Palestine today expressed dismay at efforts to undermine the Human Rights Council (HRC) and its Independent Commission of Inquiry on the occupied territories, today said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in a statement.
“The State of Palestine is dismayed by the ongoing efforts of selected actors to undermine the Human Rights Council and its Independent Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and on Israel,” it said. “Such efforts undermine the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to justice and undercut the Council’s own values.”
The statement added: “There is only one set of rules that apply to all, without exception. Our multilateral system cannot and must not tolerate the kind of arrogance, double standards, hypocrisy, or exceptionalism that some actors are displaying. States cannot call themselves champions of human rights and celebrate their return to multilateralism if they are actively seeking to exclude the Palestinian people from that system and the avenues to justice it provides. The multilateral system is not the property of one or two actors; it is by all of us and for all of us.”
It went on to say: “The Palestinian people are not the exception to the rules-based order. On the contrary, the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom and justice remain a pivotal test of the efficacy of the multilateral system and its principles.”
The Foreign Ministry, while defending the work of the independent commission, accused Israel of obstructing the work of the HRC and its independent commission of inquiry.
“Israel’s politicization maneuvers obstruct the work of the Human Rights Council as an independent human rights body. Unlike inimical statements peddled by few actors, the Commission of Inquiry is the product of multilateral consultation and the consolidation of years and thorough investigations into and reporting on Israel’s grave violations by United Nations experts, Human Rights Treaty bodies, and international organizations, whose work remain at the core of the Human Rights Council,” said the Foreign Ministry.
It urged the international community to immediately end Israel’s occupation and stop shielding or rewarding the occupation.
“The Commission was clear: Israel’s illegal occupation is the underlying root cause of the ongoing violence. Rather than entertain attempts at shielding the occupier and rewarding it with more impunity, the State of Palestine urges the international community to immediately end Israel’s illegal occupation and dismantle its apartheid regime,” the Ministry concluded its statement.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)