End Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and End the Human Rights Abuses

 

Introduction to the campaign…


This international campaign on the ongoing occupation of Gaza aims to raise awareness worldwide of the plight of the Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, that face a continuously deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation. The ongoing effective control that Israel yields over the Gaza Strip is the root cause, directly or indirectly, of all types of human rights violations Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza and other local and international human rights organizations are attempting to address. We must intensify collaborative efforts at regional and international levels to end these human rights violations and contribute toward ending this continuing occupation. This campaign, launched by Al Mezan and supported by Palestinian solidarity groups in a several countries as well as regional human rights networks and local human rights groups, aims to bring the truth to as many people as possible worldwide. A just solution of the Palestine-Israel conflict must be respectful of human rights and serve to maintain international peace and security.

Israel is carving up the West Bank in order to build Jewish settler colonies and settler-only roads, isolating Palestinian villages by fences, walls and checkpoints, and creating an apartheid-like system that is disastrous for the Palestinians’ economy, well-being, morale and opportunities for development. Israel’s permit regime makes movement within and out of the West Bank extremely burdensome. Israel continues to construct its Separation Wall, which the International Court of Justice determined to be illegal. The Wall cuts deep into West Bank land and destroys Palestinian homes and sources of livelihood, preventing movement between and among Palestinian towns and annexing Palestinian land to the ”Israeli’ side of the Wall. Israel has abducted and illegally detained Palestinian democratically elected legislators, and destroyed governmental institutions, effectively stripping the Palestinian Government of any capacity to restore law and order in the Palestinian territory.

In East Jerusalem, Palestinian residents face frequent house demolitions and struggle to maintain their Jerusalem residencies in the face of Israeli attempts to revoke them and force Palestinians to leave Jerusalem. Illegal Jewish settlements are expanding over East Jerusalem, while Palestinian land and property is destroyed for their construction. Israeli authorities also discriminate against East Jerusalemite Palestinians, impeding their access to building permits, work opportunities and land tenure.

The Gaza Strip is now like an open-air prison; Israel’s control over all aspects of Palestinian life in the Strip precludes the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms. Israel frequently closes Gaza’s borders at its ‘discretion’, preventing passengers from leaving or entering the Gaza Strip through Egypt, including students, workers and, most importantly, patients undergoing treatment abroad. The other passenger outlet through Israel is also virtually closed to Palestinian travelers. Consequently, Palestinians in Gaza cannot access the West Bank and vice-versa. The 1995 Oslo Interim Agreement signed by both Israel and the PLO, however, stipulates that both the West Bank and Gaza Strip comprise “one territorial unit” and therefore, Israel is obliged to permit movement between the two zones. Although Israel “disengaged” its Jewish settlers and military infrastructure from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, it retains complete control over the Strip and has tightened procedures such that movement of passengers and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip has grown more difficult. The Israeli navy blockade has curtailed important economic activities such as fishing from Gaza's shores. Israel frequently launches attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing men, women and children, and causing large-scale destruction of homes and public infrastructure. After Israel’s attack on Gaza’s main power plant on 28 June 2006, the majority of the population now suffers a serious scarcity of electricity and water. Both homes and vital facilities, such as hospitals and water facilities, are affected by this lack. The occupying Power now claims that it bears no more responsibility to the people of Gaza since it has ~disengaged~, despite the clear evidence that it has effective control over every aspect of Gazan life and territory.

The biggest obstacle to ending the Israeli occupation is the inertia of the international community. Especially Western States bear a legal and moral obligation to end ongoing human rights abuses, and they closely observe the situation yet stand idly by as the Palestinians continue to suffer and the Middle East descends into chaos.
We, therefore, hope that you can help in spreading the effects of this campaign by calling for an end to the Israeli occupation. The Palestinians cannot continue living in these appalling subhuman conditions. There are many ways at different levels that you can help, and we urge you to sign our petition, contact us or your local Palestine solidarity groups to find out what you can do locally. We also urge you to contact your local government and exert pressure, to urge authorities to take a critical stand against Israeli human rights violations and to initiate urgent and effective measures to end the occupation and bring a just peace to the region, through a solution based on principles of justice, international law, human rights and dignity.

Finally, thank you for visiting this campaign and for your ongoing support. We wish you luck in promoting this campaign and please contact us should you have any queries.

www.mezan.org

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Objectives of this campaign

The main goal of this campaign is to end the occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem and end the human rights abuses. The international community must be mobilized so that a solution can be found for an end of the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian people: a just solution based on the principles of justice, international law, human rights and dignity.

We hope to contribute to reaching this goal through the following:

1. Erasing the myth in the world that since the disengagement, Gaza is no longer occupied and that Israel thus no longer bears obligations towards the people of Gaza
2. Raising international awareness and highlighting the urgency among the general public of the situation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem
3. Exerting pressure on decision-makers worldwide and consequently on Israel to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people
4. Encouraging worldwide dissemination of real facts about the occupation from the ground
5. Attaining international public mobilization and support for action intended to help end the occupation and violation of human rights.