16 June 2021 – Israeli Colonization and Human Rights Violations in Palestine

Excellency,

I write once again to draw urgent attention to the deepening hardships and vulnerabilities being endured by the Palestinian people as Israel, the occupying Power, escalates its illegal policies and practices in tandem with the rising lawlessness it has cultivated among the most extreme elements of its population, particularly the settlers illegally transferred to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

Carrying on with its violations of the 21 May “ceasefire” – violations that have never in fact ceased – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have launched yet more brutal attacks against the defenseless Palestinian civilian population. This has included yesterday, 15 June, another round of terrorizing airstrikes against the Gaza Strip, as well as assaults on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem that left dozens of people wounded.

IOF brutally attacked Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem and forced Palestinian shops to shut down to make way for an anti-Palestinian march by extremist Israeli settlers and far-right politicians. Under the protection of IOF, mobs of settler extremists swarmed through the Old City, chanting hateful slogans and attacking Palestinian civilians and properties in a so-called “parade” to mark the anniversary of Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. These settler mobs received a so-called greenlight by the new Israeli government to carry out such incitement and violent provocations, proving the ongoing intent to entrench this illegal colonial occupation, regardless of Israel’s political landscape. And, as the occupying Power continues to coordinate, sponsor, and promote settler provocations, Jerusalem’s holy sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, are becoming ever more caught in the dangerous crosshairs of settler extremism.

Such state-sponsored provocations are aggravating the high tensions in occupied East Jerusalem and threatened to reignite the cycle of violence, as the Old City has turned into a military zone to ensure protection for the most extreme components of Israeli society at the expense of rights and presence of Palestinian Jerusalemites, who are being increasingly repressed by the IOF. Palestinians are being daily confronted by extremist provocations, which are forcing them to remain in their homes while marauding settlers pound on doors and windows, shouting “mavet la’aravim”“Death to the Arabs” – and other hateful, racist slogans.

Here, we must reiterate that Israel is not the sovereign in occupied East Jerusalem or in any part of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and has no right whatsoever to “route” or “re-route” such supremacist marches through Palestinian cities and no right to barricade areas throughout Jerusalem, including in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods, turning them into military zones as it continuously attempts to assert its illegal control, colonization and Judaization of the City.

The fact is that Israel’s illegal policies in Jerusalem are creating a living hell for Palestinians, clearly part of broader efforts to drive them from their homes, including, inter alia, the persistent denial of their rights; forced displacement, home demolitions and residency revocations amounting to ethnic cleansing; desecration of holy sites, and imposition of a two-tier system of laws that blatantly discriminate against Palestinians.

Here, we again recall Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), by which the Council unequivocally condemned “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions”.

Previous letters have warned about the intensity of such systematic Israeli attacks and human rights violations perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Since our last letter, June has followed May’s lethal trajectory as Israeli forces have already killed five Palestinians, including a child, in utter disregard for basic morality and international law. With absolute impunity and international inaction in its possession, Israel is taking its colonial occupation to new extremes, expediting the theft of more Palestinian property and land and expanding illegal settlements, in tandem with its campaign of military raids and arbitrary arrests, and other blatant violations being documented daily despite the “ceasefire”.

In a span of three days, IOF killed five Palestinians in different parts of the occupied West Bank. On 10 June, three Palestinians, including two officers, Adham Eleiwi, Tayseer Ayasa, and Jamel al-Amori, were shot and killed by IOF during a military raid in Jenin. On 12 June, Ibtesam Kaabneh, 28, was shot and killed by IOF near Jerusalem, after soldiers alleged that she was “carrying a knife”. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli soldiers deliberately left her to bleed to death by restricting access to medical personnel nearby. This shoot-to-kill policy is rooted deep in the 54-year colonial, apartheid occupation that has permitted its soldiers to indiscriminately target and kill Palestinians based solely on their identity as Palestinians and non-Jews.

The killing of 15-year-old Mohammad Hamayel by IOF is yet another a tragedy borne by yet another devastated Palestinian family. On 11 June, IOF killed Mohammad with live ammunition, shooting him directly in the chest. Like many Palestinian children killed by IOF, Mohammad did not pose any threat to the heavily armed Israeli soldiers who have become accustomed to indiscriminately firing at and killing Palestinians with zero consequences. Beita, Mohammad’s village, has become the scene of weekly demonstrations after Israeli settlers built an outpost in the village. Soldiers regularly fire live ammunition at the civilians protesting against the expropriation of the village’s land for the expansion of an illegal outpost, which will eventually and rapidly transform into yet another illegal Israeli settlement.

Mohammad is the eighth Palestinian child to be killed by IOF in the occupied West Bank in just this year and the third specifically in Beita. Such extrajudicial killings have become a systematic practice of the occupation, amounting to war crimes against the occupied population. Palestinian children, like all children throughout the world, have the right to live a safe, secure and peaceful childhood. Israel’s routine killing of Palestinian children should remind the international community, including the Security Council, that children are protected under the 4th Geneva Convention and other provisions of international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. We call on the international community to act immediately to bring an end to the occupation’s state-sponsored killing of Palestinian children, for which Israel must be fully held accountable.

The wave of mass arrests and large-scale raids by IOF has also intensified with total disregard for the state of emergency that remains in place in the West Bank due to the pandemic, undermining the safety and  well-being of the Palestinian civilian population, in grave violation of international humanitarian law. In this regard, in the early hours of 9 June, IOF raided the main headquarters of the Health Work Committees (HWC) in al-Bireh, damaging and seizing medical and electronic equipment before issuing a military order to close the headquarters for six months. Israeli attacks on health organizations and centers is not new, as HWC’s health center was targeted in a previous raid on 8 March. According to Amnesty International, “The targeting of HWC is part of a wider attack by Israel against Palestinian civil society organizations. Instead of criminalizing organizations providing vital health services, the Israeli authorities should be ending their institutionalized discrimination and systematic oppression of Palestinians.”

Last week, footage also emerged showing a raid in a prison in which IOF used excessive force in one of the most violent attacks against Palestinians being held captive in Israeli jails. Videos show more than 50 Palestinians tied and forcibly thrown onto the concrete floor on top of each other as IOF beat them with batons and beat them randomly, without any resistance from the victims. According to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, the evidence contradicts Israel’s claims of subduing so-called riots, as the footage clearly shows the abuse of prisoners. Israeli NGO B’Tselem stressed that “The case proves, yet again, that Palestinian victims of violence by Israeli security forces cannot achieve justice via Israeli systems and can hope to do so only in an international court.”

Moreover, Israeli NGO Hamoked stated the following: “The incident is a case of brute, wholesale violence against tied, helpless people. The investigative authorities’ attempt to shirk responsibility, despite the security camera footage, is a badge of shame for the national unit for investigating corrections officers and investigative bodies in general. When that’s the reality, it’s no wonder that the violence of security forces toward Palestinians is so common when that’s how they handle complaints.”

Moreover, just hours before becoming the new Israeli Prime Minister, Bennet doubled-down on his anti-Palestinian rhetoric and occupation-entrenching views, proclaiming that the new government would “strengthen settlements across the whole of the land of Israel.” While many somehow believe Israel’s false portrayal as a “vibrant democracy” based on the emergence of a new government, for millions of Palestinians, the status quo of colonization, apartheid, blockade, and repression remains the reality, imposed by this illegal occupation acting far from any semblance of a democracy.

Israel’s attempts to normalize its occupation must be countered with measures that are capable of stopping such acts of aggression and protecting human lives. The Security Council must rise to its responsibilities and show the international community that the need for accountability outweighs the appeasement which has, until today, exempted Israel from being held to the same laws as every other State.

