Category: UN statements

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Gaza: UN experts call on international community to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and others

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“Many of us already raised the alarm about the risk of genocide in Gaza,” the experts said. “We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire. We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilise to prevent genocide,” they said.

…“The international community has an obligation to prevent atrocity crimes, including genocide, and should immediately consider all diplomatic, political and economic measures to that end,” the experts said. They urged immediate action by UN Member States and the UN system as a whole.

…“The international community, including not only States but also non-State actors such as businesses, must do everything it can to immediately end the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people, and ultimately end Israeli apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian territory,” the experts said.

Continue reading at https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/11/gaza-un-experts-call-international-community-prevent-genocide-against

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UN Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territories addresses Press Club on ABC News

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“War crimes, crimes against humanity must be accounted for, but also must be prevented. Together with other Special Rapporteurs [I] have warned, already three weeks ago, against the risk that Israel might commit the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people, as genocide is the intentional targeting of a population based on racial, national, ethnic or religious lines, with intent to destroy, it in all or in part. And certainly the statements made by Israeli politicians and military unveil a genocidal intent to wipe out Gaza and its residents, and this should not be ignored.”

Continue watching at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmbH68cgcmM

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Guterres: We Cannot Prevent Genocide in Gaza by Palestine Chronicle

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“(We have) no power, no money, but a voice and a platform where people can (bring) together governments, civil society, businesses, and at least try to find ways to address the dramatic problems of our time,” Guterres said.

His comments were a response to a question about what levers the UN had at its disposal to stop a potential genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, Libya’s Permanent Representative to the UN Taher El-Sonni said at a UN Security Council meeting that without taking action and holding those responsible for the Gaza crisis accountable, the international community may see a genocide rivaling Rwanda in the 1990s.

Israel has, thus far, killed over 10,569 – including 4,324 children and 2,823 women – and wounded 26,475.

Continue reading at https://www.palestinechronicle.com/guterres-we-cannot-prevent-genocide-in-gaza/

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Gaza is ‘running out of time’ UN experts warn, demanding a ceasefire to prevent genocide on United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner

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GENEVA (2 November 2023) – Time is running out to prevent genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, UN experts warned today, expressing deep frustration with Israel’s refusal to halt plans to decimate the besieged Gaza strip.

“We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide,” the experts said. “The time for action is now. Israel’s allies also bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action,” they said.

Continue reading at https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/11/gaza-running-out-time-un-experts-warn-demanding-ceasefire-prevent-genocide

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The One Thing Netanyahu and Gallant Agree On? Blaming Iran by Ramzy Baroud

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More than 200 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 30 Israelis since January 2023, according to a statement to the U.N. Security Council by U.N. Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland on August 21.

Wennesland described the violence as a “concerning trend,” attributing it to a “growing sense of despair about the future,” U.N. News reported.

The U.N. humanitarian agency, OCHA, had similar findings. It said that nearly 600 settler-related “incidents” were reported in the Occupied Territories in the first six months of 2023. Settler attacks have resulted in “Palestinian casualties, property damage, or both.”

Neither Wennesland nor OCHA mentioned Iran in their statements, nor did the constant stream of reports on Israel’s ongoing violence, incitement or, at times, outright calls for genocide by settlers and their leaders in Netanyahu’s government.

…Aside from the “incremental genocide” happening daily throughout the Occupied Territories, at times large communities are being expelled, en masse.

Continue reading at https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/netanyahu-gallant

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UN experts say Israel should be held accountable for acts of ‘domicide’ by United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner

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The international community must take action to stop systematic and deliberate housing demolition and sealing, arbitrary displacement and forced evictions of Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank, UN experts* said today.

… “The systematic demolition of Palestinian homes, erection of illegal Israeli settlements and systematic denial of building permits for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank amounts to “domicide”.

… “Direct attacks on the Palestinian people’s homes, schools, livelihoods and water sources are nothing but Israel’s attempts to curtail the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and to threaten their very existence,” the experts said.

