This year’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People took place in a particularly tragic context, amid a war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas that has killed more than 14,500 people in the Gaza Strip. This day was established by the United Nations to draw attention to the impact of the historic conflict with Israel on the Palestinian people. This November 29th comes when hopes for the creation of a Palestinian state seemed more distant than ever.
Since 1977, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People has been celebrated every year on November 29th. This time the date comes amid a violent war between Hamas and Israel that began in response to the Islamist group’s attack on Israeli communities on October 7.
In total, 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the Hamas attacks, and the Israeli-sponsored war in Gaza has already killed 14,500 Palestinians in a violent military operation lasting several weeks in the enclave, in a state of temporary ceasefire that could end in the next few hours.
“This International Day of Solidarity marks one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Palestinian people. “I am horrified by the death and destruction that has gripped the region, overwhelmed by pain, fear and grief,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Accusations of “extermination” of the Palestinian people
To mark this date, several demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people were organized in some countries such as Tunisia, South Africa and Lebanon. Hundreds of people marched in Johannesburg. “We want to stop and stand up against the silence and indifference we have seen around the world,” Azraa Seedat told AFP.
In Beirut, demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations headquarters to support the Palestinians and call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
“We support a ceasefire and not just a ceasefire. This is not a humanitarian issue, it is a completely political issue. This is not just about Gaza, but about a national cause and the attempts to exterminate us, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank,” Laila al-Ali, one of the protest organizers, told Portal.
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al Malki also spoke at the UN Security Council this Wednesday and accused Israel of wanting to erase the Palestinian territories from the map.
“We are excluded from history and geography,” Al Malki said. He recalled that last September Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the UN General Assembly with a map of the Middle East in which the Palestinian territories had disappeared and their place was occupied by Israel.
For his part, António Guterres condemned the unjust “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” in Gaza and reiterated his willingness to “work decisively and irreversibly towards a two-state solution.”
“This must begin with a long-term humanitarian ceasefire, full access to life-saving assistance, the release of all hostages, the protection of civilians and an end to violations of international humanitarian law.” “We must be united in calling for an end to the occupation and blockade of the to demand the Gaza Strip,” Guterres wrote.
Humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip
Since the beginning of the massive bombings in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli ground military operation, the humanitarian situation in the enclave has become a catastrophe.
Most of the more than two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip were forced to flee. Guterres recalled: “Nearly 1.7 million people have had to leave their homes, but no place is safe.”
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 14,500 Palestinians have died since these operations began, a third of whom were children. “Around 160 children die every day, one every 10 minutes,” said Christian Lindmeier, spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO), at a UN press conference before the start of the temporary ceasefire.
During a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas near Gaza City, a Palestinian citizen pushes a man in a wheelchair as he flees from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip. © Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Portal
Although a six-day ceasefire was agreed to allow the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners kidnapped by Hamas between the Israeli government and Hamas, as well as the arrival of humanitarian aid, the situation remains for residents of the enclave and access to water and drinking water is very limited water and electricity, the operation of few hospitals and the spread of disease due to these conditions.
“Much more is needed to meet human needs in Gaza. Water and electricity supplies must be fully restored. The food system has collapsed and hunger is spreading, especially in the north. Sanitary conditions in shelters “They are appalling, there are few toilets and overflowing sewers pose a serious threat to public health,” Guterres said in a speech to the United Nations on Wednesday.
Depending on the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the ceasefire could be extended for a few more days. In any case, the Israeli army chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi, said that his soldiers “will attack Gaza again as soon as the ceasefire ends.”
Meanwhile, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has also been affected by the conflict, with a sharp increase in violence and Israeli attacks. In addition to the detention of around 1,500 Palestinians, more than 200 Palestinians have died at the hands of the Israeli army in these areas in recent weeks.
An uncertain future for the Palestinian people
The future of the Palestinian people is a central theme in the celebration of this day of remembrance. The United Nations decided in 1977 that the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People should be celebrated on November 29th. On the same day in 1947, the Territorial Division Plan Resolution was adopted. The resolution sought the creation of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, with Jerusalem as a common city under a special international regime.
In 1948, the independence of the State of Israel was declared, leading to violent war and the permanent displacement of more than half of the Palestinian population, a historic event known to Palestinians as the “Nakba” (catastrophe).
The Palestinian state was never established as Israel began occupying more and more Palestinian territory. For this reason, the United Nations has decided to commemorate and support the unresolved Palestinian cause on November 29th.
10:06 l International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People © france24
The Palestinian people, numbering more than 14 million, live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem; in the Gaza Strip; In Israel; in neighboring Arab states and in refugee camps in the region.
Due to the division of Palestinian territory, which has been repeatedly denounced by the Palestinian authorities as an “apartheid” regime, and the Israeli occupation, which has permeated almost every aspect of Palestinian life, it is impossible to speak of the existence of a free state Palestinian territory today.
“Everything can be summarized as Israel intends to colonize most of the Palestinian territory with the smallest number of Palestinians in it, and in this way it is impossible to establish a Palestinian state because the Palestinians have no territory,” explained Nadia Silhi Chahin, lawyer and human rights researcher, interviewed by France 24.
António Guterres recalled the need for the creation of these two states to end the conflict, although the possibility of such a solution is now negligible.
“It is time to work decisively and irreversibly towards a two-state solution, based on United Nations resolutions and international law, in which Israel and Palestine coexist in peace and security and Jerusalem is the capital of both states,” said Guterres.
According to Nadia Silhi Chahin, “Today it has been impossible to achieve a Palestinian state due to the actions of the Israeli state and the international community that supports the State of Israel,” citing, among other things, the extensive funding of Israeli arms by the United States. Joined.
People march with a banner reading “Imagine being South African and supporting apartheid” in Durban, South Africa, November 26, 2023. Portal – ROGAN WARD
Due to Israel’s continued disregard for international law, including the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, governments must take effective action against Israel, argues Nadia Silhi Chahin.
It is necessary that “governments comply with their international legal obligations and take measures to sanction the State of Israel, as they once did with the South African state when ‘apartheid’ existed and that ‘apartheid’ ended.” The expert referred to the case of South Africa, which ended the racial segregation regime in the country in 1991 and after decades of international actions, sanctions and United Nations resolutions.
In the Palestinian case, the recent resurgence of conflict and the violent Israeli invasion of Gaza only raises fears that there could be more violence and greater Israeli control of Palestinian territory in the future.
With EFE, Portal, AFP and local media