The Security Council’s inaction only protracts this injustice, compounding the suffering of millions of people and precluding the realization of the peace and security that the Council is duty-bound to maintain. Therefore, the Council must ask itself, will it uphold its duties and resolutions towards ensuring that the right to self-determination is respected and that the historic injustice is ended? Or will it allow this untenable situation to go on, allowing the gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in broad daylight? Ending the 54-year Israeli military occupation is the prerequisite for upholding the rule of law and bringing an end to the grave violations being perpetrated every day against the Palestinian people.

The 4th Geneva Convention states that persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a party to the conflict or occupying Power of which they are not nationals. Israel’s belligerent occupation began as “temporary”, deceiving the international community as not a single Security Council resolution has been implemented by the occupying Power. The so-called “temporary” occupation entered its 54th year this month, proving that Israel has no intention whatsoever to end it. Faced with this reality, States and the Security Council must utilize all available diplomatic, political, legal mechanisms and capabilities to assert international law as a source of authority on the question of Palestine in order to make this regime of colonial occupation and apartheid costly and finally bring it to an end, the only path to justice for the Palestinian people and to Palestinian-Israeli peace and security.

This letter is in follow-up to our 724 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 June 2021 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2021/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 10th 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

Statement of H.E. Minister Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the Security Council, 27 May 2021

English Translation

Mr. President,

Israel has failed. Failed in defeating Palestinian consciousness and in breaking apart our national belonging. For 73 years, Israel has developed a plan, adopted policies and imposed punishments and devoted tremendous resources to forciblychange the historic, geographic and demographic reality in our homeland, believing that eventually a Palestinian generation will come about and acknowledge defeat and surrender to it. But after over 70 years since the Nakba, the Israeli scheme falls apart at the hands of a new Palestinian generation more rooted in the land than ever and more committed to life, able to forge unity and believing in the inevitability of victory. We have, generation after generation, remained dedicated to Palestine, the color of skin resembling its soil, as there is no alternative to justice and freedom, and occupation cannot last forever regardless of its military might or its colonial appetite.

Israel has failed to distort the consciousness of peoples around the world, unable to hide its colonial and racist nature behind its aggressive attacks and its rabid readiness to hurl libelous accusations against all those who might dare criticize its occupation and call for its end and against all those who stand in solidarity with Palestine and its just cause. There is a new generation worldwide that stands unafraid of Israel and its threats.

How can Israel hide any further the Apartheid it imposes while its features appear everywhere from the river to the sea?

How can it justify calling for a right of return for Jews that would span over 5000 years while denying the right of return of Palestinians to their land and homes after 73 years?

How can it justify the forcible transfer in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, under alleged property claims for Jews while denying the property rights of Palestinians all over historical Palestine?

How can it justify demolishing our homes and razing our fields and stealing our water and resources while claiming its “right” to build illegal settlements on our land and military checkpoints and a wall on our path?

How can it justify vandalizing and inciting against our Christian and Muslim holy sites while claiming that its colonization is a “divine right”?

How does it call for the release of the bodies of killed Israelis while burying hundreds of Palestinians in the cemeteries of numbers (where the name of the buried is replaced by a number to hide his identity) and keeps other bodies hostage of its freezers?

How can it justify that the occupying Power claims an absolute “right to self-defense” and it considers as criminal any action undertaken by any Palestinian to defend his home, his family and his land against the blockade, the aggression of Israel’s occupation forces and the terrorism of Israeli settlers?

How can it justify that its Courts consider every Israeli innocent regardless of his crimes and every Palestinian guilty regardless of his rights?

How can it justify demanding the compassion of the world for its children in the shelters, while being outraged that the world might condemn its kidnaping of our children from their homes and their schools, and their killing in their neighborhoods or playgrounds or in their sleep at home in the arms of their mothers and fathers?

How can it justify all this, and is there anybody left to believe its claims after all of this?

Mr. President,

Didn’t this Council receive the UN reports that warned of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, stating it was on the verge of collapse and cautioning that violence will resume for as long as this 14 years long illegal blockade continues?

Didn’t Palestinian youth rebel and demonstrate in the return marches for over a year demanding their rights and the lifting of the criminal Israeli blockade that was characterized by international experts as a violation of international law amounting to collective punishment against Palestinian civilians in Gaza?

Didn’t we come time after time warning of the consequences of Israeli policies in occupied Jerusalem and against our Christian and Muslim holy sites, especially its provocations at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and of its policy of forcible displacement in the old city, Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan and all of Palestine?

Didn’t Israel come over and over again to this Council displaying the arrogance of the occupier and the oppressor, always ready to accuse any of you of anti-semitism, justifying its grave violations as if it was entitled to act as a State above the law, attacking those who dare to call for an end of its settlement policy and for respect of the character and status of Jerusalem and of the historic status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and for the lifting of the blockade over the Gaza Strip? It shows no remorse or shame in violating its legal obligations as an occupying Power.

The deterioration of the situation in the occupied State of Palestine, especially as we witnessed in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, is Israel’s making and responsibility and the inevitable result of its oppressive policies and colonial occupation.

We are here today to tell this august Council that ending the latest Israeli aggression against Gaza did not end the catastrophe, and it will not bring back the loved ones fallen martyr or the homes that were destroyed, it will not spare the orphans and the bereaved from the devastating losses they have endured.

We are here to tell you that the postponement by the Israeli Courts of decisions on forcible displacement of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan did not protect the families from the ongoing aggression by the settlers nor end the tragedy endured in occupied Jerusalem. This did not mean that the Israeli provocations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque have ceased or that measures to change the status of the city and its character have stopped. This has not put an end to Israel’s colonial appetite and desire to annex occupied Palestinian land, remove Palestinians from their land or besiege them in it.

We all stand at a crossroad and if Israel is allowed to choose the way ahead, it will choose the same path and the same policy. It will impose on us Apartheid and annexation, blockade and destruction, and will demand for itself security and stability, refusing to acknowledge the failure of its colonial and racist policies, that are the source of violence and the root cause of the conflict.

We, Palestinians, will not be subjugated. We will not surrender to this occupation. Israel should know that by now. It must confront this reality, that the Palestinian people in all its components will not be subjugated and will not relinquish its right to freedom, independence and self-determination wherever they are. We will only accept the path that leads to the freedom of our people, preserve their national and human dignity and guarantees all their rights as enshrined in international instruments.

This Council and the international community determined a vision for peace decades ago and adopted resolutions that defined the framework and terms of reference for such a solution, as well as the obligations of the parties and of third parties, including not to recognize or render aid or assistance to illegal actions and to distinguish between the occupied territory and the territory of the occupying Power, and to respect and ensure respect for international law. You have to implement these resolutions to achieve just and comprehensive peace, as foreseen in your resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016).

You have preserved the international consensus and protected it from all the attempts to legitimize occupation and colonization and of distorting the terms of reference, and now that the Trump administration is gone, and with it the illusions it was trying to promote, and with the return of the United States to the international consensus and the reactivation of the Quartet, it is no longer enough to restate what the law says, it must be enforced.

Please, don’t ask us to be patient, as every additional hour carries with it pain and suffering. Until when should we be patient, until the next massacre? Until the child grows in the occupation cells? Until the family is displaced for the third or fourth time? Until the settlement expands and closes of the veins of life in Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley? Until an entire generation grows knowing nothing but siege and deprivation?

