GAZA, September 28, 2009 (WAFA)- The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemned the Israeli government's decision to allow Jewish settler groups to enter the yards of the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
In après release, PCHR further condemned the use of excessive force by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians who attempted to prevent the provocative entry of settlers into the Mosque.
PCHR reminded of similar incidents that took place 9 years ago when the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, entered the yards of the al-Aqsa Mosque. This incident sparked the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Mosque Intifada, in which thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed or wounded.
PCHR called upon the international community to immediately intervene and pressurize Israeli occupation authorities to stop all settlement activities in occupied Jerusalem.
PCHR stressed that East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian Territories that were occupied by Israel following the June 1967 war; Measures taken by Israeli occupation authorities following the occupation of the city, in the foremost, the Israeli Knesset's decision on 28 June 1967 to annex the city, its decision on 30 July 1980 considering 'complete and united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel' and the decision to expand the municipal boundaries, are flagrant violations of international law and United Nations resolutions; Measures and plans implemented by Israeli occupation authorities in occupied Jerusalem can never change its legal status; Article 53 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), and Article 16 of Protocol II prohibit 'committing any acts of hostility directed against the historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples;' and Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 prevents the Occupying Power from 'deporting or transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.'
PCHR called upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, jointly or individually, to fulfill their legal and moral obligations to ensure Israel's respect for the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) according to Article 1 of the Convention, and believes that the international silence and inaction encourage Israel to act as a State above law and perpetrate more violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law, including efforts intended to establish a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.
PCHR called upon the European Union and/or its Member States to activate Article 2 of the Euro-Israeli Association Agreement, which links continuous economic cooperation between the two parties with Israel's respect for human rights, and to stop dealing with Israeli products, especially those produced in Israeli settlements in the OPT, including occupied East Jerusalem.
