RAMALLAH, March 20, 2012 (WAFA) - PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi Tuesday said in a press release that the PLO supports the proposed United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution calling for sending a fact-finding mission to the Palestinian Territory.
The resolution called for the establishment of an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of illegal settlement activities on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people.
PLO’s agreement to the draft resolution came in light of the alarming escalation of Israel’s land grab and construction of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in and around Jerusalem, said Ashrawi.
She stressed that Israel cannot continue to violate flagrantly and willfully its obligations under international and humanitarian law without consequence, adding that “Israel is deliberately destroying any possibility of the establishment of a viable, independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Ashrawi called on all member-states of the UNHRC, including the European Union member-states, to vote in favor of the resolution and all other resolutions in support of Palestinian self-determination and the safeguarding of the rights of the people of Palestine.
“Israel must adhere to its legal obligations and responsibilities outlined in international law, United Nations resolutions and signed agreements that require it to cease and desist all illegal activities,” added the statement.
Israel’s illegal actions along with its refusal to refrain from all illegal settlement activities and to commit to the 1967 borders led to failure of negotiations, said Ashrawi.
“Furthermore, the creation of this mission will send a clear message that the international community will not continue to tolerate Israel's violations of international law and that it stands with the Palestinian people in their just quest for their rights,” she concluded.
R.Q./M.S.
