71. Israel
  72. Italy
  73. Japan
  74. Jordan
  75. Kazakhstan
  76. Kenya
  77. Kuwait
  78. Kyrgyzstan
  79. Lao People’s Democratic Republic
  80. Latvia
  81. Lebanon
  82. Lesotho
  83. Liberia 
  84. Libya
  85. Liechtenstein
  86. Lithuania
  87. Luxembourg
  88. Madagascar
  89. Malawi
  90. Malaysia
  91. Maldives
  92. Mali
  93. Malta
  94. Marshal Islands
  95. Mauritius
  96. Mexico
  97. Micronesia (Federated States of)
  98. Monaco
  99. Mongolia
  100. Montenegro
  101. Morocco
  102. Namibia
  103. Nauru
  104. Nepal
  105. Netherlands
  106. New Zealand
  107. Nicaragua
  108. Niger
  109. Nigeria
  110. North Macedonia
  111. Norway
  112. Oman
  113. Pakistan
  114. Palau
  115. Panama
  116. Papua New Guinea
  117. Paraguay
  118. Peru
  119. Philippines
  120. Poland
  121. Portugal
  122. Qatar
  123. Republic of Korea
  124. Romania
  125. Russian Federation
  126. Rwanda
  127. Saint Lucia
  128. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  129. Samoa
  130. San Marino
  131. Saudi Arabia
  132. Senegal
  133. Serbia 
  134. Sierra Leone
  135. Singapore
  136. Slovakia
  137. Slovenia
  138. Solomon Islands
  139. Somalia
  140. South Africa
  141. Spain
  142. Sri Lanka
  143. Sudan
  144. Surinam
  145. Sweden
  146. Switzerland
  147. Syrian Arab Republic
  148. Tajikistan 
  149. Thailand
  150. Timor – Leste
  151. Tunisia
  152. Turkey
  153. Turkmenistan
  154. Uganda
  155. United Arab Emirates
  156. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  157. United Republic of Tanzania
  158. Uruguay
  159. Uzbekistan
  160. Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  161. Viet Nam
  162. Yemen
  163. Zambia
  164. Zimbabwe

Permanent Observers:

  1. The European Union
  2. The League of Arab States
  3. The State of Palestine

Statement by H.E. Dr. Riyad Mansour, Minister, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security Council, “The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question”, 18 December 2019

Madam President,

I congratulate you for assuming the Presidency of the Security Council during this month. We thank the UN Special Coordinator, Mr. Nikolay Mladenov, for his presentation of the report of the Secretary General, and the briefer for her testimony.

Madam President,

As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, Palestinian Christians joined them in decorating trees, singing carols, and praying for peace in the holy land and across the globe. But the reality of occupation did not spare them, even in this special period of the year. Palestinian Christians from Gaza were barred by Israel from celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the two twin cities separated for the first time in history by a shameful wall.

As Palestinians prepare to welcome another year, their ordeal is nowhere close to an end. They continue to fear for their lives, for their families, for their homes and for their future. And yet, they find everyday the courage to persevere. They remain steadfast in the face of adversity and carry the hope to live and thrive on their own land, in dignity and freedom.

Madam President,

Allow me to draw here a map of our reality. Two words can summarize it: “Confinement” for Palestinians. “Expansion” for illegal Israeli settlements. The members of the Council may have in mind when I say the word confinement, and rightly so, the two million Palestinians besieged in the Gaza Strip. But Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have also been confined to the areas where they already lived in 1967.

In the so-called Area C, which represents 60% of the West Bank, and includes the resource-rich Jordan Valley, only 1% has been planned for Palestinian development, while 70% of that area is included within the boundaries of the regional councils of illegal Israeli settlements. Similarly, only 13% of East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian construction, much of which is already built-up, while 35% of land in East Jerusalem has been confiscated for Israeli settlement use.

The purpose of this policy is crystal clear: Acquiring maximum Palestinian land with minimum Palestinians. Illegal annexation of Palestinian land is not an unexpected result of the Israeli occupation, it is its overarching objective.

Madam President,

The Security Council adopted three years ago its resolution 2334, reaffirming the international consensus regarding just and lasting peace based on international law and identifying the obligations of the parties and of the international community at large. Had there been enforcement and accountability, I assure you the report of the Secretary General today would be extremely different. But instead, Israeli exceptionalism and impunity continued, emboldening Israel to pursue and entrench its illegal occupation, to the detriment of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights. Peace requires fulfilment of these rights and certainly not acceptance of their continued denial.

Madam President,

This morning, the General Assembly is adopting the resolution on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State. This resolution garners the support of over 90% of the UN membership. Is this support an expression of a bias against Israel? Can resolutions about Palestinian rights, the peaceful settlement of the conflict, a shared Jerusalem, or against Israeli settlements be characterized as anti-Israel?

The General Assembly’s resolutions regarding Palestine are firmly rooted in the UN Charter, international law, human rights and the resolutions of this very Council. And yet, it is cynically called biased and one-sided, with Israel’s representative calling the Assembly, i.e. the countries comprising it, “morally bankrupt”. The General Assembly is more universal and representative today than at any point in history, so Israel can not celebrate resolution 181 and commend the General Assembly for adopting it 70 years ago, while dismissing all other resolutions adopted since. Israel’s very selective approach to UN resolutions and international law, claiming rights and dismissing obligations, should never be condoned nor encouraged.

The claim that the UN passes a disproportionate number of resolutions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a distortion that dismisses key facts and context. Any reference to the number of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly on the Palestine question must be seen in the context of the paralysis of the Security Council when it comes to this conflict. There lies the real imbalance, the real bias.

In the past decade, out of 636 Security Council resolutions, only 2 were adopted on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. TWO – 1860 (2009) and 2334 (2016). Likewise, out of 271 Security Council Presidential Statements in the past decade, only 3 PRSTs concerned Palestine/Israel. THREE. 

So claims that the UN is singling out Israel through an inordinate number of resolutions is selective and misleading at best, biased at worst, because such claims ignore the situation in this Council, where the opposite is true and any effort to address Israel’s blatant contempt of international law, the authority of the Council and its resolutions, including 2334, as just conveyed once again in the Secretary-General’s report, is obstructed.

The Security Council did not adopt any resolution regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict under Chapter VII – even though more than 50% of the resolutions adopted regarding other conflicts in these past 10 years have been under Chapter VII and even as the situation demonstrates the necessity for such endeavor.

The fate of the region lies to a great extent in the capacity of the international community to demonstrate that the international will to achieve peace is stronger than the Israeli will to colonize Palestinian land. We call on the Council and all States to act now to advance accountability and justice, freedom and peace, for the sake of the Palestinian people, the Israeli people, and future generations, for the sake of regional and global peace and security and the international rules-based order.

Madam President,

Before concluding, I wish to take a moment to convey our deep appreciation to the members of the Security Council whose terms will soon end and to recognize their service with principle and distinction throughout their tenures. We congratulate and thank Kuwait, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Peru and Poland.

Thank you, Madam President.