Press Release
Bloody day in Jerusalem and occupied Palestinian territories
ICSPR The appropriate response to Israeli crimes is building new Palestinian strategy beyond internal differences based on restoring national unity and the internationalization of the conflict
Israeli Military Occupation continued to implement repressive and planned procedures against thousands of civilians, worshipers and Palestinian protesters, who were demonstrating peacefully to express their anger of continuing Israeli forces installation of metal detectors, turnstiles, and additional security cameras at the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and impeding civilians to practice their religion, and rejecting the Israeli political and military actions that aimed to control over Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city, and applying temporal and spatial partitioning schemes to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Where Israeli forces on Friday noon, 21 July 2017, attacked the Palestinian civilian protesters’ in Jerusalem, several cities of West Bank and on the eastern border of Gaza Strip, Israeli forces and Israeli police attacked them using all kinds of weapons, which led -until the moment of this press release- injuring almost 400 civilians, killing three Palestinians, including a baby boy Mohamed Mahmoud Sharaf (17 years old) who was killed after a settler shot him. This attack was accompanied by preventing, obstructing the media to do its work, and blocking ambulances to reach the wounded, in addition to detained hundreds of participants in these demonstrations.
This Friday, is the eighth consecutive day in which the Israeli authorities continue to enforce the new repressive measures in Jerusalem, which started by closing the mosque, kept electronic gates at the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque, along with the continued closure of the old town, these actions were accompanied by physical abuse cases and arresting and detention dozens of Palestinian leaders and civilian’s in Jerusalem, the Israeli military actions aimed to Judaizing Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque, as well as depriving people of their rights guaranteed by international law.
The Israeli crimes, marked this day as bloody day, especially for the numbers of injured and wounded, and the number of victims and martyrs will elevate, along with Israeli military orders that allows military forces to attack civilians protesters with all guns, which is considered inconsistent with the rules of international humanitarian law.
The recent Israeli measures in Jerusalem are considered a direct violation of the Universal Declaration of human rights article (9) stating “freedom of exercise religion or belief in public or private, individually or collectively, and freedom of religion in worship, teaching, practice and observance.” and the International Covenant on Civil and political rights adopted by the United Nations in 1966. As well as a flagrant violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which guarantees freedom of worship and access to worship places and not to obstruct or deprive them of practicing their religion.
International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) condemned IOF aggression against the civilian in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which is considered as crimes and serious violations of the norms of international law and international humanitarian law, stressing that Jerusalem is an occupied city, therefore; ICSPR calls for the following:
ICSPR Consider that restoring the Palestinian national unity, overcoming internal political disagreement and overcoming the illusion to return to negotiations with the radical right Government cannot reach a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees our people rights, without building new Palestinian strategy based on the internationalization of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, intensifying efforts to hold leaders of the occupying power accountable for their crimes by the international forums and isolating and boycotting the occupation, as well as providing international protection for Palestinian civilians.
ICSPR Emphasizes that the Arab and international silence considered as a green light for the occupation to continue its crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, as it considered consistent with Israeli propaganda aimed at mixing legitimate struggle and resistance of terrorism, ICSPR calls upon the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and protecting the Palestinian civilians and territories particularly Jerusalem.
ICSPR demand the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities in earnest and effective intervention to counter any failure form any Palestinian side and to refer the issue of escalating Israeli violations against Jerusalem and West Bank, on the agenda of the Security Council and the International Human Rights Council, in order to take serious action to convene special session of the Council, in order to refer the crimes of the Israeli Occupation to the International Criminal Court, and use all diplomatic and legal mechanisms to condemn, isolate and accounting Israeli occupation, and enhance steadfastness Jerusalem people’s.
ICSPR calla upon the International Community, the United Nation organizations, League of Arab States, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and all regional and Arab organizations to intervene and to fulfill their legal and moral responsibilities, as well as to make serious action to force the Israeli Occupation to stop it’s crimes in the Palestinian Occupied territories, especially in Jerusalem.
ICSPR Calls upon the Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention the need to undertake their legal obligations in putting pressure on the occupying power to ensure respect of its legal obligations under international law and international humanitarian law.
