The State of Palestine said today that it is dismayed with international inaction towards the looming forced dispossession of 120 Palestinians, mostly children, from their homes and lands in Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
“The mass forcible displacement of families of Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and other areas, is emblematic of Israel’s colonial regime under which, the crimes of apartheid and persecutions are committed. Israel’s impunity and criminality are untenable,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in a statement.
“The international community must honor its obligations towards the Palestinian people and mobilize to put an end to Israel’s 54 years of colonization, dispossession, and other systematic violations of international law. The State of Palestine also calls on all states to hold settler groups and organizations, including ‘Ateret Cohanim’ and ‘Nahalat Shimon’, and their accomplices accountable for their crimes, including their sustained campaign of forcible displacement and incitement against the Palestinian people,” added the Foreign Ministry.
“The State of Palestine reaffirms, once again, that Israel, the occupying Power, and its compromised judiciary system, have no sovereignty over Jerusalem. The imminent forcible displacement of families of Silwan is both a war crime and a crime against humanity. It is a continuation of Israel’s unabated campaign of ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people from their homeland that started in 1947.”
The Foreign Ministry said the United Nations Security Council “has an obligation to uphold its Charter duties, implement its resolutions, and exact consequences on Israel for its grave crimes.”
It also said the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, “should also issue a stern warning for Israeli officials and affirm that the ongoing investigation will cover these war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
The Foreign Ministry concluded its statement by stressing that the “Palestinian families in Silwan and elsewhere will remain resilient. They will continue to battle the ills and indignities of Israel’s violent, brutal, and racist settler colonial regime, with the full support of their people and legitimate representatives.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency