Israelis and Palestinians must thrive side by side in their own independent, prosperous and secure states says UAE legal rep

 

Emmanuel Ukudolo I Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024

 

HAGUE, Netherlands – The United Arab Emirate, UAE has told the International Court of Justice, ICJ that Israelis and Palestinians must thrive side by side in their own independent, prosperous and secure states.

Legal representative of the UAE, Lana Nusseibeh was speaking at the UN court on the third day of the hearing on the legal consequence of Israel’s action in Palestine.

Nusseibeh said the only path to just and lasting peace is through the fulfillment of the long-denied right of the Palestinian people to self-determination with an independent and sovereign Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

She averred that “International law cannot be an a la carte menu. “It must apply equally to all, and it is all the more essential in the long shadow cast by the Palestinian question and injustice that has persisted for more than seven decades.”

She said the level of human suffering for people in Gaza is on a level rarely seen in human history, adding that Israel has imposed a policy of collective punishment on the Palestinian people.

“Last year was by far the deadliest year for Palestinian in the occupied West Bank with the highest level of settler violence recorded by the UN.

“I raise these recent developments to underline that the violations at the core of the questions posed by the General Assembly are not static. After decades of violent dehumanisation, dispossession and despair, the breaches resulting from the Israeli occupation are worsening at an alarming pace,” she said.

According to her, Israel has, in agreements with Jordan and with the Holy See, committed to the historic status quo and freedom of access to the holy places in Jerusalem. It is therefore gravely disconcerting that Israel has taken, and continues to take, measures which undermine the special character of Jerusalem and erase its cultural heritage.”

She said that since the start of Israel’s occupation in 1967, Muslims and Christians have been impeded from worshipping at their holiest sites, adding that Israel must end its siege of Gaza, let aid in and stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population.

She told the ICJ that Israel must dismantle settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and prevent acts of violence perpetrated by settlers and that states must cooperate to bring Israel’s breaches to an end.

“Israel’s administration of East Jerusalem constitutes annexation of territory on which the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination. International law is unequivocal in this respect. All measures by Israel that affect or aim to alter the status of East Jerusalem are null and void and have no legal effect.”