Marking the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today called on the international community to put an end to Israel’s racial discrimination practices against the Palestinian people.
The ministry said in a statement that the Palestinian people, wherever they exist, should be able to enjoy their rights without any prejudice, including their right to self-determination, independence, sovereignty and the right of refugees to return to their homes and land they were forced out from in 1948.
It saluted what it said was the victory of the international will over the attempts by Israel, the occupying Power, to prevent the International Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination from considering the complaint of Palestine, setting with this an example to be followed in championing rights and achieving justice.
The ministry condemned Israel for its serious violations of international law and its failure to comply with the rules of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, or other international humanitarian and human rights law, stressing that the Israeli colonial occupation was built on the basis of a racist and ideological belief that denies the existence of the Palestinian people and their deep roots in this land.
It called on the international community and all peoples of the free world to put a stop to the crimes of racial discrimination committed by Israel, through its colonial settlement system, and called on states to assume their responsibilities and take all legal measures to confront these crimes, including by withdrawing investments from the illegal colonial settlements established on the territory of the state of Palestine, and to stop dealing in any form with this colonial regime, including the military.