Mr. President,

The battle for existence in Palestine, and at its heart Jerusalem, is taking place on the ground, house by house, and in the alleys of the Old City, and in our Aqsa and Holy Sepulchre, and on every hilltop and neighborhood and village and refugee camp. Peace can not be achieved in the land of peace and the City of peace without the recognition of Palestinian sovereignty and respect of the Hashemite custodianship.

Your responsibility is not only to adopt resolutions here, but to change the reality there, to protect the Palestinians there, to ensure freedom prevails there, to achieve peace there.

The reconstruction of the besieged Gaza Strip must be a top priority right now, starting with providing immediate humanitarian assistance to the thousands internally displaced, especially in the context of the pandemic. But we all know that what is required is addressing the root causes of this situation in a manner consistent with the unity of our people, land and destiny and lifting the blockade and ensuring freedom of movement of people and goods to revive economic life and to allow the provision of fuel, medical equipment, medicine and construction material as well as the normal and sustainable functioning of the power plant so as to end the humanitarian tragedy the Palestinian people in Gaza have endured for the last 15 years, and to unleash the true potential of its youth so they can express their talent and creativity.

Mr. President,

The last few weeks demonstrated that Israel’s claim that the question of Palestine no longer inhabits the hearts and minds of peoples in the Arab and Muslim world, or peoples worldwide, and that it has become a marginal issue with no relevance or influence, is a false and invalid claim.

The question of Palestine can not be overlooked or bypassed, given its regional and international significance. We commend all regional and international efforts to put an end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza and to launch a credible political process that places Palestine at the top of the list of priorities. We stress however that the success of such a political process is contingent on ending the ongoing aggression against our people, our land and our holy sites, and on the ability of this Council to implement its resolutions and on the international community’s rejection of double standards and its ability to uphold the rules it has adopted and enshrined in the UN Charter, international law and relevant resolutions.

Mr. President,

We, the Palestinian people, are, despite all the killing and destruction, a living nation, thriving by its history, its traditions, its culture, its poets, its dreams, its creativity, its bravery, its diversity, its love, its anger, its tolerance, its patriotism and its humanity. We resemble our land and belong to it, and will never abandon it, whether we live in it or it lives in us, one rebellious generation after the other, impossible to uproot. Here in Palestine we have a past, a present and a future. Regardless who agrees and who objects.

I thank you, Mr. President.

21 May 2021 – Letter on Article 51 – Self-Defense

Excellency,

I write to you in response to a letter by the Permanent Representative to Israel to the United Nations Security Council on 12 May 2021 (S/2021/463), invoking Israel’s so-called ‘right and duty to defend its people and sovereignty’ and urging the international community to support its ‘fundamental right to self-defense’. 

Israel’s invocation of the principle of self-defense as an occupying Power, is illegitimate and must be countered with a clear response rooted in international law, the same international law that it systematically breaches with contempt yet has the audacity to invoke when it deems beneficial to itself.

Israel’s continued illegal and 54-year occupation of the State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, is an act of aggression and cannot be retroactively justified by reference to the right of self-defense. Indeed, the principle of self-defense cannot be applied by Israel for itself in the occupied territory of the State of Palestine. The occupying Power has no sovereignty rights whatsoever in the occupied territory, to which international law, including humanitarian law, fully applies.

Israel, the occupying Power, cannot invoke the so-called right to self-defense to justify the use of excessive military force against the besieged Palestinian civilian population in the occupied Gaza Strip. As reaffirmed by the United Nations Security Council in its resolution 1860 (2009), the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967.  Israel remains the occupying Power and is thus bound by the relevant provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and all other relevant provisions of international law, including United Nations resolutions.

The aforementioned letter by the Permanent Representative to Israel to the United Nations Security Council makes an impermissible conflation between Israel’s obligations, as an occupying Power, within the territory under its occupation, and the general principle of self-defense, as guaranteed under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In this regard, it is imperative to recall that the International Court of Justice, in its 2004 Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall, clearly established the non-applicability and irrelevance of this ‘self-defense’ argument to the territory under Israel’s occupation. 

As of 20 May 2021, Israel, the occupying Power, has killed over 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, 39 women, and 17 elderly, and injured over 1900 people, many critically wounded, and displaced over 60,000 Palestinians as a result of its most recent military aggression against Gaza. Entire families have been killed and wanton destruction has been caused as Israel deliberately and systematically targeted and caused damage and destruction to vital civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, schools, electricity networks, a desalination plant providing clean water to 250,000 people, commercial and media towers, and residential buildings, totally 450 buildings and structures. It is to be recalled that Gaza has also been under Israel’s blockade, by air, land and sea, for 14 years, in a massive collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population.

Israeli officials are committing grave and serious breaches against a besieged population, before the eyes and ears of the entire world, and yet deign to frame their crimes and violations as ‘self-defense’.  Israel’s willful violations against the protected population and unjustified destruction of civilian property are war crimes, not self-defense, and violate its obligations, as an occupying Power, under international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and international human rights law.

As per the law, Israel, as the occupying Power, is strictly prohibited, from both imposing collective punishment and conducting or threatening to conduct, acts of violence and destruction, of which the primary purpose is to spread terror among the protected population under its occupation. None of the rights of protected persons derived from the Fourth Geneva Convention may be terminated by Israel in any case or in any manner whatsoever.

Therefore, we reiterate that its invocation of the ‘right to self-defense’ to justify these systematic violations and crimes it is committing against the Palestinian people must not be appeased. Israel must be demanded to respect its obligations under international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, as has been repeatedly demanded by the Security Council and the General Assembly of in countless resolutions that not only remain unimplemented but are being breached every single day with utter contempt and with grave repercussions on the lives of the Palestinian people who continue to gravely suffer under this illegal, colonial occupation.

This letter is in follow-up to our 720 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 18 May 2021 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2021/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 10th 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

Statement by H.E. Riad Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, before the UN Security Council, 16 May 2021

Mr. President

Allow me to thank China for convening this important meeting and for being represented at Ministerial level, as well as Tunisia for their relentless efforts within this Council, and my Arab brothers who decided to participate in this meeting as an integral part of their efforts to end the aggression against our people, land and holy sites. Allow me also to thank the Secretary General for his participation and ongoing efforts, together with Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland, to end this latest aggression against our people.

Mr. President,

There are no words that can describe the horrors our people are enduring. Baby Omar Al Hadidi came to life only 5 months ago and will now have to go through life without his mother and brothers Osama 6, Abdelrahman 8, Suheib 14, all killed by an Israeli airstrike. His family is not the only one. Members of the family Abu Hattab were killed, including Alaa 5, Bilal 10, Youssef 11, and the family Al Tanani, Rawya was 4-months pregnant, she was killed together with her husband and sons Ismael 6, Ameer 5, Adham 4, Mohammed 3. A few hours ago, 15 members of the family Al-Qolak were killed, including Zeid 8, Adam 3 and Qossai 1 and their parents. Aziz survived, he is 10.

When you embrace your children and grandchildren tonight, think of our children and of how you can honour those killed and spare those still alive. Think of what it feels to see your world crumbling down and not being able to protect them. Think of what it means to sleep not knowing which one of you will wake up. Remember that each time Israel hears a foreign leader speak of its right to defend itself, it is further emboldened to continue murdering entire families in their sleep.

Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza, one family at a time. Israel is trying to uproot Palestinians from Jerusalem, expelling families, one home, one neighbourhood at a time.

Israel is persecuting our people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some may not want to use these words, but they know they are true. Israel is unapologetic and relentless in pursuing its colonial policies. We are therefore left with two questions.

