European President of the League of Parliamentarians for Palestine, Michele Piras, recently participated in the Annual UN Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which focused on the Palestinian issue. The conference saw a number of meetings and events, including Dr. Francesca Albanese's 2023 special report on Human Rights in Palestine, which was presented to the Council.

The report highlighted human rights abuses in territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Gaza authorities, but also strongly condemned the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime. The report criticized Israel's separation system, detention regime, freedom of speech and association, violence against children and women, and attacks against free press in Israeli and occupied territories. The report also noted that the double standard legislation systematically applied in every sector is a precise strategy, which takes into account the psychological effects on the civilian population and in particular on children.

The UN Special Report was met with opposition from Israeli authorities and main Zionist associations during the debate around the 7th issue of the Session. The report was accepted by most national delegations, which strongly condemned the illegal occupation and accepted the report's recommendations. The delegations referred to the confirmation of the two-States policy, the right of Palestinians to self-determination, and the establishment of an independent state with East-Jerusalem as its capital.

However, there remains a huge problem with the de facto obsolescence of the 1993 Oslo Accords, determined by ongoing occupation policy, according to President Piras. He stated that "the Israeli oppressive behavior has deeply undermined, concretely denying the possibility for the Palestinians to build their future." The issue of Israeli propaganda concerning the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism was also discussed, with Dr. Francesca Albanese highlighting the inappropriate use of the accusation of anti-Semitism against individuals or associations standing for Palestinians.

President Piras believes that the League of Parliamentarians has taken a step forward in becoming part of a widespread network in Europe. He acknowledged that it will be difficult, but the League is going in the correct direction. The international community will have to manage the ongoing occupation policy and Israeli propaganda concerning the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism in the future.