November 29 marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.This year, it arrives at the darkest moment in Palestinian history as Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues unabated.
For the international community, this day is a yearly reminder to mark the anniversary of the UN General Assembly mandates contained in resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, 34/65 D of 12 December 1979, and subsequent resolutions adopted under agenda item “Question of Palestine.”
On that day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (II), which came to be known as the Partition Resolution.That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State”. Of the two States to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.
As early as December 1948, the UN General Assembly also called for refugee return, property restitution and compensation.and has also said that the Nakba serves as a reminder that close to 6 million Palestinians remain refugees to this day, scattered throughout the region.
The International Day of Solidarity is an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people have yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced.
In response to the call of the United Nations, various activities are undertaken annually by Governments and civil society in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. These activities include the issuance of special messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people.Resolution 181 and to recall its efforts to grant the Palestinians their sovereignty and independence from Israeli occupation.
The day reaffirms solidarity with the steadfast people of Palestine and helps keeping the Palestinian cause live and present in the international events and the global conscience,For the Palestinian people, however, this day is more likely a yearly reminder of one thing only: how the international community has failed and continues to fail them.
Whether it’s the ongoing system of apartheid, the ethnic cleansing and other acts of genocide, or Israel’s impunity and ongoing support from its European and global allies, the crisis of international law and accountability is currently not illustrated any clearer and more tragically than in the shameful mistreatment of the Palestinian people.
For over two decades, Gaza has suffered a suffocating siege, pushing Gaza into severe poverty. Lately and since October 7, 2023, the genocide inflicted by the Israeli Occupation, which has been recognized by the ICJ as such, has led to an alarming rise in the death toll in Gaza which demands immediate and urgent global action.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and wounded.Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes-but nowhere is safe in Gaza. Most of them have no home to return to, since they have been intentionally destroyed or damaged beyond repair. In addition to all universities, the majority of the schools and hospitals, as well as places of worship have been destroyed. Diseases and famine, due to severe deprivation of food and essential medication, are striking fear in the hearts of an exhausted population. All these collective punishment measures imposed on the Palestinian people, is causing civilians to live with overwhelmed pain, anguish and heartache.
This dire humanitarian and socio-economic situation in Palestine in general, and refugee camps in particular, place additional burdens on international community to meet basic needs and fulfil their commitments to supporting Palestine refugees.
A recent law passed by the Israeli Knesset seeks to ban the UNRWA’s operations within areas deemed under “Israeli sovereignty,” specifically in Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank. The new legislation prohibits UNRWA from operating any offices, providing any services, or conducting any activities in the territory it occupies, effectively aiming to force the agency out of the region it has served for decades.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) “concluded that it is plausible that Israel’s actions in Gaza Strip could amount to genocide and issued provisional measures, in which it ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent any acts contrary to the 1948 Genocide Convention”.
Furthermore, on 19 July 2024, the ICJ reminded all states of their responsibilities. Its advisory opinion concluded that Israel’s continued occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and needs to end as soon as possible, including the cessation of any new settlement activities.
This reality in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, urges the international community, including not only States but also non-state actors such as businesses, to do everything they can to implement all these resolutions to end the Israeli apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian territory.
At at a time when the Palestinians have endured over 400 days of an ongoing genocidal war, which has led to more than 150,000 casualties, the majority of them being children, women and the elderly, killed and maimed by the Israeli occupying forces, who are deliberately and systematically targeting civilians, in a repetition of what happened in the Nakba of 1948 and tragedy of 1967, aimed at displacing our people and seizing their land and the resources.
Israel has reduced Gaza to a living hell, its murderous actions backed by material and diplomatic support from the most powerful governments in the world. Τhe massacre in Palestine, the brutal and unacceptable bombing of the hospitals, the killing of a child every 10 minutes, are crimes which are committed with the provocative tolerance and support that Israel receives from the USA, the UK the European Union and the rest of their allies.
The root cause of this situation is the occupation and illegal settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel and the continuous, daily crimes and the blockades of Gaza that have been committed against the Palestinian people for decades.
