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12 September 2019 – Israeli Threats of Annexation

12 September 2019 by

Excellency,

In direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations and its very purposes and principles, in blatant contempt of the United Nations Security Council, and in grave breach of international humanitarian law, Israel, the occupying Power, persists with its illegal colonization measures and direct threats to annex the Palestinian land it has been militarily occupying for more than 52 years.

Following earlier, repeated, provocative threats to annex Israeli settlements illegally established in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Israeli Prime Minister has made yet another cynical, menacing threat. On 10 September, in the context of his frenzied electioneering and relentless inflammatory rhetoric against the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people, the Prime Minister declared his intention, if elected, to apply Israeli sovereignty to and annex the Jordan Valley in the Occupied West Bank, calling the area “Israel’s eastern border”.

The international community cannot remain silent in the face of such direct threats and blatant plans of aggression. International law must be upheld and defended. Israel must be reminded that it is NOT the sovereign in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and has no sovereign rights in our land whatsoever.

Israel is the occupying Power and is bound by the obligations prescribed by international humanitarian law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the relevant Security Council resolutions, all of which it continues to deliberately and systematically violate. After more than 52 years, it is beyond an understatement to say that this belligerent occupation is illegal in every manifestation, existing and persisting only on the basis of gross violations of international law.

Israel’s attempts to illegally and forcibly alter the demography, character, identity and legal status of the Palestinian territory occupied since June 1967, including East Jerusalem, are rejected and without any legal effect. That territory remains occupied, a fact repeatedly and unequivocally affirmed by the Security Council and General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, and the international community in nearly in its entirety. Nothing has changed this fact and all actions by Israel to assert its control, jurisdiction and sovereignty in our land, including threats and measures of colonization and annexation, are illegal and null and void.

The international prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force is inviolable. There can be no exceptions. The Security Council has been patently clear on this across the decades and its resolutions remain valid and must be respected. The Council has reaffirmed this in numerous of its resolutions, including, inter alia, resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478 (1980) and as recently as resolution 2334 (2016), whereby the Council underscored that “it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regards to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations”.

Regrettably, however, the historic lack of accountability in this regard has enabled and fostered Israeli impunity. The international community’s inaction and failure to impose even minimal consequences, let alone sanctions, for Israel’s blatant defiance of the Security Council and violations of international law, including war crimes, have only heightened the occupying Power’s erroneous conviction that it is a State above the law, exempt from international rules and norms.

Recent decisions and actions by the current US administration – in total disregard of the law, UN resolutions and the longstanding international consensus on the two-State solution on the 1967 border – have only further emboldened Israel’s impunity. Actions vis-à-vis Occupied East Jerusalem and the Occupied Syrian Golan have been most glaring in this regard. Although roundly condemned globally, such actions, blind support and dismissiveness of international law have clearly fueled today’s unprecedented levels of crimes, rhetoric and incitement. Indeed, the Israeli Prime Minister’s declaration that he will “await to apply sovereignty until release of the President’s [Trump] political plan”, linking the two schemes, proves the extent to which such policies have reinforced a permissive environment wherein Israel believes it can wantonly violate the law and never be held accountable.

All of this has been to the detriment of the Palestinian people, who continue to be forcibly deprived of their inalienable rights, including to self-determination, freedom and independence; to the detriment of the diminishing prospects for achieving a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and to the detriment of peace and security, regionally and globally. It is a vicious cycle that has harmed the Security Council’s credibility and authority and the international rules-based order. As has often been stated in the Security Council chamber, we must reiterate: the Palestine question remains a litmus test for the viability and efficacy of international law and international system as a whole.

It is beyond time to stop this impunity and stop this insanity, which can only compound this already-disastrous conflict and lead to more human suffering and loss. The international community must act in accordance with its obligations and long-held consensus on the parameters of a just, lasting and comprehensive solution in accordance with international law, the relevant resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap. Continued inaction is unjustifiable, unacceptable and unconscionable.

