<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ais<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n 15 May 2025<\/p>\n 423rd Meeting of the UN Palestinian Rights Committee\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPalestinians are racialized as a security threat, because they \u2014 we \u2014 refuse to disappear,\u201d the Palestinian Rights Committee heard today from a scholar who spoke at a special event remembering the seventy-seventh anniversary of the Nakba.<\/p>\n The meeting was hosted by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. \u00a0\u201cNakba\u201d \u2014 an Arabic word that means \u201ccatastrophe\u201d \u2014 refers to the displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in\u00a01948. \u00a0Today\u2019s meeting was mandated by General Assembly resolution\u00a077\/23\u00a0(2022), which requested the UN Secretariat to annually commemorate that historic event.<\/p>\n Much of the discussion drew a parallel between that tragedy and the ongoing violence and displacement, especially in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian-American scholar Noura Erekat<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, Professor of International Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey, dismissed Israel\u2019s talking point that it is only targeting Hamas.\u00a0 The Israeli army has used quadcopters to shoot injured children sprawled on the floor, executed Palestinian patients with their hands zip-tied, sexually assaulted detainees captured without charge or trial, bombed safe routes where Palestinians were ordered to flee, tortured medical doctors to death, and destroyed universities, factories, libraries, bakeries and places of worship, she said.<\/p>\n She also recalled Israeli Agricultural Minister Avi Dichter\u2019s November\u00a02023 statement that \u201cthis is Nakba\u00a02023\u201d, as well as the current bid of the Administration of United States President Donald . Trump to build a Gaza riviera and remove Palestinians to Sudan, Somalia or Syria. \u00a0Clearly, she underscored, Palestinian civilians are the target and Hamas combatants are the \u201ccollateral damage\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you normalize genocide, you will have nothing left,\u201d she warned delegates. \u00a0Pointing to the International Court of Justice\u2019s determination of plausible genocide, its advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation, as well as the International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, she stressed: \u00a0\u201cThis is not a legal controversy; it is a political one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo not look west for moral or political leadership,\u201d she said, noting that the United States has vetoed five ceasefire resolutions to end this genocide. \u00a0Member States have other choices \u2014 they can acknowledge Israel\u2019s campaign as genocide and impose an arms embargo and sever diplomatic ties.\u00a0 \u201cIf genocide is too much, you can confront this atrocity as a war\u201d and regulate it with laws of war and protect hospitals and schools and shelters, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf war is too much, you can confront this atrocity as a humanitarian tragedy\u201d and send in a peacekeeping mission to protect Palestinians, she said. \u00a0And if that is too much, \u201cfind a way to have mercy on Palestinian children\u201d, she said \u2014 do not sit in a seat of power and do nothing.<\/p>\n Also delivering opening remarks was Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine<\/strong>, who read a statement by Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine.\u00a0 The Nakba was a \u201ccatastrophe of disasters\u201d, involving more than 50\u00a0documented mass massacres and the forced displacement of over half of the Palestinian people \u201cby the violence of iron and fire\u201d, he recalled. \u00a0But, he added: \u00a0\u201cThe Nakba was not and will not be the permanent and inevitable fate of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are ready to undertake our full national responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, as in the West Bank, by the assumption of the State of Palestine of its political, economic, social, civil and security responsibilities,\u201d he said.\u00a0 This includes the delivery of humanitarian aid, the return of the displaced to their areas and the implementation of the early recovery and reconstruction plan, among other tasks.<\/p>\n Welcoming the convening next month of the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, to be chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, he called on delegates to mobilize efforts for the international recognition of the State of Palestine, as well as its full membership in the United Nations.\u00a0 The international community must also continue firmly supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East\u00a0(UNRWA) and providing it with the necessary funding, he said.<\/p>\n Ahmad Faisal Muhammad (Malaysia), Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People<\/strong>, noted the endless Palestinian struggle for \u201ca State to call their own\u201d. \u00a0The prolonged Israeli occupation has been determined to be illegal by the International Court of Justice, but it continues to be enforced through displacement and denial of fundamental human rights.\u00a0 \u201cThis is the ongoing Nakba,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Over 52,000\u00a0people have been killed in Gaza while thousands remain trapped under the rubble. \u00a0In the West Bank, 40,000\u00a0Palestinians have been killed and many displaced amid deepening occupation and settler violence.