<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ais<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n 16 May 2025<\/p>\n AM & PM Meetings<\/p>\n \u201cWe are doing this work because States are not,\u201d civil society activists told the Â鶹APP today at a special consultation<\/a> on their initiatives to ensure accountability for Israel\u2019s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/p>\n Hosted by the Â鶹APP Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the meeting brought together experts from various civil society organizations as part of a two-day event commemorating the Nakba of 1948.<\/p>\n Speaking during the first plenary meeting of the day, on the topic of \u201cBest Practices to Bring Accountability and End the War: Recent Civil Society Legal Actions and Arms Embargo\u201d, Jake Romm of Hind Rajab Foundation, outlined a strategy for ensuring accountability for rank-and-file soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces. His organization was established in 2024 in honour of Hind Rajab and all victims in the Gaza genocide. The car in which Hind was murdered was riddled with at least 335 bullet holes. Despite the overwhelming evidence of criminal actions by the Israel Defense Forces, \u201cnot one soldier and not one official has yet been held to account,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Foundation files requests for prosecution in national courts against \u201ctraveling soldiers\u201d \u2014 a reference to Israeli soldiers traveling abroad. In States that have incorporated the principle of universal jurisdiction into their criminal codes, jurisdiction can be established by the mere physical presence of a perpetrator on their territory. It also files requests for prosecution in soldiers\u2019 own countries \u2014 based on the principle of national jurisdiction. \u201cThere is no statute of limitations for these crimes and States’ responsibility to act never expires,\u201d he said. Finally, the Foundation shares information with international legal bodies like the International Criminal Court. Noting that States need to step up accountability efforts, he invited Member States, saying: \u201cLet us work together to help you fulfill your international legal obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n Many Governments, Corporations and Institutions Complicit in Genocide<\/strong> States are also complicit by allowing corporations domiciled in their jurisdiction to contribute to Israel’s crimes, he added, noting the complicity of Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM, among others. Some of these technology companies also \u201chelp to collect and store massive amounts of Palestinian civilian data in Israel’s population registry computing system, which is instrumental to Israel’s apartheid\u201d. In contrast, millions of ordinary people are mobilizing. The Boycott Divest Sanctions movement \u2014 which is akin to the South African anti-apartheid movement \u2014 has grown exponentially. States must build on this momentum and impose a comprehensive military embargo on Israel, suspend that country from the General Assembly and re-establish the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, he said.<\/p>\n UN Security Council\u2019s Inaction Is \u2018Blank Check\u2019 for Israel and Its Allies<\/strong> The corporations involved include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Rheinmetall, FUNAC, Chevron, Maersk and ZIM. The Arms Trade Treaty prohibits arms transfers when there is a risk of war crimes or genocide, yet military exports continue, he warned. The steps taken so far to halt arms transfers, though meaningful, are insufficient. It is not too late to impose on apartheid Israel a comprehensive military embargo, as was done against apartheid South Africa.<\/p>\n Diala Shamas, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said her organization brought one of the few legal challenges inside the United States against the genocide. She highlighted a lawsuit filed on behalf of Palestinian human rights organizations and individual Palestinian plaintiffs who were in or from Gaza. Recalling the devastating testimonies of her plaintiffs, she said, again and again, they returned to 1948. The Nakba is why their families ended up in Gaza even though they were originally from Yaffa or elsewhere. \u201cThe Nakba is not a distant origin point, it is the live wound that explains this moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Global South States Should Break Ranks with Western Complicity<\/strong> The second plenary held today focused on \u201cImplementing General Assembly Resolution E-10\/24: Ending the Illegal Occupation\u201d. That resolution welcomed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and demanded that Israel bring to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/p>\n Occupation Must End \u2018with Deliberate Speed\u2019 in Line with UN Resolutions<\/strong> Calls for Europe to End Military Ties with Israel<\/strong> Alys Samson Estape, Spokesperson of RESCOP [Red Solidaria Contra la Ocupaci\u00f3n Palestina], recalled how, in March, the Spanish Prime Minister described the massacre of 400 Palestinians killed in a single day as sad, atrocious, unacceptable. \u201cWhat is also sad, atrocious and unacceptable is that Spain still maintains military ties with Israel,\u201d she said. It has exported military parts to Israel and imported bombs and grenades worth millions of euros. Her organization has brought together over 600 Spanish organizations to make complicity impossible to deny. \u201cWe have built this pressure through sustained strategic action, coordinating monthly mobilizations in dozens of cities and engaging with workers who have refused to handle weapon shipments bound for Israel,\u201d she added. But it is not enough, she said, calling for a comprehensive military embargo \u2014 \u201cno exports, no imports, no transit, no cooperation, no contracts\u201d.