[News] UN Special Committee says Israel’s practices against Palestinians amount to ‘apartheid’

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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UN Special Committee says Israel’s practices against Palestinians amount to
‘apartheid’
QudsN - July 19, 2022
------------------------------

New York (QNN)- A United Nations Special Committee has stated it received
mounting evidence of “Israel’s discriminatory and inhumane laws, policies,
and practices that violate Palestinians’ human dignity in every sense,”
saying such practices amount to ‘apartheid’.

The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices
Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the
Occupied Territories conducted its annual mission to Amman, Jordan, from 4
to 7 July 2022.

The United Nations Special Committee was established by the UN General
Assembly in December 1968 to examine the human rights situation in the
occupied Syrian Golan, the West Bank, including eastern part of occupied
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

During the four-day mission, the Special Committee met with high-level
Palestinian government officials, UN organisations and representatives of
civil society organisations from the occupied Palestinian territory and the
occupied Syrian Golan. Furthermore, the Special Committee visited UNRWA
headquarters, Marka refugee camp and interacted with the Palestine
refugees.

The Committee noted it regrets that ‘Israel’ did not respond to its request
for consultations with Israeli occupation authorities or for access to
‘Israel’, the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan.

“Israel’s persistent refusal to engage with the UN mechanisms mirrors a
lack of accountability for Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian
territory, which was drawn to the Special Committee’s attention throughout
the mission,” said the Committee in an end-of-Mission Statement
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/07/end-mission-statement-un-special-committee-investigate-israeli-practices>
issued on July 15.

“The protracted occupation, and an entrenched culture of impunity, severely
undermine the prospect of Palestinians and Israelis enjoying human rights
on an equal basis and living side by side in peace and dignity.”

The Special Committee said the visit took place in the context of
increasing settler violence and Israeli occupation forces violence against
Palestinians, arbitrary arrests and detention, and restrictions on the
freedom of expression and movement, as well as a deepening culture of
impunity.

*Killing Palestinians*

The Special Committee was briefed that in the first half of 2022, Israeli
occupation forces killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank in the context of
“law enforcement operations,” compared to 41 in the same period in 2021.

It noted that ‘Israel’ continues to hold the bodies of 325 Palestinians,
denying families burials and closure.

Settler violence has continued to increase at an alarming rate, the
Committe said, adding that 575 incidents of settler violence resulting in
Palestinian deaths, injury and/or property damage were reported between 1
June 2021 and 31 May 2022, compared to 430 in the previous year.

“Perpetrators are very rarely held accountable. Gross violations of
Palestinian human rights, including the right to self-determination, are
the result of discriminatory and systematic policies and practices
negatively impacting almost every aspect of Palestinian life,” the UN
Special Committee stressed.

*Israel’s policy of administrative detention*

The Special Committee was also briefed on Israel’s practice of
administrative detention of Palestinians as more than 800,000 Palestinians
have been subjected to this practice since 1967.

Approximately 640 Palestinians, including four children, are currently held
under indefinite administrative detention without charge or trial, the
Committee said, adding that “a lack of respect for fair trial guarantees is
a systemic concern in cases involving Palestinians, including the regular
admission of secret evidence in trial.”

The Special Committee was also informed that torture and ill-treatment of
Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons remain widespread. “Some
interrogation techniques, which may amount to torture, are allowed by
‘Israel’ on the basis of “necessity”, which is incompatible with the
absolute prohibition of torture under international law.”

The Special Committee was also informed that Palestinian detainees are
often deprived of adequate health care, as medical clinics within prisons
lack appropriate medical equipment and treatment.

*Israel’s illegal settlements and lands expropriation*

In the West Bank and eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, the Committee said
Israel’s “discriminatory planning and zoning laws and military orders are
applied to justify aggressive expropriation of land for the purposes of
expanding illegal Israeli settlements and military training areas.”

In Area C, which comprises approximately 62 per cent of land in the West
Bank, almost 30 per cent is designated as closed “firing zones” and
Palestinian residents in those designated areas are at heightened risk of
forced displacement and demolitions of their homes.

The Special Committee particularly expressed concern over ongoing
demolitions of Palestinian structures and displacement of Palestinian
residents in Masafer Yatta, designated as “Firing Zone 918”, following a
recent Israeli High Court decision permitting forced displacement of the
residents to clear the area as a closed military training site. About 1,200
residents of Masafer Yatta face imminent risks of forced displacement.

“This constitutes the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1967, and
may amount to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of international
humanitarian law,” the UN Special Committee said.

