The World Peace Council manifests again its complete condemnation against the Israeli regime’s criminal actions and reiterates its unrestricted solidarity to the Palestinian people in their struggle against the Zionist oppression and occupation. We sadly and outragedly denounce the escalation in violence by the Israeli forces, which again impose brutal and fatal repression on the Palestinians protesting against occupation. In this Human Rights Day, we receive the sad and revolting news about the death of another Palestinian, this time Minister Ziad Abu Ein, a historical figure in the Palestinian resistance movement, who had among his main current struggles the denunciation of the shameful wall built by Israel in the West Bank.

Ziad Abu Ein was appointed for the Anti-Wall and Settlements Commission. Before that, he was the undersecretary in the Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs dedicated to struggling against the arbitrary and massive detentions done by the Israeli regime.

Abu Ein had also been detained in the United States and in Israel. He was handed over by the US to Israel in 1981, despite several UN resolutions related specifically to his case, demanding his release. That same year, General Assembly Resolution 36/171 deplored the US decision to “extradite” Ziad Abu Ein to Israel while reaffirmed “the legitimacy of the struggle for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation by all available means”.

On December 10, Israeli soldiers killed the Minister. The soldiers attacked him and again repressed a demonstration with tear gas, rubber-coated metal bullets and other brutal methods frequently employed, during a protest against the shameful wall, in the context of the Human Rights Day. Abu Ein’s killing demonstrates yet again the Israeli aggressor and occupying regime’s complete disrespect and systematic violation of basic principles contained in the UN Charter, in other International Law instruments and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The World Peace Council calls emphatically for the end of the Israeli impunity, of its criminal occupation and the systematic oppression of the Palestinians, with blatant violations of their basic human rights. We reaffirm our solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just cause for self-determination, for a free and sovereign State, and for the Israeli Zionist and criminal regime’s accountability.

Socorro Gomes,
President of the World Peace Council
10th December 2014