Original article republished from MEMO under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Palestinians and UN workers examine the destroyed makeshift tents and shelters after Israeli attack hits a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school, killing and injuring many in Nuseirat Refugee Camp of Deir al-Balah, Gaza on July 15, 2024 [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu Agency]
The Basque Government has awarded UNRWA the 2024 Ignacio Ellacuria Prize for Cooperation and Solidarity as a result of its “dedication to the Palestinian people over 75 years in a context of continuous conflict”.
The jury highlighted “the more human side of the direct work that it carries out in favour of justice and human rights with the Palestinian population” and concluded that it deserves this award “because of the real risk of disappearing,” since “it would imply taking away the Palestinian population’s right to refuge and the right of return to their lands and homes.”
UNRWA works in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria and supports around 5.9 million Palestinians, providing them with education, medical care, camp infrastructure, microfinancing and other essentials.
Over the past few years, however, funding for the agency has been cut by donor states, while Israel has worked to defame and defund it.
Israel has lobbied hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.
I’ve been charged under the notorious s.12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 with expressing an opinion or belief in support of a proscribed organisation’.
It is clear that this is a clear attack on the right of people to express their opinions on the right of Palestinians to resist the genocidal Israeli military. It is perfectly fine to support Israel’s genocidal massacres but it is an offence to support any resistance.
This absurd situation is akin to criminalising the Resistance against the Nazi occupation of France. It is criminalising political opinion and has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. Suffice to say I shall be mounting a vigorous defence in support of Free Speech on Palestine.
…
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAGenocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.
The Israeli military launched an airstrike on the al-Qassam Mosque and its surroundings in Gaza City’s Nuseirat refugee camp on November 27, 2024. (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The Biden administration seems to be ready and willing to keep piling more and more, despite Gaza descending into what President Biden just yesterday described as ‘hell,'” said Amnesty International USA.
Just hours after a cease-fire between the Israeli government and Lebanese group Hezbollah took effect, the Financial Times revealed that “U.S. President Joe Biden has provisionally approved a $680 million weapons sale to Israel,” which has also spent the past nearly 14 months decimating the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the British newspaper reported that “U.S. officials recently briefed Congress on the plan to provide thousands of additional joint direct attack munition kits to Israel, known as JDAMS, as well as hundreds of small-diameter bombs.”
The Biden administration’s decision to advance the sale was subsequently confirmed by Reuters, which reported that “the package has been in the works for several months. It was first brought to the congressional committees in September then submitted for review in October.”
Human rights advocates critical of Israel’s assaults on Lebanon and Gaza—which has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—responded with alarm to the new reporting.
“If these reports are true, it’s heartbreakingly devastating news,” saidAmnesty International USA. “These are the weapons that our research has shown were used to wipe out entire families, without any discernable military objective.”
Amnesty highlighted a trio of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have halted some arms sales to Israel. Although they failed to pass the Senate last week, the group was among several that noted over the course of three votes, 17, 18, and 19 senators supported halting weapons sales, “sending a clear signal that U.S. policy must change.”
“Yet, the Biden administration seems to be ready and willing to keep piling more and more, despite Gaza descending into what President Biden just yesterday described as ‘hell,'” Amnesty added Wednesday. “Sending more weapons that have been used to maim and kill with impunity doesn’t just put in jeopardy Palestinian lives and the elusive cease-fire the president is seeking, but also President Biden’s own legacy.”
The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project declared Wednesday that “President Biden is spending the final days of his presidency going against the will of most Americans, U.S. law, and international law.”
“The weapons included in this package have been used by Israel in numerous apparent war crimes,” the organization noted. “On July 13, 2024, Israel attacked a so-called ‘safe zone’ in al-Mawasi, in which internally displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing at least 90 people and injuring hundreds more. A CNN investigation found that Israel carried out this attack with at least one JDAM.”
John Ramming Chappell, an adviser on legal and policy issues at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, similarly stressed that “these are the very same weapons that for months Israeli forces have used to kill Palestinian civilians and violate international humanitarian law.”
“Continuing arms transfers risks making the United States and US officials complicit in war crimes,” he said. “These arms sales are unlawful as a matter of both U.S. and international law. They are immoral. The congressional committees of jurisdiction can and must place a hold on the sales.”
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, pointed out that “aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity is itself a crime for which U.S. officials may (and should) face prosecution at the ICC.”
Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, though Palestine is. Both the Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser have attacked the warrants for Israeli leaders.
In a speech to Israelis on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that one of the reasons for the cease-fire in Lebanon “is to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks. And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission.”
