Human rights situation in Palestine and other OATs/Displacement of Palestinians – HRC sixth session – NGO statement (Badil, LIDLIP)

HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND ORTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES

Joint written statement* submitted by the Badil Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency

and Refugee Rights and the International League for the Rights and Liberation of the

Peoples (LIDLIP), non governmental organizations in special consultative status

The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.

[30 August 2007]

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*This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting non-governmental organization(s)

Internally Displaced People in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT): a consequence of occupation

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP) wish to draw the attention of the Human Rights Council on the already dire humanitarian and economic situation which has steadily deteriorated in the occupied Gaza Strip since the hermetic closure of the territory in June 2007. As a result of this crisis, that could easily have been averted through the opening of borders, 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of which are 1948 refugees, are today nearly 100 percent dependent on international humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, as the Israeli regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid unfolds, Palestinians continue to be forced out of their homes and lands. In 2006, approximately 115,000 persons were internally displaced people in the occupied Palestinian territories and an even greater number as vulnerable to forced displacement. In the occupied West Bank, for instance, some 198 communities risk being forcibly displaced because of their proximity to colonies (settlements), closed military areas and restricted roads. This number includes 81 communities (260,000 persons) who are literally struck in their homes located in Closed Zones between the Wall and the Green Line because of military orders regulating the movement of persons and the arbitrary operation of gates sealing them from the rest of the West Bank.

A pressing example, which was brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council in its 5th session (June 2007), is the case of the Palestinian Bedouin residents of Hadadiya village in the Jordan Valley, where around 100 persons faced the threat of home demolition and displacement. These persons have since then been with what they could carry and moved a few kilometres away. The residents were forcibly displaced because they were residing in a so-called ‘military area’ and were too close to the nearby colony of Ro’i. Despite numerous appeals to the Israeli High Court, the Court upheld the settlers’ position that the residents of Hadadiya posed a threat to their security; and this, although the village of Hadadiya predated the establishment of the colony of Ro’i. This latest example of forced displacement not only constitutes a crime, but also destroys the way of life of the autochthonous Palestinian Bedouin people and furthers the process of colonization and possession.

BADIL and LIDLIP invite the Special Rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territories to personally assess the scope and nature of forced displacement in the occupied Palestinian territories and report findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council.

We call on all actors not to allow politics to jeopardize the fundamental rights of Palestinians, especially of those internally displaced.

Furthermore, BADIL and LIDLIP call upon the Human Rights Council to urge a visit to Israel and the OPT, by the:

– Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons;

– Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and;

– Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

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