The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine welcomes the report by the United Nations Secretary-General on “Conflict-related sexual violence”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine welcomes the report by the United Nations Secretary-General on “Conflict-related sexual violence” listing Israel on the list of State parties committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict and against Palestinian children, women, and men.
The Ministry recalls that Israel’s policy of rape and other forms sexual and gender-based violence against the Palestinian people, is long-standing, well-documented, and organized crime. These policies are aimed at terrorizing the Palestinian people, perpetuating a system of oppression and apartheid, entrenching Israel’s unlawful presence, denying the Palestinian people their right to self- determination, with the objective to accelerate their ethnic cleansing and expel them from their land.
Israel’s use of rape and sexual is intended not only to humiliate, punish and intimidate the individual Palestinians but also to inflict severe, lasting physical and psychological harm, including injuries that cause permanent disability, to destroy the whole of the Palestinian society.
The frequency, prevalence and severity of sexual and gender-based crimes committed by Israel and its forces are one of the most outrageous sexual rimes committed in modern history. While the report details 31 cases of Israel’s employment of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape, the Ministry recalls that there are thousands of Palestinian victims who remain unlawfully languishing in Israeli detention centers, raped and denied access to international organizations, and their right to justice.
Rape and sexual violence by Israel is not limited to its occupation forces. Israeli settlers are frequently using sexual violence and rape to terrorize Palestinian communities and displace them from their homes, communitas, villages, and cities, including sexualised insults and gestures, indecent exposure, intimidation, threats of sexual violence, and surveillance of intimate spaces. The Ministry calls on the United Nations Secretary-General to also investigate sexual violence and rape by settlers and settler groups and ensure their inclusion on the list.
All these crimes are occurring within institutionalized environment of genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation, and persistent impunity, by the executive, legislative, and the judiciary. Israeli officials have championed and protected rapists; Israeli Knesset members have debated whether raping detainees was legitimate as if there was a right to rape; and Israeli courts have facilitated, legitimized, and protected rapists.
The listing of Israel as responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict report must prompt the international community to immediately take urgent action to protect the rights of Palestinian children, women, and men, especially in detention centers, and demand their release. States must demand international protection for the Palestinian people place sanctions on Israel and pursue accountability including in their domestic and international courts. The Ministry calls on the United Nations and international organizations to establish comprehensive medical, psychological and social treatment programmes for survivors.