… The experts have repeatedly raised concerns with the Government of Israel on these issues. No response has been received to date.

Continue reading at https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/un-experts-say-israel-should-be-held-accountable-acts-domicide

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Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967* by Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese

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In a settler-colonial context and an apartheid regime, any display of collective identity and (re)claimed sovereignty from the subjugated people represents a threat to the regime itself. On 13 May 2022, Palestinian pallbearers were attacked by Israeli forces while also carrying their national flag during the funeral of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who had been killed two days earlier (see para. 58). In fact, Palestinian “symbols”, like the Palestinian flag, are systematically attacked and torn down, in public places, during public events, protests and even funerals, with the display of Palestinian national identity being de facto banned. In the occupied Palestinian territory, preventing the Palestinian people from expressing their collective identity in their own land has taken many forms.

This is part of a broader and deeper endeavour to “deconstruct and replace” Palestine from the collective imagination through a combination of cultural appropriation and the erasure of key cultural entities. [106] The Moroccan Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, destroyed at the beginning of the occupation to make space for the Wailing Wall esplanade, is one of the first recorded cases of Palestinian venues destroyed or seized and converted to Israeli cultural sites soon after June 1967.
Similarly, attempts to erase the Palestinian character of what is left of Palestinian ancestral land include: the elimination of Palestinian history in East Jerusalem schools, [107] the revocation of licences to Palestinian schools not adhering to Israeli curriculum policies [108] and the conversion or closure of sites representing Palestinian cultural, political and religious identity. [109]

Attacks on cultural objects of significance to eliminate all traces and expressions of Palestinian existence, and the incorporation of a revisionist view of history to assert (false) claims of sovereignty in the occupied Palestinian territory, demonstrate the occupier’s intention to permanently strip the land of its indigenous identity.

Continue reading at https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/A.77.356_210922.pdf

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Sabra and Shatila massacre: What happened in Lebanon in 1982? on Al-Jazeera

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Between September 16th and 18th, 1982, a campaign of killing took place at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. What happened was described by the UN as an “act of genocide”. With the backing of invading Israeli forces, a right-winged Lebanese Christain armed group, called the Phalange attacked the Palestinian camps in Beirut. According to multiple reports up to 3500 men, women, and children were killed.

Continue reading at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/16/sabra-and-shatila-massacre-40-years-on-explainer

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Human Rights Council holds general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories

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International-Lawyers.Org called the Council to put an end to human rights abuses occurring in Palestine.  In Gaza, unarmed civilians including children, medical personnel, journalists and persons with disabilities had been victims of live ammunition by soldiers, particularly during the great march protests.  As all actions were taken with the intention to destroy Palestinian people, the Council was urged to investigate whether Israel was committing genocide against the people of Palestine.

Continue reading at https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24354&LangID=E

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Essential services on verge of shutting down in Gaza due to lack of emergency fuel by United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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“Since 16 July, the Israeli authorities have prohibited the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip, in the context of tightened import and export restrictions… The recent developments have exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis driven by 11 years of Israeli blockade that has raised concerns over collective punishment and human rights violations, alongside an unresolved internal Palestinian political divide…
“At least one hospital has been forced to shut down for a few hours, and services are being dramatically reduced at others. Given ongoing blackouts of about 20 hours a day, if fuel does not come in immediately, people’s lives will be at stake, with the most vulnerable patients, like cardiac patients, those on dialysis, and newborns in intensive care, at highest risk.”
… hospitals have reduced diagnostic, sterilization and cleaning services, increasing the risk of infections amongst patients. Elective surgeries are being further reduced… Additionally, the reduced functioning of water and sanitation facilities risks an increase of waterborne disease and outbreaks… In addition to further reductions in water supplies, this would also potentially lead to sewerage overflowing into inhabited areas.”

Continue reading at https://www.ochaopt.org/content/essential-services-verge-shutting-down-gaza-due-lack-emergency-fuel