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Statement by H.E. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, Delivered Before the United Nations General Assembly, 73rd Session on 27 September 2018

30 September 2018 by

Jerusalem is not for sale and the Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining

In the name of God, the most merciful and beneficent

Excellency, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the United Nations General Assembly,

Excellency, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

In these days last year, I came before you appealing for freedom, independence and justice for my oppressed people, who are suffering under Israeli occupation for more than fifty-one years.

I return to you today as this colonial occupation continues to suffocate us and to undermine our serious efforts to build the institutions of our cherished State, which this august General Assembly recognized in the year 2012.

This year the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the State of Palestine, convened and renewed the legitimacy of our national institutions through the election of a new leadership for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. This Parliament undertook important decisions, which oblige me to review the agreements, political, economic and security alike, that have been reached with the Israeli Government, and to also review the future of the Palestinian National Authority, which has been rendered without authority. [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Assembly, Statements

19 September 2018 – Khan Al Ahmar-Jerusalem-Palestinian Civilians

19 September 2018 by

Excellency,

I regret to inform you that, in the absence of any serious measures of accountability to bring to an end to its more than half-century occupation, Israel, the occupying Power, continues with its deliberate and systematic breaches of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, grossly violating the human rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to life and liberty, and methodically destroying the two-State solution for peace.

For the 26th week in a row, Palestinian civilians, women, men and children, in the Gaza Strip, have continued to exercise their fundamental rights of expression, assembly, and association, by peacefully protesting in the context of the “Great Return March” against Israeli occupation, blockade, oppression and dispossession. These civilian protests continue to be met with lethal force by the occupying Power, in utter violation of international law and in grave breach of Israel’s responsibilities and obligations under the 4th Geneva Convention. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Identical Letters, Mission Documents, Uncategorized

7 September 2018 – Khan Al Ahmar Demolition Decision by Israel

07 September 2018 by

Excellency,

I write to you in follow up to previous letters regarding the human rights violations and war crimes being perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem.

In particular, I am compelled at this time to draw urgent attention to the imminent threat of forcible transfer facing the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar Abu al-Helu, in the sensitive so-called “E-1 area” of the West Bank northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, as the occupying Power persists with its illegal policies and measures of aggression against this extremely vulnerable community and against our land.

On 5 September, the Israeli “Supreme Court” rejected an appeal against the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar and ruled in favor of forcibly expelling its 181 inhabitants. By such an unjust and unlawful ruling, the Court has determined that it is permissible for the occupying Power to destroy the entire village including all Palestinian civilian and livelihood structures within the next seven days. According to Israeli plans, the community, which has faced the repeated trauma of displacement and dispossession, will likely be forcibly relocated to an area adjacent a garbage dump in the area of Abu Dis in the West Bank, an area that is bereft of agricultural land on which these pastoral families have subsisted all their lives.

We condemn in the strongest terms the endorsement by the occupying Power’s illegitimate court system of yet another State-sponsored international crime. As stressed by Amnesty International in reaction to the so-called ruling, “Forcible transfer of people under occupation is a serious breach of the IV Geneva Convention. The deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory constitutes a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Identical Letters, Mission Documents

24 August 2018 – Continued Israeli Violations

24 August 2018 by

Excellency,

The situation in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, remains extremely volatile as Israel, the occupying Power, persists with its violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, causing the continued deterioration of the situation in all aspects, including the continued suffering of the Palestinian people under its occupation, and further deepening despair and inflaming tensions.

Last week, Israel, the occupying Power, continued with its vicious killing of unarmed, defenseless Palestinian civilians participating in the “Great March of Return” to protest the systematic violation of their human rights, to demand an end to Israeli occupation, siege and dispossession, and to call for independence, freedom and return to their ancestral lands. The total number of Palestinians killed since the March began on 30 March has reached 164, including 23 children.

Moreover, on 10 August, Israeli forces fatally wounded three Palestinian protesters, including Palestinian volunteer medic Abdallah al-Qatati, age 22, as he was treating an injured protester, Ali Said al-Aloul, age 55, who was also shot and killed. Abdallah, like the two other Palestinian medics killed by Israel since the beginning of the Great March of Return protests, was wearing clothes clearly identifying him as medical personnel. [Read more…]

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10 August 2018 – Grave deterioration of situation in Gaza and the rest of the OPT

10 August 2018 by

Excellency,

As conditions continue to dangerously deteriorate, I am compelled to write to you once again to draw your attention to the ongoing critical situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and more specifically, to the grave reality faced by Palestinian civilians as a direct result of the Israeli military occupation.

