Date: 19 August 2019

Today, 19 August 2019, marks the 16^th anniversary of World Humanitarian Day, designated by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to commemorate the August 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. On this day, Al-Haq recognizes the selflessness of aid workers across the globe and calls attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) condemn as unlawful Israel’s denial of entry to esteemed United States Congresswomen, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), subjected to a continued Nakba since 1948 and under Israeli military occupation since 1967. In particular, PHROC reiterates that Israel, as temporary military occupant of the Palestinian territory i.e. the Gaza Strip and West Bank including Jerusalem, has exceeded its competence under international law, by unlawfully applying provisions of Israeli domestic law to prevent the entry of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), into the territory. This stands in stark violation of Israel’s limited competence as military occupant governing territory over which it does not have sovereign rights, as outlined under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations and Article 64 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. PHROC asserts that Israel’s denial of access to the US Congresswomen represents an annexationist measure. Israel is clearly overreaching the application of its domestic law to the OPT, violating the Palestinian right to self-determination, and gravely violating the personal rights of the Congresswomen to freedom of movement and freedom of expression and public assembly.

Al-Haq submitted its shadow report to the ninety-ninth session of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with regard to its review of State of Palestine’s initial and second periodic reports, in relation to Palestine’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), to which the State of Palestine has acceded without reservations and according to which it must adopt appropriate measures and means, without delay, to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. Al-Haq has followed with interest the interactive dialogue between CERD Committee members and the official delegation of the State of Palestine during the Committee’s ninety-ninth session, which took place on 13 and 14 August 2019 at the UN Office in Geneva. In light of the responses given by the delegation of the State of Palestine during the review by the Committee, Al-Haq considers it important to submit a follow-up report.

1. In examining the State of Palestine’s initial and second periodic reports (hereinafter ‘State report’ or ‘the report’),[1] submitted to the ninety-ninth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter CERD or ‘the Committee’), Al-Haq affirms the importance of examining the broader context of Israel’s prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory since 1967. At the same time, Al-Haq stresses that this context does not absolve the State of Palestine of its obligation to give effect to the provisions and purposes of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD or ‘the Convention’),[2] to which it has acceded without reservations. In assessing the obligations of the State of Palestine under the Convention, the Committee should consider the simultaneous applicability of international humanitarian law, in particular the law of belligerent occupation, to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in addition to applicable norms of public international law. Al-Haq urges the Committee to consider the conclusions of the 2017 report by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which concluded that Israel has established an apartheid regime over Palestinians, based on the strategic fragmentation of the Palestinian people.[3] In addition, Al-Haq calls on the Committee to examine the State of Palestine’s report in light of Israel’s widespread and systematic human rights violations committed against Palestinians, including policies and practices of racial discrimination and segregation, constituting the crime of apartheid.