Historical Background
This conflict differs from other conflicts as it includes various strategic, political, military, economic, and cultural aspects, in addition to its demographic goals, as well as ideological claims, false historical allegations, and colonial settlement policy aimed at displacing an entire people and cancelling their right to their land and holy sites.
Borders:
Palestine is located in the southwestern part of the Levant. This land is located southwest of the continent of Asia on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Man has inhabited the land of Palestine, known in the past as "the land of Canaan," since ancient times, as excavations and antiquities indicate. Its land witnessed the first stages of human development, and the first city built in the world was in Palestine, the city of Jericho, in the year 8000 BC.
Palestine has an important strategic location, as it constitutes a land bridge linking Asia with Africa, the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The geographical borders of Palestine were demarcated at the time of the British occupation, especially between 1920-1923, creating a land overlooking the Mediterranean coast for a distance of up to 224 km and the Gulf of Aqaba for a distance of up to 10.5 km. It is bordered to the north by Lebanon and Syria, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea, to the south by Egypt and the Gulf of Aqaba, and the east by Jordan. The total area of Palestine is 27,009 km2, where "Israel" was established following the 1948 Nakba, on a site of 20,800 km2 from there. The size of the proposed State of Palestine on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967 (the West Bank and Gaza Strip) is 6209 km2, representing 22.95% of the area of historic Palestine.
Historic Palestine was subjected to British influence after the League of Nations ratified 1922 the official British Mandate over Palestine, and organized Jewish migrations began arriving and settling in Palestine. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly, at its second session, issued Resolution No. 181 recommending the partition of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, where the partition plan allocated 55% of the area of Palestine for the establishment of the Jewish state; consequently, the Arabs and Palestinians opposed the partition resolution. However, "Israel" succeeded in crowning its Zionist project in the Palestinian land with the support of 33 countries for the partition resolution. The year of the Mandate ended with the dismemberment of the Palestinian land. Shortly after the vote on the partition resolution, the Zionist gangs, including the Haganah, launched military campaigns to confiscate more of the lands of historic Palestine and seize areas that exceeded the places recommended by the partition plan proposed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. After several months of Zionist military expansion, massacres, burning, and destruction of Palestinian villages, expelling their people and stealing their property, the leaders of the Zionist gangs announced on May 14, 1948, the establishment of Israel on 78% of the Palestinian land area.
First: Jerusalem:
The city of Jerusalem is considered the center of the three monotheistic religions. However, Israel, the "occupying power," has pursued, since 1967, systematic policies aimed at imposing its hegemony on the holy city, disregarding the rights of the indigenous Christian and Muslim Palestinian population. The Israeli occupation authorities imposed unilateral control over the eastern side of Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine.
Modern History of Jerusalem:
When the General Assembly in 1947 recommended the partition of Palestine, Jerusalem and its suburbs (including the city of Bethlehem to the south) were to be subject to international administration as an independent entity. Still, during the 1948 war, Israel, "the occupying power," ignored the partition plan and invaded and occupied 84% of Jerusalem. Most of the area of Jerusalem occupied by Israel, the "occupying power," in 1948 was called "West Jerusalem," and the remaining region became known as "East Jerusalem."
The borders of the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan that allotted about 55 percent of Palestine to Israel are still the only recognized international borders for Israel.
Israel, the "occupying power," occupied the remaining parts of Jerusalem in June 1967, known as East Jerusalem. As an occupying force, only weeks later, it began to expand the city's municipal borders, thus increasing the area of East Jerusalem by more than ten times what it was before the occupation. It also demolished the historic Mughrabi Quarter in the Old City and expelled the indigenous population to Judaize the Old City and falsify its history. Israel, the "occupying power," demarcated the new borders to devour undeveloped or illegally populated lands and areas to build settlements. In 1970, Israel, the "occupying power," expropriated large areas of East Jerusalem land to construct settlements.
After expanding the borders of Jerusalem, Israel, the "occupying power," began to enforce its laws and impose its jurisdiction, administration, and hegemony over the areas it had confiscated and annexed within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. In response to these measures, Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 called for "the withdrawal of Israel's armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict."
In response to the expansion of the borders of Jerusalem by Israel, the "occupying power," the UN Resolution 252 of 1968 was issued and stated that the Security Council "Considers that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, including expropriation of land and properties thereon, which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid and cannot change that status. Of course, the annexation of East Jerusalem to Israel is a flagrant violation of international law for being a seizure of land by force.
In 1980, the Israeli occupation authorities issued the so-called "Basic Law," upon its provisions, it expanded the Israeli authority to include occupied East Jerusalem. In response, the Security Council passed Resolution 476 of 1980, which stated that the Council "Reconfirms that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East " as well as Security Council resolution 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980, in which the Council, among other things, decided not to recognize the "Basic Law" and called upon those States that had established diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw such tasks from the Holy City.
The United Nations and the international community recognize the eastern part of Jerusalem as an occupied territory subject to the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and thus refuse to acknowledge "Israeli sovereignty" over it.
Changing the demographic status of the city
Since Israel, the "occupying power," occupied Jerusalem, its authorities have followed a systematic plan aimed at changing the demographics of the city and increasing the number of Israeli Jews in East Jerusalem while reducing the number of Palestinian Christians and Muslims by:
1. Settlements in Jerusalem: Since Israel, the "occupying power," occupied Jerusalem in 1967, the Israeli occupation authorities immediately began building illegal settlements inside and outside the city's borders. These settlements form a cordon that surrounds and isolates the occupied part of the city from the rest of the West Bank entirely. Israel, the "occupying power," continues to bulldoze thousands of dunams in favor of establishing a project called (Greater Jerusalem), including the settlement project known as (E1), which aims to prevent Palestinian geographical contiguity in the occupied Palestinian territories from tightening control over it. Today, more than 220,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem.
It should be noted that Israel, the "occupying power," is working to forcibly displace Arabs from the occupied city of Jerusalem as part of its Judaization project known as Jerusalem (2050).
