Palestinian human rights organisations are definitely taking Israel to the International Criminal Court, a leading official stressed yesterday.
Speaking at a conference marking the release of a report regarding Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians in 2014, Leading Palestinian and international human rights official Raji Sourani said the role of the Palestinian Authority (PA) regarding the prosecution of Israel ended by joining the tribunal.
“It is not the role of the PA to go on in this file,” Sourani, who is the director of one of the leading Palestinian human rights organisations, said. “It is the role of the families of the victims and their representatives.”
He promised to face any potential political pressure expected to be put ahead of the efforts to prosecute. “The human rights organisations are bearing this file responsibly and with much faith,” he said. “We are going to prosecute the occupation for all of its crimes.”
Regarding the PA’s last minutes withdrawal of its bid to have FIFA revoke Israel’s membership of the organisation, Sourani said: “This will never happen again because the issue is the responsibility of the human rights organisations, not the PA.”
He said Israel has increased its aggression against Palestinians due to the impunity it enjoys because of the silence of the international community. “Evading punishment encourages Israel to carry out more crimes,” he said.