People.
The International Commission to Support the Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) has followed with great concern the severe and unprecedented deterioration of the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories during 2017. Indicators show that 2017 is the worst on the level of violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.
ICSPR reiterates that the Palestinian people continue to suffer under the Israeli occupation. The Palestinian people suffering is exacerbated due to Israeli policies and violations. Israeli occupation commits extrajudicial killings, including daily execution; carry out arbitrary arrests and torture of Palestinian political detainees, pay effort to Judaize Jerusalem, confiscate the Palestinian land, put more chick points, and build more settlements around Jerusalem. All of the previous actions are supported by the US administration who recently recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and did not abide the international law despite the UN General Assembly rejection. The international community has also met the Israeli crimes with silence, which constitute the green light for the occupation to continue committing crimes in front of the world eyes.
During 2017, the Israeli occupation continues its siege around the Gaza Strip, which leaves the strip under inhuman consequences such as restricting freedom of movement and goods, deteriorating humanitarian conditions, high rates of poverty and unemployment, and health, housing, education deterioration continue.
In addition, 2017 caused additional suffering to the population of the Gaza Strip because of the collective punishment imposed by the Palestinian presidency and the Palestinian government, which continued until this moment. This has compounded the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and has continued to affect negatively the entire life and humanitarian system, especially the health, education and electricity, water, economy, trade, banks and other vital sector. These collective punishment have been accompanied by repressive measures that affect the human rights of the Palestinian especially journalists, writers, and opinion-holders who issue new laws such as the Cyber Crimes Law and restrictions on public right and freedoms in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These violations express the Palestinians authority encroachment of the laws.
Despite the fact that the year 2017 witnessed signing the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, until this moment there is a slowdown in implementing the agreement actions on the ground. After taking power in the Gaza Strip, the National Government did not put any real plans to respond to the humanitarian crises especially the electricity, health and education crises.
ICSPR wishes that 2018 would be different for the Palestinian people and calls for the following:
1- ICSPR calls upon the UN bodies to carry its responsibilities in mplementing its resolution that guarantee the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including resolutions that affirm the illegality of the Israeli occupation settlement, and the illegality of any amendments to the special status of Jerusalem. ICSPR stresses on carrying procedures provided in Chapter VI and VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
2- ICSPR urges the international community to work to provide international protection to the Palestinian people from the Israeli crimes by taking actions and appropriate measures to put pressure on the occupation of respect international humanitarian law and human rights law.
3- ICSPR urges the Palestinian leadership to refer the occupation to the International Criminal Court. ICSPR calls upon the Prosecutor Generals Office of the International Criminal Court to complete its preliminary study, which should not last long and to initiate investigations to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes described in the Rome Statute against the people.
4- ICSPR calls for expanding the campaigns of solidarity with the Palestinian people, boycotting and isolating the Israeli occupation and the United States of America politically, economically, culturally and academically, and taking care to invest in the energies of the Palestinian communities to defend the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
5- ICSPR calls for strengthening and guaranteeing the right of the Palestinians to resist the Israeli occupation, including the right of resistance in all its forms, and reconsidering the course of negotiations with the occupier and stopping building settlement international resolutions, and seek to enforce them through appropriate and effective diplomatic, political and legal action.
6- ICSPR calls for activating the role of the Palestinian diplomacy at the regional, Islamic and international levels in exposing the violations of the occupation.
7- ICSPR calls for building an international solidarity network with Jerusalems civilians, prisoners and Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails and detention centers, supporting their struggles and promoting the slogan of free all the Palestinian detainees.
8- ICSPR calls upon the international community to intervene seriously to force the occupying state to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip, open the borders to the movement of individuals and goods and accelerate the reconstruction, and work to solve the problems of poverty, unemployment, electricity, health and education.
8- ICSPR demands the Executive Committee and the Palestinian leadership to declare the state of Palestine as a state under occupation and its capital Jerusalem and demands the countries of the world to recognize and support this declaration.
10- ICSPR calls upon the Palestinian presidency and government institutions to invest the opportunity of the current reconciliation, and not to waste more time, by taking clear decisions to stop the collective punishment and address the effects of real effects generated in accordance with national law and international.
11- ICSPR calls upon the Palestinian government to start implementing real plans to respond to the Palestinians steadfastness in Jerusalem and to deal with the humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip, especially the electricity, health and education crises, and the employees whose salaries were cut and deducted earlier.
12- ICSPR urges Palestinian parties to work hard to confront internal violations by developing a national justice system or program, drawing on the positive aspects of Arab and international experiences.
13- ICSPR mobilizes the Palestinian society, especially the parties, civil society organizations, various unions and student organizations for the need to protect the reconciliation agreement by launching a comprehensive national dialogue to ensure that all national parties are involved in the process of restoring national unity, and reforming and activating the institutions of the political system.
