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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">UN Special Committee says Israel’s practices against Palestinians amount to ‘apartheid’</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">QudsN -
<span class="gmail-date gmail-meta-item gmail-tie-icon">July 19, 2022</span>
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<p>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’.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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 <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/07/end-mission-statement-un-special-committee-investigate-israeli-practices" rel="noopener" target="_blank">end-of-Mission Statement</a> issued on July 15.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Killing Palestinians</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>It noted that ‘Israel’ continues to hold the bodies of 325 Palestinians, denying families burials and closure.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p><strong>Israel’s policy of administrative detention</strong></p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Israel’s illegal settlements and lands expropriation</strong></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>The Special Committee was briefed that since the beginning of 2022,
387 Palestinian structures, including 68 donor-funded structures, were
demolished, displacing 496 Palestinians.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>UNRWA</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Health water and environment</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The Special Committee was informed that life expectancy of Palestinians is eight years lower than Israeli settlers.</p>
<p>For Gazans, barriers restricting access to secondary and tertiary healthcare are “extreme.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Palestinians only control approximately 20 percent of their water supply, with the remainder purchased from ‘Israel’.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Palestinian people are the victims</strong></p>
<p>Discrimination against Palestinians also manifests in the absence of accountability mechanisms, the Committee said.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Besieged Gaza Strip</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Entry and export of goods are strictly controlled and restricted by ‘Israel’.</p>
<p>Gazans requiring urgent medical care outside the Gaza Strip are unable to do so without exit permits from ‘Israel’.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p><strong>Golan Heights</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The Special Committee was informed that the settler population has expanded to just under 30,000 in 35 settlements.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>‘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.</p>
<p>Syrians in the occupied Golan are also denied building permits by
Israel and have limited access to natural resources (including land and
water).</p>
<p><strong>Shrinking of civic space in OPT</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p><strong>Israel’s policies amount to ‘apartheid’</strong></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
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