It is beyond time to hold Israel, the occupying Power, to account for its violations of international law. The political will must be mobilized to impose consequences for continued contempt and non-compliance with UN resolutions. Such crimes, provocations and incitement as we witness today cannot be tolerated or excused. Israel’s blatant threats and plans of annexation make international action even more urgent.

We call on the Security Council to defend, uphold and act forthwith to implement its relevant resolutions. States too must act to uphold their obligations and responsibilities in line with international law and the relevant resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016), which explicitly called on all States to distinguish in their relevant dealings between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967. Serious and practical measures must be taken.

The Security Council cannot allow for the prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force, a cornerstone of the international legal order, to be trampled, permitting the further trampling of the rights of peoples, further destabilization of the region and further unraveling of the international system and its foundational principles. The dangers of this situation should not be underestimated. We call for unequivocal condemnation of Israel’s threats and violations and immediate action and concrete measures to bring an end to this impunity. Only such action can ever bring an end to this illegal occupation, bring an end to this injustice, and make a just and lasting peace a reality.

This letter is in follow-up to our 674 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 9 September 2019 (A/ES-10/—S/2019/—), 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.

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

Dr. Riyad Mansour

Ambassador, Permanent Observer

of the State of Palestine to the United Nations

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9 September 2019 – Continued violations against the civilian population in Gaza and Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons

09 September 2019 by

Excellency,

Despite our repeated appeals for urgent international action to deter Israel from its criminal behavior towards the Palestinian people, the absence of serious efforts to hold the occupying Power accountable and reign it in, has only made our people more vulnerable to the brutality of this illegal occupation.

I regret that I am therefore compelled to once again draw your attention to loss of innocent lives at the hands of this belligerent occupation and to convey yet another urgent appeal on behalf of the Palestinian people and their leadership for the international community to take responsible and prompt action to stop the intentional killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians by Israeli occupying forces.

For the 73rd week of the Great Return March, Palestinian civilians, women, men and children in the besieged Gaza Strip, have continued to exercise their fundamental rights of expression, assembly, and association in the context of peaceful protests that continue to be held as part of their resistance against the Israeli occupation, oppression and dispossession of our people. For the 73rd week in a row, Palestinian protestors have been attacked, killed and maimed by the occupying Power, which continues to prove its blatant disregard for Palestinian lives.

Friday’s attacks by the Israeli occupying forces on unarmed Palestinian civilian protesters caused the death of two Palestinian children and caused injury to more than 80 Palestinian civilians. The two young boys murdered were Khaled Abu Bakr El Rebai, age 14, and Ali Sami Al-Ashqar, age 17. [Read more…]

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9 August 2019 – Update on continued Expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

09 August 2019 by

Excellency,

In the absence of any serious measures of accountability pursuant to Security Council resolution 2334 (2016) and the countless other relevant United Nations resolutions demanding the cessation of Israel’s illegal policies and measures in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and an end to its more than half-century occupation, the occupying Power continues with its flagrant violations and methodical destruction of the two-State solution.

In our third letter in a week, we regret to inform Your Excellency that Israel remains relentless in its ferocious colonization and annexation schemes throughout Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem.   In fact, over the past 48 hours the Israeli government has approved the building of nearly three thousand illegal settlement units in the Occupied West Bank.  And, just today, in the most recent blatant violation of international law, the Prime Minister of Israel himself flew by helicopter to lay the foundation stone for the construction of 650 new illegal units in the “Beit El” settlement located near Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank. [Read more…]

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8 August 2019 – Expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

08 August 2019 by

Excellency,

In our second letter in less than week, we are compelled to write to Your Excellency to place on record our unequivocal condemnation of Israel’s continued building and expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem. Clearly, with its continued colonization of  confiscated and stolen Palestinian land, Israel, the occupying Power,  is sending a clear message that it is determined to continue to arrogantly and aggressively defy the will of the international community, violate international law, as well as international criminal law as articulated in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as  defy the resolutions of the  United Nations, including Security Council resolutions.   We regret to reiterate that continued international inaction has clearly emboldened Israel’s defiance and intransigence.

