THE Arab League Council yesterday condemned Israeli crimes and massacres of Palestinians and demanded the provision of international protection to the Palestinian people.
The Council convened an extraordinary meeting at the Permanent Representative level in Cairo to discuss the ongoing deadly Israeli army incursions across the occupied West Bank, including the deadly raid that resulted in the killing of 11 Palestinians, including an elderly person and a child, and injuring over 100 others by live bullets, six reported in critical condition, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday.
The Council decried the large-scale Israeli crimes, classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes under international humanitarian law, against the Palestinian people, and called on the international community to implement the resolutions relative to the protection of Palestinian civilians, especially UNSC Resolution 904 (1994), UNSC Resolution 605 (1987) and UNGA Resolution 1020- RES/ES (201) on the Protection of the Palestinian civilian population.
It urged international movements to actively take part in the protection of Palestinian civilians and form a practical and effective mechanism to implement the UNGA Resolution and United Nations Secretary-General’s report, including the viable options to ensure protection of Palestinian civilians.
It urged the UNSC to shoulder its responsibilities in terms of defending international security and peace and to take immediate effective actions to halt all Israeli crimes and practices and bring an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967.
Meanwhile Israelis are beginning to resist their new pro-fascist government.
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has warned that Israel is facing ‘real danger’ and said that Israelis should resist the current regime, which demonstrates further escalation in political division in the Israeli internal arena.
Speaking at a conference where leaders of Israel’s protest movement gathered to address the Netanyahu-led cabinet’s advancing judicial coup, Barak said that just as soldiers have a duty to refuse illegal orders, Israelis are obligated to resist an illegitimate regime.
Barak said Israel is in ‘immediate danger’ from an impending dictatorship headed by prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu. He called on Israelis to resist ‘with all legitimate means at their disposal’.
Meanwhile, leader of Israel’s opposition Yair Lapid spoke at the conference, and charged the current regime with carrying out a coup, describing it as ‘more than a question about the supreme court, or the judicial appointments committee’, and said ‘it is an attack on our families, our children and our way of life’.
In an on-stage interview led by Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn, Israel’s former ‘justice minister’ Gideon Sa’ar rejected Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s calls for negotiations between the cabinet and the opposition, saying, ‘There is no room for talks as long as the legislative process continues.’
Thousands of protesters have been holding massive rallies in protest against a so-called judicial reforms plan proposed by Netanyahu’s far-right coalition cabinet, as lawmakers prepare to vote on the first reading of the legislation at the regime’s parliament.
The proposed controversial reforms would give politicians greater power to appoint judges and more control of appointments to the supreme court bench.
It is a disgrace that while large numbers of Palestinians are facing deadly Israeli army attacks and the Israeli opposition is forced to denounce Netanyahu that the TUC, the leadership of the British trade unions keeps its mouth shut on the issue.
Individual trade unions must immediately pass resolutions giving their full support to the self-sacrificing Palestinian masses fighting for their state. The UK trade unions must instruct the TUC to meet at once to impose a trade boycott of Israel and demand the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The trade unions must organise a massive fund so that the Palestinian masses can adequately arm themselves against the Israeli fascists.
The time has come to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in which Jews, Christians and Palestinians can live in harmony side by side in a single state. The TUC must get off its knees now and give its full support for this state!
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