To stop the gross violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories

Unprecedented grave violations committed by the Israeli occupation, affecting the human rights, basic freedoms and human dignity of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories.

This policy constituted a serious violation of international humanitarian law and the international bill of human rights, and was not limited to the practices of the current Israeli government headed by the most extreme and racist Netanyahu, but was practiced by previous governments, so that it became a consistent approach and policy for all successive governments of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people.

These violations were not limited to killings and field executions, but also included widespread arrests affecting thousands of all groups of women, children and the elderly, including extensive administrative detentions, which intensified and expanded in recent months.

These violations also affected the most basic human rights, the basic freedoms attached to the human being, his dignity, his religious beliefs and rituals, including torture and brutal physical, psychological and moral abuse, touching even the bodies of the dead and martyrs, cemeteries, etc., in addition to the violation of political, economic and social rights, foremost of which is the right to self-determination and independence. These violations will not stop and will not end without defeating the occupation, liberating the occupied Palestinian lands, and establishing an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, so that some do not believe that the Palestinian struggle and the struggle of the Palestinian people is limited only to extracting the human rights and basic freedoms of our people, without ending the occupation and grabbing the right The achievement of independence, self-determination and the return of refugees under Resolution 149.

However, our focus in this article is on the flagrant violations of human rights and basic freedoms that we are witnessing and the world is witnessing in the occupied Palestinian territories, which have reached their climax in recent months, as these violations included violent, brutal and terrorist attacks that exceeded all limits and perceptions, by the occupation forces and brutal settler gangs against the Palestinians. All aspects of the normal daily life of Palestinians of all social groups, in all places in which they are, without exception, including inside homes and streets, in universities and schools, and even inside mosques and churches when Palestinians perform prayers in them, whether they are Muslims or Christians.

So that no one is safe in practicing his normal normal life practiced by humans.

All of this is taking place under the eyes and ears of the world without any tangible reaction against these violations that would stop these dangerous practices of the occupation, its various military, security, political and judicial arms, and its terrorist settlement gangs, which wage a violent and armed terrorist war, with the support and backing of the occupation forces and its most extremist government. And racism. International reactions were limited to rejecting these violations and issuing statements of condemnation and denunciation.

It was striking in this regard, and most important, that members of the US Congress, US President Joe Biden, and his Secretary of State Blinken, demanded that measures be taken to stop the use of US funding to violate human rights in the Palestinian territories.

Where they expressed concern about the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, and the disturbing behavior practiced by the new extremist Israeli government, calling for urgent measures to be taken to prevent further loss of life. They demanded a change in US policy in light of the escalating violence, the continued seizure of land, and the denial of Palestinian rights, and indicated in their letter that the Israeli Minister of National Security Ben Gvir openly incites violence against the Palestinians, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his encouragement to exterminate the village of Hawara in the wake of The attacks launched by Israeli extremists against the village, and the presence of these two ministers in the current Israeli government makes them the most extremist in the history of Israel, because they encourage racist, oppressive, anti-democratic policies. The letter mentioned that since the beginning of the year, the Israeli occupation forces and settlers have killed more than 85 Palestinians, including 16 children, and that the past year was the most violent against Palestinians in the West Bank since 2004, and the past year witnessed the killing of two American citizens, Sherine Abu Aqleh and Omar Asaad. .

And they called on the Biden administration to ensure that taxpayer money does not go to support illegal settlement projects, and to ensure that US defense provisions are used outside the laws, including for purposes not authorized under Title IV of the Arms Export Control Act. They also called on the administration to ensure that any future aid to Israel, including arms exports, will not be used to support gross violations of human rights.

Exercising effective international pressure on the occupation government is one of the means to stop these violations against the Palestinian people, and perhaps the request of members of Congress is the most important in exercising these pressures. the previous one, without making its way towards the implementation and implementation of what was stated in it.

* Lawyer and university lecturer in international law.