In this regard, over the past couple of days, Israel, the occupying Power, has advanced more than 2,300 settlement units in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in continuation of its of destructive, voracious and never-ending colonization campaign.  It should be noted that this latest provocative announcement comes on the heels of last week’s declaration by the occupying Power of plans to construct an additional 6,000 settlement units throughout the Occupied West Bank.  With these latest illegal Israeli annexation schemes, the population of illegal settlers also continues to grow as does the number of violent and criminal attacks perpetrated by settlers against Palestinian civilians, which continue to be carried out under the watchful gaze of Israeli occupying forces. [Read more…]

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2 August 2019 – Ongoing illegal settlement activity in the Occupied West Bank

02 August 2019 by

Excellency,

I must once again draw your attention to Israel’s ongoing illegal and destructive settlement colonization of the Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem. Such blatant defiance by the occupying Power continues unabated despite the resounding calls for a halt to all settlement activities made yet again from the chamber of the United Nations Security Council by Members of the Council and from across the international community.

The Israeli government has brazenly announced plans to construct another 6,000 settlement units in the Occupied West Bank, to which thousands upon thousands more settlers would be transferred, in grave breach of international humanitarian law, in gross violation of countless UN resolutions, in utter disrespect of the 2004 ICJ Advisory Opinion and in violation of the Rome Statute of the ICC.  This announcement comes as further proof of the illegal intentions of the occupying Power, as repeatedly pronounced and reflected in the provocative declarations and inflammatory rhetoric of its government and military officials and extremist settler leaders, who continue to boast of plans to seize, confiscate, colonize and annex more Palestinian land. [Read more…]

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23 July 2019 – 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”

23 July 2019 by

Mr. President,

We thank the Peruvian Presidency for convening this important meeting and for your able leadership of the Security Council’s agenda.

We also thank Under-Secretary-General Rosemary Di Carlo for her briefing on the situation, one that regrettably worsens every day that action to ensure justice is delayed and that a political horizon for a peaceful solution remains obstructed.

Mr. President,

We have come to this chamber time after time, appealing to, calling on and imploring on the Security Council to act – to alleviate the human suffering, to salvage peace prospects and to contribute to making that peace a reality. We remain convinced that such action – in line with international law, the Council’s resolutions and its Charter responsibility for international peace and security  – is the only way to bring an end to this grave injustice.

Respect for the law and human rights and establishment of justice are the only way forward. Those who would tell us otherwise are setting us up for decades more of suffering and insecurity for all – Palestinians, Israelis and the entire region.

After more than 52 years of Israel’s illegal occupation of our land, its gross, violent denial of our people’s rights and their constant dispossession and displacement, it is past high-time to redress this situation, justly and permanently. This is a blatant situation of belligerent, colonial foreign occupation – attested to by any measure of the law and by this Council, the General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, countless regional and global organizations, academia, and the international community in nearly its entirety – and it must be brought to an end. [Read more…]

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22 July 2019 – Ethnic cleansing and home demolitions in Occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Bahir/Wadi al-Hummus

22 July 2019 by

Excellency,

Upon instructions of the Palestinian leadership, I must urgently draw your attention to the ongoing crisis situation and recent shocking developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as Israel, the occupying Power continues its depraved colonization of the Palestinian land and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

Today, in the Sur Bahir/Wadi al-Hummus area of Occupied East Jerusalem, yet more Palestinian families were dispossessed of their homes and forcibly displaced by Israel, the occupying Power. Of which, 17 persons, 11 of them children, have now suffered the same fate as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians before them who have been dispossessed, displaced and traumatized by the ruthlessness of this belligerent, colonial, occupying Power.

Ignoring the appeals of the United Nations and Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations, Israeli occupying forces today began to carry out military orders that have been issued for the demolition of at least 10 residential buildings, including around 70 apartments. In the early morning hours of today, a large contingent of Israeli soldiers entered the area and the homes of the families residing there, forcing them to leave in order to clear the way for the destruction of their homes.

