Palestinians marked today the 56th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of what was left of Palestine, that is the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, stressing that the resistance and struggle will continue until liberation.
Israel launched a surprise war against Jordan, Syria and Egypt on June 5, 1967, during which it occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai from Egypt. Despite United Nations resolutions calling for ending the occupation since then, Israel instead entrenched it with its settlement activities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The Palestinian National Council, the parliament in exile, said in a statement that “this painful memory comes as our cause is going through dangerous turns of (Israeli) state terrorism and a racist fascist government that commits the most heinous crimes and violations against our people, our land and our sanctities, including daily incursions and Judaization of the city of Jerusalem and separating it from its Palestinian surroundings, as well as the suffering of prisoners and the unjust siege on our people in the Gaza Strip.”
It called on the free people of the world and the influential forces in the international community to bring justice for the Palestinian people and not to show double standards when it comes to the Israeli occupation, which it described as “a dark point and a sin in the history of humanity,” rather act to support the right of the Palestinian people to gain their independence and their legitimate rights guaranteed by all international laws and covenants.
It said the Palestinian legitimate struggle and resistance will continue until defeating the occupation, achieving freedom, the right to self-determination, and establishing the independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also expressed its strong condemnation of the failure of the international community and lack of will to force the occupying state, Israel, to comply with the United Nations resolutions regarding the Palestinian issue, and to oblige it to end its occupation.
It said in a statement that Israel is proceeding with plans to annex the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as it continues its aggression against the Palestinian people, pointing out that the occupation authorities continue and escalate the seizure of Palestinian lands to allocate them for settlement construction under different names, not to mention the home demolitions, daily attacks by the occupation forces and settler militia against Palestinian towns, villages, camps and cities, including incursions and arrests, and extrajudicial killings.
The ruling Fatah movement, which launched the armed resistance against Israel immediately following the June 5, 1967 occupation, said in a separate statement that it will continue in the struggle with more determination and persistence until it ends the Israeli occupation and achieve freedom for the Palestinians.
It said international laws and the UN Covenant give the people the right to resist the occupation and settlements, and all other policies until they are defeated.
Source: WAFA