2. Racist practices against Christians and Muslims residing in East Jerusalem: Since the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, the Israeli government and the municipality of Jerusalem have adopted a policy of "separate and unequal" discrimination. This discrimination includes:
A. Residency rights: The Israeli occupation authorities, through their systematic policies and plans, confirmed that their goal in occupied Jerusalem is to maintain a Jewish demographic majority, as it has deprived thousands of Palestinian citizens of their right to reside in the city in which they were born by confiscating their identities and withdrawing their residency rights. Israel, the "occupying power," grants the status of "permanent residents" to East Jerusalem Palestinians, and they do not enjoy equal rights with the Israelis in the city. For example, Israel, the "occupying power," has the power and authority to strip Palestinians of their right to reside in Jerusalem only at its discretion. Therefore, Palestinian citizens living in East Jerusalem must preserve what is called the "center of life" in East Jerusalem, or they will be at risk of losing their residency rights. As a result, Palestinian residents of Jerusalem risk losing residency rights in their city if they study or work outside of it. The occupation authorities also usually refuse to grant Palestinian spouses not residing in Jerusalem the right of residency, thus preventing them from living in the city and depriving them of family unification. The occupation authorities confiscated about 14,600 ID cards from Jerusalemites who had the right to permanent residence in Jerusalem between 1967 and 2015, directly harming more than 20 percent of Palestinian families in the occupied city of Jerusalem, while Israeli Jews live illegally in East Jerusalem. They enjoy full rights, and the right to reside in Jerusalem cannot be taken away.
The policy of withdrawing Jerusalem identity cards from Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem contradicts Israel's duties, as an occupying power, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the collective or individual forcible deportation of protected persons. It is also forbidden to deport any person from the occupied territories to the territory of the occupying power or the region of any other country.
B. Land confiscation and restrictions on construction and house demolitions: The Israeli occupation authorities have consistently confiscated lands to prevent Palestinian urban expansion. They have also relied on a series of structural planning policies to prevent Palestinians in East Jerusalem from building on their land or expanding existing facilities. As a result, the occupation authorities allowed the Palestinians to build and live on only 13% of the area of occupied East Jerusalem. This is in addition to the fact that building permits in Jerusalem are costly. It is almost impossible to obtain them due to the imposed Israeli restrictions, racist measures, and discriminatory policies pursued by the occupation government in this regard which gives it the excuse to demolish the homes of Palestinians who are forced to build to meet the natural growth of their families without obtaining building permits. It should be noted that, since 1967, Israel, the "occupying power," has confiscated about 34% of East Jerusalem lands for "public use," and another 53% of East Jerusalem lands have been allocated to settlements or designated as "green areas."
The Israeli racist policies have also resulted in significant population overcrowding in East Jerusalem, which is expected to increase with the natural increase in the city's population. From 1967 until now, the number of Palestinian people within the so-called municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, as defined by Israel, the "occupying power," has risen from 68,000 to 320,000 – an increase of 228 percent. By 2020, the number of Palestinian residents holding Jerusalem ID cards and possessing residency rights in the city is expected to reach 400,000 (based on an average population growth rate of 3.4 percent).
It is also estimated that since 1967, Israel, the "occupying power," has demolished thousands of homes and facilities in East Jerusalem, including some historical and religious sites such as the Mughrabi Quarter in the Old City.
These practices aim to empty the Palestinian presence in the Holy City and eliminate the Palestinian identity. The demolitions carried out by the occupation forces have also caused the displacement of thousands of Jerusalemites and left them without shelter. Their forced eviction from their city violates international law and its rules.
Third: Taxes: Palestinians in Jerusalem receive only 5-10% of the social services expenses in Jerusalem; in return, they are required to pay exorbitant taxes to the Israeli occupation authorities.
(3) Closure of Jerusalem to the Palestinian population from the rest of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip:
Since 1994, the Israeli occupation authorities have prevented Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from entering any area of Jerusalem. Palestinians who wish to enter Jerusalem must obtain temporary permits that are rarely granted by the Israeli authorities. This closure policy has resulted in more than three million Palestinian Muslims and Christians being denied access to their holy sites in Jerusalem, even during religious holidays. This policy has also led to the isolation of Jerusalem, which is considered a center for economy and culture, from the rest of the West Bank and the prevention of non-Jerusalem Palestinian residents from studying in East Jerusalem or obtaining specialized medical treatment only in East Jerusalem hospitals.
(4) The apartheid wall around East Jerusalem:
In 2003, the Israeli occupation authorities began building a wall around occupied East Jerusalem. If the wall had a real relationship to the security of Israel, the "occupying power," as it claims, it would have been built on the armistice lines of 1948 between "Israel" and occupied East Jerusalem. Instead, it created the wall inside the occupied Palestinian territories to unilaterally impose its expanded occupation of Jerusalem and cement the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. The wall de facto includes 320 square kilometers in and around East Jerusalem (or about 5.6% of the total area of the West Bank).
The wall in and around the occupied city of Jerusalem divides the West Bank into two areas and isolates occupied Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. On the one hand, the wall limits the available space Palestinians need for growth, and on the other, it facilitates the construction and expansion of settlements.
One of the direct effects of the wall is to isolate about 100,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem from their city because the residential areas in which they reside are now located outside the wall. The wall and the closure also caused unfair and difficult restrictions on commercial activities in occupied Jerusalem - which constitutes the economic center of gravity in Palestine - and the surrounding areas and the movement of merchants to and from it. Finally, the wall has dismantled social cohesion and undermined the fabric of social life for Palestinians living on both sides of the wall.
(5) Attacking holy places and places of worship:
Since its occupation of East Jerusalem, Israel has continued its violations and attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially its continuous attempts to change the legal and historical status of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, dividing it in time and space, undermining the freedom of Muslims to pray in it and keeping them away from it, as well as excavations under the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings. The Israeli occupation authorities also continue their systematic plans to undermine the churches in Jerusalem and weaken the Christian presence in the Holy City through many policies, including imposing taxes on their churches, foremost of which is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Among the most prominent attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif
1 Controlling the Al-Buraq Wall and turning it into the so-called "Wailing Wall."
2 Closing and controlling the Mughrabi Gate and demolishing the Mughrabi neighborhood adjacent to the wall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque after the setback of 1967.
3 Burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque on 21/8/1969 destroyed the pulpit of Salah al-Din.
4 An attempt to blow up the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1984.
5 Al-Aqsa massacre, which took place on 8/10/1990, in which the Israeli occupation soldiers killed nineteen Palestinians.