The two families displaced and dispossessed today of their properties, including their furniture and life’s belongings, include 9 Palestine refugees, suffering yet another forced displacement. As the demolitions continue with military bulldozers tearing apart home after home, 350 other Palestinians fear the same fate, in addition to the thousands of other Palestinians, especially in Occupied East Jerusalem, who face pending demolition orders by Israel. [Read more…]

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2 July 2019 – Israeli colonization and provocations in Occupied East Jerusalem

02 July 2019 by

Excellency,

I am compelled to once again draw attention to ongoing provocations, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric concerning the holy sites in Occupied East Jerusalem. In light of recent events and the heightening volatility of the situation, we again appeal for responsible action to uphold international law and the relevant Security Council, General Assembly and UNESCO resolutions and avert a dangerous destabilization, with all of its attendant consequences.

We condemn in the strongest terms all illegal policies, practices and measures being carried out by Israel, the occupying Power, in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as acts of provocation and incitement against the Palestinian people and holy sites in Occupied East Jerusalem. This includes Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which is being targeted by an endless and reckless barrage of illegal measures and provocative rhetoric and actions, including ongoing Israeli excavations, which are directly threatening the sanctity and stability of this holy site.

In this regard, we must refer to the recent “inauguration ceremony” of an underground tunnel and path – the so-called “Pilgrim Road” – towards Al-Haram Al-Sharif, beginning in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in Occupied East Jerusalem. We condemn this illegal measure, which comes following a series of other such illegal measures in Silwan, which has been heavily targeted by illegal Israeli settlement activities, including home demolitions, evictions and land confiscations across the years. Furthermore, it is deplorable that the officials of the right-wing Israeli government were accompanied in this illegal act in occupied territory by US government officials who have not only lent their support to such unlawful activities, but appear to be actively partnering with Israel, the occupying Power, in promotion and pursuit of its illegal and destructive colonization schemes, including such acts which present a threat to international peace and security. [Read more…]

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25 June 2019 – Statement by Ms. Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

25 June 2019 by

Mr. Secretary-General, President of the General Assembly, Commissioner-General of UNRWA,

Excellencies,

On behalf of my delegation, I express our appreciation to the Secretary-General and President of the General Assembly for convening this annual Pledging Conference, recognizing UNRWA’s crucial role in providing vital humanitarian assistance to the Palestine refugees and the urgent need to mobilize support to once again address the Agency’s funding shortfall to ensure uninterrupted implementation of its General Assembly mandate. We are grateful for their strong support.

We renew our appreciation as well to Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl for his most able and dedicated leadership of UNRWA in these extremely difficult times. We commend his active outreach and engagement with the host countries and donor countries around the world aimed at securing needed resources and support for UNRWA, as well as his principled advocacy aimed at alleviating the plight of the Palestine refugees and ensuring respect for their rights and dignity, so inspiringly represented by the testimonies of the UNRWA student parliamentarians we heard today – Hanan and Hatem – and we deeply thank them for their messages of hope. [Read more…]

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11 June 2019 – Letter on Jerusalem and Israeli Rep Statements

11 June 2019 by

Excellency,

I write to you regarding recent statements made by the Israeli Representative, in interventions at the Security Council and in an official letter on 6 June 2019, concerning the City of Jerusalem.

These statements are not only provocative and inflammatory, but directly contravene Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, the United Nations Charter and the longstanding international consensus on the question of Jerusalem in specific and question of Palestine as a whole.

With the repeated pronouncement of such statements based solely on religious edicts and distorted narratives, Israel stands in absolute contempt of the Security Council and must be held accountable. Such defiance of the Council’s decisions and authority cannot go unanswered.

We call on Security Council members for immediate redress of this matter. These are not ‘just words’; Israel’s aggressive and shameless assertions of such arguments in the international arena are matched daily by illegal actions on the ground violating the rights of the Palestinian people, entrenching the occupation, and destroying peace prospects. This offensive narrative must be rejected with robust action to protect Palestinian rights, reverse negative trends, and salvage the chances for a just peace.

This requires serious efforts to implement the relevant resolutions, in full and without exception, including accountability for any violations.  Action is equally urgent to restore the Council’s credibility and uphold the integrity of its resolutions. This requires explicit reaffirmation that resolutions are valid until implementation and cannot be negated by such narratives. [Read more…]

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