<\/p>\n Led by Grass-Roots Activism, Global Efforts That Ended Apartheid in South African Can Do Same for Israel\u2019s Occupation<\/strong> Next, Philip Farah, Director of the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, noted that, while Christians accounted for about 9 per cent of Gaza\u2019s population in 1948, fewer than 1,000 remain, sheltering at two major churches in Gaza. Israel bombed one of them \u2014 Saint Porphyrius \u2014 on 19 October 2023, killing 18 Christians sheltering there and severely damaging the church. One of his relatives, an 84-year-old woman, survived; however, three weeks later, an Israeli sniper shot her in the leg, and anyone trying to save her was shot \u2014 so she bled for many hours. He added: \u201cThe next morning, an Israeli tank went over her; we don\u2019t know whether she was still alive or dead by then.\u201d Recalling how grass-roots movements in the United States and the United Kingdom forced their legislatures to oppose Apartheid in South Africa\u201d, he said: \u201cThe stronger the protest movement by [civil society] around the world, the more likely that Governments will start complying with their obligations under international law.\u201d<\/p>\n Both plenaries were followed by interactive dialogues with civil society experts, many of whom pointed to parallels with the anti-Apartheid movement of the 1980s. Phyllis Bennis of Institute for Policy Studies recalled how Assembly resolutions concerning South Africa mobilized people around the world, eventually pressuring the United States Government to \u201cgrudgingly [begin] the process of imposing sanctions against Apartheid South Africa\u201d. Rabbi David Feldman recalled how different communities coexisted peacefully in Palestine before the advent of Zionism. Speakers also highlighted the immense amount of organizing that Palestinian civil society \u2014 in the occupied territories and in the diaspora \u2014 takes on. It is crucial to protect activists, especially in the current climate of repression, they stressed, underscoring that civil society is \u201cthe real global superpower\u201d.<\/p>\n Closing Remarks<\/strong> Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, who chaired the meeting and spoke on behalf of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, said remembering the Nakba is \u201cnot about marking a historical event \u2014 there is an ongoing Nakba\u201d. It is about the need to continue telling the stories of Palestinian lives under occupation and blockade, and most importantly, to continue advocating for the two-State solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fran\u00e7ais 16 May 2025 AM & PM Meetings Speakers Call for Arms Embargo against Israel, Suspending its Membership in General Assembly, Re-establishing UN Special Committee against Apartheid \u201cWe are doing this work because States are not,\u201d civil society activists told the Â鶹APP today at a special consultation on their initiatives to ensure accountability […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1753,2173],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1769,1773,2005,1741,6816,1805,6771],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542,6541],"class_list":["post-307788","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-ceirpp","document-source-division-for-palestinian-rights-dpr","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-arms-control-and-regional-security-issues","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-nakba","document-subject-occupation","document-subject-two-state-solution","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english","document-language-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/307788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/307788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307796,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/307788\/revisions\/307796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=307788"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=307788"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=307788"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=307788"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=307788"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=307788"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=307788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Speakers Call for Arms Embargo against Israel, Suspending its Membership in General Assembly, Re-establishing UN Special Committee against Apartheid<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\u201cYou cannot say you did not know,\u201d Saleh Hijazi, Policy Coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott Divest Sanctions National Committee, said, noting that Israel\u2019s genocide of Palestinians is \u201clivestreamed by both its perpetrators and its victims\u201d, as well as comprehensively documented in UN reports. Highlighting the \u201ccomplicity of States, corporations and institutions\u201d, he said Israel depends almost entirely on military and intelligence support from the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, among others. States \u2014 including from the Global South \u2014 are also complicit by allowing the transit of weapons to Israel. Further, trade with Israel enables and finances the commission of genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, he added.<\/p>\n
