RAMALLAH, Wednesday, July 17, 2019 (WAFA) - The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) warned today against the Israeli ethnic cleansing, especially in occupied Jerusalem and its environs, including the appropriation of church property and the decision to demolish residential buildings in Wadi al-Hummos in Sur Baher neighborhood after the Israeli High Court approved the demolition of 16 residential buildings comprising 100 apartments located,  according to agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel, within the area classified "A", which is under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.

It also called at the end of a meeting chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas held in Ramallah on all Arab countries to stop all forms of normalization of relations with the Israeli occupying state and to respect their obligations under the Arab Peace Initiative and their commitments to the boycott of Israel as decided by the Arab League.

The PLO also decided to send Executive Committee member, Azzam Al-Ahmad, to Lebanon to follow up with Lebanese officials to solve the problems resulting from a decision to ban work for non-Lebanese through constructive dialogue and not to escalate the situation.

Following is an unofficial translation of excerpts from the final PLO statement:

“The Executive Committee discussed the measures of the Lebanese Ministry of Labor to pursue the Palestinian employers and workers in Lebanon and to take legal and financial measures against them under the pretext of combating illegal foreign workers. It stressed that the insistence of the Ministry of Labor on the necessity of the Palestinian worker getting a work permit contradicts legislation passed by the Lebanese Parliament in 2010, which the Ministry put in the drawers instead of working to issue decrees that apply to it….

“The Executive Committee also affirmed that the measures of the Ministry of Labor against Palestinian workers and employers have nothing to do with the fight against illegal foreign workers, because everyone in Lebanon knows that the Palestinians in this country are not illegal immigrants but refugees with political and legal status defined by United Nations resolutions that guarantee their right of return to their homes and properties they abandoned by brutal military force in Palestine. The ministry‘s attempt to classify them as illegal immigrants is unacceptable and is considered illegal and inhumane and can be employed politically in a way that serves positions hostile to the rights of Palestinian refugees by pushing them to immigrate on the road to liquidate their just national cause.

“The Palestinian leadership has made extensive contacts with the official and partisan leaderships in Lebanon, leading to a correction of the situation to reach a solution that does not violate the civil and humanitarian rights of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, in line with the directives and decisions of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee.”

……..

“The Executive Committee condemned the Israeli company "Envision" for cooperating with the Israeli occupation army to install surveillance cameras at the crossings, roadblocks and roads in the West Bank to control the movement of people through a facial detection technology. It warned the company, which is based in Belfast and operates in 43 countries, that the work of this company on the territory of the State of Palestine that is under occupation does not only constitute a flagrant violation of privacy, but is one of the tools Israel uses to intensify its occupation of the Palestinian territories, which requires the placement of this company on the black list of  companies providing services for the occupation and settlements. It also requires intervention from the Irish authorities to stop the activity of this company in the occupied territory of the State of Palestine.

“The international community is requested to observe Item 7 in the Human Rights Council and to issue the database on international companies operating in Israeli colonial settlements without any further delay.

“The Executive Committee condemned the Israeli authorities‘ refusal to issue work permits to foreign academics working in Palestinian universities in the occupied West Bank in a clear step targeting Palestinian universities. The Israeli government continues to restrict granting visas to foreign academics contracted to work in Palestinian universities, which denies them entry into the West Bank and denying applications for extension of their visas.”

M.K.