Although the circumstances of Palestinians have changed over the years, their core demands for liberation and return. and the need for resistance and solidarity to achieve this have not.The tenacity of Palestinians in struggling for their most basic of rights, and the continued solidarity of people across the world in response, offer a ray of hope that neither alarming rightward drift of Israeli politics nor the bleak geopolitical landscape can diminish.
The ongoing challenge for Palestinians, and those engaged in their struggle, this 29 November, is to translate this sentiment of hope into tangible structures capable of moving towards a different political reality. Today and everyday lets re-affirm our solidarity with all Palestinians in historic Palestine and their right to self-determination' with Palestinian political prisoners (women, men and children) in Apartheid Israel's jails, and with the millions of refugees struggling to make their legally guaranteed right of Return a reality.
The massacre of Gazans, as well as their steadfast resistance to occupation, has generated a global movement in solidarity with Palestine,with millions around the world organising to show they reject this mass murder and challenge the complicity of our governments and institutions in the Israeli war machine and the apartheid regime which powers it. Forcing governments to row back their unconditional support for Israel; the UK and others have suspended some arms sales to Israel.
But with the bombs still raining on Gaza and Israeli politicians making plans to annex more Palestinian land, far more is needed. An urgent international intervention is needed to stop this tragedy that is taking place before the eyes and ears of the world
In drawing attention to the struggle of the Palestinian people we cannot but remember the firm stand that the United Nations took against racism, against the evil of Apartheid and supported the liberation struggle of the people of South Africa.
At the time his people were liberated, the celebrated leader of the liberation struggle for South Africa Nelson Mandela made a profound statement, which resonates around the world to this day. He said: “For many years the United Nations stood firm against racism. Because of that a worldwide consensus was built against this unfair system. We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
Today on International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People wherever you are in the world you can activate your solidarity by joining and sharing existing campaigns that can put an end to Israel;s impunity. Apartheid is still a crime against humanity.
Right now Medical Aid for Palestiniansis running a campaign asking everyone in the UK to email their member of parliament to ask them to protect Palestinians in Gaza. We have a window of opportunity in the next few weeks to prevent things getting even worse. The Israeli military is exterminating Palestinian life in North Gaza and the incoming Trump government in the US may enable Israel’s violations against Palestinians to accelerate, even beyond what the current administration has allowed. We must act now. Please consider joining more than 7,200 people who have already written to their MP to demand Gaza not be erased. https://www.map.org.uk/campaigns/northern-gaza-under-siege-a-tell-your-mp-we-will-not-stay-silent-while-gaza-is-erased?utm_source=MAP+audience+2&utm_campaign=df13ceade0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_11_29_10_36&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b8ec7ad4a-df13ceade0-434877046&mc_cid=df13ceade0&mc_eid=a80e5a667f
Even if you’ve already emailed your MP, now is a good time to follow up and hold them to account. If you live outside the UK you can use MAP’s email as a template to write to your representatives where you live.
If you post on social media use your platform, no matter its size, to raise awareness of what the Israeli military is doing to the Palestinians, it can be a powerful way to mobilise those around you and show the world you stand with the Palestinian people.
The international community must take serious and decisive action to stop the grave Israeli violations against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the entire occupied Palestinian territory and work on lifting the injustice and suffering of the Palestinian people.
We must keep demanding from our governments that they take immediate action to end the Genocide in Gaza, protecting civilian lives and ensuring unrestricted humanitarian aid. End the Israeli Occupation of all Palestinian Territories and work towards a sustainable solution that offers the Palestinians the right to establish their own sovereign State with secured borders. Hold Israel accountable for violations of international law and human rights and institute justice. Justice with accountability through legal measures, such as those of the International Criminal Court and the ICJ. Stop military aid to Israel and institute economic measures to pressure Israel to retaliate
We must Implore the United Nations to enforce its own resolutions on Palestine, and governments to act on all the UN resolutions related to Palestine and enforce the full realisation of economic, political, social and cultural rights for Palestinians.
There can be no peace with Occupation.Today and every day, let us stand in solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve their inalienable rights and support them to build a future of peace, justice, security and dignity. The occupation will end and Palestinian rights will prevail, no matter how long it takes. From the rivers to the sea, Free Palestine!
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