[News] Joint Urgent Appeal to the United Nations Special Procedures on Israel’s Continued Demolitions Amidst a Global Pandemic

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.addameer.org/news/phroc-sends-joint-urgent-appeal-united-nations-special-procedures-israel%E2%80%99s-continued 
<http://www.addameer.org/news/phroc-sends-joint-urgent-appeal-united-nations-special-procedures-israel%E2%80%99s-continued> 



  PHROC Sends Joint Urgent Appeal to the United Nations Special
  Procedures on Israel’s Continued Demolitions Amidst a Global Pandemic

January 25, 2021
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Printer-friendly version <http://www.addameer.org/print/4314>PDF version 
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On 25 January 2021, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council 
(PHROC), compromising of eleven Palestinian human rights organizations, 
submitted a joint urgent appeal to the United Nations (UN) Special 
Procedures on Israel’s continued demolitions amidst a global pandemic. 
Addressing five UN Special Rapporteurs, including the Special Rapporteur 
on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied 
since 1967, the organizations highlighted Israel’s continued utilization 
of Military Order 1797 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, adequate housing is considered to 
be “the front line in the fight against the coronavirus disease 
(COVID-19) pandemic, as demonstrated by stay-at-home and lockdown 
orders,” as highlighted by Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the United 
Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the 
right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to 
non-discrimination in this context.^^[1] 
<applewebdata://5BF44AA9-3308-499A-AF6F-AE3E466AAB9E#_ftn1>Since the 
start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, human rights organizations have 
noticed a significant increase in demolitions carried out under the 
auspices of Military Order 1797, which allows the demolition of 
unlicensed structures in Area C deemed as “new” within 96 hours after 
the issuance of a removal notice, if the Palestinian owners of the 
structures do not appeal a demolition order, with an approved master 
building plan and building permit within the provided 96 hours. 
Consequently, Military Order 1797, in requiring such a quick turnaround 
time, strips Palestinians of their right to due process, in violation of 
international law.

While human rights organizations have previously condemned Military 
Order 1797 for its violation of international law, and warned about its 
aftermath on the Palestinian protected population, the joint urgent 
appeal stressed that this issue is of an even more pressing concern 
during the period of closure, since residents cannot obtain the 
documents necessary to legally challenge the demolition orders and to 
file appeals or objections.

In their joint urgent appeal, PHROC and its member organizations 
requested the immediate intervention of the UN Special Procedures to 
uphold the rights of the Palestinian protected population during 
COVID-19, including their fundamental rights to self-determination, 
health, and adequate standard of living, including adequate housing, 
and, in particular, to:

i.              Publicly call on Israel, as Occupying Power, to adhere 
to its legal obligations, and to immediately cease its systematic 
implementation of policies that are aimed and designed to forcibly 
transfer Palestinians, including by freeze all demolition orders, 
including those issued under Military Order 1797;

ii.            Call on Third States to comply with their obligations to 
respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions, by immediately 
adopting effective measures to pressure Israel to abide by its 
obligations under international humanitarian law;

iii.           Call on the European Union to adopt restrictive measure 
on the import of products, goods, and services originating from illegal 
Israeli settlements in the OPT, namely by to supporting the proposal for 
a wide ban of trade with and support for illegal settlements;^^[2] 
<applewebdata://5BF44AA9-3308-499A-AF6F-AE3E466AAB9E#_ftn2>and

iv.           Publicly call for international justice and accountability 
for Israel’s widespread, long-established, and systematic human rights 
violations committed against the Palestinian people, including war 
crimes and crimes against humanity, by urging the immediate opening, 
without any further delay, of a full, thorough, and comprehensive ICC 
investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine.

Read the full urgent appeal by cliking the PDF sign above.

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[1] <applewebdata://5BF44AA9-3308-499A-AF6F-AE3E466AAB9E#_ftnref1>OHCHR, 
“Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of 
the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to 
non-discrimination in this context,” UN Doc A/75/148, 27 July 2020.

[2] 
<applewebdata://5BF44AA9-3308-499A-AF6F-AE3E466AAB9E#_ftnref2>Al-Haq, 
“Al-Haq Calls on the EU to Support the Proposal for a Wide Ban of Trade 
with and Support for Illegal Settlements,” 28 December 2020, available 
at: https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/17724.html 
<https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/17724.html>.

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