It added that illegal Israeli settlements have also continued to expand,
resulting in demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures and displacement
of the Palestinian residents, notwithstanding UN Security Council
resolution 2334 condemning such practices.

The Special Committee was informed that ‘Israel’ has established or allowed
the establishment of 279 settlements, outposts or satellite neighbourhoods
in the West Bank, facilitating settlement population growth to
approximately 700,000. Israeli and international settler organisations
actively promote settlements and recruit prospective settlers, and are
offered tax incentives.

New settlement housing units continue to proliferate, and in May 2022,
Israeli occupation authorities advanced plans for the construction of more
than 4,000 settlement housing units in Area C, the Committee noted, adding
the expansion of settlements has resulted in a commensurate increase in the
demolition of Palestinian structures.

The Special Committee was briefed that since the beginning of 2022, 387
Palestinian structures, including 68 donor-funded structures, were
demolished, displacing 496 Palestinians.

Only five percent of construction plans submitted by Palestinians in Area C
are reportedly approved by the Israeli occupation authorities. The Special
Committee was also informed that in addition to settlement housing units,
private land owned by Palestinians is often seized for the purpose of
building infrastructure, such as roads, highways and walls, to connect
settlements, or creating natural reserves or national parks.

As reiterated by the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, the Security Council and other UN bodies, settlement activities are
a flagrant violation of international law and must immediately cease, the
Committee said.

*UNRWA*

The Committee also dedicated a portion of its visit to UNRWA headquarters
and the Marka refugee camp for Gazan refugees. Although UNRWA faces a dire
financial situation and an almost USD 120 million programme budget
shortfall, the agency continues to deliver above and beyond all
expectations and is sustained by a dedicated and committed cadre of staff,
many of whom benefited from UNRWA’s relief, social, health and education
services as children, it said.

The Committee said UNRWA urgently requires predictable and sustainable
funding in order to continue to fulfil its critical role for Palestine
refugees and regional stability. Health and education services in
particular are not sustainable on an ad hoc or emergency funding basis, it
added.

*Health water and environment*

Israeli policies and practices also infringe upon the human rights of
Palestinians to health, safe drinking water, sanitation, and a healthy
environment in a discriminatory manner, said the Committee.

The Special Committee was informed that life expectancy of Palestinians is
eight years lower than Israeli settlers.

For Gazans, barriers restricting access to secondary and tertiary
healthcare are “extreme.”

Irrespective of medical need, Gazan men aged 18-40 are much less likely to
receive a permit to leave Gaza than any other demographic, reflective of
Israel’s prioritisation of security policy over the Palestinian right to
health.

Palestinians only control approximately 20 percent of their water supply,
with the remainder purchased from ‘Israel’.

Public demand consistently exceeds supply, particularly during summer, and
over 90 percent of groundwater in Gaza is not suitable for human
consumption. In areas south of Hebron in the West Bank, Palestinians
reportedly survive on an average of less than 40 litres per person per day,
well below WHO minimum guidelines to achieve basic health and sanitation
needs.

The Committee was also provided with photographic evidence of Israeli
commercial, agricultural, industrial and chemical waste disposal on
Palestinian agricultural land, with grave implications for the right to a
healthy environment, impacting progress towards SDG 6 and SDG 11, whilst
the consequences of climate change become increasingly evident.

*Palestinian people are the victims*

Discrimination against Palestinians also manifests in the absence of
accountability mechanisms, the Committee said.

“As highlighted by many interlocutors, impunity remains pervasive in the
occupied Palestinian territory, as acts of killings, torture, ill-treatment
or violence committed against Palestinians by Israeli security forces are
rarely investigated or result in prosecution of the perpetrators,” the
end-of-Mission statement noted.

“A Palestinian victim who wishes to file a complaint and pursue legal
action faces a number of insurmountable obstacles, such as prohibitively
expensive court fees and access to legal representation.”

The Special Committee was informed that Palestinian children are routinely
intimidated by Israeli occupation forces on the way to school and face
physical access restrictions to their right to education, despite the UN
Secretary-General’s repeated calls on ‘Israel’ to better protect schools as
places of learning.

*Besieged Gaza Strip*

In the Gaza Strip, civil liability claims by Gazan residents are explicitly
excluded from Israeli jurisdiction, by virtue of a 2014 legislative
amendment that considers the population of Gaza as residents of an “enemy
territory,” it said.

In the Gaza Strip, 15 years of the land, sea and air blockade and closures
have effectively trapped 2.1 million Palestinians in what Gazan and
international civil society organisations describe as an “open-air prison”.