6 The events of the Al-Buraq Tunnel when the Israeli occupation authorities excavated from the southern side under the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and destroyed the Umayyad palaces to open a tunnel located along the western wall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque below the Mamluk buildings, such as the Al-Jawhariya, Ottoman and Al- Tankazi schools, as these clashes caused the death of eighty-five Palestinians. Israel, the "occupying power," continues its attempts to seize the real estate surrounding the Al-Haram Al-Sharif and turn it into synagogues, police stations, and religious institutions that plan to demolish the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Second: Settlement in all Palestinian Territories:
Israel, the "occupying power," continues to settle in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, as it systematically transfers numbers of Jewish residents to the West Bank, violating international law.
The settlement projects implemented by Israel, the "occupying power," aim to change the status of the occupied Palestinian territories in terms of geography and demography, prevent the return of the Palestinians to them, and isolate the Palestinian people in cantons that cannot communicate. It witnesses a continuous shrinkage in their area, in addition to controlling the Palestinian natural resources and restricting the ability of the Palestinian economy to survive and grow, impeding the establishment of an independent, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state.
These settlements are also a significant source of instability in the occupied Palestinian territories and one of the factors that ignite clashes between the Palestinians, rightful landholders, and armed settlers. Moreover, those settlements cause social, economic, and political damage to the Palestinian environment and society.
Israel, the "occupying power," adopts measures aimed at strengthening its settlement projects by giving incentives, housing allowances, income tax reductions, and grants to support business projects in the settlements, as well as providing them with infrastructure and constructing roads, called "settlement and bypass roads," to be used by settlers. Moreover, the Israeli authorities impose restrictions on the Palestinian people and sometimes prevent them from using these roads, which constitute physical obstacles that undermine the contiguity of the West Bank. In addition, there are widespread military checkpoints that impede the movement of the Palestinian people.
Current Situation and Recent Developments
The Israeli occupation authorities and their operational arms continue their replacement and settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territories, indifferent to all international covenants, the four Geneva Conventions, and the relevant international legitimacy resolutions that prohibit settlement and prevent infringement of civil and public rights and properties through the construction of settlements and the legislation of existing outposts.
Within the framework of the Israeli occupation Government's support for the settlement policy, the Knesset allocated 37% of the Israeli budget in favor of the settlement projects. This means the confiscation of more dunams under the umbrella of racist laws, such as the law legalizing settlements known as (Settlement Regularization Law), which the Knesset approved on 07.02.2017 to legalize (retroactively) 3,921 outposts and legitimize the confiscation of (8,183) dunams, approximately 800 hectares of Palestinian territories (private property). Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation authorities leveled land in favor of settlement construction, as settlement accelerated unprecedentedly in the first half of 2017. According to the report of the Israeli anti-settlement movement, Peace Now, construction work outside the settlement blocs amounted to 70% in the first half of 2017, as the pace of settlement also accelerated in the last quarter of 2017. In this regard, a report issued on 04.06.2017 by the "Macro Center for Political Economics," an Israeli non-governmental organization, revealed that Israel (the occupying power) had spent more than $20 billion on building and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since 1967. Macro Center for Political Economics affirmed that the Israeli Ministry of Finance published a report confirming that the occupation government spent more than $3.5 billion between 2003 and 2015 in the West Bank alone. In this regard, the CEO of Macro Center, Dr. Roby Nathanson, estimated that "Israel" has invested $20 billion in settlements during the past fifty years and that the amount of $3.5 billion does not include the enormous cost of infrastructures, such as bypass roads designated for settlers, or security measures around settlements.
On the level of settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" revealed on 07.06.2017 that the "Settlements Council" in the occupied West Bank prepared a settlement plan for the establishment of 67,000 new settlement units in agreement with the Israeli Minister of Construction and Housing "Yoav Galant" to reduce densities in the settlement blocs inside the occupied territories at the expense of redistributing them to the settlements in the West Bank. More than 340,000 settlers will be transferred to the occupied West Bank after finishing the construction of the new settlement units. The Israeli occupation authorities also continued their Judaization project in the occupied city of Jerusalem. In this regard, the Israeli Ministry of Housing in Jerusalem has approved a new replacement settlement plan estimated at $5 billion, which provides for the construction of more than 28,000 settlement units in the occupied city, including 15,000 settlement units will be built in the territories around the West Bank and 10,000 settlement units in Jerusalem alone.
According to Palestinian official bodies, 2017 recorded the approval of the most significant number of settlement units, as more than 16,000 plans for settlement projects were submitted during that year, with an increase of 40% compared to previous years. In this regard, January and February of 2018 recorded a fierce settlement attack on the occupied Palestinian territories. On 22.02.2018, the Israeli occupation authorities approved the establishment of 3,000 settlement units in occupied Jerusalem beyond the Green Line as they seek to implement the so-called project (Greater Jerusalem), which aims to build 300,000 settlement units, most of which will be made in areas beyond the Green Line in occupied East Jerusalem, in addition to implementing the policy of creeping annexation in the Palestinian territories for imposing Israeli sovereignty throughout the occupied West Bank.
Third: Apartheid Wall
Israel, the "occupying power," began building the Apartheid Wall in 2002 in the occupied Palestinian territories, which isolates 64 Palestinian communities and undermines the contiguity of the Palestinian territories. Although Israel, the "occupying power," claims that the construction of this wall was for security purposes, it constitutes an integral part of the infrastructure allocated to the settlements, and it also contributed to the appropriation of large areas of the Palestinian territories to ensure the expansion of Israeli settlements.
Current Situation and Recent Developments
The Israeli occupation authorities continue to build the Apartheid Wall that besieges and undermines the contiguity of the occupied territory of the West Bank, dividing it into cantons. When completed, its length will be about (810) km (more than twice the length of the Green Line), of which (464) km has been implemented, while (63) km is currently under construction. It will devour more than 22% of the total space of the occupied West Bank. This is in complete disregard of the resolutions of international legitimacy, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice issued on 09.07.2004, which considered the wall as illegal, and the General Assembly resolution on the wall issued on 20.07.2004. However, Israel (the occupying power) continues to confiscate and loot the occupied Palestinian territories to build the apartheid wall. The space of isolated and besieged Palestinian territories between the wall and the Green Line (the 1967 borders) amounted to about 680 km2, about 12% of the space of the occupied West Bank, including about 454 km2 of agricultural lands, pastures and open areas, 117 km2 used as settlements and military bases, 89 km2 of forests, and 20 km2 of Palestinian built-up land. The space of confiscated lands in the occupied West Bank amounted to 47,921 dunams, 58% of the total area of the West Bank.
