"Palestine is the greatest moral issue of our time."
- Nelson Mandela
This summer Israel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the six-day war. However, for Palestinians it has meant 50 years of occupation. Peter Beaumont wrote in
The Guardian in May (1):
"[Palestinians] will be reflecting on 50 years of military occupation, and the fact that, despite the Oslo peace process of the 1990s, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the rounds of talks, and the endless lip service paid by both the international community and Israeli and Palestinian leaders, a two-state solution appears further away than ever."
Several international organizations have condemned the situation. In March, United Nations organization Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) published a report which concluded:
"The weight of the evidence supports beyond a reasonable doubt the contention that Israel is guilty of imposing an apartheid regime on the Palestinian people."
USA and Israel demanded that the report is withdrawn. The head of the ESCWA, Rima Khalaf, refused to withdraw the report and resigned from her UN position in protest. The report was deleted from UN website. (2)
John Pilger wrote (3):
"...the longest occupation and resistance in modern times is not recognized. When the United Nations suddenly stirs and defines Israel as an apartheid state, as it did this year, there is outrage – not against a state whose “core purpose” is racism but against a U.N. commission that dared break the silence."
In June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres released a statement and called for an end to the occupation (4):
"This occupation has imposed a heavy humanitarian and development burden on the Palestinian people. Among them are generation after generation of Palestinians who have been compelled to grow-up and live in ever more crowded refugee camps, many in abject poverty, and with little or no prospect of a better life for their children."
"Ending the occupation that began in 1967 and achieving a negotiated two-state outcome is the only way to lay the foundations for enduring peace that meets Israeli security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty. It is the only way to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people."
Also UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein called for an end to Israel's occupation in Palestine. Former UN undersecretary for humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland said (5):
"This 50-year-old festering wound is a reflection of a capitulation of Israeli, Palestinian and international leadership in the search for peace and reconciliation."
"Two generations have already lived under occupation and in mounting disillusionment and despair. Both Palestinian and Israeli children are denied a future in peace and security."
Human Rights Watch criticized Israel's actions during the occupation (6):
Oxfam released a media briefing where it condemned Israel's actions (7):
"After 50 years, the charge sheet against Israel for flagrant and continuing violations of international human rights and humanitarian law is long. It includes forced displacement, destruction of homes and other property, illegal night raids, restriction of movement, confiscation of land, building the separation wall, collective punishment of civilians living under blockade in Gaza, confiscation, destruction of and failure to provide humanitarian aid, disproportionate use of force, and damage and denial of basic needs like health care and clean water."
"Israel has the right to ensure its own security, but this provides no legal or moral justification for the annexation of territory that is not part of Israel, or for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
The international community’s inaction gives a dangerous signal: that international law can be violated with impunity.
The conditions for achieving peace and prosperity for Palestinians living under occupation, discrimination and abuse can only be achieved if Israel is held to account for its systematic violations of international law, and if the occupation ends. Until then, the status quo will remain."
In his poignant article (3), John Pilger used another quote from Nelson Mandela:
"We know only too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom
of the Palestinians."
Pilger continued:
"At the heart of the Middle East is the historic injustice in Palestine. Until that is resolved, and Palestinians have their freedom and homeland, there will be no peace in the region, or perhaps anywhere.
What Mandela was saying is that freedom itself is precarious while powerful governments can deny justice to others, terrorize others, imprison and kill others, in our name. Israel certainly understands the threat that one day it might have to be normal."
Sources:
1) Peter Beaumont: "The six-day war: why Israel is still divided over its legacy 50 years on" The Guardian 21.5.2017
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/20/six-day-war-israel-still-divided-over-legacy-50-years-on
2) Jakob Reimann: "Israel Is an Apartheid State (Even If the UN Report Has Been Withdrawn)" Foreign Policy Journal 31.3.2017
https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2017/03/31/israel-is-an-apartheid-state-even-if-the-un-report-has-been-withdrawn/
3) John Pilger: "Why Palestine Is Still the Issue"
Telesur 19.7.2017
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Why-Palestine-Is-Still-the-Issue-20170719-0016.html
4) "Statement of the Secretary-General on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and the 50 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory" United Nations 5.6.2017
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2017-06-05/statement-secretary-general-occasion-anniversary-1967-arab-israeli
5) Peter Beaumont: "UN human rights chief calls for end to Israel's occupation of Palestine" The Guardian 6.6.2017
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/06/un-human-rights-council-israel-occupation-palestine
6) Human Rights Watch: "Israel: 50 Years of Occupation Abuses" 4.6.2017
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/04/israel-50-years-occupation-abuses
7) Oxfam Media Briefing 1.6.2017
https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/mb_no-end-in-sight-occupied-palestinian-territory_en.pdf
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