\u00a0 \u201cThese are not mere statistics \u2014 they reflect a devastating human tragedy,\u201d he said, adding that mounting evidence points to patterns consistent with ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n Speaking on behalf of Phil\u00e9mon Yang\u00a0(Cameroon), President of the General Assembly, Blanca Montejo, Deputy Chief of Staff of his Office<\/strong>, recalled that one of the first main tasks of the United Nations was to find a just solution to the question of Palestine \u2014 for 77\u00a0years, this task has remained on the Assembly\u2019s agenda. \u00a0In the meantime, generations of Palestinians lived through despair, each hoping they would see a resolution within their lifetime. \u00a0\u201cYet, here we are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Assembly must seize every chance to help chart the path towards the two-State solution. \u00a0The upcoming High-Level International Conference will present a crucial opportunity to set a political horizon, she said.<\/p>\n The Nakba has been unfolding for decades. \u00a0Highlighting the pain and trauma this catastrophe has brought to the Palestinian people, she stressed \u201cit is time to recognize that the suffering of civilians on both sides will end only when Israelis and Palestinians are able to live side by side in their own sovereign, independent States, in peace, security and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n Khaled Khiari<\/a>, Assistant Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs<\/strong>, pointed out that\u00a0<\/strong>the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has led to the world\u2019s longest refugee crisis \u2014 more than 5\u00a0million registered Palestine refugees are spread across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. \u00a0\u201cIt is a crisis that remains unresolved, shaping identity, lives and the enduring pursuit of justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7\u00a0October\u00a02023 and continued holding of hostages, over 1.9\u00a0million Palestinians \u2014 more than 85\u00a0per\u00a0cent of Gaza\u2019s population and almost 80\u00a0per\u00a0cent of them Palestine refugees from\u00a01948 \u2014 have been forcibly displaced, many repeatedly, some 10\u00a0times or more. \u00a0In parallel, since early\u00a02025, over 40,000\u00a0Palestinians have been displaced in the occupied West Bank due to Israeli military operations, most of them from Palestinian refugee camps in northern West Bank, he added.<\/p>\n Gaza has become a \u201chumanitarian hellscape\u201d, he said, calling for unrestricted humanitarian access and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.\u00a0Steps must also be taken to reverse settlement-expansion and unilateral steps that undermine the Palestinian Authority.\u00a0As the promise of a two-State dwindles to the point of disappearance, he said, the upcoming Assembly-mandated International Conference in June offers an important opportunity to support a viable two-State solution. \u00a0\u201cLet us build political momentum towards that end,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n When the floor opened for discussion, several delegates, including the representatives of Jordan, Namibia, Bolivia, T\u00fcrkiye, Malaysia, Senegal, Pakistan and Cuba<\/strong>, expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause, calling for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the realization of the two-State solution.<\/p>\n Speakers also highlighted their national efforts to resolve the situation. \u00a0Egypt\u2019s delegate<\/strong> noted that his country is part of the mediation efforts to end Israel\u2019s brutal war. \u00a0While working towards the release of hostages and detainees, Egypt is also working on the Arab recovery and reconstruction plan for Gaza.<\/p>\n The representative of Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, who said the Palestinian question is a principal issue for his country, highlighted the upcoming International Conference in June, which will be co-chaired by his Government.\u00a0Namibia\u2019s delegate said that Conference is an opportunity to restore justice and peace to the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n China\u2019s delegate<\/strong> was one of many who warned that the continued expansion of settlements is diminishing the chance of realizing a two-State solution. \u00a0The major Powers with influence over the parties must take tangible actions to ease the situation, he said. \u00a0Guyana\u2019s delegate said the occupation remains an affront for all that the United Nations was built on. \u00a0She stressed the need for accountability, as did the delegates of Nicaragua and South Africa.<\/p>\n The Committee went on to hold a film screening of\u00a0From Ground Zero<\/em><\/strong>, which is an anthology of short films from Gaza, as well as consultations with civil society organizations under the theme \u201cInternational Action towards Ending the Nakba and Realizing the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fran\u00e7ais 15 May 2025 423rd Meeting of the UN Palestinian Rights Committee\u00a0 \u201cPalestinians are racialized as a security threat, because they \u2014 we \u2014 refuse to disappear,\u201d the Palestinian Rights Committee heard today from a scholar who spoke at a special event remembering the seventy-seventh anniversary of the Nakba. 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Do Not Look to the United States for Moral or Political Leadership<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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State of Palestine Leaders Ready to Assume Full Responsibilities in Gaza, West Bank<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Mounting Evidence of Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes against Humanity<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Upcoming High-Level International Conference for Peaceful Settlement of Question of Palestine, Implementation of Two-State Solution \u2018Crucial Opportunity\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Gaza Has Become \u2018Humanitarian Hellscape\u2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Delegates Urge Immediate Ceasefire, Highlight National Efforts to Resolve Situation\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Film Screening and Civil Society Consultations<\/strong><\/h3>\n