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Subject:
The UK must stand up for Palestinian health at the UN Human Rights Council
I am writing as a constituent to urge you to show your urgent support for Palestinians’ rights to health and dignity. At the UN Human Rights Council this March, states will vote on resolutions supporting Palestinians’ rights, demanding that Israel respect international law, and calling for accountability for violations including attacks on civilian homes and healthcare facilities in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). These votes come at a critical moment. After the devastating violence of last year, 2022 has begun no differently. According to the UN, nearly three times as many Palestinians were injured in the first six weeks of 2022 (834) compared to the equivalent period in 2021 (285), amid growing Israeli military and settler violence. Health workers have once again come under attack. Repression and harassment against Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem has brought back distressing memories of events last May, which culminated in Israel’s devastating military assault on Gaza. At the root of this dire situation are Israel’s policies and practices of systematic discrimination and fragmentation against the Palestinian people. The EU has recognised a “one-state reality of unequal rights, perpetual occupation and conflict,” and Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations – including most recently Amnesty International – have concluded that Israel is imposing a regime of apartheid on Palestinians. Health inequalities between Palestinians and Israelis are growing, fuelled by the near-total impunity Israel enjoys for violations of its duties under international law. While Israel maintains effective control over both populations, Palestinians in the oPt endure significantly higher rates of maternal, neonatal and child mortality, worse cancer survival rates, and life expectancy nine years lower than Israelis. The UK must not continue to turn a blind eye. I therefore ask that you write urgently to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to call on her to: 1) Demand that Israel end its discriminatory and fragmentary policies and practices that undermine Palestinian health and healthcare. 2) Support all resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council that uphold Palestinians’ rights and accountability for violations of international law in the oPt. 3) Commit to supporting essential accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court and the recently-established UN independent Commission of Inquiry on the oPt and Israel, and encourage all parties to cooperate fully with them. I also ask that you seek opportunities to raise these issues through parliamentary questions and debates, and use your public platform to recognise Israel’s systematic discrimination and fragmentation as key barriers to Palestinians’ health and dignity.
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