Ref: 50/2012
During his visit to Spain in response to an
invitation by Casa Árabe, Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights (PCHR), participated in a number of activities organized on the
anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (the uprooting of the Palestinian
people from their lands in 1948), which were voted for solidarity with
Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.
These activities included a number of lectures
and seminars. On 15 May 2012, Sourani delivered a lecture in Cordoba –
Andalusia, with the President of Casa Árabe and the Palestinain Ambassador to
Spain in attendance. On 16 May 2012, Sourani participated in a lecture in
Madrid with the attendance of a number of representatives of solidarity
committees supporting the Palestinian people and other interested figures.
In response to an invitation by ACSUR which is
one of PCHR partners, on 17 May, Sourani participated in a seminar headed by
ACSUR Director Magali Thill, with representatives of solidarity committees;
civil society and interested persons in attendance.
On 18 May, in response to an invitation by the
Section of Middle Eastern Political Studies Department at University Autonomia
in Madrid, Sourani delivered a lecture at University Autonomia in the presence
of Professor Sophia San Millan.
The hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in
Israeli jails was the focus of all the lectures and meetings held by Sourani in
Spain. Sourani stressed that Palestinian
prisoners constitute the advanced stage of struggle of the Palestinian people
and that prisoners cause enjoys a national consensus, emphasizing that the
Palestinian prisoners’ demands are just and humanely and legally legitimate. Sourani condemned the continued solitary
confinement policies against Palestinian prisoners, administrative detention
and denial of many rights ensured for prisoners under international human
rights instruments. In particular, Sourani denounced the administrative
detention policy and said it is a criminal arbitrary policy. He explained that dozens of thousands of
Palestinian prisoners experienced this type of detention and that 27 PLC are currently
placed under administrative detention. In
the same context, Sourani noted that Israel misuses administrative detention by
using it for political purposes, in violation on the international humanitarian
law.
Regarding Israel’s persistence to deny hundreds
of Palestinian prisoners their right to family visitation, Sourani stressed
that the denial of the right to family visitation constitutes a punishment
imposed on both prisoners and their families, noting that conditions in Israeli
prisoners need to be improved in compliance with relevant international human
rights instruments applicable to prisoners, especially at the levels of medical
care, torture, degrading treatment, night raids and other daily arbitrary
measures taken against prisoners in Israeli jails. Sourani pointed to the victory achieved by
prisoners in the battle of ’empty intestines’ and in their legitimate struggle
aimed at grabbing their rights. Sourani
noted that Prisoners’ use of their body cells and intestines constitute the
highest level of peaceful resistance and struggle.
Regarding the anniversary of Nakba,
Sourani noted that in conjunction with this anniversary, Palestine is
experiencing very bad conditions. He
explained that the Gaza Strip is still under closure and there are restrictions
imposed on the freedom of movement of goods and individuals, noting that the
strict closure is paralyzing various aspects of life in Gaza and obstructs the
reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. He
added that Israel, with support from the Quartet and the United nations, is
seeking to institutionalize the closure while the Goldstone Report is still
neglected and the rights of Palestinian victims are denied.
On the other hand, Sourani reviewed the
conditions of the West Bank. He talked
about the ethnic cleansing and the creation of a Jewish majority in Jerusalem. He also talked about the ongoing measures
taken to isolate Jerusalem from its Arab surroundings. In other cities in the West Bank, Israel
intensifies its settlement activities and to this end it continues to
confiscate Palestinian lands, displace Palestinian civilians and prevent
Palestinians from having access to their lands. Israel also continues to expand settlements
and connect them through bypass roads. All
these measures contribute to the creation of new facts on the ground in the
cities and villages in the West Bank, making it impossible to build an
interdependent Palestinian State that has geographical contiguity in the
future. In addition, Israel continues to
impose restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinian civilians in the
West Bank at more than 500 military checkpoints established at the entrances of
Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank.
Sourani concluded by saying that on the 64th
anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, Israel continues to disclaim
political, moral and legal responsibility for the ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians and extensive destruction of Palestinian villages in 1948. Sourani
noted that right to return is an individual right that is not subject to
prescriptions. He said that this right
continues to exist generation after generation and it constitutes the core of
the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Sourani pointed out that the dark reality in
the occupied territories is not a reason for pessimism and frustration; rather,
it t is a reason for activating and motivating efforts aimed at supporting the
Palestinian people and their just cause. Palestinians become stronger thanks to support
provided to them and to their just cause by the free people around the world
who enforce the law vis-à-vis the jungle law.
Additionally, during his visit to Spain,
Sourani held a meeting with legal professionals working on the application of
the universal jurisdiction and prosecution of Israeli war criminals in Madrid. The meeting discussed the updates in this
case, including Israel’s decision to close investigations into the case of the
al-Samouni family. Al-Samouni case
includes many crimes that were documented by PCHR, including the willful
killing of 27 Palestinian civilians during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza
Strip between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009.
It should be noted that Sourani made a number
of interviews with print, audio and visual media.
