Press Releases

Legal position from the century deal Hit the right of self-determination

The United States called for a workshop in Manama on June 25-26 to focus on the economic aspects of a US peace plan between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinians whose political details have not revealed. The Palestinian leadership confirmed in May not to participate in the conference, and said that no one consulted it about the economic workshop, saying that no party has the right to negotiate on its behalf.

This conference and workshop affect the right of the Palestinian people in self-determination, which is guaranteed by the international charters. The right to self-determination is a term in international law which means that the people or the local population has the power to determine the form of power they want and the way to achieve it freely and without outside interference. This right is not only political but also economic, social and cultural. Here is the importance of this right, as affirmed in the Charter of the United Nations of 1945 and the International Covenants of 1966.

The right to self-determination is a collective, and not an individual, right. In the mean that this right cannot be exercised only by one individual or group of individuals. But it is for a large number of people, including common links, such as language, history, culture. International law has restricted this right by several restrictions. The right to self-determination is limited to two situations. First, it is the situation of peoples under colonial or occupation, under which they have the right to be rid of foreign occupation or racial discrimination and to govern themselves. The second is the situation of minorities subjected to persecution or racial discrimination organized by the State.

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people in self-determination, including the right of an independent State. The resolution urged all States, specialized agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to support the Palestinian people and to assist them in achieving their right to self-determination as soon as possible.

The General Assembly confirmed the urgent need to proceed without delay to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions. The General Assembly confirmed the need to respect and maintain the unity, integrity and integrity of the entire occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

If the right to self-determination is based on the right of the oppressed peoples to self-determination, that is to say, freedom from colonialism and domination and the establishment of independent states with an independent political entity based on the equal rights of the peoples, it is only natural that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, In which he lived for thousands of years, in accordance with the provisions of international law and to work to achieve this by all possible means.

UNRWA is an international organization that has a specific purpose and its existence is linked to Palestinian refugees. Any attempt to abolish this organization without the return of refugees is a violation of General Assembly resolution 302, which UNRWA established by it.

The Bahrain conference is an attempt to normalize relations between the Arab countries and the Israeli occupation without addressing the Palestinian issue properly and without reference to the Palestinian will.

In light of these dangers to the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness) calls for the following:

1.     The United Nations has full responsibility for the Palestinian cause and for the implementation of its international resolutions.

2.      The European Union, the League of Arab States and other regional organizations to intervene immediately and press on the American administration to urge them to retreat from the decisions to liquidate the Palestinian cause and destroy the international law system.

3.     UNRWA's budget should be shifted from an independent budget based on voluntary contributions only to a fixed budget as part of the UN budget until the refugee issue is resolved and returned to their homes.

Beirut, 27/6/2019

Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness)