Arab World

Arab Parliament: Support for the Palestinian People and Realization of Their Established Rights to Return and Self-Determination

Arab Parliament: Support for the Palestinian People and Realization of Their Established Rights to Return and Self-Determination

The final statement from the Arab Parliament, which held a special session for Palestine under the slogan "Support for Palestine and Gaza," during the fourth session of the third legislative term at the League of Arab States on the 28th of this month, addressed the ongoing military aggression since October 7 against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. After reviewing the report from the Palestine Committee in the Arab Parliament and discussing it with members, the following was decided:

"The Arab Parliament monitors the developments of the humanitarian and national catastrophe resulting from the Israeli military aggression in Gaza, marked by continuous massacres and atrocities for 83 days, leading to the martyrdom of over 21,000 civilians and more than 6,500 missing, with over 70% of them being women and children, including infants and fetuses, as well as health workers, UN relief staff, Red Crescent teams, civil defense members, journalists, and academics. More than 1,100 families have been completely exterminated due to indiscriminate targeting with tens of thousands of tons of explosives and high-explosive bombs, field executions of residents, leaving bodies in the streets to decay and be scavenged, reaching the point of crushing buried and unburied corpses. The number of injured has surpassed 56,000 in one of the most horrific war crimes and crimes against humanity in history that necessitate prosecution. Over 290,000 housing units have been destroyed, along with places of worship, hospitals, universities, schools, and kindergartens."

The statement continued: "In the West Bank and Jerusalem, the occupation continues to escalate killings and exercise extreme violence, perpetrating systematic and organized terror against the Palestinian people through its officials and Jewish settlers. This has led to 311 martyrs due to the occupation’s fire and settler attacks, raising the number of martyrs in the West Bank in 2023 to 526, with thousands injured and over 4,700 Palestinian children and youth arrested from the West Bank and Jerusalem. The sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and other mosques in the West Bank is violated, dozens of homes are demolished, thousands of dunams of land are confiscated, and there is direct restriction on freedom of movement, physical assaults on citizens, and prevention of essential activities, including harvesting olives and operating farms, directly and through settler violence."

Members of the Parliament recalled the humanitarian tragedies and the ongoing catastrophe of the Palestinian people's right, and all of humanity, in the most destructive and unprecedented war since World War II, where destruction surpasses that of two nuclear bombs (over 57,000 bombs and thousands of missiles launched over an area of about 365 square kilometers). The Parliament noted details documented by international organizations, especially the UN through its relief agency and the UN humanitarian coordinator, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Program, Amnesty International, and various human rights institutions, which confirm their field reports on the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in the region, regarding the absence of any basis for life due to shortages of food, water, electricity, fuel, communications, housing, and safe spaces. Over 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced, suffering the dangers of imminent famine, extreme hunger, and thirst, facing a lack of any stability necessary to prevent them from forced migration."

The Arab Parliament emphasized its commitment at all levels, including the International Criminal Court, by addressing institutions, bodies, and all international and regional parliaments, through collective and bilateral meetings, supporting the Arab and Islamic effort, and the special action committee arising from the Arab Islamic summit in Riyadh. It commended the role of Arab countries, especially those assisting the Palestinian people, and lauded popular demonstrations and solidarity activities with the Palestinian people and boycotts of products supporting the Israeli occupation and its backers, and encourages their continuation in the Arab world and all countries globally through Palestinian, Arab, Islamic communities, and free individuals worldwide.

The Parliament, recalling the Fourth Geneva Conventions, international law, humanitarian law, the Rome Statute, UN Human Rights Council resolutions, and relevant conventions related to protecting civilians, children, and women during war while preserving human dignity, called upon international organizations, particularly the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the Arab League Charter.

The statement added, "The Arab Parliament reaffirms its unwavering stance on behalf of the Arab nation in all its locations, standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, their struggle, and their national resistance to end the occupation and realize their right to self-determination. It calls for the following:

- To work by all means to achieve a ceasefire, stopping genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people.

- Immediate actions to implement Security Council Resolution 2720 and 2712, providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza, supplying food, medical supplies, and necessities for a decent life through immediate humanitarian corridors, and via UN mechanisms: rejecting all forms of displacement and forced internal displacement, and working to return displaced persons to their remaining and destroyed residences.

- To call upon the UN General Assembly, invoking its resolution number 377 and according to UN regulations, to convene a special session under the title "Unity for Peace," to immediately stop hostilities and ensure the protection of the Palestinian people, in accordance with international law and humanitarian law, and to condemn all criminal states participating in the war and those impeding international justice in the Security Council, particularly the United States for exercising its veto power.

- To push for the UN General Assembly to request an advisory opinion on the legal aspects of the aggression against Gaza from the International Court of Justice regarding war crimes and massacres committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.

- To enable the Human Rights Council to investigate these crimes, and for the International Criminal Court to fulfill its obligations through a special commission under the supervision of the Prosecutor.

- The Arab Parliament affirms that the arrests exceeding 4,800 male and female prisoners in the West Bank, and an unknown number in Gaza, and the atrocities against the prisoner movement, including torture to the point of execution inside prisons, constitute crimes against humanity according to all international laws, especially treaties related to prisoners.

- To call on all relevant parties in the international system to stop the piracy of Palestinian funds by the occupation authorities and to ask Arab countries to provide assistance to the Palestinian people according to their decisions on the safety net through the Palestinian government in these difficult circumstances that necessitate solidarity.

- To emphasize the role and position of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and its various frameworks, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reject any attempts to circumvent it, and the position of the Palestinian National Council as the "Parliament of the Palestinian People," calling on all Palestinians to engage in the PLO according to its regulations and commitments to unify all Palestinians.

- To commit to the text of the Arab Peace Initiative, halting normalization until the recognition of the political rights of the Palestinian people, freezing all relations with the Israeli occupation, and immediately withdrawing ambassadors.

- The Arab Parliament calls on Arab and Islamic nations to consider using oil and gas as leverage, stopping supplies until the Palestinian people enjoy their rights and a dignified life.

- To initiate the works of the legal committee formed from the Arab Islamic summit, which focuses on documenting resolutions concerning ongoing violations against the Palestinian people and preparing legal pleadings for the relevant authorities.

- To work with counterpart parliaments to call for freezing the membership of the occupying power in international and regional organizations due to its commission of crimes against humanity and genocidal massacres against civilians, and to request the freezing of the Knesset's membership in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

- The Arab Parliament urges all its members and through them all national Arab parliaments, to continue their efforts at every official, popular, or parliamentary venue, in defense of the rights of the Palestinian people and their protection.

- To call upon Arab and Islamic nations and international organizations to organize a campaign to provide humanitarian and material assistance aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people and strengthening their steadfastness.

- To request the Arab Parliament's presidency to organize a visit for global parliamentarians to Gaza at an appropriate time for solidarity.

The Parliament urges the continuation of its efforts to support the Palestinian cause and confront the aggression, demanding updates on its follow-ups and actions in the next meeting or when requested by the Parliament."

The Arab Parliament affirmed its ongoing support and solidarity with the Palestinian people, considering their national cause as the central and foremost issue for the Arab nation, extending greetings of pride, respect, and tribute to the martyrs of the Palestinian people and the Arab nation, honoring the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land, their defense of it, and their struggle for it. It emphasized the responsibility of all international and global parties to realize security, peace, and stability in the Middle East through a sole pathway based on establishing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return, freedom, and self-determination, and the establishment of their independent state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.

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