27 May 2021<\/p>\n
video<\/a> (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights statement)<\/p>\n video<\/a> (1st Meeting – 30th Special Session of Human Rights Council)<\/p>\n The Human Right Council this morning opened its special session on \u201cthe grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem\u201d.\u00a0 It heard calls from speakers for the Council to establish an independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021.<\/p>\n In her opening remarks, Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council, outlining the proposed extraordinary modalities for the session, said these modalities had been defined due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which prohibited public meetings of more than 15 participants, and should not serve as a precedent.<\/p>\n Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said both sides had the right to defend their citizens, and Palestinians had the right to live safely and freely in their homes, something that they were unable to experience due to the Israeli blockade.\u00a0 The risk of evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and other neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem remained high, while the situation in the West Bank was alarming, with Israeli Security Forces killing 10 Palestinians on 14 May – the highest number in one day since the collection of these figures by the United Nations began in 2008.\u00a0 The situation inside Israel was concerning: mob attacks took place on individuals in mixed cities of Bat-Yam, Jaffa and Acra, as well as attacks on places of worship instigated by both sides, with Israeli police failing to protect Palestinian citizens.\u00a0 Despite the welcome news of the ceasefire, Ms. Bachelet emphasised that the root causes of violence must be addressed.<\/p>\n Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, speaking on behalf of his mandate and on behalf of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, said the events over the past month in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and also across Israel, were a calamitous repetition of what all had previously witnessed in 2018, 2014, 2012, 2008-09, 2000, 1987 and further and deeper into the tragic history of the Palestinians.\u00a0 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ had demanded repeatedly over the years that Israel comply with its international legal obligations and remove its settlements, stop its evictions, end the unlawful annexation, and halt the demolitions and forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem.\u00a0 Defiance by the occupying power had been the answer.\u00a0 The international community must insist upon a brand-new diplomatic playbook to end the Israeli occupation, one that was centred on rights, rather than Realpolitik.<\/p>\n Issam Younis, Director of Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza and Head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine, said that all over Gaza, for 11 days, entire families were huddled and living on kitchen floors as this seemed the safest place.\u00a0 But nowhere was safe in Gaza.\u00a0 Israel\u2019s unlawful closure of Gaza, 14 years of collective punishment, had been tightened.\u00a0 The bringing down of the Associated Press building had made it more difficult to get information out.\u00a0 Recent events were a mere symptom: for 73 years, there had been systematic, institutionalised efforts to impose a settler-colonial regime of racial domination and oppression on both sides of the Green Line.<\/p>\n Mohammad Barakeh, former Member of the Knesset and Chairman of the Arab Higher Committee in Israel, speaking on behalf of the committee that represented all Palestinians inside Israel, noted that they had been spared displacement in 1948.\u00a0 Over the past decades, they had faced different forms of discrimination – confiscation of land, imposition of emergency laws, restriction of job opportunities and more.\u00a0 In July 2018, the Knesset had approved the Jewish nation-state law stipulating that the land of Palestine was the historical home of the Jews, who had the exclusive right to self-determination.\u00a0 With this, democratic principles were dismissed by Netanyahu and the Israeli State.<\/p>\n Muna El Kurd, journalist and resident of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem, said the Israeli occupation forces refused to properly examine the property rights of Palestinians while the Israeli Government and colonial businesses were separating Palestinians from the land.\u00a0 There was an apartheid regime: settlers could move around freely unlike Palestinians.\u00a0 Sheikh Jarrah was illegally sealed off; residents could go out with their papers but nobody – nor their friends nor their loved ones- could come into this area.\u00a0 The colonial violence suffered by residents and people who took part in peaceful protest was barbaric.\u00a0 Palestinians were fired upon using rubber bullets, including in their homes.<\/p>\n In the discussion that followed, speakers, while welcoming the decision of the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes within its material scope that might have been committed on the territory of Palestine, urged the Court to include the crime against humanity of apartheid in its investigations.\u00a0 History showed the ceasefire would not end the everyday sufferings of the people in the occupied Palestinian territory that had been going on for more than seven decades.\u00a0 The Council should take decisive actions towards ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including through dispatching a commission of inquiry, speakers said.\u00a0 Some speakers said the establishment of a commission of inquiry would not serve the purpose of peace.