Ali Kazak |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2018PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi:
November 29, 2018PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi:
“Solidarity is not just an abstract expression of empathy; rather, it is an active, positive and concrete engagement”
“On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 181 (II). Following the international community’s decision to adopt the Partition Plan, the suffering, dispossession, displacement, and victimization of the Palestinian people commenced as the state of Israel was established on the land of historical Palestine.
Seventy-one years later, the longest occupation in modern history persists while Israel continues to implement an official policy of unlawful unilateralism with a total disdain for international law and Palestinian human rights; such criminal behavior includes Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, its expropriation of Palestinian land and resources, the deliberate targeting of peaceful protestors in the besieged Gaza Strip, the cultural, historical, demographic, and territorial distortion of Jerusalem, and the eviction and deportation of Palestinians from their homes and land, among other violations. Such Israeli measures, which have been emboldened by the current US administration’s disastrous moves and decision-making, constitute a total negation of the most basic requirements for peace, stability and security.
Today also marks the forty-first anniversary of the UNGA’s designation of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On this occasion, we extend our gratitude to the individual governments and parliaments worldwide that have recognized us, as well as the political parties, representatives of civil society, churches, solidarity and BDS groups, and others who have worked tirelessly in the service of the cause of a just peace and in defense of the Palestinians, a people in captivity and exile, and their right to live in freedom and dignity.
Solidarity is not just an abstract expression of empathy; rather, it is an active, positive and concrete engagement. It should send a strong and important message to both the Palestinian people and to the global community that there is a price to be paid for Israel's persistent violations of international law and conventions. Simultaneously, it would be assuring the Palestinian people of the protection available to them in the international legal and political system. The injustice which began in 1948 must come to end.”
Seventy-one years later, the longest occupation in modern history persists while Israel continues to implement an official policy of unlawful unilateralism with a total disdain for international law and Palestinian human rights; such criminal behavior includes Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, its expropriation of Palestinian land and resources, the deliberate targeting of peaceful protestors in the besieged Gaza Strip, the cultural, historical, demographic, and territorial distortion of Jerusalem, and the eviction and deportation of Palestinians from their homes and land, among other violations. Such Israeli measures, which have been emboldened by the current US administration’s disastrous moves and decision-making, constitute a total negation of the most basic requirements for peace, stability and security.
Today also marks the forty-first anniversary of the UNGA’s designation of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On this occasion, we extend our gratitude to the individual governments and parliaments worldwide that have recognized us, as well as the political parties, representatives of civil society, churches, solidarity and BDS groups, and others who have worked tirelessly in the service of the cause of a just peace and in defense of the Palestinians, a people in captivity and exile, and their right to live in freedom and dignity.
Solidarity is not just an abstract expression of empathy; rather, it is an active, positive and concrete engagement. It should send a strong and important message to both the Palestinian people and to the global community that there is a price to be paid for Israel's persistent violations of international law and conventions. Simultaneously, it would be assuring the Palestinian people of the protection available to them in the international legal and political system. The injustice which began in 1948 must come to end.”
Urgent Appeal for occupied Jerusalem
November 28, 2018
In light of the recent grave developments in Jerusalem and the Israeli occupation’s accelerated and egregious violations committed against the Palestinian people’s national and human rights in the occupied city, PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi issued the following appeal to governments worldwide and all members of the international community to hold Israel accountable for its illegal actions:
“Since the beginning of the year, Israel has accelerated and intensified its efforts to entrench its colonial military occupation, especially in and around occupied Jerusalem. Such measures include Israel’s theft of Palestinian lands, the expansion of its illegal settlement enterprise, the arrest of Palestinian representatives and officials and the deliberate targeting of Palestinian ministries and institutions, the revocation the IDs and residency status of Palestinians, the demolition of commercial and residential Palestinian-owned properties and other structures, and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes, among other flagrant violations of international law and relevant conventions. Such egregious violations are outlined in the PLO Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy’s fact sheet entitled, Strategic Threats Facing Jerusalem: Israel’s latest and most dangerous violations in occupied Jerusalem.
With its draconian measures and unlawful policies aimed at Israeli expansion and Palestinian displacement and ethnic cleansing throughout occupied Jerusalem, Israel’s extremist, racist government coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately and systematically working to complete the total annexation and isolation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian environs and surrounding areas, as well as the distortion of the occupied city’s demographic, historical and cultural character. Clearly, this is evidence of Israel’s objective to implement its fundamentalist Zionist plan of superimposing ‘Greater Israel’ on all of historic Palestine, thus making its colonial occupation regime and apartheid discriminatory rule of the Palestinian people permanent and irreversible.
