Civil Organizations: Recognitions of the State of Palestine Must Be Accompanied by Extensive Measures to End the Occupation Immediately

SadaNews - The importance of the successive recognitions expected to be announced today and in the coming days is not only due to the fact that they come from countries that have historically stood alongside the state of occupation and adopted the positions it defends, but that some of them, such as (Britain and France), were among the first supporters of the narrative of the occupation since the Nakba that occurred in 1948. Furthermore, these recognitions carry significant political implications related to the weighty status of these countries on the European and global maps, particularly given the timing of these expected recognitions from 13 countries amid the increasing risks and existential challenges facing the Palestinian people.

With the convening of the new session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Palestinian Network of Civil Organizations welcomes these recognitions in light of the escalating brutal assault on the Gaza Strip as part of the ongoing crime of total genocide against the Palestinian people, and the increasing number of casualties in this war, which has reached nearly 300,000 martyrs and wounded. According to international estimates, there are about 1.9 million displaced and homeless individuals forced to leave their homes due to the bombing and systematic destruction. What is happening with the complete erasure of the city of Gaza and the leveling of its towers and buildings to the ground by the occupation's aviation is just a vivid and direct example of what is occurring in the Gaza Strip, in addition to what is happening in the Palestinian West Bank in terms of the war to entrench the annexation plan, closures, and collective punishments. This recognition carries multiple meanings as seen by the Palestinian people in their quest to lift the oppression they face and to achieve security and stability for the entire region. Thus, we, at the Palestinian Network of Civil Organizations, affirm the following:

- that these recognitions must be accompanied by immediate practical measures concerning the provision of international protection for the Palestinian people. The first of these measures is to stop the open genocide against the Gaza Strip and to deliver humanitarian and relief assistance as the first fruits of this recognition, considering it a gateway and one of the tools to measure any progress that can be made toward achieving justice for the Palestinian people.

- to work on a political and legal international framework under the auspices of the United Nations to end the occupation in all its forms over the occupied Palestinian territories and to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their legitimate rights, national independence, and sovereignty over their resources and borders in a state free of colonial settlement and occupation, according to international legitimacy decisions that guarantee the right of return and self-determination for peoples under occupation.

- to complete and activate the legal path based on the enforcement of international law concerning the prosecution of the occupying state and holding it accountable for its crimes, including genocide, starvation, and colonial settlement, which are crimes that are not subject to statute of limitations, and to work with international will to suspend the occupying state's membership in the United Nations and its institutions and to impose sanctions on it.

- to unify the Palestinian political discourse that expresses the will of the people in all areas of their presence, based on adherence to national rights and demanding the United Nations and its institutions to take immediate action with tangible measures to achieve humanitarian justice and to intensify efforts aimed at protecting and defending the inalienable Palestinian rights.

- to enhance the international climate in many countries around the world with the rise of popular campaigns including in Ireland, Spain, and Brazil, and to expand activities and events in various countries worldwide to stop trade agreements with the occupying state, to terminate all forms of economic relations with it, including arms supply agreements and other accords, and to broaden the international front opposing the crimes of the occupation, including activating cultural, artistic, and academic boycotts, and encouraging the rights of peoples to express their opinions along with the increasing isolation of the occupying state on the international level, as guaranteed by the laws and democratic practices and human rights in many countries around the world.