159 Sri Lankan Parliamentarians write to UN Chief over brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza

159 Sri Lankan Parliamentarians have sent a joint letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressing outrage over the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza, killing innocent children and women and calling for urgent action to end the war.

Following is the full text of the letter;

The war against Palestinian civilians, especially in Gaza, has reached a critical point, with the loss of countless innocent lives, approximately two thirds of whom are women and children, extensive infrastructure damage, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

The Gaza strip’s ongoing humanitarian crisis is a global concern that demands immediate attention and intervention, especially after the decisions taken by the Israeli government’s collective punishment of depriving the civilians of Gaza of food, water, electricity, medicine and shelter which are the basic human needs which under no condition can be cut or blocked by any force or party.

The brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the most recent being indiscriminate bombings in hospitals, amounts to a war crime under International Law and the Geneva convention, which should be condemned by all persons who believe in justice. None of the previous wars nor the missiles launched from Gaza has ever created such extensive and brutal damage, as what Israel has launched to date, which is a clear indication that their aim is to expel Palestinian civilians in Gaza from their homes. Their intention to create a humanitarian crisis in asking them to move to the south, including warning other hospitals in Gaza which are treating the sick and injured, shows their callous disregard for humanity and justice. In this instance the Israeli occupation regime’s main aim is for the people of Palestine to be expelled and chased to the Sinai area, in order to continue the long-endured Nakba which the Palestinians keep warning of to the whole world.

This brutal colonisation has been ongoing for the past 75 years where throughout this history more than 51 massacres had taken place in 1948 alone and thereafter, a long history of many other successive brutal and inhuman massacres on Palestinian civilians. The Baruch Goldstein massacre and Meir Kahanne and their followers are two American citizens who have brutally killed many Palestinians, and their aim was to transfer Palestinians by chasing them out and some of the most notorious pogroms by Israel also took place in Khan Yunis, Sabra and Shatila Al Aqsa and Qana to name a few.

The latest on-going Nakba catastrophe, which includes war crimes, ethnic cleansing, apartheid policies which have been documented and confirmed by all human rights organisations and of late a very clear policy of genocide which is ongoing, where the number of fatalities in Gaza alone has reached 10,569 and the casualties most of whom are women and children amounts to more than 7,000, where they have turned Gaza into a killing field. Over 26,475 Palestinians have been injured. This number includes patients and those sheltering thousands of displaced people at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital (the one and only Baptist/Anglican Hospital in Gaza) by an Israeli air strike and many victims are still under the rubble. Israeli airstrikes have killed around 193 healthcare personnel while carrying out their humanitarian missions. Moreover, 47 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed. It is estimated that around 50,000 Palestinians have been evacuated on 8 November, the largest number to be forcibly evicted since the so-called ‘safe corridors’ opened, bringing the estimated figure since 5 November to 72,000. At least 45% of Gaza’s housing units have been damaged. It is highly regrettable that, according to the recent stats, 115 health facilities are targeted including 402 health workers. 

Our demands as Members of the Sri Lankan Parliament who firmly stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, apart from party, ethnicity, gender or any other differences are as follows:

1. We demand the world, the key role players of the global politics to look at the root-cause of the issue of the Mediterranean region and to find ways of practical actions to treat this problem immediately by implementing the right and genuine solution of creating and recognising the independent and sovereign State of Palestine of 1967, borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. This will be the only way to achieve stability and a justifiable peace in the region and the world must act to ensure that Israel must accept the same.

2. We demand to stop the war immediately and to come to the table of negotiations to fulfil the stressing need to implement the universally agreed resolutions, the international laws and the decisions made in this regard. The international community to fulfil their obligations to the maximum level to support the creation of the independent State of Palestine.

3. Israel should be held accountable under international laws and the universal humanitarian regulations for the blatant war crime that they commit now and before alike.

4. As members of Sri Lankan Parliament, we appeal the United Nations and all its agencies, international community, all governmental and civil institutions, NGOs, INGOs and all civic minded citizens of the world, those who love and seek peace in the world, to swiftly act by taking necessary steps to be imposed on Israel to stop its onslaught, oppressions and aggressions against the people of Palestine.

5. We humbly appeal to the Western countries specially the three permanent members of the UN Security Council; US, UK and France to stop supporting Israel and apply fair play in keeping with international law without hypocrisy and double standard.

This is the time to be honest and genuine, especially when it comes to dealing with human values, human rights for people to live in dignity and peace.

Palestinian lives matter and they are also human beings like others in the world with all rights to live in peace and dignity.