The Palestine National Council (PNC) condemned the series of racist laws approved by the Israeli Knesset and its various committees, which comes in the context of legitimizing the occupation and perpetuating its racist regime.

            The Council confirmed that the Israeli Knesset has become a full partner in all crimes of the occupation and terrorizing our people and their land, exert pressure, blackmail and distort the struggle of our people through the law of theft and piracy of Palestinian tax revenues and allocations of the families of martyrs and prisoners in Israeli jails.

            The National Council considered that the Israeli Knesset’s adoption of what is known “ the law of extraditing the bodies of the martyrs “ is a new crime to be added to the crimes committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people for violations of the Geneva and Hague Conventions which apply to the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.

            The Council stressed that the Knesset approval , in its second and third readings, of  the draft law on the revocation of residency permits of Jerusalemites Palestinians, under the pretext of carrying out operations against Israel, was an attack on international law, international humanitarian law, aims at evacuating the Palestinians from the occupied city of Jerusalem, where the number of Jerusalemites whose residency has been withdrawn since 1967 so far more than 15 thousand Palestinian citizens.

The Council confirmed that the approval by the Israeli ministerial committee of legislation of a bill that includes depriving the Palestinians of the Israeli Supreme Court, especially in cases related to the confiscation of their land and stealing them in favor of the settlers, aims to legitimize this colonial settlement policy.

            The Council called upon all parliamentary associations and relevant human rights organizations to condemn and reject the policy of the Israeli Knesset and to take decisive and deterrent measures against this parliament, which claims democracy and at the same time, continues to issue such laws that violate human rights, and international conventions. Such policy violates all international legitimacy decisions relevant to the Palestinian cause.    

The Palestine National Council (PNC) addressed the regional and international Parliamentary associations on the decision of Israeli’s Jerusalem municipality to collect property taxes from the churches in the occupied city of Jerusalem and from monasteries, religious shrines, institutions, real estate and land owned by churches and the UN in the occupied Jerusalem, to be applied retroactively from 1967. This came in the framework of the insistence of the occupation authorities to continue their plans to Judaize, to end the Palestinian Christian and Islamic presence in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The Council calls on the international community to pressure the Israeli government to abolish and not just freeze this false measure which violates agreements and the historic status quo that has existed since the Ottoman period in the holy city, as symbol of coexistence and tolerance of the Christian-Islamic religions.

The Council also warns of the approval of the Knesset Ministerial Committee for legislation of the church land bill that would allow Israel, the occupying power, to expropriate land in the occupied city, and therefore demands that the IPU take decisive action before it is too late.

The Council appeals to the Vatican and the world to intervene quickly to force the Israeli occupation to stop the harassment and persecution of churches to seize their property.

The occupation municipality of Jerusalem announced that it will collect about 191 million US dollars from 887 assets and properties owned by these churches including hospitals, schools, homes and residences of monks, priests and bishops, and end the tax exemptions for church-owned properties existed since Ottoman times. The occupation municipality threatened to put liens on churches bank accounts and confiscate their properties if taxes were not paid, In addition, the decision will burden churches and their property in the occupied city, especially since these institutions do not receive any compensation from government agencies or from the Palestinian National Authority. But manage their financial affairs by theirself and provide many services, which include not only religions but also social ones to those in need of the community of occupied Jerusalem.

The Palestine National Council affirms that the Israeli occupation authority with this arbitrary and illegitimate measure has flagrantly violated all existing international conventions, historical customs and obligations guaranteeing the rights and privileges of the Churches, with the aim of changing the historical and legal status of the Holy Places, including Christian religious institutions through ending the tax exemptions for church-owned properties and through the issuance of laws granting the occupying power the right to confiscate or purchase or, at least, cement its grip on church properties in the occupied city.

The Council considers that the Israeli measures to impose taxes on churches, an aggression against Jerusalem, its Christian and Islamic sanctities, which are invalid, since they stem from an illegal occupation. This is an attempt to pressure the Christian religious institutions to leave the city of Jerusalem and cut their religious, humanitarian and spiritual role in the service of the Palestinian Jerusalemite community

The Speaker of the Palestine National Council (PNC), Saleem Al- Za’noon stated that preparations are underway for the convening of the PNC no later than May 5, and that the exact date of the meeting would be announced during the upcoming meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, on next Wednesday.

 Speaking to Voice of Palestine today (4-3-2018), Al- Za’noon said preparations were well underway for the PNC session, which would likely be held with the attendance of current members following Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s prior lack of response till now to the invitation to attend the PNC upcoming session.

 Despite their lack of response to the invitation, Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements would be re-invited to attend the session following the announcement of its date, he added.

 Commenting on the agenda of the session, Al- Za’noon concluded that filling the vacant positions of PLO Executive Committee’s members or electing new one would be placed as an item on the agenda.

