Tuesday 15 May 2012 marks the 64th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (the Palestinian national catastrophe of 1948), one of the largest ethnic cleansings in modern history.
 Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their houses and lands.
 Until today they remain deprived of their right to self-determination, as other peoples in the region were deprived of that right under foreign colonization at the time of the Nakba.
  The 64th anniversary of the Nakba comes as Israeli displacement of Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank continues.
 It comes this year amidst collective punishment by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) of the population of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), including the Gaza Strip, where the siege and closure continue.
 Moreover, the IOF has continued its systematic attacks against civilians and civilian objects throughout the oPt.
  The Nakba comes as Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons suffer trying circumstances which threaten their lives.
 We are badly in need of effective Palestinian reconciliation, and unification of the Palestinian political system and efforts to bolster the struggle for the right to independence, self-determination, and statehood.
  Documentation by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights demonstrates that Israeli attacks and other policies are violating international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) and depriving Palestinians of their basic rights.
 These violations include preventing access to medical treatment; preventing fishermen from working by imposition of a three-nautical-mile fishing zone; and depriving thousands of farmers of access to their lands near the border.
 The IOF has also escalated its attacks on Gaza, which have affected civilian infrastructure, houses, educational facilities, places of worship, and other civilian objects.
  In the West Bank, the construction of the Separation Wall by Israel not only alters the character of the oPt, but also undermines any possibility for establishing an independent Palestinian state.
 It has already inflicted serious harm on Palestinian civilians and their property.
 The IOF keeps the majority of Palestinian land in the West Bank under its full control and has already seized about 50% of the land.
 In practice, the IOF has fragmented the West Bank into cantons that divide towns from one other and separate villages from their land.
 The Wall causes harm to tens of thousands of Palestinians, seizes water sources, and prevents thousands from accessing adequate medical care and education.
  In Jerusalem, the IOF has intensified its actions in the eastern parts of the city, including forced evictions and house demolitions, and use of occupied Palestinian lands to build public facilities.
 These acts have displaced thousands of Palestinians while, at the same time, Jewish families are encouraged to take up residence in emptied Palestinian homes and Jewish-only settlements.
  The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns these continuous Israeli crimes, which blatantly violate international law and demonstrate Israel’s disregard for its legal obligations.
 Al Mezan calls on the international community to swiftly intervene, as the Palestinian cause is a cause of human rights—rights guaranteed by international law.
 The United Nations and its member states bear special responsibility for the “Question of Palestine” and should act accordingly.
 Al Mezan also calls on the international community to end its policy of silence, to uphold its legal obligations to end Israel’s continuous abuses, and to promptly provide protection for Palestinians in the oPt as a step towards implementation of UN resolutions related to the conflict in the region, particularly those concerning the Palestinians’ right to return, reparation, and self-determination.
  Al Mezan reiterates its condemnation of the continuous Israeli violations of human rights in its treatment of Palestinians.
 It also condemns Israel’s disregard of the Palestinian fundamental and inalienable rights to be free from occupation.
 Al Mezan strongly condemns these violations, as well as Israel’s continued disregard of the Palestinian people’s right to freedom, self-determination, return, and statehood.
  Al Mezan asserts that the grave, decades-long violations of IHRL and IHL committed by the IOF constitute grave breaches of international law and that their perpetrators must be held accountable.
 In this context, Al Mezan supports all efforts aiming to establish accountability.
 Al Mezan also emphasizes that an end this conflict cannot be achieved without founding a peaceful settlement on a strong basis of justice and respect for human rights and international law.
  Al Mezan therefore calls upon the international community to stop sacrificing human rights in the pursuit of a peaceful settlement.
 The past decades indicate that this approach is doomed: it ensures neither peace nor respect for human rights and dignity.
  Al Mezan calls on all peoples to strengthen their solidarity with the Palestinian people and its struggle for freedom, self-determination, and statehood, and to exert pressure on their governments to take effective steps to confront the ongoing Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.
  Ends