\nThe UN was deeply complicit in the 1948 Nakba, Shir Hever, Coordinator of the BNC Arms Embargo Campaign, pointed out, adding: \u201cWe all know that waiting for the UN Security Council to decree military embargo equals a blank check for Israel and its allies.\u201d The genocide is being perpetrated mostly with United States-made weapons, as well as dual-use material and military intelligence from Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, India, Japan, even Viet Nam, among others. Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Morocco are among those knowingly facilitating the transport of military material.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe represent Mahmoud Khalil, the United States Green Card holder of Palestinian origin\u201d, who the United States has detained for protesting Israel\u2019s genocide on his campus, she said. Highlighting the aggressive repression against students and universities, she said the United States Government has also made it clear that \u201cit would take a sledgehammer to international institutions\u201d in service of this genocide. Stressing the need for an arms embargo, she said States must support efforts for accountability in international and mechanisms. \u201cWe need States, especially Global South States, Arab States and those who bear the legacy of anti-colonial struggles, to break ranks with United States and Western complicity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\nMichael Lynk, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, criticized the role of international politics \u2014 particularly that of the United States \u2014 in preventing the enforcement of hundreds of UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. Recalling that the International Criminal Court called on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories and immediately halt all settlement activities, he said the Assembly\u2019s subsequent resolution \u2014 A\/ES-10\/L.31\/Rev.1 adopted on 18 September 2024 \u2014 reiterated the demand and asked that Israel provide reparations for damages caused in the occupied territories a year from the date of adoption. \u201cThe occupation must end and with deliberate speed, and consequences must flow from the occupation not ending after 18 September 2025,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe [European Union] holds significant leverage over the Israeli Government,\u201d said Magnus Walan, Head of Office of Diakonia Sweden, which produces analysis of the destruction in Gaza and of restricted civic space in Israel. The Union has produced hundreds of statements criticizing Israel, \u201cbut there has been very little action\u201d, he pointed out, in stark contrast with how it has responded to Russian Federation President Vladimir V. Putin’s aggression against Ukraine. In particular, he called on Sweden to reconsider its aid strategy. \u201cSweden is the only country in the EU that has continued to defund and stop the funding for UNRWA [Â鶹APP Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East],\u201d he went on to say, adding: \u201cThis is quite shameful.\u201d Sweden also imports and exports military equipment from Israel and has not called for a trade ban on products from illegal settlements. \u201cEurope can no longer allow one or two dissident countries [to] hold foreign policy hostage,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
\nRoshan Dadoo, Coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement in South Africa asked: \u201cAre you really going to allow a rogue State that shreds the UN Charter in the chamber \u2014 that criminalizes UNRWA, bombs its schools and infrastructure and murders its personnel \u2014 to remain with full rights in the very Â鶹APP that Israel seeks to destroy, along with the international legal system it upholds?\u201d Detailing actions seen before in the context of Apartheid South Africa, she urged States to keep passing strong resolutions with overwhelming majorities \u201cthat activists can use to pressure our Governments\u201d. She added: \u201cWe the people are the force that can force States to end complicity, to prevent and punish, to stand on the right side of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nRiyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, underscored that collaborative role. For the past 19 months, \u201cwe all worked together \u2014 you in the streets lobbying Governments and institutions, and we fighting here at the UN with Member States\u201d to legislate resolutions, he said. Noting his delegation\u2019s long years of advocacy at the Â鶹APP, he stressed the need for resilience and patience. Gaza will never become \u201ca riviera for somebody else\u201d, he said, encouraging civil society actors to stay hopeful even when it is depressing. \u201cDo everything possible with your Governments, in the streets\u201d \u2014 these small steps will add up and break the backbone of the illegal occupation, he said.<\/p>\n