The construction of the Apartheid Wall resulted in isolating (729,000) dunams of the Palestinian territories. Notably, 85% of the wall route passes inside the occupied territories and not on the Green Line. When completed, it will isolate approximately 200 km of the Al-Aghwar (the Jordan Valley) area, representing Palestine's breadbasket. According to the data of the PLO's "Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission," the total number of Palestinian residential communities affected by the annexation and expansion wall, whether entirely or partially isolated areas of them, amounted to (189) communities, of which (40) communities were completely isolated from their surroundings, as the number of Palestinians separated due to the wall amounted to about (514,900) people, of whom about (65,665) people were completely isolated.
The construction of the separation wall will lead to the separation between (36) residential communities east of the wall, inhabited by (72,200) Palestinians, and their fields and agricultural land west of the wall. Moreover, this wall will affect the Palestinian economy, as the villages, depending on agriculture, through which the wall passes, will have become without an economical source. This wall will lead to the loss of 50% of irrigated lands, the destruction of 12 km of irrigation systems, and the bulldozing of 5.7% of the irrigated agricultural lands lost before farmers reap the crops and benefit from them. This wall led to the confiscation and bulldozing of farming lands and restricting the free movement of citizens, which resulted in the loss of (6,500) jobs and the destruction of the olive oil industry. This region produces (22,000) tons of olive oil, 50 tons of fruit, and 1000,000 tons of vegetables every season. In addition, the wall affects water sources, as the occupation forces control 50 water wells behind the wall. The West Bank will lose (200) million cubic meters of water from the Jordan River on the eastern side upon completion of this wall, as the isolated area behind the Apartheid Wall is located above the western and north-eastern aquifers, whose drainage capacity is estimated at (507) million cubic meters annually. In contrast, the isolated eastern area is above the east aquifer, with a drainage capacity estimated at 172 million cubic meters annually. The number of groundwater wells in the two areas mentioned above is estimated at (165), with a pumping capacity of (33) million cubic meters per year; as for the number of springs, it is estimated at 53, with a drainage capacity of (22) million cubic meters per year.
The depth of what the occupation authorities call a security barrier to protect the wall, the "seam zone," is 200 meters, while its space is about (156,000) dunams. Palestinians are prohibited from entering the zone due to its proximity to the apartheid wall; most of the lands of this zone are "private property." The number of Palestinians who are obliged to obtain permits to enter their lands in the "seam zone" is estimated at 11,000 Palestinians who obtain temporary permits for a limited period.
Fourth: Refugees and UNRWA
According to the definition by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Palestine refugees are defined as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." The Zionist gangs from 1947 to 1949 expelled and displaced about 726,000 Palestinians, or about 75% of the rightful Palestinian landowners, due to the attacks by armed Zionist gangs on their cities and villages.
1948 witnessed an escalation of these attacks, culminating in brutal massacres in many cities and villages of Palestine, the most famous was the "Deir Yassin" massacre, and more than 550 Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed. Then the Zionist gangs reconstructed many villages and cities in a different style than the previous one to erase any Palestinian characteristics, falsify their truth, and house Jewish immigrants from abroad. They were named after Hebrew names to obliterate their Palestinian features.
In the aftermath of the Palestinian Nakba on 15/5/1948, and with the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel, the suffering of the Palestinian refugees continued as a result of Israel's failure to implement what was stated in United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 194 of 1948, which was included in paragraph (11)" refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible." The exact resolution established a "Conciliation Committee" consisting of three countries: Turkey - France - the United States of America, whose tasks include implementing the previous resolution.
The tragedy of the refugees continued with Israel's refusal to allow them to return to their homes even though the United Nations General Assembly stipulated the acceptance of Israel's membership in its resolution No. 273 on 11/5/1949 by implementing Resolution No. 194 of 1948. This was the first conditional acceptance of a member state in the history of the United Nations. Israel accepted the conditions of the United Nations represented in its favor to implement Resolution 194, but after its accession in May 1949, it turned against it.
The United Nations General Assembly issued Resolution No. 302 on 12/8/1949, establishing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which was entirely based on Resolution 194 of 1948. The establishment of UNRWA came to carry out direct relief operations, employment programmes, and continuing assistance to refugees in order to avoid conditions of starvation and misery among them and support peace and stability. The resolution urged all member states and non-members to make voluntary contributions to the agency; the resolution also granted privileges, immunities, exemptions, and facilities to enable it to perform its work. On this basis, Palestinian refugees were excluded from being subject to the care and protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) when it was established in 1950 due to the political nature of this issue, which is incompatible with the non-political tasks of this commission expressed in its charter of work.
On June 5, 1967, Israel, the "occupying power," launched a war and occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which displaced many Palestinians from this Palestinian land in 1967.
Following the June 1967 war, the Security Council issued Resolution No. 242 on 22/11/ 1967, emphasizing the importance of achieving a just settlement of the Palestinian refugee problem. The Security Council also issued Resolution 237 of 1967, which dealt exclusively with the issue of 1967 internally displaced persons (IDPs). It called on Israel, the "occupying power," to ensure the safety and security of residents of the areas where military operations took place and to facilitate the return of refugees displaced by the fighting. The United Nations General Assembly passed resolutions 2535 (1969) and 3236 (1974), which affirmed the inalienable right of Palestinian refugees to return and receive compensation. The General Assembly also issued Resolution 54/75 in December 1999, which confirmed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties and to obtain income from properties that have been exploited for more than 50 years, according to the information and maps it has on properties. The General Assembly reiterated its resolutions related to The Palestinian refugees, especially after the 1967 war, adding to it in 1969 a new right it recognized; the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state on the land of their homeland, which it affirmed in its subsequent resolutions.