\u00a0 Regrettably, the self-professed global champions of human rights continued to shield the occupier from global accountability, and literally provided arm and ammunitions for its widely reported war crimes and crimes of apartheid against the Palestinian people.\u00a0 Member States should support the draft resolution; the credibility of the Council was at stake.<\/p>\n Speaking in the urgent debate were Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia; Abdul Momen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh; Shah Mahmood Qureshi,\u00a0 Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan; and Najla Elmangoush, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of National Unity of Libya.<\/p>\n Also taking the floor were Egypt on behalf of the Group of Arab States, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Portugal on behalf of the European Union, Sweden on behalf of\u00a0Nordic countries, Azerbaijan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, South Africa on behalf of the Group of African States, Mauritania, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Russian Federation, Bolivia,\u00a0Bahrain, India, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, China, Republic of Korea, Czech Republic, Venezuela, Sudan, Somalia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Kuwait and Turkey.<\/p>\n The Council will next meet this afternoon at 3 p.m. to continue the discussion and take action on the draft resolution before closing the special session.<\/p>\n Opening Remarks by the President of the Human Rights Council<\/strong><\/p>\n NAZHAT SHAMEEM KHAN, President of the Human Rights Council, opened the first meeting of the thirtieth special session of the Human Rights Council by outlining the proposed extraordinary modalities for the session.\u00a0 These modalities had been defined due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which prohibited public meetings of more than 15 participants, and should not serve as a precedent.\u00a0 She urged all participants to take part in the discussions with the dignity that the situation required.<\/p>\n Statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n MICHELLE BACHELET, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that appalling events in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory, the most significant escalation of hostilities since 2014, had forced the Council into special session.\u00a0 Two hundred and forty-two Palestinians had been killed by the Israeli Security Forces in air strikes on Gaza, including 63 children, with over 74,000 Palestinians displaced.\u00a0 In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, 28 Palestinians, including five children, were killed as of 24 May.\u00a0 At the same time, rockets launched by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups killed 10 Israeli citizens and residents, including two children, and forced thousands into shelters.\u00a0 Two main issues had led to the rise in tensions: the imminent evictions of Palestinian families and their forced displacement in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem to make way for settlers, and the Israeli Security Forces\u2019 deployment at the Al Aqsa compound, restricting access to thousands of worshippers during the last days of Ramadan, using force against peaceful protesters and worshippers inside Al Aqsa Mosque.<\/p>\n As a result, Hamas and other armed groups had launched a heavy rocket barrage towards Israel, indiscriminately failing to distinguish between military and civilian objects.\u00a0 In response, Israel had conducted an intense airstrike campaign on Gaza, reportedly targeting members of armed groups but resulting in extensive civilian deaths and injuries.\u00a0 Government buildings, residential homes and apartments, humanitarian organizations, medical and media facilities were totally or partially destroyed, despite Israel\u2019s precautions – these attacks may constitute war crimes.\u00a0 Locating military assets in densely populated civilian areas, and launching attacks from them, was also a violation of international humanitarian law – but the actions of one party did not absolve the other from its obligations.\u00a0 Palestinian civilians had virtually no protection against airstrikes, living in one of the most densely populated areas of the world.\u00a0 Both sides had rights to defend their citizens, and Palestinians had the right to live safely and freely in their homes, something that they were unable to experience due to the Israeli blockade.<\/p>\n The risk of evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and other neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem remained high, while the situation in the West Bank was alarming, with Israeli Security Forces killing 10 Palestinians on 14 May – the highest number in one day since the collection of these figures by the United Nations began in 2008.\u00a0 The situation inside Israel was concerning: mob attacks took place on individuals in mixed cities of Bat-Yam, Jaffa and Acra, as well as attacks on places of worship instigated by both sides, with Israeli police failing to protect Palestinian citizens.\u00a0 Despite the welcome news of the ceasefire, Ms. Bachelet emphasised that the root causes of violence must be addressed.\u00a0 Only when human rights were fully respected and protected could trust start being built between the various communities and a durable, lasting and just peace be achieved.\u00a0 Calling for an urgent rebuilding in Gaza, Ms. Bachelet expressed hope that this was the last time such a special session was needed.