As the U.S. Government opens its new embassy in Jerusalem, and as Palestinians gather to remember the Nakba, Ibrahim Ibraigheth, ActionAid’s Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territories, said:
“Palestinians believe in peace. We want the freedom to live and work our land, but the Israeli Government has faced peaceful protestors with snipers, live ammunition and tear gas. The opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem by the Trump Administration adds insult to injury while destroying our dreams of peace and our rights to self-determination. It’s time for these abuses to stop.
“By supporting Israel’s campaign to force the Palestinian people off their ancestral land, the U.S. is complicit in wide-ranging human rights violations. It’s no coincidence that this announcement comes the day before Palestinians remember the Nakba, when the newly established State of Israel carried out a systemic ethnic cleansing, killing thousands of Palestinians, sacking 500 or more villages and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, creating the refugee crisis we see today.
“In Gaza, decades of war damage cannot be repaired as building materials are blockaded. Families are forced to live in bombed out shells and businesses can’t rebuild. With the U.S. Government adding further fuel to the fire and trampling on Palestinians’ human and national rights, there can be little hope for a sustainable and peaceful resolution to this protracted crisis.”
