Civil Organizations: Justice, Freedom, and International Protection for the Palestinian People Under Occupation

SadaNews: The network of Palestinian civil organizations calls for the unification of international efforts under the umbrella of the United Nations and relevant UN bodies to stop the crimes of genocide being perpetrated by the occupying forces in the occupied Palestinian territories, which have taken a more brutal and fierce turn since October 7, 2023, resulting in over 300,000 martyrs and injured. More than 80% of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed, leaving an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy rarely seen in modern history, alongside a long series of daily assaults in Jerusalem and the West Bank, including house demolitions, land confiscation, daily closures, and an alarming increase in settler violence against Palestinian villages and towns which has seriously escalated in recent months.

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, celebrated worldwide annually, the network affirms that the absence of justice and the impunity of criminals encourage the continuation of crimes, including genocide, forced displacement, and other heinous acts committed by the occupying state in prisons and detention centers or against journalists, threatening their lives not only in their professional capacity. All forms of violence and practices necessitate wide-ranging international action to secure the punishment of the occupation and its international isolation, activate legal instruments to enforce international law, and protect the Palestinian people under occupation in a manner that achieves transitional justice, reaching the embodiment of legitimate, inalienable national rights represented by the right of return in accordance with Resolution 194 and self-determination and national independence, achieving justice and freedom for Palestine that has become today a slogan raised by solidarity movements in squares and fields around the world.

While the world commemorates this day, which was established on December 10, 1948, dedicating it to protecting and preserving the fundamental rights of humanity, the Palestinian people are subjected to all forms of daily violations and disgraceful acts targeting unarmed civilians through continuous crimes perpetrated by the occupying authorities to eliminate Palestinian existence and liquidate its legitimate rights. This requires immediate action through active and serious international will to stop racial impunity and work on implementing international law provisions that safeguard the rights of peoples and their human dignity, which restores the credibility of international bodies and their legal system while measuring this by addressing the harm inflicted on the Palestinian people and ending the occupation, allowing them to exercise their legitimate right to sovereignty and national independence.