The current situation and the latest developments:
The number of registered Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA records, by the end of 2016 amounted to about 5.9 million. Palestinian refugees residing in the West Bank and registered with UNRWA in 2016 constituted 17% of the total refugees registered with the Agency, compared to 24.5% in the Gaza Strip. Gaza. At the level of Arab countries, the percentage of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Jordan reached 39.1% of the total Palestinian refugees. In comparison, the rate in Syria reached 10.6% and Lebanon 8.8%. The agency continued to suffer from the financial crisis it has been repeatedly exposed to in recent years, which threatens the continuation of its services. At the beginning of 2018, the fiscal deficit in the Agency's budget reached $5 million, as the US administration issued a resolution to freeze part of its contributions to the UNRWA budget (an amount of $65 million). Consequently, UNRWA's continuation in carrying out its tasks under expectations that the deficit in the UNRWA budget for the year 2018 will rise to $446 million, which may lead to the suspension of studies in UNRWA schools in its five areas of operation if this deficit is not addressed.
Fifth: The Prisoners
7 The issue of Palestinian and Arab prisoners lives in the depth and conscience of the Palestinian people. For many years, the issue of prisoners represented one of the components of the Palestinian cause, as it is an essential part of the struggle of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement. The prisoners and detainees have played a prominent role throughout all the revolutions and uprisings the Palestinian people fought to establish their independent state. Since the establishment of Israel, the "occupying power" in 1948, it has continued to practice the most heinous forms of violations. It perpetrates the worst and most violent crimes of genocide against the Palestinian people, regardless of their age groups. While applying its security theory, it did not pay any attention to the dignity of the Palestinian people and their fundamental rights. It persisted in its heinous violations of all these rights in a systematic and unchecked manner. Its security forces continued their pursuit of Palestinian civilians, arresting hundreds of thousands and detaining them in public places and detention camps specially prepared to practice the most heinous forms of abuse. With time, arrests became an integral part of Israel's philosophy and daily behavior with Palestinian citizens, just as arrests became a daily occurrence involving everyone who works in the Israeli security establishment.
8 Israel, the "occupying power," has violated international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and all international covenants and agreements by force of arms, so the resistance has become "terrorism," and the arrests turned out to be labeled "preemptive step" to suppress the Palestinian resistance, in clear violation of all international norms and covenants in its dealings with the Palestinians.
According to various Palestinian statistics, the number of detainees between 1948 and 1967 was estimated at one hundred thousand citizens. Israel, the "occupying force" since 1967, has arrested more than 700,000 Palestinians under military orders, "children, women and the elderly," as well as more than 13,000 Palestinian citizens between 1993 and 2001 (during the years that witnessed the start of the Oslo peace process). More than (6,500) Palestinian prisoners are still held in the Israeli occupation prisons, including (1500) sick prisoners who suffer from the policy of deliberate medical neglect in Israeli prison clinics, as well as (57) female prisoners, (500) administrative detainees, and (300) Palestinian children. They languish in cells lacking the most basic human needs in addition to the psychological and physical torture that the Israeli occupation authorities and Metzada forces (Israeli forces affiliated with the prison administration) practice against them, indifferent to all international conventions (the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the four Geneva Conventions) in addition to the relevant international legitimacy resolutions.
The current situation and the latest developments
On 17/4/2017, more than (1580) Palestinian prisoners staged a joint open hunger strike to demand the realization of their most basic human rights, guaranteed to them by international law and the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Among the most prominent of these demands is ending the policy of administrative detention, solitary confinement, deliberate medical neglect, and facilitating the visit of their families without humiliation. The occupation authorities faced the prisoners' strike with harsh repressive measures. The Israeli occupation forces affiliated with the Israeli Prison Service represented it in the daily storming of the prisoners' rooms. They practiced severe beatings, massive movement campaigns in their ranks, and the absence of health care for prisoners whose health had deteriorated dramatically. They lost a lot of their weight during the long period of the strike. The occupation forces also continued the Israeli policy of arbitrary detention against hundreds of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories. They committed several Israeli violations against Palestinians, such as the policy of collective punishment, ill-treatment, and the increase in cases of house arrest against children. The Israeli courts issued about (90) house arrest resolutions during September 2017, the vast majority of which were against Jerusalemite children. These resolutions constituted an increase of 15% compared to 2016 and up to 50% compared to 2015, in addition to issuing rulings against some Jerusalemite children forcibly working in Israeli institutions for specific periods. The highest rate of arrests was in December 2017, when the occupation authorities arrested (926) Palestinians, half of whom were from the city of Jerusalem. It launched a massive arrest campaign in the West Bank, especially after the outbreak of protests against US President Trump's declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. All of them were subjected to physical torture and psychological and inhuman treatment. In contrast, 60% were subjected to brutal physical attacks, while the occupation authorities arrested 1,319 citizens during January and February 2018.
Sixth: Development in the Palestinian Territories:
The Palestinian National Authority has designed several developmental, economic, and social plans and programs in the Palestinian territories to confront economic and social problems. Most of these plans were based on self-reliance and getting rid of the dependence of the Palestinian economy on the Israeli economy, providing adequate infrastructure for the development process. The development process in Palestine has been exposed to many difficulties and obstacles that prevent its continuity and limit its results and negatively affect the standard of living of the majority of the Palestinian people due to the instability and direct interventions of the Israeli occupation authorities, targeting the Palestinian infrastructure and public utilities.
The Israeli occupation constitutes the most prominent obstacle to all efforts made by the Palestinian National Authority to achieve development. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve natural and sustainable development in light of the presence of the Israeli occupation and its control over the crossings and borders. Development and occupation are two concepts that contradict each other, as the Israeli occupation authorities control the crossings, impose restrictions on the communication of the Palestinian economy with the outside world, and continue to control the land, sea, and airspace, which has contributed significantly to stifling the Palestinian economy.
The current situation and the latest developments
The phenomenon of poverty in Palestine is characterized by a precise nature that stems from the exposure of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people to a series of repercussions that led to many tragedies throughout the century, especially uprooting, displacement, wars, occupation, and deprivation of national rights. This led to the permanent impoverishment of large groups of Palestinian people. In contrast, the poverty rate in Palestine has been increasing in recent years in light of the decrease in international donor aid and the restrictions imposed by Israel, the "occupying power," on developing the Palestinian economy.
