Ramallah – June 13, 2019. Al Haq participated in a public session organized by the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Resource Centre on Israel’s increased destruction of property across Area C and East Jerusalem. Adv. Dalia Qumsieh, Al-Haq's senior legal advisor, addressed Israel’s recent legislative developments in area C. In its presentation, Al- Haq shed light on two main alarming legislative measures: the amendment of the Administrative Affairs Court law, and the adoption of Military Order 1797 that expands the authority of Israel's Civil Administration to carry out demolitions in Area C, effectively providing for the fast-tracking of forcible transfer of Palestinians and setting of the areas, for annexation.

The United States’ (US) Ambassador to Israel, Mr. David Friedman, stated in a New York Times interview on 8 June 2019 that Israel is entitled to "retain” or annex parts of the West Bank, in direct contradiction to international law.[1] Mr. Friedman directly stated, “under certain circumstances … Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank”.

1. WHAT IS THE GREAT RETURN MARCH?

The Great Return March is a mass grass root movement which commenced on Land Day, on 30 March 2018, coinciding with the relocation of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Palestinians participating in the Great Return March have been protesting against Israel’s 12-year imposed closure of the Gaza Strip which has brought Gaza to the brink of total collapse. The protesters have also called for the realisation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return, who were expelled and displaced following the Nakba in 1948, and who constitute approximately 73 percent of the population in Gaza.^[1] In its essence, the Great Return March also calls for an end to Israel’s prolonged occupation, exemplified in its policies and measures to colonise and annex the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). In response, Israel and its forces have relentlessly, deliberately and indiscriminately used excessive and lethal force against Palestinian civilians and protesters, including children, health workers, journalists and people with disabilities.

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.