On 8 August, all throughout the night, Israeli occupying forces carried out indiscriminate airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip, killing three Palestinians, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman, Inas Khammash, and her 18-month-old toddler, Bayan Khammash, as they were in their home in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Heavy shelling by Israeli warplanes in various areas in Gaza also resulted in the injury of at least 9 other Palestinians. We condemn in the strongest terms these Israeli military attacks on the densely-populated Gaza Strip, further endangering civilian lives and causing damage and destruction to civilian property, including, inter alia, a cultural center home to the second largest theatre in Gaza. [Read more…]

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27 July 2018- Escalating Tensions at Al-Haram Al-Sharif

27 July 2018 by

Excellency,

I write to urgently draw your attention to the critical situation in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, due to Israel’s endless provocations and illegal actions against the Palestinian people and their holy sites in the Occupied East Jerusalem, particularly Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which houses Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Again, we are witnessing the same provocative actions against the holy sites in Occupied East Jerusalem, by Israel, the occupying Power, which are further fueling already-high tensions and continuing to destabilize the fragile situation on the ground. In this regard, today, Israeli occupying forces violently stormed al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, firing tear gas and stun grenades at Muslim worshipers gathered for Friday prayers, injuring nearly 40 Palestinians, including two of Al-Waqf guards.  In addition, Israeli occupying forces arrested six Palestinians. Moreover, Israel took yet an additional dangerous and condemnable action in which they sealed off Al-Aqsa Mosque with iron chains, preventing Palestinian worshippers from entering to worship, which led to confrontations between Israeli occupying forces and Muslim worshipers. [Read more…]

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Statement by Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security Council, Open Debate on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question, New York, 24 July 2018

24 July 2018 by

Mr. President,

On behalf of the State of Palestine, I wish to congratulate the Russian Federation on their successful presidency of the Council and express appreciation to Sweden for their able leadership of the Council’s important agenda for this month. We also thank Special Coordinator and Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Nikolay Mladenov, for his briefing and efforts.

Mr. President,

During this month, the United States of America and the Republic of France proudly celebrated the anniversaries of their independence. The US declaration of independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The French declaration of human and citizen rights states that all men are born and remain free and equal in rights.

These truths and rights are universal and inalienable and must be recognized for every nation in the world with no exception. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Statements Tagged With: ,

17 July 2018 – Gaza letter

17 July 2018 by

Excellency,

I am compelled to write to you once again to draw your attention to the ongoing critical situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and more specifically, to the grave reality faced by Palestinian civilians as a direct result of the Israeli military occupation.

Israeli occupying forces carried out airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on 13 July, and continued overnight, culminating on 14 July in Israel’s largest daytime airstrike campaign in the besieged enclave since its 2014 aggression on the territory that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians.

Two Palestinian children, Amir al-Nimra, age 15, and Louay Kaheil, age 16, were killed by an Israeli missile as they were playing on the roof of the Al-Katiba building, a large unoccupied and unfinished concrete structure in the heart of Gaza City located next to a park often visited by Palestinian families during the summertime. Amir and Louay were best friends, described to be “like twin brothers” who grew up in the same street in central Gaza. Louay was killed by a hit to the head and in the back, and Amir died as a result of shrapnel puncturing his entire body. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Identical Letters Tagged With:

Statement of Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, 9 July 2018

09 July 2018 by

Mr. President,

I express our appreciation to Sweden for convening this important debate, in line with its principled defense of international law and the protection it avails, especially those most vulnerable, including refugees and migrants, among them children.

I thank the Secretary-General for his report on children and armed conflict, and also thank the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, the Executive Director of UNICEF and the civil society representative for their briefings.

Since the Second World War, the protection of civilians has been considered an utmost priority, with various political commitments made and legal instruments adopted to ensure protection. It is thus difficult to explain the gap that persists more than 70 years later between the clear legal obligations of States as per those instruments and the failure to ensure accountability, which continues to render civilians, including children, extremely vulnerable in situations of armed conflict around the world.

As highlighted by the Secretary-General and the Presidency’s concept note, prevention, protection and accountability are indispensable for saving future generations from the scourge of war. The State of Palestine stresses the need to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, notably the principles of protection, precaution, distinction and proportionality, as well as for human rights and refugee law, as central to the protection of children and all civilians in armed conflict, including those suffering under foreign occupation. We must also underline the importance of international criminal law for holding perpetrators of crimes accountable, providing justice to victims and preventing recurrence of crimes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Statements

5 July 2018 – Khan Al Ahmar Demolition by the Occupying Power

05 July 2018 by

Excellency,

I write to you in follow up to previous letters to draw urgent attention to the imminent threat of forcible transfer facing the Palestinian Bedouin communities of Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu and Abu-Nwar in the sensitive “E-1 area” of the West Bank northeast of Occupied East Jerusalem.

In recent days, Israel, the occupying Power, has begun implementation of its plans to forcibly remove both the inhabitants and civilian and livelihood structures in this area to clear the way for its plans for the illegal construction and expansion of settlements in the area. These cruel and destructive measures are not only in grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, thus constituting war crimes, but also threaten to completely sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, destroying whatever remains of the physical viability of the two-State solution.

For years, Israel has been advancing its plans to forcibly transfer and ethnically cleanse the Bedouin population of Khan al Ahmar, 53% of whom are children and 95% of whom are Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA. The known purpose of such plans is to facilitate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the area, in grave breach of international law and numerous UN resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016). Yesterday, the Israeli occupying forces, using bulldozers and other military machinery, began destroying all access routes in Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu, which is home to more than 180 civilians. At least 35 Palestinians were injured due to use of force by Israeli soldiers against the defenseless civilians protesting this illegal and provocative action that is traumatizing the entire community. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Identical Letters Tagged With: