Ref: 53/2015
On 30 September 2015, lawyer Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), concluded his visit to Ireland by a meeting with Irish lawyers in the Irish Bar Association. Sourani delivered a speech on the Israeli violations and war crimes systematically committed against the Palestinian civilians and how the Israeli judiciary and public prosecution legalize and offer legal cover for these crimes. Sourani pointed to thousands of relevant cases pursued by PCHR and the legal amendments that have denied the civilian victims justice or compensation, due to which the Palestinian lawyers resorted to universal jurisdiction that was limited by the USA and Western Europe, after achieving some successes in some cases in London and Madrid, through amending the laws in order to offer the political and legal cover for suspects of war crimes against Palestinians. There was an agreement in the meeting on enhancing cooperation to defend victims and expose the conspiratory role of the Israeli judicial system.
Sourani had been invited on the same day morning to the Irish Parliament to deliver a speech on the human rights situation in the presence of representatives of the parliamentary parties. Sourani started his speech by thanking the Irish government for its human, moral and political position supporting the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, the government’s distinguished position at the United Nations Human Rights Council when voting on the Goldstone Report and the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict, and the positive role played by the Irish government with European countries.
Moreover, Sourani stressed that the outcome of 22 years of the Oslo Accords is an illegal, immoral and inhumane blockade imposed on 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is a form of collective punishment that must be completely and immediately ended. Sourani indicated that the UN Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism is useless and cannot fix the destruction inflicted by three Israeli offensives launched on the Gaza Strip during a period of 5 years. He underscored that the situation in Gaza Strip is the largest man-made disaster in the 21st century and it is necessary to put an end to the Israeli blockade and ensure the freedom of movement for persons and goods, as all peoples of the world moved to lift the blockade but they were met with killing or arrest by Israeli forces.
In addition, Sourani addressed the ethnic cleansing practiced by Israel against Palestinians in Jerusalem, including Muslims and Christians, the creation of a Jewish demographic and geographic majority in the city and assaults carried out on religious places especially al-Aqsa Mosque. He also tackled settlement activities in the West Bank that have been vertically and horizontally expanded on a daily basis, the new settlements and bypass roads, the checkpoints separating cities and villages from each other, the daily and unstoppable incursions and assaults, and eventually the annexation wall forcibly imposed by Israel.
Sourani reviewed the conditions of the Palestinian prisoners and the systematic torture practiced against them, reminding that Israel is the only state in the world that has legalized torture through a legal cover from the Israeli Supreme Court. Furthermore, he spoke about the cases of medical negligence and degrading treatment carried out on daily basis against Palestinian prisoners. In this regard, Sourani explained the force-feeding law against prisoners on hunger strike and how this law constitutes a crime. He reminded of the Irish heroic example of Bobby Sands, the political struggler, poet and parliamentarian who died during a hunger strike he started expressing his free protest.
Additionally, Sourani stated that practices by Israel as an occupying power are based on the law of jungle, as it does not comply with the international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He added that the political impunity offered by the West, especially the USA, Britain, France and Germany, to Israel encouraged it to continue committing crimes against Palestinians. He drew attention to the point that the Geneva Convention, international legislation and International Criminal Court (ICC) were not invented by Palestinians. However, it is the duty and right of each Palestinian to utilize all legal measures in the international legislation and International Court to achieve justice and remedy for the Palestinian victims.
Sourani stressed that after all these crimes, the Palestinian people will never forgive nor forget and we will prosecute the Israeli criminals all over the world in remembrance of the souls of children, women and elderly persons. Besides, the Palestinians will never accept to be new victims of war criminals, as the only way to deter Israel is to prosecute and punish it for its crimes.
Sourani also stressed that resistance in all its forms is a right and duty of each Palestinian as ensured in Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and that all occupied peoples impose their equations on the occupier and colonizer. He added the Palestinian people and resistance are always on the tight side of history and the Palestinian cause has become a moral and humanitarian standard in the modern era. He also said that despite all of what the Palestinian people face, they became stronger, rigid as solid and completely confident that tomorrow belongs to them, and they become stronger and stronger when free peoples of the world stand with them.
Sourani called upon Ireland to lead a European campaign to end the blockade immediately and force Israel to grant the Palestinian people their right to freedom of movement of persons and goods between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including Jerusalem, and between us and the outside world. He added that Ireland should pressurize Israel to apply Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, stop all European privileges to Israel such as the cultural, scientific, youth and sports cooperation, and hold Israel accountable for its war crimes through international legislation and International Criminal Court to deter it.
Following his speech, all the parliamentary blocs, without exception, clearly expressed their solidarity and support with the struggle of the Palestinian people. They all condemned the Israeli occupation and its practices and their interventions demonstrated their deep and continuing follow-up of the situation in the oPt.
On 29 September, Sourani held a meeting with students from Trinity College, which is the most ancient and prestigious university in Ireland. During the meeting, Sourani talked in details about the humanitarian and political conditions in the oPt. He then answered all the questions asked by the participating students.
Sourani also held a meeting in the Mansion House “Parliament House” with Dublin parliaments, academics, intellectuals, artists, civil society activists and solidarity committees with the Palestinian people. During the meeting, which lasted for two hours and a half, Sourani delivered a speech and then answered all the questions and inquiries.
On 28 September, Sourani visited Belfast, where he met with the Trocaire staff and then with activists from Northern Ireland. Sourani also went with them on a field tour, including the two divisions of the city and separation wall between them, Martyrs Memorial and Mural of Struggler Bobby Sands. He was then hosted in a meeting in the Sacred Heart Church in the presence of solidarity activists and committees with the Palestinian people.
The visit also included a meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and another one with audio, print and visual media in addition to a meeting with organizations funding PCHR especially Bertha Foundation and Frontline.
It should be mentioned that the 3-day visit was in response to an invitation by Trocaire Foundation, which is a partner to PCHR and one of the largest organizations in Ireland, as it supervised the organization and arrangement of all the meetings, in some of which Christian Aid and Frontline participated.
Sourani arrived at Dublin from London, where he attended the meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Legal Assistance Consortium for two days. Sourani also held a meeting with the international legal team to complete the preparation for the ICC and other courts. He also held a meeting with Bertha Foundation, which is a partner institution to PCHR and funds it in many fields especially in preparing lawyers in the field of documentation and prosecution of Israeli war criminals on the international level. He met with its co-founder, Tony Tabatznik, and the executive director, Jennifer Robinson, in the headquarter of the foundation.
Sorani’s visit was widely covered by media and social networking sites in Ireland and some newspapers and websites published photos and news about it. The Irish Times, a wide-spread newspaper in Ireland, published an article about the visit quoting from Sourani’s interventions. The website of Trocaire
also published a recording of his intervention.