The Palestine National Council (PNC) calls, in identical memoranda sent by its speaker Saleem Al-Za’anoon, to eleven regional and international parliamentary unions and associations, on their head, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to enlist the Israeli parliament as racist, anti-democratic and anti-human rights.
Speaker Al-Za’anoon called on them to take firm measures against the series of laws and legislations initiated by the Israeli Parliament, against the human rights and the rights of the Palestinian people, which are based on racism and hatred, as this parliament is in the process of enacting racist and fascist laws against the Palestinian people.
The National Council called on these unions and associations to pressure the Israeli Knesset to immediately stop the enactment of such legislations as a clear and direct violation of the goals and objectives of the parliamentary unions and associations and their conditions of membership, and to consider such legislations null and void.
The National Council pointed out that since 2014, more than 160 laws and bills have been brought before the Knesset, violating human rights, international treaties and the foundations of fair legislation, which are supposed to be consistent with international law.
The National Council confirmed, through the, that memoranda the extension of the legislation mandate of the Israeli Knesset to the territory of the State of Palestine under occupation is a grave violation of all international legitimacy resolutions, the latest of which are UN Security Council Resolutions 2334 of December 2016 and the violation of all international normative treaties of international humanitarian law, which obliges the authorities on the occupying power to respect the legal regime prevailing over the occupied territory.
The National Council pointed out that the Knesset has become one of the most prominent systems of legitimizing the occupation and its crimes, such as a bill to apply Israeli law to academic institutions in the West Bank settlements as part of a plan to annex it to Israeli sovereignty and a bill to deduct the Palestinian tax revenues on the pretext of supporting the families of prisoners, the murdered and the wounded. The draft law calling for the execution of Palestinian prisoners, the law on the withdrawal of Jerusalemites’ residency, the law of defining the bodies of the murdered, which restricts the handover of the bodies of the murdered to their family unless conditions are met such as not performing funerals and burial services, the law of the arrest of children and sentencing them. In addition to other unfair laws that bluntly violate the principles and rules of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and United Nations resolutions, and put all the crimes of the occupation under the guise of the so-called law.

The National Council also confirmed that the support and backing of Israeli murderers comes from the occupation government and also from Israeli governmental organizations and institutions for their release and provision of monthly salaries to them, which comes in light of the rise of racism and fascism in the Israeli society and support of extremism and terrorism against the Palestinian people.
The National Council notes that the tsunami of racist legislation falls in the context of double standards adopted by the Knesset of the occupying power. For example, after Yoram Shakolnik, who killed Palestinian prisoner Musa Suleiman Abu Sabha on 23/3/1993 who was handcuffed, he received higher monthly salary from the Israeli government and salaries from the National Insurance establishment. After his release, he also received government assistance to open a commercial project. Shakolnick is a model and example of the Israeli government’s encouragement to execute detainees, commit war crimes and provide protection to criminals.
The National Council pointed out that 99% of the Jewish murderers who committed crimes against Palestinians have been released, legally and socially supported, shielded and protected by the Israeli government and extremist organizations in Israel. This confirms that the Israeli occupation and Knesset support organized crime and both act as a shield for it sympathizing with the killers and issuing superficial judgment against them.
The National Council requests that this memorandum to be circulated to member parliaments of international unions and forums and to invite them to join efforts to stop the Israeli Knesset’s Legitimization of the occupation and its crimes.

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) said that a bill to include higher education institutions in Israeli settlements in the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty is part of a plan to annex settlements in the West Bank, which the Knesset is expected to ratify soon. This comes a long side with the practical application of the decision of the ruling Likud Party to annex the West Bank to Israeli sovereignty.
The PNC said in a statement issued by its speaker Saleem Al-Zanoon on Wednesday that Israel is continuing its policy of defying the will of the international community, the international law and violating international legitimacy resolutions, the latest of which is resolution 2334 where it considered the settlement in all its forms is illegal, and called on Israel to immediately cease all its settlement policies in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including the city of Jerusalem.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union, in particular, and other regional parliamentary associations, called for the rejection and condemnation of this racist law that falls within the settlement policy led by the occupation government and aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital, as well as violating the Geneva Conventions which considers settlements are a crime and perpotrators must be held accountable.
He called on the United Nations to bear its' responsibilities and work to confront the Israeli flagrant challenges to its resolutions, save the two-state solution, take steps to stop Israel's violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and stop the policy of ignoring the occupation and its racism which is destroying any possibility of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause.
The bill calls for the abolition of the Council of Higher Education in charge of Israeli academic institutions in the settlements established in the 1967 occupied territories and transferring the responsibility to the Israeli Ministry of Education. These institutions include: Ariel University, Elkana College (Salfit District), Alon Shabot College Jerusalem) and the Herzog College in Alon Shvut settlement near the Bethlehem and Jerusalem Governorates

The Trump Administration informed the United Nations that it had frozen $65 million to be paid earlier this year and decided not to pay $45 million worth of food aid to Palestinian refugees, all this in the context of its blackmail and punitive measures against the Palestinian Arab people and their leadership. This Trump’s behavior comes in full unison and concord with the Israeli policies.

