Ref: 137/2011

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns, in the
strongest terms, the ongoing policies adopted by Israeli occupation authorities
aimed at creating a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem, the latest of
which has been establishing Shu’fat checkpoint as an international crossing,
which was officially opened this morning. 
PCHR emphasizes that the opening of this crossing, deep in Palestinian
territory, is part of Israeli policies aimed at cutting Jerusalem off from the
West Bank, and perpetuating Israel’s annexation of the city in violation of
international humanitarian law and the international legitimacy
resolutions.  PCHR calls upon the
international community to immediately act to stop the policies adopted by
Israel in occupied Jerusalem, and reiterates its call for the High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligation under
Article 1 of the Convention to respect the Convention in all circumstances
including pressuring other parties to respect the Convention.

According to information available to PCHR, on Sunday evening, 11
December 2011, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) closed Shu’fat checkpoint,
northeast of occupied Jerusalem, and forced vehicles traveling to and from
Jerusalem to turn to the tracks of a new crossing established between Shu’fat
refugee camp and the occupied city. 
Later, hundreds of Palestinian civilians gathered to protest the
measure, and IOF closed the crossing temporarily.  The opening of the new crossing came after
IOF completed the construction of cement sections of the annexation wall in
Shu’fat refugee camp and its vicinity, in implementation of Israeli plans to
isolate the city.

According to local sources in Shu’fat refugee camp, due to the
completion of the annexation wall in the area and the opening of the new
crossing, more than 50,000 Palestinians living in Shu’fat refugee camp; in the
suburbs of Ras Shihada, Ras Khamis and al-Salam, and a part of ‘Anata village,
who hold Jerusalemite identity cards, will be completely isolated from occupied
Jerusalem.  IOF had started to build the
crossing at the entrances of Shu’fat refugee camp in 2009, in anticipation of
the completion of the annexation wall around Jerusalem.

PCHR stresses that the establishment of this crossing is designed
to impose a total closure on occupied Jerusalem from the other major centers of
Palestinian life in the West Bank, and expel as many of its Palestinian
population as possible, with the ultimate aim of creating a strong Jewish
majority in the city.

PCHR strongly condemns the
transformation of Shu’fat checkpoint into an international crossing, and all
settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in East
Jerusalem, and:

1. Calls upon the international community to intervene to compel
Israel to stop all settlement activities in the OPT, especially in East
Jerusalem.

2. Confirms that East Jerusalem, which has been occupied since 05 June
1967, is an integral part of the OPT, and that procedures taken by Israel
following the occupation of the city do not change its legal status.

3. Asserts that all Israeli settlement activities in East Jerusalem
constitute a war crime according to international humanitarian law.

4. Calls for the application of the Advisory Opinion issued by the
International Court of Justice on 08 July 2004, which considers the annexation
wall being built by Israel in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal
and calls for the dismantlement of such parts of it that had been built.

5. Calls upon The High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva
Convention to fulfill their legal obligations, and ensure that Israel’s respect
for the Fourth Geneva Convention in the OPT, in accordance with article 1 of
the Convention.  PCHR believes that the
conspiracy of silence practiced by the international community encourages
Israel to act as a state above law and to commit more violations of
international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including
efforts to create a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.

6. Calls upon The European Union (EU) and/or its Member States to
activate article 2 of the Euro-Israeli Association Agreement, which puts
Israel’s respect for human rights as a condition for economic cooperation, and
to act to ensure Israel’s respect for human rights. PCHR also calls upon the EU
Member States to stop all forms of dealing with the Israeli goods, particularly
those produced by the Israeli settlements in the OPT.