The Palestinian people still live on the lower line of food security, as about 27% of Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (about 1.7 million people) lack food security.
The specificity of the Palestinian case calls for the need to design a development strategy of its own, the most prominent of which is the removal of distortions accumulated during the Israeli occupation and work on the development and development of various facilities and economic sectors.
Seventh: The Palestinian issue in the Arab League:
The Palestinian cause represents the leading cause of the Arab countries. It is considered at the center of the interest of joint Arab action and a permanent item on the agenda of the League Council at its various levels. All resolutions issued by it affirm adherence to the constants of the Palestinian cause represented in ending the occupation, establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and guaranteeing the right of return and compensation for Palestinian refugees. The interest of the League of Arab States in the Palestinian issue goes back to before the declaration of the establishment of "Israel" in 1948 when it issued Resolution No. 16 regarding boycotting Zionist goods and products on 12/2/1945. Then, the League of Arab States held Inshas Summit in the Arab Republic of Egypt on 29/5/1946 to issue a set of resolutions supporting Palestine, including Resolution No. 3, which states that Zionism is an imminent danger not only to Palestine but to all Arab countries and Muslim peoples. Therefore, facing this sweeping danger has become a duty incumbent upon all Arab countries and Muslim peoples. Resolution No. 4 demands a complete halt to Zionist immigration and a comprehensive prevention of the infiltration of Arab lands into Zionist hands and work to achieve the independence of Palestine and to form a government in which the rights of all its legitimate residents are guaranteed without distinction between race and sect.
On 16/9/1947, the League Council categorically rejected the partition resolution issued by the United Nations General Assembly and decided to take decisive measures to thwart the partition project. These measures included the provision of 10,000 rifles and 3,000 volunteers to Palestine, and in 1948 the Arab armies entered into a confrontation With the Israeli occupation forces to protect Palestine and save its Arabism.
In 1964, the first Arab summit conference was held in Alexandria. It issued several resolutions, the most prominent of which were: approval of the collective Arab action plan to liberate Palestine sooner or later, welcoming the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people, and supporting its resolution to establish the Palestine Liberation Army. On September 13, 1965, the Third Arab Summit Conference was held in Casablanca, Morocco, and among its most prominent resolutions were providing support for the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Liberation Army, studying the demand for the establishment of the Palestinian National Council, and approval of the unified Arab plan to defend the Palestinian cause in the United Nations and international forums. The Fourth Arab Summit Conference was held on August 29, 1967, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after the 1967 war, and called for removing the effects of the Israeli aggression and issued its resolution known as (the Three No's), which are (no peace with Israel, no negotiation with it, and no recognition of it).
On November 26, 1973, the Sixth Arab Summit Conference was held in Algeria, during which two conditions for peace with Israel were approved, represented by Israel's withdrawal from all occupied Arab lands, foremost of which is Jerusalem, and the restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.
On October 26, 1974, the Seventh Arab Summit Conference was held in Rabat and approved the complete liberation of all Arab lands occupied in the June 1967 aggression, the liberation of the city of Jerusalem, not giving up on that, and the adoption of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
The Twelfth Arab Summit Conference, held in Fez/Morocco on September 6, 1982, endorsed the Arab peace project with Israel, the most important of which included: Israel's withdrawal from all the Arab lands it occupied in 1967, the removal of Israeli settlements in these lands and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, affirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and compensating those who do not wish to return.
On June 9, 1988, the Fifteenth Arab Summit Conference was held in Algeria. It decided to support the popular Palestinian uprising, enhance its effectiveness and ensure its continuity, and renew the conference's commitment to implementing the provisions of boycotting Israel. The Summit Conference held on May 23, 1989, in Casablanca emphasized the provision of moral and material support and assistance to the Palestinian Intifada, the convening of the International Peace Conference in the Middle East, the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, and work to expand its recognition. While the summit held in Baghdad on May 28, 1990, condemned the immigration of Jews, the illegality of settlements, and the US Congress resolution in 1995 to consider Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as the US attempts to cancel the resolution to consider Zionism a form of racism. Baghdad summit stressed support for the continuation of the Palestinian Intifada, the emphasis on its financial and moral support, and the provision of international protection for the Palestinian people.
Following the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the Arab Summit Conference was held in an extraordinary session on October 22, 2000, in Cairo and was named "Al-Aqsa Summit Conference." It decided to establish a fund called the "Al-Quds Intifada" with a capital of $200 million to support the families of the martyrs and rehabilitate the wounded and injured, and to establish a fund called the "Al-Aqsa Fund" with a capital of $800 million to support the Palestinian economy, and to allow the import of Palestinian goods without quantitative or qualitative restrictions.
On 28/3/2002, the Arab Summit Conference was held in its 14th ordinary session in Beirut. The conference adopted the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for peace in the Middle East. The summit called on the Arab countries to support the budget of the Palestinian National Authority with a total amount of $330 million for a period of six months, subject to renewal, in addition to calling on member states to provide additional support of $ 150 million, directed to the Al-Aqsa Fund and the Al-Quds Intifada that shall be allocated to support areas of development in Palestine.
On 27/3/ 2013, the Arab Summit Conference was held in its twenty-fourth ordinary session in Doha. It took a resolution to establish an Arab fund for Jerusalem with a capital of $1 billion.
The Palestinian cause occupied the central scene in the draft resolutions of the summit held in Kuwait on March 26, 2014, where Arab leaders rejected all forms of settlement, blaming Israel, the "occupying power," for the failure of the peace process, and for the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to what it was mentioned in the Arab initiative that was approved at the Beirut Summit (2002).
The Arab leaders supported Palestine's membership of specialized international agencies and accession to international conventions and international protocols. The 27th Arab Summit Conference in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on July 27, 2016, stressed the commitment of Arab countries to addressing threats to Arab national security, confirming the centrality of the Palestinian cause and considering 2017 the year to end the Israeli occupation of the land of Palestine. The Twenty-Eighth Arab Summit Conference, which was held in Amman - the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on 29/3/2017, also affirmed the centrality of the Palestinian cause and reiterated the right of the State of Palestine to sovereignty over all the occupied territories in 1967, including East Jerusalem to adhere to the Arab Peace Initiative, as presented at the 2002 Beirut Summit.
