Commemorating 50 years of occupation after Six Day War

On Monday, June 5, Palestinians and their supporters will mark 50 years since the 1967 Six Day War, when Israeli forces occupied the remaining 22 percent of historic Palestine left over from the 1948 Nakba.

During this military assault, which was surpassed in brutality only by Israel’s attack on Gaza in the summer of 2014, Zionist forces displaced another 350,000 Palestinians from their homes. Many refugees from 1948 were made refugees again.

On June 4, we commemorate 50 years since the Six Day War of 1967; and remember the  70 years since the 1948 Nakba.

How long must Palestinians wait for their inalienable human rights and their individual rights to return to their homeland? How long until the international community exercises its political will to force Israel to comply with international law? How long until the United States ends the double standard in its foreign policy and ends unconditional support for Israeli policies that contravene international law and deprive Palestinians of their basic human rights?

The international community is losing patience with Israel’s occupation. This was evident by the passage of U.N Security Council Resolution 2334 in December 2016. Frustrated by Israel’s intransigence on peace talks with the Palestinians, the Obama administration abstained from vetoing the resolution that was supported by 14 out of the 15 Security Council members. The resolution refers to Israel as an “occupying power.”  It condemns “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions.” Further, it “Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.” Above all it states with the clearest terms that the UN Security Council “will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.” 

Resolution 2334 denotes the consensus within the international community that Israel cannot continue to violate its obligations as an “occupying power” and that it cannot continue to misbehave with impunity. As resolution 2334 states, Israel must “abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice.” 

“While the Trump administration is more inclined to overlook Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, it’s clear that the vast majority of members of the international community do not support Israeli policies that contravene international law,” said Osama Abuirshaid, AMP national policy director. “The Trump administration should not appear as an enabler of the Israeli occupation and its violations of international law and American laws. Statements by this administration such as the willingness to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, or that the U.S no longer insist on a two-state solution, which has been the official U.S policy for 50 years under administrations from both parties, are not helpful, but, rather, detrimental to the stability in the region and to our international standing and credibility.” 

As proof of the international community impatience at Israeli impunity, the countries, including many in the European Union, are turning to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) to pressure Israel to comply with international law. 

“BDS is a tool to force Israel to comply with international law in the absence of political, financial and diplomatic pressure to do so,” Abuirshaid said. “Eventually, as BDS grows we will start to see a political shift, much like we did in South Africa as a result of the anti-apartheid boycott movement.”

This year, the commemoration of the Six Day War falls within the month of Ramadan. AMP is encouraging everyone to support justice for Palestine by participating in its sixth annual Ramadan Israeli Occupation Date boycott by refusing to purchase any dates marketed by Hadiklaim and Mehadrin, or the brands Jordan River, Jordan River Bio-Tops or King Solomon.

In the previous years, AMP’s boycott reached millions of people on social media and tens of thousands of postcards with the boycottable brands were distributed across the nation. AMP, with your help, hopes to surpass those numbers. Get more information on the boycott at www.ampalestine.org.