It is with great alarm and distress that we, the undersigned Palestinian civil society organisations, human rights groups, networks, and coalitions address this urgent statement to the German Bundestag and Government in light of its recent resolution against the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement,[1] dangerously conflating the movement and anti-Semitism, while more broadly targeting all civil society actors working towards the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the Palestinian people and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We call on the German Government to refrain from adopting this resolution into law considering its serious ramifications for Palestinian civil society and its violation of Germany’s obligations as a third State party to ensure respect for international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

On Tuesday, 21 May 2019, Al-Haq received a delegation of Chilean Parliamentarians from different political parties, media and representatives of the Palestinian community in Chile. The visit, which was organized in coordination with the Department of Expatriates Affairs of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), aimed to brief the delegation on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and the latest developments on the ground.

Since 1967, Israel’s settlement enterprise has expanded throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in violation of international law, resulting in the establishment of more than 250 settlements and outposts, with more than 600,000 settlers illegally residing therein.^[1] Settlements obstruct the realisation of human rights for the Palestinian population, including inter alia, the right to self-determination and freedom of movement. In addition, settlements are often situated close to Palestinian villages and communities, resulting in increased incidents of settler violence and attacks against Palestinians.^[2]

On 30 March 2019, during the One-Year Commemoration of the Great Return March (GRM), the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) shot and killed Adham Nidal Omara, 17, a resident of Al-Sha’af neighbourhood, east of Gaza city, with a 40 mm explosive green cylindrical grenade. The grenade hit Adham in the lower face, completely destroying and disfiguring his face and eventually killing him.