Eighth: The Arab Peace Initiative
The Arab Peace Initiative launched by His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and adopted by the Arab Summit (14) held in Beirut on March 27, 2002, under its resolution 221, affirms adherence to peace as a strategic option. It represents the political plan of the League of Arab States and its primary reference for settling the Arab-Israeli conflict and establishing peace in the Middle East.
The provision of the Arab Peace Initiative launched by the Beirut Arab Summit in 2002:
The Arab Peace Initiative provides for the commitment of Israel, the "occupying power," to withdraw entirely from the occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan, to the line of 4 June 1967 and from the territories in southern Lebanon that are still occupied, and to reach t a just and agreed solution to the Palestine refugee problem by United Nations General Assembly resolution 194 (III), and to accept the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State in the Palestinian territories occupied since 4 June 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital; in exchange for the commitment of the Arab States to consider the Arab-Israeli conflict at an end and enter into a peace agreement between them and Israel while achieving security for all the States of the region, and to establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.
This initiative received support from the Organization of the Islamic Conference, as the foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, during their meetings in Khartoum (Sudan) from 25-27 June 2002 and their meeting in Tehran (Iran) from 28-30 May 2003, adopted and supported the Arab Peace Initiative, and also supported it. The Islamic Summit Conference that was held in Putra Jaya (Malaysia) from 16-17 October 2003 upheld the initiative.
Membership of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee:
In an implementation of Paragraph 7 of Resolution No. 221 of the 14th regular session of the League Council at the summit level on March 28, 2002, which states: "The Council requests its presidency to form a special committee from several concerned Member States and the Secretary-General to conduct the necessary contacts needed to this initiative. The United Nations, the Security Council, the United States, the Russian Federation, Islamic countries, and the European Union are at the forefront. After consultation with the Member States and His Excellency the Secretary-General, the presidency of the summit at the time (the Republic of Lebanon) formed the Special Committee to Support the Arab Peace Initiative, which currently includes this committee in its membership (The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Tunisia, People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Sudan, Syria (frozen their membership in implementation of the League's Council Resolution No. 7438 dated November 12, 2011), Republic of Iraq, State of Palestine, State of Qatar, Republic of Lebanon, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Republic of Yemen and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States).
The Arab Peace Initiative Committee held several meetings, the last of which was on 7/3/2018 in Cairo, chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, to emphasize the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative and the adherence of the Arab side to it as an essential reference for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict and the adoption of the two-state solution, as it represents the best opportunity to resolve the conflict, and a general framework for a just and peaceful settlement in the Middle East region that, if implemented, will lead the region towards comprehensive, lasting and just peace, as well as stability. This is in light of the suspension of the peace process and the freezing of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis since 2014, as well as the Arab refusal to introduce any amendments to the terms of the peace initiative approved by the League of Arab States Summit in Beirut in 2002, as well as rejection of the Israeli attempts aimed at manipulating the order of priorities, conditions, and commitments set by this initiative.
Ninth: The Arab movement at the international level to support the Palestinian cause:
10. Arab support for Palestinian diplomacy has achieved many successes at the international level by embodying the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to their land, homeland, sanctities, freedom, and independence, and the establishment of their independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The number of countries that have recognized the State of Palestine so far is 137, the latest of which was the Holy See (Vatican), which recognized the State of Palestine in 26/6/2015, and many other countries will take this step soon. The successes and victories of Palestinian diplomacy and Arab activism represented in the League of Arab States and the efforts of His Excellency the Secretary-General and the Arab Member States were crowned by the issuance of the historic United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 19/67 on November 29, 2012, upgrading the status of Palestine to a non-member state with observer status in the United Nations, with 138 countries voting in favor of the resolution. The issuance of the resolution is significant in enabling the State of Palestine to join conventions, treaties, charters, and international organizations with a total of 105 organizations and conventions, reflecting the tremendous international support for the just Palestinian cause.
11. The Arab support for Palestinian diplomacy also succeeded in obtaining the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2011 and getting full membership in the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in 2017.
12. The United Nations General Assembly issued 705 resolutions and 86 Security Council resolutions in support of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, the latest of which was Security Council Resolution No. 2334 on Israeli settlements on 23/12/2016 with 14 countries voting in favor of the resolution and the United States abstaining. The resolution of the General Assembly on 21/12/2017, by the "Uniting for Peace" resolution on Jerusalem, with 128 votes in favor of the resolution. The League of Arab States works in coordination with the councils of Arab ambassadors and its missions abroad to activate and implement these resolutions.
13. The League of Arab States is also seeking to intensify its efforts to thwart the Israeli candidacy for non-permanent membership in the Security Council for the years 2019-2020 during the elections to be held in the United Nations General Assembly during the month of June 2018, considering that it is an occupying country and the criteria for candidacy do not apply to it under the Charter of the United Nations for being an "occupying power" with a long record of grave violations of resolutions of international legitimacy, principles of international law and human rights.
14. The League of Arab States also strives to thwart any Israeli attempts to circumvent the status of the Palestinian cause in the African continent, which was built on common values against colonialism, oppression, and racial discrimination by confronting any attempt to hold Israeli-African summits and conferences and urging African countries not to participate in any of them.
Tenth: 48 Palestinians
15. The Palestinians of 1948, Palestinians of the 1948 territories, are the Palestinian residents. They remained in their villages and towns after Israel took control of the territories they lived in after the 1948 war. They are also referred to in Israel by the term "Israeli Arabs"; or "Arab minority." According to the Israeli Citizenship Law, anyone who resided inside the Green Line on July 14, 1952, when the Israeli Knesset approved this law and closed the door in the face of Palestinian refugees who could not return to their homes until now, is considered a citizen. It prevents them from entering Israel as citizens or local residents.
16. According to official Israeli statistics, the number of Arabs in Israel at the beginning of 2014 was about 1.5 million, and this number does not include the approximately 250,000 Arabs living in East Jerusalem (whom the occupation authorities consider residents of Israel and not citizens of it). About 60% of the 1948 Arabs live in Galilee, 20% in the Triangle area in 20 Arab towns, 10% in the northern Negev, and 10% in mixed cities (such as Haifa and Ramla).