<\/p>\n Statement by the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied since 1967<\/strong><\/p>\n MICHAEL LYNK, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, speaking on behalf of his mandate and on behalf of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, said the events over the past month in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and also across Israel, were a calamitous repetition of what all had previously witnessed in 2018, 2014, 2012, 2008-09, 2000, 1987 and further and deeper into the tragic history of the Palestinians.\u00a0 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ had demanded repeatedly over the years that Israel comply with its international legal obligations and remove its settlements, stop its evictions, end the unlawful annexation, and halt the demolitions and forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem.\u00a0 Defiance by the occupying power had been the answer.\u00a0 Now that the last missiles and rockets had been fired, and the tears from the last funerals were slowly drying, accountability must rise to the top of the international agenda and of this Council.\u00a0 The international community must insist upon a brand-new diplomatic playbook to end the Israeli occupation, one that was centred on rights, rather than Realpolitik.<\/p>\n The various peace initiatives over the past three decades \u2013 from the 1993 Declaration of Principles to the 2020 Trump Peace for Prosperity Plan \u2013 had all been conducted largely or entirely outside of the framework of international law and human rights.\u00a0 This had allowed Israel to make the core issues of self-determination, annexation and settlements negotiable issues, rather than issues of profound illegality from which Israel must completely desist.\u00a0 The simple reality was that the occupation had become as entrenched and as sustainable as it had because the international community had never imposed a meaningful cost on Israel for acting as an acquisitive and defiant occupying power.\u00a0 Accordingly, Mr. Lynk urged that the Council\u2019s future work on the Israeli occupation must be guided by three principles.\u00a0 First, the diplomatic framework for fully ending the occupation was to be found within the framework of international law and human rights, not in Realpolitik.\u00a0 Second, Israel had been a bad-faith occupier, and it was magical thinking to believe that its occupation would not end unless and until meaningful accountability measures had been imposed.\u00a0 And, third, because of the vastly asymmetrical differences in power between Israel and the Palestinians, active international intervention was indispensable.<\/p>\n Keynote Speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n ISSAM YOÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵIS, Director for Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza and the Head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine, noting that he lived in Gaza City with his family, said the governments of those present had granted systematic impunity to Israel, which had used its power to deliberately attack civilians, killing 253 Palestinians, including children while they slept.\u00a0 All over Gaza, for 11 days, entire families were huddled and living on kitchen floors as this seemed the safest place.\u00a0 But nowhere was safe in Gaza.\u00a0 Israel\u2019s unlawful closure of Gaza, 14 years of collective punishment, had been tightened.\u00a0 The bringing down of the Associated Press building had made it more difficult to get information out.\u00a0 Recent events were a mere symptom: for 73 years, there had been systematic, institutionalised efforts to impose a settler-colonial regime of racial domination and oppression on both sides of the Green Line.\u00a0 The apartheid regime also affected Palestinian refugees and Palestinians living abroad.<\/p>\n MOHAMMAD BARAKEH, Former Member of the Knesset and Chairman of the Arab Higher Committee in Israel, speaking on behalf of the committee that represented all Palestinians inside Israel, noted that they had been spared displacement in 1948.\u00a0 Over the past decades, they had faced different forms of discrimination – confiscation of land, imposition of emergency laws, restriction of job opportunities and more.\u00a0 In July 2018 the Knesset had approved the Jewish nation-state law stipulating that the land of Palestine was the historical home of the Jews, who had the exclusive right to self-determination.\u00a0 With this, democratic principles were dismissed by Netanyahu and the Israeli State.\u00a0 During the past few weeks, the world had seen soldiers storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacking peaceful worshippers, and Palestinians had taken to the streets to protest the escalation of Israeli aggression, also engaging in a general strike on 18 May.\u00a0 A unified Palestinian stance had emerged, but Israel had attacked their democratic right to peaceful demonstration, and 1,700 people had been arrested.\u00a0 Many were still in detention.\u00a0 After the ceasefire, the Israeli State continued its policy of harassment and repression of Palestinians – this was a clear form of collective punishment.<\/p>\n MÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵA EL KURD, Journalist and resident of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem, said the Israeli occupation forces refused to properly examine the property rights of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and East Jerusalem while the Israeli Government and colonial businesses were separating Palestinians from the land.\u00a0 There was an apartheid regime: settlers could move around freely unlike Palestinians.\u00a0 Sheikh Jarrah was illegally sealed off; residents could only go out with their papers but nobody – nor their friends nor their loved ones- could come into this area.\u00a0 The colonial violence suffered by residents and people who took part in peaceful protest was extreme and barbaric.\u00a0 Palestinians were fired upon using rubber bullets, including in their homes.