The Palestine National Council would like to recall that the establishment of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s Services UNRWA came on the background of the catastrophic repercussions of the Catastrophe (Nakba) of 1948, which led to ethnic cleansing that led to the displacement of more than three quarters of a million Palestinian who were scattered, in that period, in the countries surrounding Palestine, beside the part unoccupied of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These repercussions led the international community to adopt Resolution 194, which was rejected by Israel. Followed by Resolution 302 (4) of December 8, 1949, which established UNRWA as interim measure pending implementation of the abovementioned Resolution 194.

For more them sixty-five years, the United States has been the largest single donor to UBRWA and has consistently praised UNRWA’s quality, transparent and accountable services. In early 2017, with the arrival of President Trump, the Israeli entity requested the US administration cut its financial contributions to UNRWA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally asked US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley to do her best to dismantle UNRWA and transfer of its services to the UNHCR, the main UN refugee agency.

The US administration has required the Agency to change the curriculum of its schools in order to write off all its assets related to the right of return and the Palestinian refugees issue, to relinquish the identity of Jerusalem as the capital of the desired Palestinian state, to renounce the struggle against the occupation, or the expression of Palestinian Intifada (uprising) and the cancellation of activities and festivals related to special events of the Palestinian cause, all these American requirements should be met in order to ensure the continuation of US support for UNRWA, which will be confined only to the regions of Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territories, excluding Syria and Lebanon, from the five areas of operation.

The main objective of these great pressures is to efface the Palestinian identity and to falsity the history and facts on which the Palestinian generation has been raised, and has became well aware of it, and has even influenced its behavior with the Israeli occupier.There have been explicit American and Israeli call for the amendment of the Palestinian curriculum, because it succeeded in establishing and raising generations capable of standing up, challenging , facing the occupation and adhering to national principles. The Palestinian curricula are based on international educational laws. The general principles of the Palestinian curriculum are derived from the General philosophy of the Palestinian Arab society and derive its principles from its heritage, religion, values, customs, traditions and the aspiration of the Palestinian people towards the future.

The Palestine National Council affirms that these steps conceal an Israeli-American goal that seeks to get ride of the most important issues embodied and bearing the Palestinian issue, namely the Palestinian refugee issue, through several steps, most notably, the freezing of financial allocations to the agency with the aim of reducing and paralyzing its services, dismantling and emptying it of all political implications, as the survival of its existence means the continuation of issue of refugees and Palestinian comps as witnesses to the Nakba, as well as what is related to this issue of international resolutions such as Resolution 194, which calls for the return of refugees. These steps will be followed by an attempt to dispose of and dismantle the Palestinian camps, to resettle and absorb the refugees living there.

The Palestine National Council warns of the grave consequences of the Trump administration decisions on Palestinian refugees. Which will put them at risk in all of the five areas of UNRWA operations in which it provides its services, increase the funding crisis and reduce the basic services that have already been reduced in the health and education sectors. This will also endanger the lives of about 75% of the refugees. The suffering and crisis will affect the camps in the Gaza strip, the West Bank and the diaspora, including more than 1 million Gazans living on relief assistance provided by UNRWA, which will bead to a real humanitarian disaster.

UNRWA faces a formidable challenge in upholding its mandate and preserving key services like education and health care for Palestine Refugees. This reduced contribution threatens one of the most successful and innovative human development endeavors on the Middle-East. At stake is the access of 525’000 boys and girls in 700 UNRWA schools, and their future. At state is the dignity and human security of millions of Palestine refugees, in need of emergency food assistance and other support in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At state is the access of refugees to primary health care, including pre-natal care and other life-saving services. At stake are the rights and dignity of an entire community. The reduced contribution also impacts regional security at a time when the Middle East faces multiple risks and threats, notably that of further radicalization and terrorism.

Based on all of the above, the Palestine National Council calls on you and appeals to you to :
First : Refusing to harm the UNRWA Agency, insisting on maintaining its mission, linking the termination of its work with the implementation of Resolution 194 which calls for refugees return and compensation in accordance with the Agency’s founding decision. And refusing all attempts to transfer its functions to host countries.
Second : calling on all partners-host Arab countries and donors- to further increase their mobilization in support of the Agency’s services, which must continue until the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes, recalling the profound responsibility by the international community of states to assist the Palestine refugees, and continue UNRWA services of education, health care, relief and social services, which must continue until a just and lasting solution has been found.