Illegal Israeli actions in OPT/Deportation order – Letter from Palestine

Identical letters dated 12 April 2010 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

  We write to you today to vehemently protest yet another provocative, racist and illegal measure by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. In recent days a new Israeli military order was revealed which would give the occupying forces unprecedented power to detain, imprison and deport Palestinians in the West Bank that are deemed to be “infiltrating” the Occupied Territory.

  This order threatens the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians by the occupying Power from the West Bank under the pretext that they are “residing illegally” in the Occupied Territory. The order especially targets Palestinians bearing Gaza Strip identifications who live in the West Bank as well as Palestinian Jerusalemites. It also targets the hundreds of Palestinian expatriates now engaged in the State and institutional-building effort as well as international citizens living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, whether they are married to Palestinian civilians or are working on development, humanitarian aid and other projects.

  It is estimated that this illegal and outrageous order will directly affect up to 70,000 Palestinians, threatening to divide thousands of Palestinian families. This measure further proves beyond a doubt Israel’s intention and determination to escalate its ethnic cleansing policy against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in East Jerusalem, a policy that has been continuously pursued by various means and measures since the occupation began in 1967. In this regard, it is clear that this most recent Israeli military order is aimed at impairing the demographic and geographic presence and contiguity of the Palestinian people in their homeland as a pre-emptive measure that would annul any and all efforts to realize the two-State solution.

  It must be noted that by adopting this military order, Israel, the occupying Power, is also negating previously signed agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which clearly state that it is the sole responsibility and right of the Palestinian Authority to decide who can live in territory under its control. Moreover, it constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law. It is breach of article 49 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and it violates one of the most basic human rights tenets, namely, the right of a citizen to choose his/her place of residence in his/her homeland. Further, this military order constitutes yet another violation of the numerous Security Council resolutions deploring Israel’s deportation of Palestinian civilians and calling on it to cease this illegal practice, including resolutions 607 (1988), 608 (1988), 636 (1989), 641 (1989), 681 (1990), 694 (1991), 726 (1992) and 799 (1992).

  As occupying Power, Israel has no right to enact this illegal and provocative measure against the Palestinian civilian population. In a country where top political officials have publicly endorsed racist and violent measures against minorities and protected civilians, this military order must raise alarm. It should be of direct and serious concern to the international community that Israel, under a so-called domestic legal pretext, is attempting to impose such measures aimed at ridding the Occupied Palestinian Territory of its indigenous Palestinian population, while at the same time it continues to gravely breach its obligations under international humanitarian law by colonizing the Occupied Territory and transferring Israeli citizens into those settlements, which is in turn gravely jeopardizing the two-State solution that the international community is vigorously trying to promote.

  We thus call on the international community, including the Security Council, to respond decisively to this illegal and highly dangerous Israeli measure and to provide the Palestinian people with protection. Clearly, the daring level of impunity that continues to be exhibited by the occupying Power is a direct result of its perception that the international reaction shall go no further than words. It must be proven wrong. Israel, the occupying Power, must be compelled to rescind this order, to desist from the deportation or transfer of Palestinian civilians from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and to abide by all of its obligations under international law. Indeed, this grave development represents a crucial test of the will of the international community and its commitment to the international system governing the actions of all Member States. It must make clear that adherence to international law is not optional and that such flagrant violations of laws and customs will have equally grave consequences.

  The present letter is in follow-up to our previous 365 letters regarding the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 28 September 2000. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (A/55/432-S/2000/921) to 29 March 2010 (A/ES-10/485-S/2010/163) constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For all of these war crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

  I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the present letter distributed as a document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Riyad Mansour 

Ambassador 

Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations

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