Ambassador of Palestine to BiH: I ask world powers to stop the Israeli occupation

The Palestinian Ambassador to BiH, Razeq Namoora, wrote a letter on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which continues to this day, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- Every year, May 15th is commemorated as a day of remembrance of the catastrophe of the Palestinian people, committed by Israeli occupation troops and the participation of British occupation and colonizing countries, in 1948.

The Palestinian Nakba represented a dark period in the modern history of the Palestinian people. On one hand, Palestinians were expelled from their homeland and their land, and their property and homes were confiscated. On the other hand, they were displaced across the land, facing all kinds of suffering, misery, and pain. As a result, on May 15, 1948, the establishment of Israel was declared. Most Palestinian areas were under Israeli control, except for some that preserved their Palestinian identity: the "West Bank", the "Gaza Strip", "East Jerusalem - the area of holy sites".

The fighting caused the expulsion of a million Palestinians who live as refugees in neighboring Arab countries. These struggles also had a social impact on Palestinian society, leading to its displacement and the breaking of ties. The Nakba in 1948 represented the occupation of more than three-quarters of the area of historical Palestine, the destruction of 531 residential units, the expulsion and displacement of about 85% of the Palestinian population, and the commission of collective heinous massacres. The Palestinian Nakba was ethnic cleansing, the destruction and expulsion of the unarmed Palestinian population, and the settlement of another people in their place, as a result of military plans and state agreements.

The Palestinian Nakba represents the greatest tragedy of the Palestinian people, the migration and occupation of Palestinian land in 1967, the expulsion and migration of more than 900,000 Palestinians from their homeland who reside in neighboring Arab countries and around the world, out of 1.4 million Palestinians who lived in Palestine in 1948 in 1,300 Palestinian villages and cities.

68 years after the Nakba, the individual and collective right of refugees to return to their homes and live in their homeland is one of natural and fundamental human rights. It derives its legitimacy from the historical right of refugees to their land and is not changed by any urgent political event, nor is it nullified by anything, and it is guaranteed by the principles of international law, as well as international treaties and agreements.

In relation to the resolutions of the United Nations on this issue, the most prominent is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, Article 13 (“Everyone has the right to return to his country”). This was also confirmed by the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN General Assembly Resolution No. 194, published on December 11, 1948, Article 11, which states:

- Decides that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those of the refugees choosing not to return to their homes and for such property as is lost or damaged as the result of the whole or any part of the foregoing, in accordance with the principles of international law and in justice, to be paid by the Government or authorities responsible.

The State of Palestine sincerely thanks all the peoples and governments that have recognized it, numbering over 140 countries worldwide. Among them are the Vatican, the Holy See, the Kingdom of Sweden, and a large number of parliaments in the world. They demand from the world, and especially from the great influential powers, to use their influence to end the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine, stop settlement activities, and find a just solution in accordance with the decisions of international law, in order to achieve peace, justice, and security in the world, calling on Israel, the occupying country, to be held accountable for the crimes it has committed and continues to commit daily against the unarmed Palestinian population advocating for peace, freedom, and independence.

Just like all peoples on this earth, this people, despite the Nakba, still contributes to the enrichment of world civilization. The time has come for the occupying Israeli state to stop treating international law as if it were a state above the law and not applying international legal provisions.