LAW Conference Declaration
21 June 2000
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of LAW: the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, over 700 individuals and representatives of groups from more than twenty- six countries around the world came together at a conference on "Culture and Community in Jerusalem: Strategies to Protect and Promote Human Rights" to examine the plight of the Palestinian community in Jerusalem and means to protect them and the religious rights of communities around the world.
The international conference underlined the central importance of Jerusalem to the resolution of the conflict in the Middle East. Jerusalem is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and the former home of tens of thousands displaced and evicted from West Jerusalem during the 1948 war. The conference recognises the symbiotic link between the Palestinian people, Jerusalem and religious communities around the world. It is the spiritual centre for Muslims, Christians and Jews. This status has been recognised in international law and has been regularly reaffirmed by the international community. The conference reiterated unequivocally that Jerusalem is and remains the capital of the Palestinian people.
Considering the above, the conference condemned the systematic violations of human rights in Jerusalem the city and the attempts to change the city’s status through occupation. It also condemned Israel’s actions aimed at creating “facts on the ground" that predetermines the outcome of any peace negotiations and of policies aimed at ethnic cleansing of the historic Palestinian community in the city. The conference further condemned the infringement of religious rights of the Palestinian people and others and the failure to protect and grant free access to the holy places of the city. The conference thereby reiterates the condemnation by UN resolutions of these measures, which have been declared null and void.
The conference noted that the future of the entire city was a subject for negotiation and recalled Israel's illegal ethnic cleansing of West Jerusalem: its confiscation of Palestinian owned land amounting to 70 per cent of West Jerusalem. Palestinian refugees from West Jerusalem have inalienable rights including the right of return, citizenship and compensation.
The conference viewed with great concern the continuation of policies by Ehud Barak's Government leading to grave breaches of international humanitarian law and of the human rights of the Palestinian people. This includes the removal of residency rights of Palestinian Jerusalemites, the demolition of Palestinian homes, the confiscation of Palestinian land, the denial of adequate public services and the building of settlements on Palestinian land. The expansion of the settlements and bypass roads inside and outside Jerusalem represents a serious threat to peace. In particular, the conference was appalled to hear of the demolition of a Palestinian home at Walajah in Jerusalem during its proceedings.
The conference also condemned the continued detention of Palestinian political prisoners, including those from Jerusalem, in violation of signed agreements and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
The conference also heard from Bedouin communities, who are still being forcibly evicted from their land in and around Jerusalem as well as in Israel. Such evictions, intended to make way for the expansion of Israeli settlements, are a violation of human rights and have serious consequences for these communities and their way of life.
The conference deplored the use of measures intended to diminish and block the development of a sustainable, viable Palestinian community in Jerusalem. For many years now, the closure of Jerusalem has isolated the city from Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel's unfair economic and planning policies have reduced development further through discrimination in fiscal policy, whereby Palestinians pay disproportionate taxes for inferior services from the municipality. The refusal to provide adequate education, health and welfare services has resulted in grave violations of economic and social rights.
On the occasion of LAW’s tenth anniversary, the International Conference on Culture and Community in Jerusalem calls upon the world community to reaffirm the importance of Jerusalem to the Palestinian people and to the resolution of the conflict in the Middle East. Jerusalem rests at the heart of any peace settlement.
The conference reminds the international community that Jerusalem is under occupation by Israel, as are large areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Attempts by Israel to change the status of the city, like measures on the ground or the self-declared unlawful formalisation of its occupation by annexation, are illegal. Ending this occupation should come about through the full withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as required by UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. The conflict over Jerusalem can only be resolved with the consent of the Palestinian people, through the just resolution of land issues and the implementation of UN resolutions concerning refugees. Any resolution of the issue of Jerusalem must be based on international law, leading to a free and open city for all peoples regardless of nationality, race or religion.
The conference calls for an immediate end to Israeli measures leading to grave breaches of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Israel has exploited the postponement of negotiations on Jerusalem to pursue resolutely a series of racist policies aimed at ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian community.
The conference calls for the international community to take all necessary measures to protect the rights of the Palestinian community in Jerusalem, in accordance with UN resolutions and international law. The conference warns against the international community’s continuing failure to undertake necessary measures, including the prosecution of grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international human rights conventions.
The conference calls upon the European Union to insist that Israel desist from further violations of human rights in the city, especially as respect for human rights is a fundamental part of the recently signed EU-Israel Association Agreement. Furthermore, the EU must insist that the agreement only applies to the territory of the state of Israel, which includes neither Jerusalem nor the settlements, and that settlement products imported into the EU as Israeli with preferential treatment represent a grave breach of the agreement.
The conference calls on the Palestine Liberation Organisation to set up a mechanism to ensure that all Palestinians, both inside and outside the Occupied Territories, are consulted before any agreement on Jerusalem and other final status issues is made.
The conference calls on the Palestinian National Authority to take bold steps to protect the Palestinian community in Jerusalem and the city’s status from Israel’s violations of international law. In particular, the conference calls on the Palestinian National Authority to establish mechanisms by which Palestinians can protect their human rights and that assist them in their economic, social and cultural development.
The conference made a solemn pledge to find ways and means to protect the Palestinian community and the city of Jerusalem from attack and to advance the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, democracy, human rights and development.
The conference and its participants will pursue a series of affirmative strategies with the Palestinian community in Jerusalem to achieve the goal of a just peace. The conference will actively press governments toward these purposes with the support of religious, civil, political, social, and other groups around the world.
