On the anniversary of Palestine’s division, the International Commission “Hashd” urges for actions to restore Palestinian unity, activate transitional justice projects, and allow Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights.

Number: 45/2023

Date: June 14, 2023

Native language: Arabic

Press release

On the anniversary of Palestine’s division, the International Commission “Hashd” urges for actions to restore Palestinian unity, activate transitional justice projects, and allow Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights.

Tomorrow, June 14, 2023, commemorates the 16th anniversary of the horrific events of June 2007, which saw the cruelest actions and breaches of internal Palestinian violence in modern Palestinian history, resulting in hundreds of victims and a state of internal Palestinian division.

This painful memory is accompanied by realistic indicators showing the failure of Palestinian forces, Palestinian society in general, and the two parties to the division in particular, to restore national unity through the implementation of successive reconciliation agreements, resulting in the continuation of the approach to managing the internal division, which contributed to the collapse and disruption of the role of Palestinian political institutions. This has led to an unparalleled level of exclusivity and exclusion in the management of national institutions and public affairs ended up resulting in the imposition of obstacles to the execution of reconciliation accords and the disruption of all national, regional, and international organizations, Egyptian and Algerian efforts to complete reconciliation and disrespect, apart from the lack of respect for the principles of the rule of law and the decisions of the national and popular consensus in a scene that confirms the unwillingness to fold split page; And addressing its causes and adverse effects.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd) expressed sadness at the continuing internal divide and the consequences for the cause and the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian people’s capacity to fulfill their national goal and rid themselves of the Israeli occupation has been hindered by the divide and its continuation since everyone recognizes that the only benefit of this division is the occupation.

Where he took advantage of this era of division to increase the assault against the Palestinian people by stealing lands, establishing settlements, breaching holy places, performing field executions, and continuing to attack and suffocate the Gaza Strip.

During the bitter years of division, full of sins and pains, catastrophic and dangerous results accumulated, seriously affecting the overall human rights situation in Palestine and negatively affecting the executive, judicial, and legislative institutions of the political system and the rule of law, as citizens’ enjoyment of the system of rights and freedoms declined significantly, and human rights institutions recorded an increase in the level of violations which took plunder in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and for which no party can evade its responsibility towards it, whether the authority represented by the president or the successive Palestinian governments from 2007 to the present day.

The President of the Authority’s monopoly over the three powers is perhaps the most serious repercussion of the division, as he expanded the scope of his competence to enact legislation, control the prime minister’s institution, control the appointment and dismissal of judges, the formation of the Constitutional Court, the dissolution of the Legislative Council and cutting some of its salaries and referring employees to early and compulsory retirement.

What caused the Palestinian political system to gradually lose elements of democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, and the separation of powers, and instead, an individualistic factional political system that disrupts periodic elections and practices systematic exclusion of others, contributing to an increased in internal violations of public rights and freedoms, as well as the deterioration of economic, social, and cultural rights.

Particularly in the Gaza Strip, because the structure of the Palestinian economy, as a result of occupation policies and processes, is defined by characteristics that preclude it from developing. Then followed attack, siege, and division to put an end to it.

The International Commission (Hashd), reminding of the necessity and importance of responding to the Palestinian people’s desire to restore national unity; and halting human rights violations, exclusivity, and procrastination in the transition to the square of national reconciliation and holding comprehensive elections, avoiding everything that would deepen internal divisions and rebuilding the institutions of the political system based on democracy, in a way that is consistent with the principles of democracy.

In a way that enables agreement on a national program and strategy and the election of a unified leadership that continues to lead the national struggle to confront the crimes of the Israeli occupation addressing current national risks and challenges; It records and confirms the following:

• The International Commission (Hashd): emphasizes the importance of committing to respecting popular will and moving toward holding parliamentary and presidential elections, as well as the National Council, in a way that rebuilds all institutions of the Palestinian political system based on partnership and democracy, in a way that guarantees to find legal and political solutions to all problems that arose as a result of the state of division, and then it is required to.

• The International Commission (Hashd): Urges the patriotic community to form a pressured popular bloc to ensure that the president and political leaders fulfill their legal and moral obligations to the Palestinian people and the Supreme Court’s reconciliation, by taking immediate and concrete steps to restore national unity, particularly in light of current circumstances and risks, and to accelerate the implementation of national reconciliation agreements and responses.

• The International Commission (Hashd): believes that the transitional justice approach, in all of its applications, provides a scientific and practical foundation for the implementation of Palestinian national reconciliation, as it ensures, to a large extent, the attainment of justice, the healing of wounds, the end of internal division, and the preservation of Palestinian political system gains.

Finished.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd)