Despite the political manoeuvring of Western leaders, despite their attempts to complicate the issue, the “question of Palestine” is simple: Does Palestine have a right to exist?

Without a doubt, the answer is yes. But it is important to realize that there should never have been a question of Palestine’s right to exist in the first place. Prior to the mass expulsion of roughly 800,000 Palestinians (according to Israeli sources), and before the unilateral declaration of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, Palestinians made up at least 66 per cent of the population of the region. 90 per cent of the Jewish population was of foreign origin, including tens of thousands of illegal immigrants.

The concept of national self-determination as defined by international law grants Palestinians the right to a sovereign state of their own. Overlooking this basic right, and against the wishes of Palestinians, the international community adopted UN General Assembly Resolution 181. This called for the internationalization of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the creation of a Jewish state on 56 per cent of Palestine and a Palestinian state comprised of the rest.

The Arabs, understandably and legally, rejected the plan, which contravened the terms of the League of Nations British Class A Mandate. David Ben-Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency, accepted the Partition Plan, but he made it clear that he viewed it as a first step in taking over even more of Palestine for a Jewish state.

The anti-Palestinian narrative maintains that Arabs and Palestinians were at fault for rejecting the Partition Plan. No mention is made of the fact that the UN General Assembly was in the process of shelving the Partition Plan in favour of a UN Trusteeship for Palestine when Ben-Gurion and others declared the Jewish state. It’s not surprising that Palestinians rejected the scheme, which had no legal foundation, in which 56 per cent of their ancestral homeland would be granted to a minority immigrant population.

Sixty-two years have passed since the plan to partition Palestine, and politicians continue to label the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as complicated. But the solution is simple: there is an occupation, and it must end.

Palestinians (including Hamas) and the Arab League have accepted binding UN Security Council Resolution 242, which despite Israel’s contrary claims, calls for Israel’s return to the borders of June 4, 1967 as per the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention, etc.

As declared by the rest of the world and the International Court of Justice, Israel maintains an illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, including its illegally extended boundaries, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip (still occupied under international law) as well as Syria’s Golan Heights and Lebanon’s Sheba’a Farms.

If Israel truly wants peace and recognition, these occupations must end. Furthermore, we should not forget that before the UN General Assembly and the Lausanne Peace Conference in 1949, as a pre-condition for UN admittance, it was accepted that Israel must comply with UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which calls for repatriation of and/or compensation for Palestinians dispossessed during the 1947–49 war.

As for Jerusalem, Palestinians have made it clear that they are willing to share it with Israel as a joint capital. Reiterating that occupation is necessary for the protection of Israeli civilians, that the apartheid wall is being built for “security measures,” or the lie that Palestinians will continue to engage in violent acts even after attaining statehood is counterproductive, and serves no purpose other than to forestall the peace process.

In defiance of the entire world, including the US, Israel continues to construct illegal settlements in occupied lands. At the same time, the apartheid/de facto annexation wall continues to snake through the villages and towns of the occupied West Bank, expropriating land and water resources and creating only misery for Palestinians who must travel for hours to reach their workplaces, farms and schools.

For 62 years, the so-called leaders of the “free world” have looked the other way while Israel has continued to victimize Palestinians. It is time for them to listen to the rapidly increasing numbers of ordinary people everywhere who are demanding that Palestinians be granted their inalienable human rights.

Omar Chaaban is the president of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and Dina El-Kassaby is SPHR’s VP of public relations.

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