The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor followed the US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a plan to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict entitled “Peace for Prosperity” which was celebrated by Israel and rejected by the Palestinians.
The Geneva-based Euro-Med Monitor highlighted in a press statement, on Wednesday, the American plan, which calls for stripping Palestinians of their rights in violation of international law, which would cause more suffering and violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Chairman of the Euro-Med Monitor, Ramy Abdu, considered that the main points of the plan suggest that it is one-sided in favor of Israel, in particular granting it full sovereignty over Jerusalem and giving it the green light to annex large areas of the West Bank. The plan would allow Israel to impose its sovereignty over the major settlement blocs, in violation of international resolutions that consider settlements illegal, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 from December 2016.
Abdu stressed that the failure to address the issue of more than five million Palestinian refugees in a responsible and fair manner reveals how this American proposal is faulty, which makes the chances of achieving peace under this plan unlikely.
The Euro-med Chairman emphasized that any plan that is not based on international law and does not guarantee the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, based on ending the Israeli military occupation, the right of Palestinian refugees to return, and the dismantling of Israeli settlements, is doomed to fail.
Abdu also pointed out that the American plan constitutes a violation of the United Nations resolutions regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, in which the proposed Palestinian state has been transformed into isolated cantons, giving the Palestinians a state without borders or crossings, as everything in this state remains subject to Israeli sovereignty and control, thus violating the principles of the International humanitarian law.
The Euro-Med Monitor called on the international community, especially the European Union, to reject the US/Israeli plan, especially with regard to giving Israel the green light to annex more Palestinian land, which constitutes a violation of international law and a dangerous indication of more violence in the region.
In this regard, the organization pointed out the need to adhere to the position of the European Union Council issued in 2009, and to ensure the adoption of a set of conclusions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict regarding reaching a two-state solution, including the EU’s announcement of not recognizing any changes to the pre-1967 borders such as in Jerusalem other than what is agreed upon by both parties.The EU has never recognized the annexation of East Jerusalem and assured previously that the state of Palestine’s capital should be in Jerusalem.
The Euro-Med Monitor urged taking practical and immediate measures conducive to restore respect for international law, enforce relevant United Nations resolutions concerning the two-state solution and ending the Israeli occupation.
In this regard, the Euro-Med Monitor warned against using the American plan to provide a cover to protect Israel and deny the Palestinians justice, given the announcement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last December that the preliminary investigation conducted in Palestine concluded that war crimes had been committed in the Occupied Palestinian territories, and that a comprehensive investigation should be conducted as soon as the territorial jurisdiction of the court is confirmed.
