ARDD reacts with horror to media reports that 25 Palestinians, including at least nine children, were killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza during the past 24 hours, allegedly in retaliation for Hamas rockets triggered by Israeli violent attacks on unarmed Palestinian civilians, including worshipers, in Jerusalem on Monday. More than 300 Palestinians were reportedly wounded after Israeli police stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, firing rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.
ARDD condemns in the strongest possible terms the indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians, including children, in both Gaza and Jerusalem, the blatant attack on the Al Aqsa Mosque and its worshipers, the mass arrest of unarmed demonstrators including many youth and women, and other severe violations of human rights, including the freedom of worship.
We call on the UN Security Council and the international community to take all necessary measures to put a stop to the ongoing violence, deescalate the situation, call for the protection of civilians at all times, and affirm the sanctity of Jerusalem’s holy places and its worshipers.
We call on the ICC Prosecutor to extend the ongoing investigation of the Situation in Palestine to the latest Israeli violations in Gaza and Jerusalem.
We call on the media to report honestly on what is happening in Palestine/Israel, avoiding biased and misleading language, and placing their coverage of the ongoing events in their correct historic, legal and political context: that of settler-colonial occupation resulting in the ethnic cleansing of much of historic Palestine’s Arab population, culminating in a reality that has all the hallmarks of apartheid, in flagrant violation of international law.
We call on civil society in the region and beyond to speak out and condemn, firmly and unequivocally, the latest surge of violence against civilians and worshipers in occupied Palestine and beyond. All relevant networks should stand in support to Palestinian struggle to end Israeli Apartheid and its settler-colonial occupation and achieve justice and accountability in Palestine/Israel.