\u00a0 This had been the case of an 11-year-old child.\u00a0 What was happening in Palestine amounted to war crimes; forced displacement was a war crime.\u00a0 According to international law, Israel had no sovereignty in East Jerusalem.\u00a0 The settler organizations trying to take over Sheikh Jarrah had no property rights.\u00a0 She shared her own story of being forced by a court to share her house with settlers \u2013 a situation that flew in the face of international law.<\/p>\n Statements by the Concerned Countries<\/strong><\/p>\n MEIRAV EILON SHAHAR, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, noted that Hamas was a genocidal terrorist organization that used women and children as human shields.\u00a0 Calling for all Muslims to fight Jews and kill them, Hamas fired rockets at Israeli civilians – this constituted a war crime.\u00a0 How would Member States respond if their cities were under attack?\u00a0 Israel was a democracy that sought peace, respected international law and had a moral duty to protect innocent lives.\u00a0 Hamas, on the other hand, had a complete disregard for Palestinian lives, building terrorist infrastructure under schools and hospitals, resulting in the death of innocents.\u00a0 Hamas had initiated this conflict while Israel had done everything it could to reduce the tension, taking extraordinary steps.\u00a0 Thirty per cent of all Human Rights Council special sessions targeted Israel – this ignored facts on the ground and a failure to condemn Hamas in this session would be unacceptable.\u00a0 Member States could not be pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas at the same time.\u00a0 Israel would continue to defend its people while adhering to international law.<\/p>\n RIYAD AL-MALIKI, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine, stated that a new barbarism against the people of Palestine was being incited by Israel in full view of the world.\u00a0 More than 66 children and 39 women were killed, and thousands of buildings were destroyed, all in order to expand Israel\u2019s colonisation of Palestinian land, and establish an apartheid regime based on the oppression of the Palestinian people from the river to the sea.\u00a0 Expressing deep gratitude to the Member States that made this special session possible and the role of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Al-Maliki noted that the session was being held as Israel continued to displace Palestinians from their neighbourhoods and replacing them with settlers, in a clear attempt to change the demographic character and status of the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem.\u00a0 In the absence of any accountability for Israel, Palestinians had responded to defend their land and their right to life, but like any colonial regime, Israel had responded with the killing, destruction and execution of entire families.\u00a0 The colonial occupation policies of Israel were the source of the problem: there would be no peace without the end of the occupation.<\/p>\n Debate<\/strong><\/p>\n While welcoming the decision of the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes within its material scope that might have been committed on the territory of Palestine, speakers urged the Court to include the crime against humanity of apartheid in its investigations.\u00a0 History showed that the ceasefire would not end the everyday sufferings of the people in the occupied Palestinian territory that had been going on for more than seven decades.\u00a0 The Council should take decisive actions towards ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including through dispatching a commission of inquiry.\u00a0 Urging the establishment of a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital, speakers condemned Israel\u2019s continued attacks against the Gaza Strip, and urged the international community to put an end to the massacres committed by Israel.\u00a0 Global inaction had sustained a disturbing pattern of impunity for wilful violations of international law by the occupying power.\u00a0 Regrettably, the self-professed global champions of human rights continued to shield the occupier from global accountability, and literally provided arm and ammunitions for its widely reported war crimes and crimes of apartheid against the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n Reiterating condemnation of the indiscriminate launching of rockets by Hamas and other terrorist groups, speakers recognised Israel\u2019s right to self-defence, and emphasised that such a right must be exercised in a proportionate manner and in full respect of international humanitarian law.\u00a0 The status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem must be respected and the right to worship upheld.\u00a0 All acts of aggression and incitement by the occupying power, as well as its attempts at changing the demography, character and legal status of the occupied Palestinian territory must stop.\u00a0 The establishment of an international independent commission of inquiry was necessary and would contribute to putting an end to impunity.\u00a0 Expressing deep concern about the acceleration of the Israeli settlement policy and the imminent threat of eviction of hundreds of Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, speakers demanded the immediate end of all such illegal policies and practices that were in violation of Israel\u2019s obligations under international law.\u00a0 Some speakers said the establishment of a commission of inquiry would not serve the purpose of peace.\u00a0 Speakers noted the role played by Egypt and Jordan, and, warning against attempts to foist unilateral solutions, stressed the importance of maintaining the truce and delivering humanitarian assistance to affected populations.<\/p>\n