According to the Financial Times:
U.S. officials have denied there is any explicit link between the cease-fire deal and approval for the latest weapons delivery. While the cease-fire deal includes a so-called side letter from the U.S. to Israel, setting out Washington’s support for a certain freedom of Israeli action, people familiar with the text said it included no guarantees of weapon sales.
U.S. officials also deny that there have been deliberate delays to weapons shipments, aside from shipments of 2,000-pound bombs, which Biden paused earlier this year over concerns about their use in densely populated areas of Gaza.
The Times of Israelreported that Biden’s State Department declined to confirm the advancement of the package but said that U.S. support for Israel in the face of Iran-backed threats is “unwavering” and all weapon transfers are carried out in line with federal law.
“We have made clear that Israel must comply with international humanitarian law, has a moral obligation and strategic imperative to protect civilians, investigate allegations of any wrongdoing, and ensure accountability for any abuses or violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law,” the State Department said.
As of Wednesday, officials in Gaza said the death toll had hit at least 44,282 Palestinians with another 104,880 people injured.
Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from people dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Source: IRNA
Israel is one of only four countries in the world that refuse to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention. It has also been accused of using banned substances against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon
Iran raised the issue of Israel’s refusal to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on Monday, November 25, claiming that this lack of accountability poses a grave risk to global peace and stability.
Iran’s Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, addressed the 29th session of the Conference of the State Parties to the CWC, which began in The Hague on Monday. He also called for international action against Israel for using chemical weapons, which are banned by international conventions, in Palestine and in Lebanon.
The CWC prohibits the development, production, storage, and use of all types of chemical weapons. It came into force in 1997 and has been signed and ratified by 193 countries. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague, serves as the implementing body of the CWC.
Gharibabadi alleged that Israel has used chemical weapons and other hazardous substances, including white phosphorus and depleted uranium, against Palestinians in Gaza and against people in Lebanon during its ongoing genocidal war. He called on the OPCW to conduct an investigation and take necessary steps to protect civilians.
“This regime, with the unconditional support of some Western countries, especially the United States, continues its crimes and enjoys immunity,” Gharibabadi said.
Israel is one of only four countries in the world that are not party to the CWC. While it has signed the convention, it has refused to ratify it. Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have neither signed nor ratified the treaty.
There have been several instances where international investigations have established Israel’s use of chemical weapons against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. During the ongoing war, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported Israel’s use of white phosphorus, a highly toxic substance, against civilians in Gaza. Although white phosphorus is not banned under the CWC, its use against civilians is considered illegal. Similarly, in September, the Syndicate of Chemists in Lebanon accused Israel of using depleted uranium during the bombings in Beirut. The use of depleted uranium is prohibited under international law.
Iran called for immediate UN sanctions on Israel for its continued violations of international humanitarian laws, as well as a complete economic, political, and military boycott of the Zionist regime.
The CWC should be universal
Iran emphasized the need for the universality of the CWC, claiming that Israel possesses a chemical weapons arsenal that threatens global peace and stability. It demanded the establishment of mechanisms to hold Israel accountable. Iran urged the international community to pressure Tel Aviv to join the CWC and place all its chemical weapons under the supervision of the OPCW.
Gharibabadi also rejected allegations made by the US and other Western countries regarding Iran’s alleged use of chemical weapons. He asserted that Tehran has fully complied with its obligations under the CWC and has placed all its chemical weapons under OPCW supervision.
The US has repeatedly accused Iran of developing chemical weapons. In July this year, the US imposed sanctions on an Iranian company, alleging that it was assisting the Iranian government in developing such substances.
In turn, Iran accused the US of violating the CWC on multiple occasions, including during its 2003 invasion of Iraq and by supplying weapons to Israel that are prohibited under OPCW regulations. The US has supplied billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, despite acknowledging that their use by Israel may have violated international humanitarian laws.
Gharibabadi claimed that the allegations against Iran are intended to divert global attention from the repeated use of chemical weapons by Israel or by groups supported by the US in the Middle East, such as armed factions fighting against state forces in Syria and Iraq, IRNA reported.
He also highlighted the US support for Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein during the war against Iran in the 1980s, despite being aware of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iranian forces. Estimates suggest that over 7,000 Iranians were killed as a result of these attacks. Nearly 75,000 Iranians are still receiving treatment for injuries caused by chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war.
Gharibabadi called for accountability for all countries, including the US, that supported Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran. He demanded that they be held responsible for their “illegal actions” and urged them to “take steps to compensate” Iranian victims.
Iran also highlighted how illegal US sanctions, imposed over time, have hindered the treatment of Iranian victims affected by chemical weapons attacks. It called on the OPCW to intervene and assist the victims.
Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from people dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
