Ref: 105/2010

On the
occasion of the first visit to the Gaza Strip of the Italian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Mr Franco Frattini, on 24 November 2010, the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has addressed an open letter to him, to urge his
personal, and the Italian government’s, engagement to halt the illegal closure
policy imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip since more than 3 years.

PCHR is
particularly concerned about the continuous denial of fundamental human rights
of the imprisoned population of Gaza. The international community’s narrow
focusing on the mere economic impact of the closure fails to tackle the real
roots of the problem, and to address the consistent violations of the basic
human rights of the Palestinian civilian population. Gaza is not suffering from
a ‘simple’ humanitarian crisis: it is a human-made crisis which can only be
resolved through the full ending of the illegal closure regime. It is urgent
that the fundamental illegality of the closure be recognized and clearly
denounced, and that the international community does not endorse a notional
‘easing’ of the blockade, thereby institutionalizing this form of collective
punishment. As it was recently found by the International Fact Finding Mission
mandated by the UN to investigate the Israeli attack on the Flotilla of 31 May
2010, “the blockade is unlawful and cannot be sustained in law. This is so
regardless of the grounds on which it is sought to justify the legality of the
blockade”.

Resuming
trade, although important as a short-term response to help the economy of Gaza
to resume, can only be a successful measure if at the same time people’s
fundamental rights are upheld and the rule of law respected.

PCHR
therefore urged the Italian Minister, and more broadly the international
community, not to limit their attention to the economic effects of this illegal
closure on Gaza. It is the broader framework of international law that needs to
be taken into account, and the human rights of the Palestinian civilian
population, whose dignity has been denied for too long.

The only
appropriate response, in line with both the interests of humanity and the
binding norms of international law, is the complete lifting of the illegal
closure regime. As affirmed by Mr Filippo Grandi, in his
capacity as the UNRWA Commissioner General: “we must call for the blockade
to be lifted in full to enable Gaza to begin the process of recovery that its
long-suffering people so urgently need”.

The full letter is available here