Ref: 69/2013
On Wednesday, 07 November 2013, Mr. Raji
Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), received Davide
La Cecilia, Head of the Representative Office of Italy to the Palestinian
Authority (PA), accompanied by his deputy, Elena Clemente, in PCHR’s head
office in Gaza City. On Wednesday, 06
November 2013, Sourani also received Barbara Wolf, Head of the representative
Office of Germany to the PA, and Claudia Boustesch, Head of the Cultural Section
of Representative Office. Last week,
Sourani as well received Hervé Magro,
the Consul General of France, accompanied by Majdi Shaquora, French Consul in
Gaza.
During the meetings, the developments of
the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip were discussed, especially the
continued illegal and unethical closure imposed by Israel on the Gaza
Strip. Sourani reviewed the consequences
of this closure, which is the greatest man-made disaster in the modern
era. He also pointed out that the
international community got along with this closure, which has been
institutionalized, ignoring the suffering of two million Palestinian
civilians. He added that Palestinians in
Gaza live with denial of their right to freedom of movement outside the Gaza
Strip in violation with the international humanitarian law and the Oslo Accord,
which emphasizes in its first article that the Gaza Strip and West Bank,
including Jerusalem, are one political unit.
During the meetings, Sourani talked about the latest developments in the
Gaza Strip addressing particularly the power and transportation crises, and their
serious repercussions on vital services, especially health services. He also pointed out that the Israeli
occupation is politically and legally responsible for the suffering of
civilians in the Gaza Strip explaining that there are tremendous efforts being
made by faithful people in order to facilitate the lives of the population in
the Gaza Strip through working on creating a safe passage in Rafah with our
beloved Egypt.
During the meetings, Sourani warned of
the continued sacrifice of the rule of law, human rights and democracy for the
sake of the peace and security slogan.
He also emphasized on the 20th anniversary of signing the
notorious Oslo Accords that failure of this slogan raised by Israel and the west
has become apparent as there is no conflict between security and peace and
respect for the rule of international law and international humanitarian law.
Sourani stressed that the harvest of this
policy is very clear as we witness it in the strangling closure imposed on
Gaza, ethnic cleansing and judaization in Jerusalem, continued construction of
the annexation wall and the near completion of it, as well as starting the
construction of a new wall, which demarcates boundaries between Israel and
Jordan, in the Jordan Valley. He also
noted that the West Bank became a new model of apartheid through the current
construction and expansion of settlements and bypass roads that engulf
Palestinian communities in the West Bank and isolate them from one another.
Sourani also stressed the need of the
Palestinian leadership to refer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to
sign and ratify the Rome Statute to carry out its humanitarian duty towards the
victims of Israeli war crimes committed against the Palestinian people through
policies of detention, assassination, indiscriminate shelling, house
demolitions and displacement of population, land confiscation and settlement activities
and the annexation of Jerusalem as they all constitute war crime and crimes
against humanity. He also emphasized
that the PA should only free itself from political pressures and practice its
duty to send a statement to the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.
Sourani expressed concern over the
security situation in the Gaza Strip that it may explode due to many
reasons. He also emphasized that
division is a strategic institutionalization to weaken the Palestinians. He
also stressed the need to form a national unity government immediately as a
symbol of the Palestinian political unity, and to implement the May Agreement
without delay. He also called on President
Mahmoud ‘Abbas to visit the Gaza Strip with leaders of Palestinian factions,
headed by Khaled Mesh’al, and to set a date for the elections with the Central
Election Commission, pointing out that division constitutes an unjustified
political suicide.