The first one is: What are the Palestinian people entitled to do to resist such policies and defend themselves. The following questions hold the answer: Is violence when committed by Palestinians terrorism and when committed by Israel self-defense? Who will be arrested, the settlers or those resisting their presence and assaults? Will our peaceful protesters enjoy international protection or be left to face Israeli bullets and slander? Will we receive support for investigations by the ICC, or will some search for reasons to object, shielding war criminals and depriving Palestinian victims from any avenue for justice? Will products of Israeli settlements be banned, or will those who call for boycott be prosecuted? What are we entitled to do apart from hoping that one day Israel will be ready to end its occupation on its own and to negotiate peace?

The second question is: What are the tools the international community is ready to deploy to ensure compliance by Israel with its obligations and an end of its occupation, tools it uses regularly in other conflicts. Military intervention? Sanctions? Suspending bilateral relations? Prosecuting perpetrators of crimes? Deploying protection forces? Imposing an arms embargo? Or will it rely simply on the possibility of convincing the occupying Power to end its colonial occupation while history has proven that Israel is not willing to listen?

Mr. President,

Israel keeps doing the same things expecting a different result. Did it believe that its troops storming the holiest of sites, Al Aqsa Mosque, on the holiest of months, Ramadan, and on the holiest of nights, the night of destiny, would bear no consequences? Did it believe Palestinians would accept to live in enclaves and wait for the Israeli settlers to seize the next house? Did they expect Palestinians to coexist with the occupation, its walls, its blockades, its settlements and its prisons? There is no people on earth that would tolerate this reality.  

Israel keeps telling you “put yourself in our shoes?” But Israel is not wearing shoes, it is wearing military boots. It is an occupying and a colonial power. Any assessment of the situation that fails to take into account this fundamental fact is biased, discredited and unjust. We are not two neighbours living side by side in peace. Israel is the armed thief who has entered our house and is terrorizing our family. It destroys our homes, oppresses our people, generation after generation, decade after decade, and then claims a right to security that it denies us.

Why don’t you put yourself in our shoes. What would you do if your country was occupied, your people persecuted, besieged, massacred? Better yet, what did you do to achieve your independence and end the oppression of your people? We made a difficult choice to pursue a peaceful path to freedom, and it is in everybody’s interest for that path to be successful. But that will not happen without ensuring that Israel bears the cost of occupation instead of reaping its benefits.

Mr. President,

How many Palestinian civilians killed is enough for a condemnation? We know a single Israeli is, but how many Palestinians? 200 Palestinians have been killed, a third of them children and women. What is the threshold for outrage? An entire family wiped out of existence is not enough? Dozens of families killed is not enough? Residential buildings brought to the ground and tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced for the fourth or fifth time is not enough?  All this in the midst of a pandemic.

Israel is not only an occupying Power, it is a nuclear power, it has a military arsenal, the iron dome, shelters, while our people in Gaza are besieged, trapped, with nowhere to go and no safe haven. Even the UNRWA schools within which they shelter are vulnerable to Israeli attacks. It is Palestinian civilians who need protection. They deserve compassion, solidarity and action.

The Palestinian people have risen everywhere, because they are victims everywhere. Victims of dispossession, forced displacement, discrimination and denial of rights on both sides of the Green Line and in exile. When hearing Israeli officials speak one could wonder how horrible it must be for them to live under our occupation, with our forces deployed in their streets and our settlers terrorizing their people and taking over their land and homes, and with millions of them under blocakde. As many colonial powers before it, Israel holds its victims responsible for their own death. Israel is the victim forced to kill the Palestinians because they do not behave. If only Palestinians could coexist with their occupiers and oppressors in peace.

Some wonder why Palestine enjoys so much solidarity and support from so many nations around the world, and the reason is that these nations are informed by their own history, their own struggle for freedom, and they know oppression when they see it. The countries who sit in these United Nations would be dishonoring the memory of those who fought for freedom in their respective countries if they were to accept colonialism and Apartheid in Palestine.

Mr. President,

Where are they those who proclaimed they had achieved peace in the Middle East by brokering agreements between countries who were actually not at war? Where are they those who proclaimed that peace in the Middle East could be achieved without the Palestinians and at their expense? Where are they those real estate agents who decided they could sell what they do not own to those who have no rightful claim. We told them then and we say now, Jerusalem is not for sale. Our roots are deep, our history long, our heritage etched in every stone, street and alley in this City.  War and peace start from Jerusalem. You want to save peace, start by saving Sheikh Jarrah. Protect Al Haram Al Sharif from attempts to divide it temporally and spatially. Israel continues proclaiming that Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel. Have you ever seen the city more divided?

The international consensus you have all helped shape and defend is being destroyed in front of our very eyes. The alternative that Israel chose is Apartheid. Yes Apartheid. And one day soon, even this Council will not be able to deny this reality. Act now to end the aggression and the assault on our people, our homes, our land. Act now so freedom can prevail, not Apartheid.

Mr. President,

As the Palestinian people mark the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba, Israel pursues the same policies of dispossession, forced displacement, discrimination and denial of Palestinian rights.

Israel may believe it is winning, but it is no where closer to defeating the Palestinian people. Our people will never surrender or forgo their rights. Palestinian freedom is the only path to peace.  Since peace is the responsibility of this Council, helping achieve Palestinian freedom is its legal and moral duty. Thank you

14 May 2021 – Israeli Onslaught on Palestinian Children

Excellency,

As I write to you, Palestinian children are being killed, wounded, orphaned and traumatized in a barbaric Israeli onslaught on civilians that is being perpetrated in broad daylight in flagrant breach of every rule of humanitarian law and every norm of human decency and morality.

Yet, despite our repeated pleas and the appeals of countries and peoples from around the world, the Security Council remains paralyzed, failing to uphold its mandate to maintain international peace and security and protect innocent civilian lives.

As of today, the current Israeli military aggression against the Gaza Strip, which  began on 10 May, has killed 122 Palestinians, including 31 children and 19 women, and more than 830 people have been wounded. Four of the children killed were Palestine refugee children, all under the age of 12 and students in UNRWA schools, including four from the same family, 2 siblings and a cousin. And in the West Bank today, Israeli occupying forces have killed 6 Palestinians and injured more than 100 others in violent attacks on protesters in various cities and villages.

Rather than celebrating Eid al-Fitr, mothers are burying their babies, children are burying their fathers and mothers, and families are being decimated, among them 13 people killed in a bombing yesterday, including a pregnant woman, her husband and their 4 children and 5 other relatives, in horrific scenes reminiscent of Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza, which killed multiple families in their entirety.

Despite the callous narrative spread by Israel’s constant dehumanization and demonization of the Palestinian people, these human lives are being mourned, tears are flowing, the pain is searing, lives have been forever ruined. And so many more lives are at risk as the Security Council remains shamefully silent even as the violations only mount by the hour, causing more death and devastation.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has warned: “The situation is at a tipping point. The level of violence and the impact on children is devastating. We are on the brink of a full-scale war. In any war, children – all children – suffer first and suffer most”.

There is no question: this premeditated, deliberate Israeli military aggression on unarmed civilians constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity. In addition to missile strikes from war planes against Gaza, the biggest prison on earth, blockaded by Israel by air, land and sea for 14 years, occupying forces have begun a ground invasion, portending only more carnage, as Israeli officials openly vow to kill and destroy, using the most lethal weaponry against an unarmed civilian population, including weaponry banned by international law. But, as we all know by now, the law means nothing to Israel. Surely, the singling-out of Israel – exempted from the rule of law and appeased for decades by the international community no matter the gravity of its violations – has led to this lawless situation, leaving the Palestinian people to the mercy of this cruel colonial occupation regime.

