International Indifference to 16 years of a Suffocating Closure of the Gaza Strip and Decades of Israeli Impunity for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Against Palestinians Is Necessary Context

October 7, 2023, New York – In response to Palestinian armed resistance from occupied Gaza, following months of intensive Israeli military attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, and in the context of 75 years of Israeli military occupation of historic Palestine, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

The Center for Constitutional Rights stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their decades-long struggle for self-determination and freedom from Israel’s regime of apartheid and prolonged belligerent military occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Israel’s brutal 16-year closure of Gaza has suffocated the two million Palestinians imprisoned there, while Israel has repeatedly launched military assaults that have killed thousands of civilians and injured tens of thousands more.

Israeli colonization of historic Palestine gives rise to the international legal right of colonized people to resist colonial domination and to pursue national liberation and self-determination. Under international law, armed groups, such as Palestinian resistance fighters, can lawfully carry out attacks on military targets. Israel, with the full support of the United States and much of the international community, has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity with complete impunity, resulting in the profound erosion of international norms and the necessary protections for occupied people and civilians. We echo demands for accountability and reaffirm our commitment to dismantling all forms of colonialism.

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