These measures pose a strategic threat to Palestinian human and national rights, especially through the imposition of new and "permanent" realities on the ground that deliberately undermine the achievement of Palestinian statehood. It should be noted that such acts are the practical translation of the so-called "Jewish Nation-State Law," which was enacted to maintain an exclusivist and exclusionary racist system at the expense of the Palestinian people and their rights.
The current US administration’s dangerous policies on Jerusalem and other core issues have emboldened Israel to persist in its unbridled and egregious violations with full impunity and with a total disdain for international law and the global rule of law. Equally, the international community has maintained Israel’s impunity and exceptionalism by refraining from holding Israel accountable for these grave measures and illegal policies, as well as for failing to provide protection for the Palestinian people. In these conditions, where the principle of accountability is ignored, justice and peace will remain elusive and the culture of impunity will be further entrenched, threatening not only regional peace and security but also undermining the international legal and political order.
We call on governments worldwide and all members of the international community to take immediate and concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its persistent and willful violations, in line with your obligations under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016). We urge them to effectively adopt policies and laws that unequivocally ban the support of and/or profiteering from the illegal Israeli settler-colonial regime of occupation in Palestine, especially in Jerusalem.
We also appeal to the world to increase its support for Jerusalem and its embattled institutions, which have been systematically targeted by the Israeli government and the current US administration. Without concrete and firm action, Israel will continue to undermine the two-state solution and destroy the basic requirements for a just peace and stability, while the Palestinian people continue to endure immeasurable suffering from unchecked brutality.
At a time when the rights-based international system is under threat, the reality and future of Jerusalem is a litmus test for the world and the integrity of its legal and political system. It is our hope that the global community and people of conscience will rise to the challenge and defend the universality and indivisibility of human rights. The world must not fail Jerusalem.”http://www.dci.plo.ps/en/
“Since the beginning of the year, Israel has accelerated and intensified its efforts to entrench its colonial military occupation, especially in and around occupied Jerusalem. Such measures include Israel’s theft of Palestinian lands, the expansion of its illegal settlement enterprise, the arrest of Palestinian representatives and officials and the deliberate targeting of Palestinian ministries and institutions, the revocation the IDs and residency status of Palestinians, the demolition of commercial and residential Palestinian-owned properties and other structures, and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes, among other flagrant violations of international law and relevant conventions. Such egregious violations are outlined in the PLO Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy’s fact sheet entitled, Strategic Threats Facing Jerusalem: Israel’s latest and most dangerous violations in occupied Jerusalem.
With its draconian measures and unlawful policies aimed at Israeli expansion and Palestinian displacement and ethnic cleansing throughout occupied Jerusalem, Israel’s extremist, racist government coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately and systematically working to complete the total annexation and isolation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian environs and surrounding areas, as well as the distortion of the occupied city’s demographic, historical and cultural character. Clearly, this is evidence of Israel’s objective to implement its fundamentalist Zionist plan of superimposing ‘Greater Israel’ on all of historic Palestine, thus making its colonial occupation regime and apartheid discriminatory rule of the Palestinian people permanent and irreversible.
These measures pose a strategic threat to Palestinian human and national rights, especially through the imposition of new and "permanent" realities on the ground that deliberately undermine the achievement of Palestinian statehood. It should be noted that such acts are the practical translation of the so-called "Jewish Nation-State Law," which was enacted to maintain an exclusivist and exclusionary racist system at the expense of the Palestinian people and their rights.
The current US administration’s dangerous policies on Jerusalem and other core issues have emboldened Israel to persist in its unbridled and egregious violations with full impunity and with a total disdain for international law and the global rule of law. Equally, the international community has maintained Israel’s impunity and exceptionalism by refraining from holding Israel accountable for these grave measures and illegal policies, as well as for failing to provide protection for the Palestinian people. In these conditions, where the principle of accountability is ignored, justice and peace will remain elusive and the culture of impunity will be further entrenched, threatening not only regional peace and security but also undermining the international legal and political order.
We call on governments worldwide and all members of the international community to take immediate and concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its persistent and willful violations, in line with your obligations under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016). We urge them to effectively adopt policies and laws that unequivocally ban the support of and/or profiteering from the illegal Israeli settler-colonial regime of occupation in Palestine, especially in Jerusalem.
We also appeal to the world to increase its support for Jerusalem and its embattled institutions, which have been systematically targeted by the Israeli government and the current US administration. Without concrete and firm action, Israel will continue to undermine the two-state solution and destroy the basic requirements for a just peace and stability, while the Palestinian people continue to endure immeasurable suffering from unchecked brutality.
At a time when the rights-based international system is under threat, the reality and future of Jerusalem is a litmus test for the world and the integrity of its legal and political system. It is our hope that the global community and people of conscience will rise to the challenge and defend the universality and indivisibility of human rights. The world must not fail Jerusalem.”http://www.dci.plo.ps/en/
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