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  • BADIL Urgently Calls for International Action on Palestinian Rights: Dismantling Colonial-Apartheid and Ensuring Self-Determination and Return
BADIL Urgently Calls for International Action on Palestinian Rights: Dismantling Colonial-Apartheid and Ensuring Self-Determination and Return
BADIL Urgently Calls for International Action on Palestinian Rights: Dismantling Colonial-Apartheid and Ensuring Self-Determination and Return

During the 54th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, BADIL delivered an oral statement under item 6. The statement underscores Israel's dismissal of 15 recommendations calling for dismantling its colonial-apartheid and safeguarding Palestinian rights to self-determination and return.

The denial of the right of return for Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), which is crucial for the exercise of self-determination, is a serious breach of international law and a violation of a jus cogens norm.

Since its creation in 1948, Israel continues to systematically forcibly transfer Palestinians to achieve its colonial enterprise’s objective: acquire the maximum amount of Palestinian land with the minimum number of Palestinians. BADIL reminded the Human Rights Council that Palestinian refugees and IDPs, constituting 66 percent of the global Palestinian people, have been consistently denied their right to reparations, including return, property restitution, and compensation.

Israel's imposition of racial laws, policies, and practices has established a colonial-apartheid regime, geographically, legally, and politically dividing Palestinians within Mandatory Palestine and in exile. This regime operates with impunity.

The dismantling of the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime is identified by BADIL as vital to addressing the root causes behind the denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and return.

Therefore, BADIL called upon the UN and its member states to:

  1. Take practical measures, in line with their responsibilities as third-party states, to cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means to Israel’s serious breach of the denial of the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and return, and to cease all aid and assistance to Israel that would maintain this illegal situation.
  2. Ensure the implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees and IDPs to reparations, including return, property restitution, compensation and guarantees of non-repetition

This oral statement by BADIL demands urgent action from the international community to confront and rectify these critical issues, vehemently advocating for the unequivocal protection of the rights of the Palestinian people in adherence to international law.