------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 10:19:23 +0200
Subject: For moderation - Jerusalem: 50 Years of UN Resolution 194 and Universal Declaration
of Human
Rights
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
The following statement will be presented as part of a press conference to be
held by the Lobby for Human Rights in Jerusalem on 17-12-1998 (11:00 am,
Worldvision office, East Jerusalem):
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CALL for RESTITUTION and PROTECTION of PALESTINIAN RIGHTS in JERUSALEM
Issued by the Lobby for Human Rights in Jerusalem
on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, UN Resolution
194, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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Our Jerusalem is a Jerusalem of eviction, displacement and disownership caused
by the establishment and expansion of the Zionist Israeli state in our region.
Between 1948 and 1998, Israeli occupation policies have resulted in:
EVICTION
- 80,000 Palestinians from western Jerusalem (1948);
- 35,000 Palestinian from East Jerusalem (1967);
- 60-70,000 Palestinians Jerusalemites forced into exile or migration
(1968-1998);
- Thousands of Palestinian children of Jerusalem denied registration as
residents of the city
(1982 - 1998);
- More than 4,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites turned homeless refugees as a
result of the Israeli policy of ID card confiscation (1996 - 1998);
EXPROPRIATION
- Some 35,000 dunums (35 sqkm) of Palestinian lands and over urban 10,000
homes, in addition to commercial enterprises (1948);
- 67,700 dunums (92.7%) of Palestinian lands confiscated, declared as "green
land", or otherwise inaccessible for Palestinian housing construction in
occupied and annexed East Jerusalem (1967 - 1998);
- Some 50 Palestinian homes designated annually for demolition. 96 homes
demolished since the signing of the Oslo Accords (1993 - 1998);
- Extraction of illegal taxation serving the Israeli occupation (1967 - 1998);
- Denial of Palestinian access to work and vital services in their capital
(military closure, 1993 - 1998);
- Interruption of Palestinian public services by outlawing Palestinian
institutions (1994 - 1998)
The correction of 50 years of cumulative injustice and damage is a basic
requirement for peaceful coexistence in our multi-cultural and multi-ethnic
city. What is at stake is not commemoration, but implementation of all
international declarations and resolutions which confirm and protect Palestinian
rights in Jerusalem (especially UN Resolution 194 (Right of Return and
Compensation), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Fourth Geneva
Convention.
We, members of the Lobby for Human Rights in Jerusalem as part of our
Palestinian community in Jerusalem, demand:
>From the PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP
a) to develop a comprehensive strategy for the defense of Palestinian Jerusalem
which includes support and protection to Palestinian Jerusalemites threatened by
eviction, as well as an active role for community based initiatives of
resistance and steadfastness against the Israeli occupation;
b) to raise the Palestinian right to restitution in all state and international
forums established to arrange for the restitution of victims of the Nazi crimes.
(Palestinians were exiled and disowned as a result of the Nazi crimes in Europe
and their right to restitution must be raised in this context;)
c) to guarantee that any agreement negotiated and signed with Israel in the
future will address the problems listed above and provide for the re-instatement
of the rights of those evicted and disowned in the past.
>From the INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
a) to respect international resolutions and standards which can protect
Palestinian rights in Jerusalem and provide for their restitution (illegality of
occupation, repatriation, return of property and compensation);
b) to pressure Israel to abide to the standards set by these resolutions and
standards, especially UN Resolution 181 and 194, Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
>From ISRAEL
a) to stop all violations of Palestinian human rights in Jerusalem committed on
the basis of the illegal occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967,
especially land confiscation, house demolition, denial of residency rights, and
discriminatory planning policies;
b) to abstain from all double standards in regards to lost Jewish and lost
Palestinian property, i.e. to freeze all questionable refugee assets held by
the Custodian for Absentee Property or other state institutions; to abstain from
the transfer of refugee property to private Jewish ownership; to open government
and private institutional records related to lost refugee properties;
c) to provide for the restitution of Palestinian rights in Jerusalem based on
international resolutions, conventions, and standards - including repatriation,
return of property and compensation.
Jerusalem, 10 December 1998
Lobby for Human Rights in Jerusalem
(Addameer, al-Haq, BADIL Resource Center, Citizen's Rights Center-Arab Thought
Forum, Freedom's Defense Center, Jerusalem Center for Women, Palestine Human
Rights Information Center, Women's Center for Legal Aid & Counseling, Women's
Affairs Technical Committee)
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An Arabic version of this statement is available. For further details, contact
the Lobby for Human Rights in Jerusalem via BADIL Resource Center, tel/fax.
02-2747346, email: [log in to unmask]
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