SUB: URGENT REQUEST: Support UNGA resolution enacting ICJ advisory opinion on Palestine
Respected/Ms/Mx/Mr xxxxx,
Thank you for your continuing support towards ending Israel's genocide in Gaza, as well as dismantling the underlying regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and illegal occupation.
We are writing to you with an urgent request. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is voting soon on a historic vote on enacting the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice about the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and its violation of the prohibition of apartheid under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
The Palestinian delegation at the UN has circulated a draft resolution, and a vote is likely to take place within the next few days.
The proposed resolution provides the absolute minimum of how the UNGA should implement the ICJ ruling in order to ensure respect for the rule of law and accountability. Essential components of the resolution call for:
1. Imposing a timeline of 6 months to end Israel’s illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem;
2. Third States to implement the measures necessary to comply with their erga omnes obligation not to recognize, aid or assist in Israel’s violations of international law and to take appropriate action to end them, starting with severing the military trade, research and cooperation, and restricting other trade relations, and imposing lawful and targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for maintaining Israel’s illegal presence in the OPT;
3. The establishment of a standing mechanism for reparations;
4. Establishing a UNGA committee to investigate and report on the ICJ finding that Israel is guilty of breaching the apartheid article of CERD.
We are linking here an urgent policy brief that we have prepared, calling on states to support this resolution in its entirety (also attached as PDF).
Please peruse this briefing and the resolution and send us any feedback.
We sincerely ask that you share this briefing and information with the right official channels–(country name)’s UN delegations in New York, the foreign ministry, MPs, diplomats and other relevant officials.
This historic vote will be underway in New York very soon, and any efforts that can move the weight of the UNGA towards ending the genocide in Gaza and holding Israel accountable for its decades-old crimes against the Palestinian people will be invaluable.
Regards,