In addition to the killing and injury of so many civilians, the occupying Power also continues to cause wanton and deliberate destruction of civilian objects, including homes, in collective punishment of the civilian population and in yet further grave breach of the 4th Geneva Convention. Already, over 500 homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, leading to the displacement of thousands of people, yet again. In addition, Israeli air strikes have caused damage to 23 schools, several health centers and medical clinics, factories, roads, electricity networks and other vital civilian infrastructure, including the destruction of all police headquarters. Also, reminiscent of past Israeli bombardments of Gaza, 4 UNRWA installations have been hit and damaged by air strikes.

At the same time, Israeli barbarity against Palestinians continues across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as within Israel, with violent, hateful, racist, attacks targeting civilians solely for being Palestinians. Jewish supremacist settlers continue rampaging in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Al-Tur and other areas, terrorizing families, causing injuries and damage to homes and properties, including smashing windows and breaking down of doors as they try to attack Palestinians in their own homes.

Israeli settler gangs, emboldened by the occupier’s ruthless violence against the occupied population, are also raiding Palestinian villages elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  And in the streets of Jaffa, Haifa, Lod and other cities, these same supremacist mobs are roaming the streets harassing, intimidating, assaulting, and even lynching, Palestinians. This is the so-called “democratic” Israel, where more than 50 laws have been legislated discriminating against Palestinian citizenry, who are left not only without protection of the law, but without protection of the police from these marauding mobs.

Israeli provocations against Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif also continue at fever pitch. Extremist settlers have been joined by far-right, terrorist members of the Israeli government allied with the Israeli Prime Minister in a constant barrage of inflammatory rhetoric and incitement, threatening further crimes against the Palestinian people and this most holy site and violating the historic and legal status quo.

And yet, the Security Council – despite the sincere efforts by a majority of its members – remains unable to find its voice and speak in unison against these heinous crimes, obstructed by one from upholding its responsibilities to act to stop these attacks and prevent the further destabilization and implosion of the situation. Rather than silence, the Council should be firmly calling for an immediate halt to the attacks on civilians and civilian properties; for a halt to the incitement and incursions against Al-Aqsa Mosque; and for the protection of civilians.

The call for respect for international law, including the Security Council’s own resolutions should be unequivocal, not impossible. This includes not only the Council’s resolutions on the Palestine question from 1948 to the present, but also its lofty resolutions on protection of civilians, including protection of children in armed conflict, protection of humanitarian and medical personnel and facilities, protection of religious and cultural sites. But none are being upheld, even as Israel, the occupying Power, grossly and systematically violates them in blatant contempt and mockery of the Council and its authority.

Rather than decrying recent events as though they occurred in a vacuum, the Council should heed its own decisions vis-à-vis the peaceful resolution of conflicts and recall and address the root causes of this catastrophe: the unending dispossession and oppression of the Palestinian people by Israel, a colonial occupation regime, and one openly practicing apartheid, violating every norm of international law.

Once again, we call upon the Security Council to act in respect of its Charter duty to maintain international peace and security. The Palestinian people cannot be left without protection at the mercy of an occupying Power armed to the teeth. The pretext that Israel “has a right to security and a right to defend itself”, while denying these same rights to the Palestinian people is a shameful pretext that flies in the face of international law and human morality.

What Israel is seeking to “defend” is its illegal occupation, insisting on its control of Palestinian land and Palestinian lives and, if possible, their very erasure, including of Palestinian children. When this distorted narrative of “self-defense” is parroted by those claiming to be champions of human rights and international law, it effectively gives Israel the permission to carry on with its crimes, ignoring that this illegitimate occupation and over 70 years of Israeli uprooting of Palestinians and denial of their rights are the source of all these ills, and ignoring the total asymmetry in this situation of an occupier and oppressor against occupied and oppressed people. This not only exposes hypocrisy and an extreme lack of empathy, but amounts to complicity. 

There must be a clear demand for an end to all attacks, provocations and incitement and for full respect of international law, including humanitarian law. There must be a demand for a halt to Israel’s criminal aggression against Gaza and a cessation of all other illegal Israeli actions and measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, including a halt to its illegal colonization and ethnic cleansing schemes.

There must be concrete action for accountability, as demanded and obligated by international law, to hold Israel and its government, military and settlers responsible for all of their crimes against the Palestinian people. We appeal to the international community to act now to save human lives and for the sake of justice and peace.

This letter is in follow-up to our 715 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 11 May 2021 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2021/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 10th 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

12 May 2021 – Killing of Palestinian Civilians by the Israeli Occupying Power

Excellency,

The situation in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, is becoming graver by the hour as Israel, the occupying Power, continues its onslaught, unleashing all means of lethal military aggression against the defenseless Palestinian civilian population. Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in broad daylight, causing widespread human carnage and suffering and directly threatening risking regional and international peace and security.

We reiterate our appeals to the international community to act to stop Israel’s slaughter of innocent civilians, including children and women, to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif from attacks by the occupying Power and its extremist settlers, and to stop the systematic expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes and ethnic cleansing from their land.

The United Nations Security Council has a foremost duty to act to uphold its Charter mandate to maintain international peace and security and in respect of its own resolutions. We call on the Council yet again – joined by countries and people all over the world, as evidenced in the many statements and appeals issued – to rise to its responsibilities to stop these violations and to save innocent lives.

Since my letter yesterday, I regret to inform that the casualty toll of Israel’s military aggression against the Gaza Strip has continued to rise. As of the writing of this letter, 65 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes deliberately targeting civilian areas, in grave breach of international law. Among those killed by the Israeli occupying forces are 16 children and 5 women, and several of the casualties are members of the same family. There can be no justification whatsoever for such barbaric attacks on a civilian population and such blatant disregard for human life.

As the Security Council remains silent, Israeli war planes have already today launched over 40 air strikes, preceded by over 100 air strikes over the past two days, terrorizing the entire population. In addition to the dead, more than 330 Palestinians have been injured in these airstrikes, overwhelming hospitals in Gaza, which have already been depleted by years of Israel’s illegal blockade and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, as systematically committed by Israel in its repeated aggressions on Gaza, homes, including multi-story buildings, have been destroyed, displacing dozens of families, and civilian infrastructure continues to be hit, including the central warehouse of the Palestine Red Crescent in Gaza. The occupying army also continue its violence against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of Occupied Palestine, attacking peaceful protesters and causing more civilian casualties. A 16-year old boy was shot in the head and chest and killed in an Israeli raid on the village of Tubas, and a 26-year old young man was killed by Israeli soldiers in Al-Fawwar refugee camp. Another young Palestinian was run over by an Israeli army jeep suffering multiple injuries and at least 192 Palestinians have been injured by occupying forces across the occupied West Bank today, including in occupied East Jerusalem.

At the same time, Israeli colonial settlers continue their terror rampages, attacking Palestinian civilians, including Palestine Red Crescent medical teams attempting to tend to the injured. Extremist settlers and occupying forces also persist with their provocations, racist and hateful incitement and violence against Palestinian civilians who continue to gather in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem in peaceful protest of Israel’s criminal policies and the plans to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes, in what would constitute a blatant war crime.

We remind once again that Israel is not the sovereign in occupied East Jerusalem, regardless of its claims or recognition unlawfully bestowed upon it by any other country. There is absolutely no legitimacy to these claims. It is an occupying Power in our land, has no sovereignty rights whatsoever and is bound by international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, in any and all actions taken there. This includes at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif. Israel must cease its violations of the sanctity of this holy site and respect the historic and legal status quo in word and deed and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s custodianship. It must cease its obstruction of the right of Muslim worshippers to peacefully pray there and cease its incessant intimidation, harassment and attacks on worshippers.

