“SHAMS” Center for Human Rights and Democracy stated in a release marking the 76th anniversary of the Nakba that the ongoing war, genocide, and forced displacement in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem are a stark reminder of the continued impact of the Nakba in a more aggressive and brutal manner. These crimes, broadcasted through social media, serve to highlight the enduring nature of the Nakba, marking it as one of the most significant atrocities in modern history, surpassing even the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. This makes the occupying government liable to be charged with the crime of genocide before the International Court of Justice.
“SHAMS” Center stresses that the Nakba, according to Zionist and colonial literature, is a deliberate effort to dispossess and displace the Palestinian people from their land, life, culture, language, and their spiritual connection to the land and the homeland. It represents an annihilation of their identity, aspirations, and pursuit of freedom, transcending generations and embodying colonial injustice.
“SHAMS” Center strongly criticizes the Israeli occupation’s efforts to undermine the Palestinian people’s identity, history, and culture. Despite this, the Palestinian national movement and the Palestinian Liberation Organization have successfully preserved the Palestinian national identity and consciousness. Palestinian research centers, universities, student organizations, and prisoner movements have played a crucial role in upholding the Palestinian political entity and creating a legitimate representation for the Palestinian people. The Palestinians continue to hold onto their land, heritage, and national identity, asserting their right to return to their homes lost during the Nakba.
“SHAMS” Center strongly condemns the ongoing atrocities carried out by the occupying army in the Palestinian territories since 7/10/2023, particularly in the Gaza Strip. These actions underscore the continuous plight of the Palestinian people, marked by acts of genocide, forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the aggressor. The Israeli occupation’s egregious offenses have rendered life in the Gaza Strip unlivable, as reported by international human rights and relief organizations. According to statistics from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Palestinian and Arab martyrs has exceeded 134,000 since the catastrophe.
As of the 7th of October, 2023, Gaza Strip has witnessed over (35,000) martyrs, including approximately (15,000) children and about (9,900) women. More than (7,000) citizens are considered missing, and the number of wounded exceeds (78,700), with approximately (6,200) being children. Among the casualties are (492) medical professionals, (246) educators, (152) UNRWA employees, and (68) civil defense personnel. Around (5,000) citizens, including (310) medical professionals, have been detained.
Additionally, (33) hospitals and (53) health centers have been rendered inoperative, with over (126) ambulances destroyed. Moreover, more than (360,000) residential units have been damaged, and over (86,000) have been completely destroyed. The destruction extends to (3) churches, (321) mosques, (186) government buildings, and (103) schools and universities completely, with (311) schools and universities partially affected. In the West Bank, over (500) individuals, including (124) children, have lost their lives, and more than (4,950) have been wounded, including (660) children.
Meanwhile, the policy of settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories persists, with the number of colonial sites and military bases reaching (483) by the end of 2022, including (151) settlements and (25) populated clusters considered part of major settlements. Additionally, there are (163) colonial clusters, and (144) sites designated as industrial, touristic, and service areas, as well as military camps. The total number of settlers in the West Bank has reached (745,467), with the majority residing in the Jerusalem Governorate, where their number has reached (336,272).
“SHAMS” Center strongly criticizes the ongoing support of the international community for the occupation, particularly the United States of America, Britain, and several European Union countries. Most recently, on 18/4/2024, the United States vetoed a resolution in the United Nations Security Council advocating for full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations. While 12 out of 15 countries supported this resolution, Switzerland and the United Kingdom abstained from voting, and the United States vetoed it.
Furthermore, on 10/5/2024, in the United Nations General Assembly, 143 countries supported Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations, while 9 countries, including the United States and two European Union members, the Czech Republic and Hungary, opposed it, and 25 countries, including the United Kingdom and several other European Union countries, abstained from voting.
“SHAMS” Center commends the significant shifts in the stances of some countries that support the Palestinian people’s struggle and rights. The Palestinian cause has achieved important milestones internationally, particularly through the filing of complaints by several friendly countries against the occupying state, its politicians, and military leaders to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. Solidarity movements with the Palestinian people have emerged, evident in peaceful demonstrations and protests in American and European universities. These protests and student movements have successfully compelled some American and European universities to cease their dealings with occupation universities and withdraw their investments from them.
“SHAMS” Center asserts that the acts of killing, destruction, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, land confiscation, settlement construction, and the destruction of villages, towns, and cities in the year 1948 and after 7/10/2023 constitute a breach of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. This particularly contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12/8/1949, which prohibits the forced or individual transfer of protected persons or their deportation from the occupied territories to the occupying state or to another country, regardless of the motives and reasons. It also prohibits the occupying state from transferring part of its civilian population and settling them in the occupied territories.
This also violates the Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 1907, which mandates the protection of buildings dedicated to worship, art, science, charitable works, and historical monuments during sieges or bombardments. Additionally, it breaches the Rome Statute of 1998, which deems the extensive destruction and appropriation of property, as well as the direct or indirect transfer of part of its civilian population to the occupied territories, or the deportation or transfer of the inhabitants of the occupied land within or outside the territory, as war crimes.
Furthermore, it violates United Nations Security Council Resolution (2334) of 23/12/2016, which called for the Israeli government to cease settlement activities in the West Bank and declared the illegitimacy of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“SHAMS” Center urges international and regional organizations, particularly the United Nations, the European Union, and supportive countries like China, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa, to devise a global strategy to halt the aggression against the Palestinian people. They also call for the enforcement of United Nations resolutions, decisions by the International Security Council, and rulings by the International Court of Justice concerning the Palestinian population.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Commissioner for Foreign Policy of the European Union, the signatories to the Geneva Conventions, and international organizations such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Amnesty International, UNESCO, and the Human Rights Council, along with governmental and non-governmental bodies, are urged to fulfill their duties and exert pressure on the Israeli occupation government to compel it to cease the genocidal war it is waging against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.