EFF WELOMES THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION TO HALT ISRAELI EXPANSIONIST SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST BANK

24 December, 2016

The EFF welcomes the majority resolution by the United Nations Security Council to halt Israeli's settlement expansion into the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The resolutions states that Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity” and demanded a halt to “all Israeli settlement activities.”

The apartheid state of Israel has been violating international law by building racially segregated settlements in the West Bank which belong to the internationally recognised state of Palestine. This has undermined the international efforts to a peaceful two state solution. In addition, Israel is in a military occupation of Palestine subjecting the Palestinian people into humiliating checkpoints and segregated roads.

This resolution, although an important step forward, has already been rejected by Israel has threatened to punish countries like Senegal and New Zealand for putting the resolution forward. We reiterate that only by imposing full sanctions on the state of Israel will the occupation of Palestinian lands come to an end. Israel is ready to defy international laws and resolutions because they loose nothing by doing so. They have undermined international law with impunity, subjecting the lives of millions of Palestinians into indignity and death in the process.

We therefore call on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to impose sanctions against Israel until it ends its occupation of Palestinian lands and allow all Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes in both Israel and Palestine. 

Until such a time, the resolution will not have the effect it intended; and Israel will continue to be arrogant and defiant of international law.

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 24 December 2016