17. Although they represent about 25% of the citizens of Israel, and are ostensibly considered citizens with equal rights with the Israelis, the 1948 Arabs suffer from ethnic and religious persecution and racial discrimination at all levels and face cultural and societal challenges that target their identity as an essential part of the Palestinian people. They also suffer from being targeted by successive unfair and racist laws. Among the most important examples of the many racist laws approved by the Israeli Knesset against them is the so-called (Bishara Law) issued on 22/7/2002, the laws of May 15, 2002, and a draft law on the suppression of Palestinian memory issued on 24/7/2001, and the decision of the Israeli Minister of Transportation, Israel Katz issued on 13/7/2009 to Judaize the names of Arab cities and streets, the "citizenship and loyalty" bill, and last but not least the so-called "National Law."
18. Some forms of racism against the Arabs of 1948:
19. Geographical distribution of the Arab population, where the Arabs are concentrated within the Green Line in the northern regions, which includes the entire Galilee region, Acre, the Bisan plain, Safed, Marj Bin Amer, and the city of Afula. This distribution reflects a clear Israeli population policy. Among the other indicators that can be highlighted is overcrowding within the same house. This overcrowding among the Arabs inside the Green Line amounted to (5.1) Arabs in the same place in 2003 compared to (3.3) Jewish individuals in the same area inside "Israel," which illustrates the hardship the Arab population is experiencing. Although the total number of Jewish housing units reached (160,6061) homes for the Jews, the total number of Arab housing units in the year mentioned above amounted to (24,667) housing.
20. Field of education: There is a large gap between Arabs and Jews in the field of education. Statistics indicated that 12% of adults over 15 years of age in 2002 did not receive a school education in Israel, compared to 4% of Israeli Jews, and that 51% of Jews have secondary education, compared to 34% among Arabs. The number of Jews registered in Israeli universities exceeds the number of students from the Arab minority enrolled in universities by three and a half times. The percentage of Arab workers in the education sector is tiny compared to the number in Israel. Illiteracy rates are high among Arabs, reaching (11-12%) among adults, compared to 5% among Jews.
21. Field of work: The 1948 Arabs suffer from an economic situation that is fundamentally different from the economic and social status of the Jewish majority. There is no doubt that this difference is the result of the racial discrimination practiced by Israel and successive Israeli governments against the Arabs from the establishment of Israel in 1948 until now.
Eleventh: Arab boycott of Israel (the occupying power)
The Arab boycott of Israel, the "occupying power," is a tool of peaceful resistance that aims to pressure the Israeli occupation to respond to the resolutions of international legitimacy. It plays a pivotal role in the occupation's racism and continuous aggression against the Palestinian people. It gives way to all who wish to peacefully express their solidarity with the Palestinians through a widespread boycott of companies supporting the Israeli occupation and protesting the preferential treatment enjoyed by Israel, the "occupying power," by some parties of the international community, despite its continued violations of international law.
In this context, the League of Arab States established the main office for the boycott of Israel (the occupying power) under League Council Resolution No. 357 at its 14th session on May 14-19, 1951, which provides for the establishment of a body that coordinates the plans and measures necessary to boycott Israel and work to achieve them. The headquarters of the main office is in Damascus, and its mission is to ensure communication with the offices concerned with the affairs of the province in each country to coordinate its measures and work.
The main office of the boycott of Israel is headed by a Commissioner-General appointed by His Excellency the Secretary-General. The Commissioner-General invites the liaison officers of the regional offices of the boycott of Israel in the Arab countries to hold a periodic conference once a year under his chairmanship. He may call for extraordinary meetings when necessary. The conference takes its decisions and recommendations by the majority of votes of the member states of the League of Arab States. These recommendations are taken in accordance with the principles and provisions of the established Arab boycott, the application of the ban and the inclusion of companies on the boycott list, warning other companies and lifting companies from the ban list for their response to the provisions of the Arab boycott, given the great importance of the role of the boycott. The Arab boycott aims to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and confront the Israeli occupation using legal and economic tools that produce effective positive results.
The League Council, in its 22nd session, dated 11/12/1954, issued the unified law to boycott Israel, which prohibits natural and legal persons from dealing with Israel (the occupying power) and stipulates penalties for violators of this law. The terms of reference for the Arab boycott of Israel, the "occupying power," were determined by League Council Resolution No. (1800), issued by the 36th session on 19/9/1961.
The first conference of liaison officers of the regional offices of boycotting Israel was held on November 3, 1951, in Alexandria. The successive conferences of the liaison officers issued many essential recommendations that were adopted in the Arab countries in their dealings with foreign companies, which gave significance to the Arab boycott of the goods of Israeli companies and companies involved with the occupation in its grave violations of the rights of the Palestinian people. Since its establishment, the Arab boycott of Israel has been subjected to much pressure to stop it or reduce its effectiveness, including the issuance of anti-boycott legislation in the United States of America and some European countries. The Arab boycott conferences stopped for eight years after the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991. Still, they resumed their activities and work since 2001, when the Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level held in Amman - the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - issued Resolution No. 202 on 28/3/2001which stipulated the following:
22. Activating the Arab boycott against Israel and resisting the Israeli penetration into the Arab world through:
23. Starting to reactivate the activity of the competent liaison offices in the Arab countries for the above purpose.
24. The regularity of holding the periodic boycott conferences, which the principal office of the boycott of Israel calls for.
25. Begin reactivating the role of the joint economic committees, which are located abroad, and revitalizing their role in detecting re-exports of Israeli goods to Arab countries by verifying the validity of the data contained in the certificates of origin.
2. Assigning the Secretary-General to follow up on the implementation of this resolution and assign the principal office of the boycott of Israel to call for an urgent meeting of the liaison officers to activate the Arab boycott against Israel.
Since then, the boycott bodies have been working to develop their work by finding appropriate mechanisms and ways to do so in line with the difficult circumstances facing the Palestinian cause. The League Council at the summit level took several resolutions, emphasizing the need to put the recommendations issued by the conferences of liaison officers into practice by the concerned bodies in the Arab countries.
