Israel in violation of Oslo agreements while the world says nothing

From the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in Palestine comes the following press release which we publish to raise awareness of the level of feeling within Palestine at the continued abuse of Palestinian lands and people by the Israeli government in contravention of UN resolutions.  The UAWC denounces the recently passed land-grabbing law and calls on the world to protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

7^th February, 2017

Dear friends and Activists,

Israel’s parliament has passed a law to legalize West Bank settlement spots[1] built unlawfully on Palestinian land classified as area “C” according to the Oslo agreement in 1993, which constitutes 62% of the West Bank’s lands and is under Israeli control.

This law would allow the Israeli occupation to authorize thousands of Israeli settlement units and 53 Israeli spots, as well as to confiscate 8 million square meters of land in privately owned Palestinian lands. Moreover, this law will open the space for further confiscation of private Palestinian lands without any restrictions as long as the aim of these confiscations is more settlement expansion.

It important to note that since Donald Trump’s inauguration on 20th January, 2017, the Israeli occupation has given the green light for the establishment of more than 6,000 Israeli units in occupied Palestinian lands.

In essence, this law reaffirms Israeli occupation practices, and of which the whole world is ignorant, despite resolution 2334 of the UN Security Council that states that the Israeli settlement activity constitutes a “flagrant violation” of International Law and has “no legal validity”.  We call on all Human Rights Organizations, activists and Social Justice Movements to raise their voices and put pressure on their governments to put a pressure on the Israeli occupation to undo this law and recognize Palestine as an independent State.

We also call on people of the free world to arrange effective demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies where available to stop this fascist law.

In solidarity,

UAWC

[1] Israeli settlements spots are small settlements not included in the huge, main settlements that have sprung up in the West Bank including Jerusalem and inhabited by 700,000 settlers who replaced the lands’ indigenous.