MP Jamal Al-Khudari, Chairman of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, affirmed that the Gaza Strip lacks its most basic legitimate rights, which is to live freely without Israeli siege and restrictions, on the International Human Rights Day approved by the United Nations.
In a press statement issued today, Thursday 10-12-2020, Al-Khudari stressed that the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza for 14 years is inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“The international community is required to assume its responsibilities towards lifting the blockade, and pressure the occupation to do so, and move from the circle of reactions and decisions to implementation on the ground,” he said.
He pointed out that the international community is not taking practical steps to lift the siege despite the collective punishment it constitutes of more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, which has been approved by the statements of UN officials more than once.
He said, “The international and international institutions issue shocking data, figures and statistics about the reality of Gaza, and these numbers increased a step and catastrophic with the outbreak of the Corona epidemic, but in return they do not work sufficiently to save Gaza from the blockade and Corona.”
Al-Khudari mentioned the recent report issued by the United Nations, which estimated Gaza’s losses during the years of the blockade at 16.7 billion dollars (indirect losses far exceed this number), which obligated it to put real pressure to lift the blockade and address its effects, but it did not do so.
Al-Khudari stressed that Gaza is living the longest siege in contemporary history, and that the occupation deals with the matter as if it were a fact and a fait accompli, which is what it is trying to install on the ground and in front of the world.
Al-Khudari reiterated that unemployment rates are high, especially among the youth, reaching about 60%, while 85% live below the poverty line, and the average daily per capita income does not exceed $ 2.
He pointed out that Gaza is still under the tight siege, while Jerusalem suffers from Judaization, annexation, demolition of homes and the seizure of lands under various pretexts, while the West Bank lives under the weight of settlements, whether by expanding the list or building new ones, and the Apartheid Wall.
Al-Khudari called on the parties that sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and whose principles have been approved, to work fairly to save the entire Palestinian situation, which is subject to a serious violation of its legitimate rights.