Ref: 69/2011 

On
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
received in its office in Ramallah a delegation from the Association France
Palestine Solidarité Val d’Oise (Association for Solidarity France
Palestine). The delegation was headed by
Pierre Loparo, Director of the Association, and included 16 activists from the Association
representing several local councils, unions and civil society organizations in
France.

The delegation
was received by Sameeh Mohsen, PCHR’s Coordinator in the West Bank, and Fahmi
Shaheen, PCHR’s fieldworker in the south of the West Bank. Mohsen welcomed the delegation and praised the
role played by the Association in supporting the Palestinian people in their
just and legitimate struggle for self-determination and establishment of their
independent state. Mohsen briefed the
delegation about PCHR’s activities in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
and its role in monitoring and documenting the Israeli violations of
Palestinian human rights, and in defending these rights.

Mohsen also tackled
the most prominent human rights violations committed by the Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) against the Palestinian people, stressing that the major
challenges facing the Palestinian people lately lie in the escalation of
settlement activities in the West Bank generally, including Jerusalem and the
surrounding areas particularly. Mohsen
said that the announcement of decisions to build thousands of housing and
settlement units in Jerusalem and the resumption of the construction of the
annexation wall around the city constitute a challenge to the international
community as a whole. He also addressed
the ongoing closure imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the
imprisonment of more than 1.5 million Palestinians under very cruel
conditions. Mohsen talked about IOF’s attacks
on Palestinian fishermen at sea and farmers in the border areas of the Gaza
Strip, threatening their lives and livelihoods.

Mohsen highly appreciated
the position of the French Association and the efforts exerted by the
international community, including human rights organizations, bar associations,
unions, NGOs and committees in solidarity with the Palestinian people.  However, he criticized positions of many
European countries that cover up the aggressive policies, and even exert
pressure on the Palestinian Authority instead of exerting pressure on the
Israeli government. Mohsen encouraged
civil society organizations to continue playing their role in exerting pressure
on their governments to oblige Israel to respect human rights in the oPt and to
put an end to the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people and their
property.

It should be
noted that the Association for Solidarity France Palestine was
established in 1982 during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The association aims at calling upon the
international community to respect the Palestinian human rights to freedom,
return and the establishment of an independent state. Additionally, it focuses on the media and
publishes articles that support these rights, and holds meetings with French
parliamentarians in France to urge them to support the Palestinian rights.