HEADS OF PALESTINE COMMITTEES IN PARLIAMENTS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION AGAINST ISRAEL'S PLANS IN SHEIKH JARRAH

HEADS OF PALESTINE COMMITTEES IN PARLIAMENTS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION AGAINST ISRAEL'S PLANS IN SHEIKH JARRAH

The heads of Palestine committees in a number of Arab and international parliaments called on international and parliamentary institutions to take urgent measures to stop the occupation plans in the occupied city of Jerusalem in general and in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Bustan in particular. This came during a symposium organized by the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds (LP4Q) entitled "Land Day: a Repetitive Tragedy (Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, Al-Bustan neighborhood) International Responsibility".

The Director-General of LP4Q, Dr. Muhammad Makram Balawi, stressed the need to exert pressure on the United Nations and international institutions to strengthen the diplomatic and economic boycott and mobilize pressure on the occupation to submit to international law and stop its plans in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

Balawi added during his speech at the symposium that the occupied city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque are living in a critical and dangerous phase of Judaization and settlement plans that call everyone with a living conscience to act to stop and confront them.

For his part, the head of the Palestinian-Turkish Friendship Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of LP4Q, MP Hassan Turan, had stressed that the Turkish Republic cannot allow the Judaization and settlement plans of the Israeli occupation government to change the characteristics of the occupied city of Jerusalem and turn it into a Jewish city, pointing out that Israel acts as a state above the law due to the support of the US.

Turan called on the United Nations and international institutions not to stand idly by and watch the attempts to empty Jerusalem of its native residents. He pointed out that Israel has abandoned the Palestinian people to their fate in the face of the Corona pandemic and has abdicated its responsibility as an occupying power under international law, explaining that the Gaza Strip is experiencing a crippling health crisis because of the Israeli blockade and the spread of the pandemic.

Turan called on the WHO and human rights organizations to assume their responsibility to save the Palestinian people and put pressure on the occupation to introduce medical supplies to the sector and provide the necessary medical resources to confront the Coronavirus, stressing that world peace cannot be guaranteed without giving the Palestinian people their legitimate rights. For her part, MP of Argentina Julia Perié and member of Parlasur, stated that Land Day is a day of protest against injustice and to declare rejection of the Israeli apartheid regime, pointing out that the system of colonialism, ethnic cleansing and Israeli settlement plans is increasing as it is ignored by the international and legal organizations.

Perry stressed that the international declarations condemning the Israeli attacks do not resonate because they do not include practical steps and disregard the necessary legal procedures to deter Israel.

For his part, the head of the Palestine Committee in the Jordanian Parliament, Muhammad Al-Dhahrawi, called on the parliaments to adopt a common position condemning the occupation plans in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the Bustan neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, stating that the parliament of his country is working to provide assistance to the people of Sheikh Jarrah in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they have sent property documents to the families of the neighborhood proving the ownership of their lands and houses.

He called for uniting Arab and international efforts and activating parliamentary diplomacy that is aware of the importance of applying international justice to confront the plans of the occupation, stressing that the recent Israeli actions and decisions violate international justice.

For his part, the President of the Palestine group in the Malaysian Parliament and member of the Executive Committee of the LP4Q, MP Syed Ibrahim, stressed that solidarity with the Palestinian cause requires taking political action to end the occupation and stop its violations, and working to classify Israel as an apartheid regime, adding that all the reports of the United Nations and human rights organizations document the fact that the Israeli occupation is a racist regime against the Palestinians that amount to war crimes.

He stressed that Malaysia will continue to support the Palestinian cause, government, parliament and people and will work to label Israel as a racist apartheid state. He pointed out that the plans to target the Sheikh Al-Jarrah neighborhood are not just planning to displace Palestinian families, but rather a direct attack on the Arab and Islamic nations and an attempt to put settlers in the place of the indigenous population.

For his part, president of the Palestine Group in the Nigerian Parliament and a member of the LP4Q's Executive Committee, MP Abubakar Yunusa called for using the Land Day anniversary to strengthen work to resist the Israeli occupation in parliaments and to commemorate it in international parliaments and called for using friendships in the US Congress to pressure the new US administration to correct the mistakes of Donald Trump.

For his part, the head of the Palestine Committee in the Tunisian Parliament, Saifuddin Makhlouf, said that the normalization agreements with the Israeli occupation encouraged the occupation to escalate its Judaization plans in the Palestinian territories, and warned that the occupation exploits these agreements to work to change the awareness of the Palestinian cause among the peoples.

Makhlouf called on Palestine Parliamentary groups to work to increase support for the Palestinian cause in parliaments and raise awareness among parliamentarians about the occupation's plans and work to preserve the historical and legal status of Jerusalem, adding that the official Tunisian position is compatible with the position of the people who reject the normalization plans in order to protect the Islamic and Christian shrines in the Palestinian territories.

The meeting concluded with numerous recommendations, including calling on the United Nations, parliamentary and international institutions and embassies to stop the occupation plans, participate in the formation of Palestinian committees in neighboring countries and support the movements to boycott the occupation, and the meeting called for supporting the holding of elections in all Palestinian territories, especially in Jerusalem.

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