THE Palestinian National Council (PNC), the Palestinian parliament in exile, said on Monday that the decision of the Israeli ruling Likud party to impose Israeli law on the illegal West Bank settlements is an open war against the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights.
Its speaker, Salim Zanoun, said: ‘The decision represents the epitome of terrorism and aggression against the rights of the Palestinian people. It is a translation of the policies of colonialism, extremism and arrogance that is rooted in the mentality of the Likud party and its leaders.’
The PNC stressed that this decision is a clear violation of historic Palestinian rights in their land and an attack on United Nations resolutions that consider the West Bank, including Jerusalem, to be occupied Palestinian territories, and that no party can can change its legal character.
It called on the UN Security Council and the General Assembly to reject this Likud decision and condemn it, ‘and put an end to this arrogance and reckless challenge, which is an explicit declaration against peace and stability in the region.’
It also said the Likud decision was based on ‘the offensive American administration’s decisions on Jerusalem, which opens the door wide to the extremism of the Israeli government and its aggression and defiance of the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy that have rejected all forms of colonial settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.’
It said the Palestinian people will remain rooted in their land and will resist this decision and work to nullify it to live freely in their homeland. And it reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign Palestinian state on all the territories occupied in 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital, free from settlements, in addition to the refugees’ right of return to their homes.
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi also strongly condemned the unanimous decision by the ruling Israeli Likud party – and concurrence by its right wing coalition partners – to annex the Occupied West Bank and impose Israeli ‘sovereignty’ on illegal Jewish settlements in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement to declare Jerusalem Israel’s capital and relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
‘Israel has been emboldened by the US administration’s irresponsible and provocative policies and is therefore escalating its violations of international law and bringing about an official end to the failing peace process,’ said Ashrawi in a statement. ‘This is the final demise of the two-state solution and previously signed agreements.’
Ashrawi warned that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘are adding fuel to the flames and further enhancing Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people and their lands and rights.’ The PLO official said that the total lack of accountability for Israel and the reluctance of the international system to employ sanctions against Israel for its violations of international law and human rights ‘have contributed to the persistence of Israeli lawlessness and war crimes.’
She called on Arab and Islamic countries ‘to urgently request an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting and propose a Chapter Seven Resolution to bring about the immediate cessation of Israel’s dangerous violations. We also urge the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention to convene immediately and guarantee protection for the Palestinian people and accountability for Israel.’
The workers of the world and their trade unions must condemn this Israeli decision to colonise the West Bank – for which President Trump has no doubt given the go-ahead.
The trade unions internationally must immediately impose a worldwide boycott of Israel and recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine.
The trade unions of the world must demand that their governments withdraw their recognition of the Israeli state and recognise only the state of Palestine, as the only viable state in the region in which all refugees must have the right to return, with all settlements abolished, and with Jews, Palestinians and Christians able to live in peace side by side, free of Zionist oppression.