The blockade and closures, combined with the effects of the May 2021
aggression and the COVID-19 pandemic, “have continued to stifle the local
economy, constricting the livelihoods of the Gazan population.”

The Committee was briefed that 44.7 percent of working-age Gazans are
unemployed, and permits to obtain employment outside Gaza are extremely
limited. Livelihoods available to the Gazan population, such as fishery and
agriculture, expose Gazans to grave risks of violence and attacks by
Israeli occupation forces.

To date, 2022 has seen a spike in the number of arrests of fishermen,
harassment, and confiscation or destruction of their boats. While arrested
fishermen are usually released within 24 hours, they are often subject to
ill-treatment and physical abuse, and not allowed to contact their
families.

Entry and export of goods are strictly controlled and restricted by
‘Israel’.

Gazans requiring urgent medical care outside the Gaza Strip are unable to
do so without exit permits from ‘Israel’.

The Special Committee was briefed on several “tragic cases” of Palestinian
infants and children dying of treatable causes whilst waiting for exit
permits to seek life-saving specialized treatment in eastern part of
occupied Jerusalem.

“The picture emerging from the Gaza Strip is increasingly bleak, with the
population deprived of access to adequate health care, employment, basic
services such as water and electricity, and freedom of movement,” the
Special Committee said.

“The dire situation in the Gaza Strip is a man-made humanitarian
catastrophe, maintained and perpetuated by deliberate policies and
practices designed to control a trapped population. The international
community must shift its focus from humanitarian emergency to addressing
the root cause of the catastrophe, including ending the blockade and border
closures.”

*Golan Heights*

The Israeli occupation government has also expanded its control of the
occupied Syrian Golan in the context of the ongoing crisis in Syria and the
COVID-19 pandemic, said the Committee.

The Special Committee was informed that the settler population has expanded
to just under 30,000 in 35 settlements.

On 26 December 2021, then-Israeli occupation Prime Minister Naftali
Bennett’s Cabinet approved an unprecedented plan to build 7,300 residential
units in existing illegal settlements for 23,000 new Israeli settlers
within the next five years, as well as the establishment of two new illegal
settlements.

‘Israel’ has continued to restrict the movement of the 80 percent of
Syrians in the occupied Golan without Israeli identity documents,
preventing their movement within Syria, family reunification, and access to
work, education and medical services in Damascus or abroad, the Committee
noted.

Syrians in the occupied Golan are also denied building permits by Israel
and have limited access to natural resources (including land and water).

*Shrinking of civic space in OPT*

Throughout its visit, the Special Committee was briefed on the continued
shrinking of civic space in the occupied Palestinian territory as a
function of Israeli occupation policies.

On 22 October 2021, Israel’s Ministry of War designated six leading
Palestinian civil society organisations as “terrorist organisations,”
allegations that remain unsubstantiated by the information available to the
Special Committee.

Other civil society organisations invited to brief the Special Committee
were unable to attend in person due to movement restrictions imposed by the
Israeli occupation. The Committee added that multiple civil society
organisations and human rights defenders reported being specifically
targeted for surveillance.

In the same context, the Committee referred to Israel’s killing of Al
Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, calling this “one of the most
explicit examples of suppression of freedom of speech in the occupied
Palestinian territory in recent memory.”

“The killing of Ms. Abu Akleh, known as the “voice of Palestine,” is
profoundly symbolic. Her death and the desecration of her funeral
procession affected every member of Palestinian civic society, particularly
the women journalists and human rights defenders that she inspired,” the
Committee said.

*Israel’s policies amount to ‘apartheid’*

The Special Committee concluded it received mounting evidence of Israel’s
discriminatory and inhumane laws, policies, and practices that “violate
Palestinians’ human dignity in every sense, the essence of human rights to
which all Palestinians are entitled.”

“By design, Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestine has been used as a
vehicle to serve and protect the interest of a Jewish State and its Jewish
people, while subjugating Palestinians.”

The Special Committee noted that it is “cognisant that many stakeholders
consider that this practice amounts to apartheid,” in a refernce to several
human rights groups declaring ‘Israel’ as an apartheid regime, including
Amnesty International, B’Tselem, and HRW.

This concern must be given “serious consideration by the international
community, for it owes obligations erga omnes to prevent and end the most
serious crimes under international law, the Special Committee said.

The Special Committee has also urged Member States to take principled steps
towards ensuring that “Israel’s occupation ends and Palestinians’ right of
self-determination is realised.”
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