European Palestinian Council for Political Relations (EUPAC) lamented on Monday the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk’s exclusion of Palestine during the two-hour dialogue at the European Parliament.
“Almost all cases of human rights abuses were given attention in the discussion that took place on July 21st except for the flagrant violations by Israel against Palestinians’ human rights,” said the Brussels-based EUPAC in a statement.
The statement noted that “The High Commissioner made prolonged statements about protecting the rights of refugees while ignoring the rights of more than five million Palestinians who were forced into exile as a result of the ongoing Nakba, perpetrated by Israel since 1948.
“Mr. Turk expressed solidarity with the persecuted journalists in the world, but he did not mention the 50 Palestinian journalists who were killed by the occupation forces since 2000,” said the EUPAC.
EUPAC said it will send a letter requesting an explanation from Mr. Turk for “this deliberate marginalization of the suffering of the Palestinians and the white washing of Israel’s human rights violations against them.” It also called on all activists, diplomats, politicians, human rights advocates, or journalists, to stand up for Palestinian rights and to demand that the UN, Western governments and EU Parliament address the issue of the continued violation of Palestinian rights and their silenced suffering under Israeli occupation policies when discussing global human rights.
Source: Kuwait News Agency