All such attacks, provocations and incitement by Israeli government officials, military commanders and forces, and colonial settlers constitute breaches of international law, for which they must be held fully accountable. The international community, particularly the Security Council, must act with immediacy to demand that Israel cease its attacks against the Palestinian civilian population, including in the Gaza Strip, and cease all other illegal Israeli actions and measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, including a halt to plans to forcibly displace and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the City.

Moreover, we call on the international community as a whole to fulfill collective obligations, including as High Contracting Parties to the 4th Geneva Convention, to undertake measures to uphold international law, including measures to compel Israel, the occupying Power, to abide by its legal obligations and to ensure protection to the occupied population. It is high time for the international community to seriously pursue measures to hold Israel accountable for its grave breaches, including, inter alia, at the International Criminal Court. The singling-out of Israel for exemption from the same rules and norms that the rest of the world is obligated to abide by must stop. Innocent lives and the prospect for a just, peaceful, secure future for all are dependent on this.

This letter is in follow-up to our 715 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 11 May 2021 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2021/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 10th 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

11 May 2021 – Israeli Attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Gaza Strip

Excellency,

I must again draw urgent attention to the escalating aggression by Israel, the occupying Power, in Occupied Palestine, which is causing immense human suffering and aggravating tensions, risking further destabilization of this volatile situation, which poses a threat to international peace and security.

Yesterday, 10 May, against the backdrop of the heightened tensions and worsening situation in occupied East Jerusalem as result of intensifying Israeli incitement and violence against Palestinian civilians and holy sites, the Israeli occupying forces began a military aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli air strikes have thus far killed 27 Palestinians, including 9 children and one woman, in Gaza. This military aggression is traumatizing an already beleaguered population of 2 million people who have been imprisoned by Israel’s illegal blockade for 14 years, suffering its inhumane impact on all aspects of life, and who are now once again under siege, vulnerable to the occupation’s military machine, deprived of the protection that they desperately need and that they are entitled to under international humanitarian law. There can be no justification whatsoever for such indiscriminate attacks on a civilian population.

Since my last letter to you, the situation in occupied East Jerusalem has also deteriorated at all levels as Israeli violence, incitement and provocation have reached new highs, with both Israeli occupying forces and extremist settlers rampaging through the City and its holy sites, inflaming tensions and sensitivities in this holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Yesterday, 10 May, occupying forces carried out a deliberate, full-fledged raid at Al-Haram Al-Sharif as part of an attempt to escort mobs of settler extremists in a so-called “parade” to mark the anniversary of Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

Occupying forces raided Al-Aqsa Mosque, surrounding and indiscriminately firing at defenseless worshippers and bystanders. More than 300 Palestinians were injured by the firing of rubber-coated metal bullets, concussion grenades, tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and direct physical attacks carried out by the Israeli occupying forces. Occupying forces even locked Palestinian worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque while desecrating the holy site with a barrage of incendiary and toxic agents, including grenades and acrid smoke. More than 80 of the injured have been hospitalized, several in critical condition and with most injuries sustained to the upper body – face, eyes, head and chest. Israeli forces also obstructed medics from reaching the injured and assaulted journalists and medical personnel.

Dozens of other Palestinian civilians were wounded elsewhere throughout the occupied West Bank by the excessive force used by the Israeli occupying forces against civilians protesting Israel’s aggressions on Al-Aqsa and the imminent evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem. The international community, particularly the Security Council, must condemn all of Israel’s illegal actions and must demand that the attacks against civilians stop and that all illegal measures aimed at altering the character, demographic composition and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem stop, including all violations of the historic and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In this regard, we again recall Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), by which the Council unequivocally condemned “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions”.

That Israel, the occupying Power, behaves in such an inhumane and rogue manner, violating international law and human rights with impunity, is not new. Every year, Ramadan in Palestine is tarnished by Israel’s flagrant and deliberate crimes and violations against the Palestinian people, including killing and injury of civilians, home demolitions, forced displacement, desecration of holy sites, and vile, violent attacks by settler extremists who have become only more emboldened in recent years by the Israeli government and its occupying forces.

In these days, in coordination with occupying forces, mobs of settlers have repeatedly stormed the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, attacking residents, intimidating them with hateful and racist slurs and threats, and preventing them from accessing their homes. Unsurprisingly, the latest round of settler incitement was led by Israeli politicians and members of parliament, including Arieh King, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich, with the aim of provoking Palestinian residents facing forced evictions that are purposely aimed to consolidate Israel’s colonial settler presence in occupied East Jerusalem as part of the long-running plans to forcibly and artificially alter the City’s demography in favor of a Jewish majority.

Sheikh Jarrah’s alarming situation has attracted a range of State-backed settler groups determined to uproot Palestinians from their homes, with these extremist groups reinforcing Israeli government plans to entrench the occupation and Israel’s illegal control of the Palestinian land, with as few Palestinians as possible, thereby facilitating its illegal annexation schemes. This is being done through all unlawful means and measures, including through the Israeli “judiciary”, whose decisions overwhelmingly favor Israeli settlers and are part and parcel of the occupying Power’s systematic forced displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people. As stated by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem concerning Sheikh Jarrah, “The issue today is not a matter of a real-estate dispute between private parties. It is rather an attempt driven by an extremist ideology which denies the right of existence of a person in his own home.”

Disturbing footage has shown settlers, escorted by police and occupying forces, marching through Sheikh Jarrah chanting “mavet la’aravim” – “Death to the Arabs” – and other hateful, racist slogans. Over consecutive nights as Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists gathered in solidarity with Palestinian families facing forced displacement, occupying forces used violent force against peaceful demonstrators. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 17 people were seriously injured due to the excessive use of force. Among others, an Amnesty International report on 10 May has corroborated field documentation of Israel’s brutal repression of civilians peacefully protesting forced in occupied East Jerusalem, with occupying forces deliberately instigating chaos and violence and causing harm to the protesters.

Israeli forces also continue their arbitrary arrests of Palestinians peacefully demonstrators against this illegal occupation and standing in defense of the Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and their rights. Among the many arrested was Mariam Afifi, a member of the Palestine Youth Orchestra, who was captured on video being beaten and dragged by her hijab by an Israeli soldier and then taken away. While handcuffed on the side of the road, Mariam asked the soldier, “Do you want your kids to grow up defending the oppressors?” This question must be asked throughout the international community, including in the Security Council, as Israeli impunity rages unabated due to the lack of accountability, destroying yet another generation and destroying any prospect for peace and stability.

International law and accountability mechanisms are impeded today by attempts of false equivocation that deliberately conceal and/or ignore the reality created by Israel’s 54-year belligerent occupation: mass dispossession, systemic discrimination, demographic engineering, forced displacement, and denial of the rights of the Palestinian people and even their very existence in their homeland. For too long, many have championed the rights and liberties of oppressed peoples worldwide, but fallen short on applying the same rights and principles to the Palestinian people.

The continued paralysis of the Security Council on the situation in Palestine is unacceptable. The long-running practice of exceptionalizing Israel at the Security Council has been too costly, only fueling impunity at the cost of human lives, human rights, and the prospects for peace and security and hastening the disintegration of the rule of law. The time is past due to question such historic errors by choosing a different path that holds all States to the same standards of moral conduct based on the principles of justice and dignity and not favoring or privileging one over the other. That is the basis of true justice.

