July 1, 2020
Editor’s Note: The following statement was released today by a broad coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations. Mondoweiss occasionally publishes press releases and statements from organizations in an effort to draw attention to overlooked issues.
Israel’s extremist government decided today to keep everyone in the dark about if and how it will make use of the “golden opportunity” offered by the Trump administration to embark on de jure annexation of large swathes of the occupied Palestinian West Bank. No one should be misled, however. Israel will continue to quietly de facto annex occupied Palestinian territory, as it has done for decades, while trying to appease its Western allies. But as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said, “Annexation is illegal. Period. Any annexation.”
Hundreds of international law scholars agree. They write that Israeli annexations of occupied territory are “null and void, entail consequences of international wrongfulness, and – under certain circumstances – lead to individual international criminal liability,” regardless whether such annexations are effected “through ‘extension of sovereignty,’ ‘extension of law, jurisdiction, and administration,’ or explicit annexation.” They concluded, “de facto annexation entails the same legal consequences as de jure annexation.”
For over a thousand European parliamentarians, “Failure to adequately respond [to Israeli annexation] would encourage other states with territorial claims to disregard basic principles of international law,” undermining “the most basic norms guiding international relations, including the UN Charter.”
The international community must therefore impose lawful, targeted and immediate sanctions on Israel in response to its ongoing annexation, illegal military occupation and apartheid regime of racial discrimination, segregation and territorial expansion that is enshrined in Israel’s domestic law.
With its silence, Israel hopes to silence global mobilizations that have compelled the international community to consider accountability measures and to safeguard its impunity. Israel, after all, is well aware that the climate of international complicity and lack of accountability is what has enabled its colonization, apartheid and de facto and de jure annexation of Palestinian territory to continue for decades.
Israel’s de jure annexation of occupied Palestinian territory, formalized in East Jerusalem in 1967 and later entrenched in the 1980 Basic Law, may now be replicated in other parts of the OPT. Such formal annexation crystallizes a “21st century apartheid,” according to dozens of United National human rights experts and constitutes a “most serious violation of international law,” as the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres stated.
Already in 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) warned that Israel’s de facto annexation of its illegal settlements by means of the Wall may become a fait accompli. Sixteen years later, this has indeed materialized. The ICJ called on all States and the United Nations to adopt measures to end these serious Israeli violations of the UN Charter-based international legal order and international humanitarian law and to meet their obligation of non-recognition and non-assistance.
Now is the time for serious accountability measures, not just for the sake of defending Palestinian rights under international law, but crucially to safeguard the very credibility of and respect for international law itself.
In response to Israel’s ongoing annexation and grave violations of Palestinian human rights, Palestinian civil society reiterates its unified call on all States and international organizations to respect their legal obligations to cooperate to end Israel’s illegal occupation, annexation and apartheid, and to withhold all recognition and assistance from it, by immediately implementing, as a matter of priority, the following measures:
- A ban on arms trade and military-security cooperation with Israel.
- Suspension of trade and cooperation agreements with Israel.
- Prohibition of trade with the illegal Israeli settlements and termination of corporate business with Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.
- Investigation and prosecution of individuals and corporate actors responsible for war crimes/crimes against humanity in the context of Israel’s regime of illegal occupation and apartheid.
- Support efforts at the United Nations to reconstitute the UN Special Committee against Apartheidand the UN Centre against Apartheid to investigate Israeli apartheid.
Palestinian civil society signatories:
Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) including:
Al-Haq – Law in the Service of Mankind
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP)
Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC)
Aldameer Association for Human Rights
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS)
Hurryyat – Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (Ombudsman Office) – Observer Member
Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights – Observer Member
Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)
Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition
Palestinian Bar Association
Palestinian Medical Association
General Union of Palestinian Teachers
Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE)
General Union of Palestinian Women
General Union of Palestinian Writers
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine
General Union of Palestinian Workers
Palestinian Union of Postal, IT and Telecommunication workers
Palestinian National Institute for NGOs (PNIN)
Federation of Independent Trade Unions
Union of Palestinian Farmers
Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW)
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC)
Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem
Coalition for Jerusalem
National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba
General Union of Palestinian Peasants
Union of Palestinian Charitable Organizations
Union of Professional Associations
Women’s Campaign to Boycott Israeli Products
Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps
Agricultural Cooperatives Union
National Committee for Grassroots Resistance
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions PGFTU–Gaza
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC)
Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)
Women Study Center (WSC PAL)
Palestinian Feminist Center for Sexual and Gender Freedoms – Aswat, Haifa
Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development
Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)
MADA – Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedoms
Wasel Center for Youth Development
Youth Development Society
The Cultural Forum Center
Early Childhood Sources Association
Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”
Rural Women Development Association
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Arab Center for Agricultural Development (ACAD)
Health Work Committees
The National Union of Civil Society Organizations, Nablus
Burj Al-Luqluq Social Center Society, Jerusalem
Land Defense Coalition
Federation of New Trade Unions
Tamer Institute for Community Education
Palestinian Youth Union
Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Initiative (OPGAI)
Popular Art Center (PAC)
Teacher Creativity Center
The Palestinian Center for Peace and Democracy (PCPD)
Arab Agronomists Association (AAA)
Seeds Association for Development and Culture
Palestinian House of Friendship
Palestine Friend’s Association
Yafa Cultural Center
Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society
Young Women Christian Association (YWCA)-Palestine
Treatment and rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (TRC)
Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA)
Joint Advocacy Initiative-The East Jerusalem YMCA-YWCA of Palestine
Kairos Palestine
Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA), Jerusalem
Ma’an Development Center
