General Debate under Item 7 :

General Debate Item 7: Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories

18 March 2019

Oral Statement by: International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Dscrimination (EAFORD) and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)

Mr. President,

We would like to draw the attention of the Council to the discriminatory and inhumane segregation system the Palestinian people are facing. We maintain that it constitutes the crime of Apartheid according to the Rome Statute.

The situation violates the right of movement of Palestinians due to a system of walls and checkpoints that prevent them from accessing essential services. Most recently, Israel created what has become known as the “Apartheid Road” where Palestinian and Israeli traffic are separated by a wall, which is an emblematic symbol of the Apartheid regime.

We argue that Israel’s decision not to renew the mandate of TIPH aims at conferring a powerful discretion both on settlers and the IDF to act against Palestinians’ human rights. It therefore aims at increasing the limitations imposed on the daily life of Palestinians, pushing them to abandon the city of Hebron, thereby helping Israel’s annexation goals.

Mr. President,

EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice strongly believe that the impunity of Israel for the crime of Apartheid should come to an end and accountability should prevail. We therefore call on this Council to take all the necessary actions to end the discrimination and segregation of Palestinians, and to support the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people.