The Security Council must uphold its Charter duty for the maintenance of international peace and security without exception, including in the case of Palestine. We therefore once again call on the Security Council to act with urgency to address this crisis and deepening injustice. The Council cannot allow its resolutions to be so grossly and systematically violated without consequence and cannot allow the situation in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, to spiral out of control.

This letter is in follow-up to our 714 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 6 May 2021 (A/ES-10/xxx-S/2021/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 10th 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

Statement by H.E. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, at the UN Security Council Debate on the Middle East including the Question of Palestine, 22 April 2021

Mr. President,

I wish to begin by congratulating Viet Nam on its skillful presidency of the Security Council this month. I also thank Special Coordinator Wennesland for his briefing and engaged efforts on the ground, including in regards to the Palestinian elections process and the humanitarian situation.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian people in the occupied territory have overwhelmingly registered to participate in the upcoming elections, clearly demonstrating their thirst and desire for democracy. These elections are vital for Palestinian democracy and unity and must not be jeopardized. Our people are entitled to freely express their will, without foreign intervention. In this context, we urge your help in preventing any Israel actions that might obstruct these elections, notably in occupied East Jerusalem. We have witnessed in recent days alone the arrest of several candidates, and the impeding or disbanding of meetings of parties and civil society. Such unlawful and irresponsible actions must stop at once.

We have, with the support of regional actors, notably Egypt, and international partners, been able to address all the internal challenges needed to hold these elections, with the understanding that the international community will help provide the necessary guarantees for these elections to proceed unhindered. We have reached the moment of truth. The ability of Palestinians to campaign, run for elections and vote throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem, is enshrined in international law and in previous agreements. There is also a well-established precedent observed in all prior elections in 1996, 2005 and 2006 and it must be respected.

Mr. President, 

The Palestinian people, like many nations around the world, are suffering from the horrific impact of the Coronavirus, and we are grateful for the international community’s support, including through COVAX. However this suffering could have been alleviated had Israel, the occupying Power, upheld its obligations. Israel, which does not lack the means to provide such relief, including through vaccination of the people under occupation, has chosen to only vaccinate those who are in interaction with Israeli citizens, namely Jerusalemites and Palestinian workers, and not the others. It has also refused to provide coronavirus relief to the Gaza Strip and is using the pandemic response as a political bargaining chip, pursuing its unlawful policy of collective punishment and its inhumane blockade affecting over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Mr. President,  

The latest report of the Secretary-General pursuant to resolution 2334 (2016) underlined the “continued Israeli settlement expansion, particularly into highly sensitive areas, which entrench the Israeli occupation, erode the possibility of a contiguous, independent and viable Palestinian State and further threaten the prospect of achieving a two-State solution”. This threat must be taken seriously and addressed immediately. What we are witnessing today in Jabal Abu Ghneim, in Sheik Jarrah and in Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, in Bethlehem, in Al-Khalil (Hebron), in Nablus and all across the West Bank with Israel’s frenzied settlement drive, eviction of Palestinian families and demolition of Palestinian homes and properties, is altering the landscape and demography of our territory dramatically and illegally. The impact on the viability of the two-State solution on the pre-1967, to which the international community remains committed, can no longer be ignored.

The Israeli objective is blatant: to unlawfully seize maximum Palestinian land with minimum Palestinians. It is to erase the 1967 borders that are indispensable for the realization of the two-State solution. Israel has prevented us for over 50 years from building on two-thirds of the Palestinian land occupied in 1967, while at the same time building and expanding its illegal settlements, entrenching its illegal occupation instead of ending it.

The result today is Palestinian bantustans, isolated and disconnected by Israel so it can push its double narrative, that this is disputed territory while it is in fact occupied, and that it should be divided based on where Israeli Jews and Palestinians live, thus moving forward with its unlawful annexation of our land handing a deadly blow to the two-State solution and any chance for peace.

This is the Israeli plan that is now presented loud and clear, in a shameless and unapologetic manner. It even attacks those who dare criticize its colonial policies, including Security Council members and the ICC, accusing them of antisemitism for challenging Israeli actions that violate international law, the same law we are all expected and obliged to respect without exception.

Mr. President,

We are in dire need for an international plan of action to defeat this colonial plan, which runs counter to the law and counter to Palestinian rights and Israeli interests, and which undermines regional and international peace and security. The foundation and parameters of this plan exist; it is the international consensus enshrined in the internationally-endorsed terms of reference, including relevant UN resolutions. This international consensus has prevailed despite the passage of time and Israel’s attempts to negate it, and we welcome the positions of the new US administration that are consistent with international law and the resolutions of this Council, as well as its decision to resume assistance to the Palestinian people, including for the Palestine refugees through UNRWA, and the steps to restore diplomatic ties.

To move forward we need more positive and proactive collective action, including :

  1. reinvigorating the Quartet, which has resumed its meetings and empowering it to monitor and accompany final status negotiations, and to intervene to ensure that the parties observe their commitments and obligations, as well as mobilizing this Council and the international community to assist in advancing freedom, peace and security, including through the convening of an international peace conference.
  2. Ensuring all States observe their obligation of non-recognition and non-assistance to Israel’s illegal actions, distinction between the territory of Israel and the occupied territories, in line with relevant resolutions, including resolution 2334, and of recognition of Palestinian rights and Palestinian statehood and support to them.
  3. Ensuring an end to impunity, which is the only way to explain the persistence of violations despite repeated condemnations including by this Council.  War crimes hinder peace, holding perpetrators accountable does not. The premise that peace can be achieved  in the absence of justice contradicts all logic. It is time for accountability and deterrence, to save human lives, give justice to the victims, and salvage the prospects for peace.

Mr. President,

We know only too well that there are many challenges ahead of us and understand there are other priorities and crises around the world that may plead for delayed action, but there is one strong argument for immediate and resolute action. Those who think that time plays in our favour should go to Jerusalem and Hebron and see what settler colonialism means. They should go to Gaza mutilated by 14 years of an inhumane blockade. They should go to the Jordan Valley and see how our resources are being stolen. They should hear from the families who are suffering endless dispossession and oppression, traumatized across generations, yet still believing in and yearning for freedom in their homeland and the security and prosperity that only peace can bring.

The map the Israel is drawing with its bulldozers, cranes and military might is one of perpetual conflict and apartheid. We have a collective map for peace. It should not be relegated to drawers and presentations. It has to find its way to our reality, now. Waiting means allowing Israel to finalize its plans to only lament once they have sealed our fate. The 4 June 1967 borders are the demarcation line between peace and conflict. We must consolidate and defend them so peace can prevail.

I thank you, Mr. President.

Statement of H.E. Riad Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine before the Security Council, 26 January 2021

Mr. President, 

Allow me at the outset to congratulate Tunisia on its skilled presidency of the Security Council and to express our appreciation for the high-level convening of this open debate, as well as to wish my brother Othman Jerandi a swift recovery. I also wish the President of Mexico a swift recovery. May this year witness an end to this terrible pandemic. Let me note in this regard that the occupying Power has not provided any vaccines to the Palestinian people under occupation to this day, insisting it is under no obligation to do so.

Allow me to also thank Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for his participation and to seize this opportunity to thank Russia for its leading role in the Quartet in the most difficult of circumstances, and President Putin for his repeated efforts to bring the parties together, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Ireland, Mr. Simon Coveney, Mexico, Mr. Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, and Norway, Ms. Ine Eriksen Søreide, colleagues that I have worked closely with to advance peace, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Estonia, Mr. Rein Tammsaar, for participating in this meeting. 

