In marking the 69th anniversary of the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (the Partition Plan) and the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, PLO Executive Committee Member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:
“This anniversary marks an occasion in which the international community decided to intervene negatively, and thus began the tragedy of Palestine. Although the Partition Resolution itself gives the international community the right and power to take action against any party that is responsible for attempts that constitute “any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression” and alter “by force the settlement envisaged by [the] resolution,” it has repeatedly failed to do so or to hold Israel to account.
No matter how many days of solidarity we have, the fact of this grave injustice remains, particularly since there has never been any concrete engagement to challenge Israel’s impunity or to put an end to its continued expansionism and its flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law.
Even when the Palestinians accepted the principle of partition in 1988 and went even further in agreeing to the 1967 borders, there was neither a recognition of the enormity of the sacrifice nor an appreciation of the historical magnitude of such a concession. As such, it is the only key to peace with minimal justice which is being destroyed by Israel’s continued violations and fundamentalist extremist Zionist ideology.
By enabling Israel to persist in these policies and measures, the international community is betraying its trust and responsibility when it comes to the rights and humanity of the Palestinian people and to its global responsibility to uphold justice and dignity for all.
Solidarity should be an act of commitment and change, not a statement of intent. We call on all members of the international community to engage rapidly and effectively and adopt punitive measures and initiatives required to hold Israel to account and begin the process of rectification and historical redemption.”