I congratulate Mr. Tor Wennesland for assuming his functions as the UN Special Coordinator. We look forward to working with him in his new capacity to advance a just peace. I also welcome my brother Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who remains a tireless advocate of peace. 

I also wish today to express our appreciation to the States that concluded their Security Council terms, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia, and South Africa, thanking them for their commitment to international law and peace, and for their support for the rights of the Palestinian people; while also expressing our congratulations to India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway and wishing them every success as they undertake their terms on the Council.

Mr. President,

The countdown for the demise of the two-State solution is underway. Some say the time has already elapsed. It is our collective responsibility to salvage the two-State solution on the pre-1967 borders before it is too late. 

Some wonder if this is the right time for peace. But the very reasons that demonstrate how difficult achieving peace is going to be, including the situation on the ground, the mistrust, the illegal unilateral actions, should prompt more, not less, international involvement, especially since we all agree that we are running out of time.

How much trust was there when the parties to the conflict met in Madrid 30 years ago? How ready were they to negotiate? How willing was then Israeli Prime Minister Shamir to make peace?  How pleased were the Palestinians that the PLO could not even send its own delegation? What did the situation on the ground look like? The world decided it was time to solve this conflict and was not going to take “no” for an answer. I can tell you with certainty, without Madrid, we would not have made it to Oslo. 

The momentum for peace is something we create, not something we wait for, and I know there is no lack of willingness around this table and beyond to see peace prevail.

We thus reiterate our call for a collective approach mobilizing the international community and demonstrating its resolve to achieve peace. In this context, we call for revival of the Quartet and its engagement with partners and the parties, as well as for the continued mobilization of this Security Council. We also reiterate our call for the convening of an international peace conference that can signal a turning point in this conflict, like Madrid did three decades ago, and to launch final status negotiations based on the international terms of reference and parameters. Our call for multilateral engagement is not an attempt to evade bilateral negotiations, but rather an effort to ensure their success.

Mr. President,

Does anyone here believe that Israel has really dropped its annexation plans? Or is the reality actually that it is finalizing those plans on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as we speak, advancing over 3000 new settlement units in the last few weeks alone, accelerating demolition of Palestinian homes and the displacement of our people, with settlers’ violence reaching an all-time high, and with repeated provocations at the holy sites, especially at Al-Haram Al-Sharif? 

Israel’s goal has always been the same: grabbing maximum Palestinian geography with minimum Palestinian demography. The outcome of this policy is known. Millions of Palestinians enduring oppression, discrimination and blatant segregation, denied their most basic rights and deprived of control over their land, their resources, their borders and their lives. Who would accept that? We cannot. Would any of you? The question therefore remains how to convince Israel to choose peace not annexation, or in the words of former US President Jimmy Carter, peace not apartheid.

In 2016, the Quartet stressed the urgent need for affirmative steps to reverse the negative trends on the ground in order to “prevent entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict that is incompatible with realizing the national aspirations” of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. In response to the rapid deterioration of the situation on the ground, the Security Council adopted resolution 2334 (2016), a roadmap to salvage the two-State solution and achieve peace. 

In his speech explaining why the United States did not resort to the veto, Secretary Kerry explained that the two-State solution was a Palestinian interest, an Israeli interest, a regional and international interest, but also a US interest. He stressed that the “critical decision about the future – one state or two states – is effectively being made on the ground every single day”, noting that “the status quo is leading towards one state and perpetual occupation, but most of the public either ignores it or has given up hope that anything can be done to change it”, adding that “with this passive resignation, the problem only gets worse, the risks get greater and the choices are narrowed”.

This lucid assessment about the urgency to act to salvage the two-State solution was followed by four years where the Trump administration used the United States’ might and influence to support Israel’s unlawful efforts to entrench its occupation and control, breaking with decades of US diplomacy. Even the most vulnerable, millions of Palestine refugees, were not spared as the Trump administration withdrew US funding from UNRWA seeking to bring the Agency to collapse in spite of the international consensus on its indispensable role pending a just solution. What if these considerable resources were used to advance freedom, justice and peace, not annexation and apartheid? 

Mr. President,

The last four years have tested our collective resolve, yet the international consensus has endured and prevailed. The members of this Council, of the Quartet, the Munich group, and the international community as a whole stood up against annexation, reaffirmed their support for Palestinian rights, supported UNRWA, and continued to work for a just and lasting peace. Now is the time to heal and repair the damage left by the previous US administration.

President Abbas has congratulated President Biden on his election and expressed our hope for the resumption of relations and positive engagement. We look forward to the reversal of the unlawful and hostile measures undertaken by the Trump administration and to working together for peace. We welcome the decision of the new administration to rejoin the international law-based order and hope the US will play an important role in multilateral efforts for peace in the Middle East.

Mr. President,

This is not a time for passive resignation but a time for resolute action. Without such action, neither reversing negative trends on the ground, first and foremost illegal settlement activities, nor resuming meaningful final status negotiations, will be possible. The deterioration of the situation on the ground is directly linked to the attempts of one party to prejudge and dictate the outcome of negotiations, implementing annexation that would destroy any prospect for a sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine, while pretending to accept a two-State solution.

There are those who ask: what can be done that has not been tried already? But did the world truly use the toolbox available to it to end this occupation and conflict? 

How does the world deal with other conflicts? Does it say that the parties shall negotiate and just wait for them to be ready and agree? Or does it find the necessary resources to push parties towards negotiations and away from unlawful unilateral actions, including by upholding third parties’ obligations? Does it only condemn violations or make sure that their cost far outweighs their benefits by creating incentives for compliance with obligations and disincentives for their breach? Does this Council in adopting its resolutions accompany them with the means to ensure their implementation as per its Charter duties, or does it offer its resolutions as mere advice for the parties to decide if they take it or not? 

Since both parties say they are committed to peace, why not allow the deployment of international observers truly empowered to assess compliance? Why fear consequences for whomever breaches their legal obligations? Why not conduct final status negotiations under international auspices? Why reject the idea of binding timeframes? This is the path towards changing the dramatic reality underway in Palestine. We stand ready to do our part and will continue fulfilling our obligations.

Mr. President, 

An entire nation is yearning for freedom and its calls must be answered. We do not ask for anything more than what the UN Charter prescribed for all peoples, nor will we accept anything less. We cannot accept a future of walls and blockades, humiliation and subjugation. We will spare no effort in advancing an independent, sovereign, viable, contiguous and democratic State of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. We will do by resorting to peaceful means alone, even in the most challenging of circumstances. 

While we pursue our long journey to freedom and peace, we call for immediate protection for our people, who are equally entitled to security, until such time where we can ensure their protection as a sovereign State. 

President Abbas has issued a decree calling for Palestinian legislative and presidential elections, as well as for the Palestinian National Council. This is an integral part of the efforts to resume our democratic life and to achieve national reconciliation and unity. We thank all those who are supporting these efforts and ask for international support and assistance to ensure the integrity of these elections, including by helping to avert and remove any Israeli obstacles to their conduct, notably in East Jerusalem, as well as respect for the outcome.

In this period of electoral campaigns, there are those who, in trying to secure votes, remain committed to international law, the two-State solution and peaceful means, and those who instead announce settlements, advance annexation and persist in their provocations. May people not be duped by the ills of demagogy, supremacy and domination and rather choose the path of equal rights, mutual respect and shared dignity. With your help, may our future be one of freedom, security and prosperity for all. A future of peace, not apartheid. Thank you.

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.