The Palestine National Council (PNC) addressed the regional and international Parliamentary associations on the decision of Israeli’s Jerusalem municipality to collect property taxes from the churches in the occupied city of Jerusalem and from monasteries, religious shrines, institutions, real estate and land owned by churches and the UN in the occupied Jerusalem, to be applied retroactively from 1967. This came in the framework of the insistence of the occupation authorities to continue their plans to Judaize, to end the Palestinian Christian and Islamic presence in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The Council calls on the international community to pressure the Israeli government to abolish and not just freeze this false measure which violates agreements and the historic status quo that has existed since the Ottoman period in the holy city, as symbol of coexistence and tolerance of the Christian-Islamic religions.

The Council also warns of the approval of the Knesset Ministerial Committee for legislation of the church land bill that would allow Israel, the occupying power, to expropriate land in the occupied city, and therefore demands that the IPU take decisive action before it is too late.

The Council appeals to the Vatican and the world to intervene quickly to force the Israeli occupation to stop the harassment and persecution of churches to seize their property.

The occupation municipality of Jerusalem announced that it will collect about 191 million US dollars from 887 assets and properties owned by these churches including hospitals, schools, homes and residences of monks, priests and bishops, and end the tax exemptions for church-owned properties existed since Ottoman times. The occupation municipality threatened to put liens on churches bank accounts and confiscate their properties if taxes were not paid, In addition, the decision will burden churches and their property in the occupied city, especially since these institutions do not receive any compensation from government agencies or from the Palestinian National Authority. But manage their financial affairs by theirself and provide many services, which include not only religions but also social ones to those in need of the community of occupied Jerusalem.

The Palestine National Council affirms that the Israeli occupation authority with this arbitrary and illegitimate measure has flagrantly violated all existing international conventions, historical customs and obligations guaranteeing the rights and privileges of the Churches, with the aim of changing the historical and legal status of the Holy Places, including Christian religious institutions through ending the tax exemptions for church-owned properties and through the issuance of laws granting the occupying power the right to confiscate or purchase or, at least, cement its grip on church properties in the occupied city.

The Council considers that the Israeli measures to impose taxes on churches, an aggression against Jerusalem, its Christian and Islamic sanctities, which are invalid, since they stem from an illegal occupation. This is an attempt to pressure the Christian religious institutions to leave the city of Jerusalem and cut their religious, humanitarian and spiritual role in the service of the Palestinian Jerusalemite community

The Speaker of the Palestine National Council (PNC), Saleem Al- Za’noon stated that preparations are underway for the convening of the PNC no later than May 5, and that the exact date of the meeting would be announced during the upcoming meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, on next Wednesday.

 Speaking to Voice of Palestine today (4-3-2018), Al- Za’noon said preparations were well underway for the PNC session, which would likely be held with the attendance of current members following Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s prior lack of response till now to the invitation to attend the PNC upcoming session.

 Despite their lack of response to the invitation, Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements would be re-invited to attend the session following the announcement of its date, he added.

 Commenting on the agenda of the session, Al- Za’noon concluded that filling the vacant positions of PLO Executive Committee’s members or electing new one would be placed as an item on the agenda.

The Palestine National Council (PNC) calls, in identical memoranda sent by its speaker Saleem Al-Za’anoon, to eleven regional and international parliamentary unions and associations, on their head, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to enlist the Israeli parliament as racist, anti-democratic and anti-human rights.
Speaker Al-Za’anoon called on them to take firm measures against the series of laws and legislations initiated by the Israeli Parliament, against the human rights and the rights of the Palestinian people, which are based on racism and hatred, as this parliament is in the process of enacting racist and fascist laws against the Palestinian people.
The National Council called on these unions and associations to pressure the Israeli Knesset to immediately stop the enactment of such legislations as a clear and direct violation of the goals and objectives of the parliamentary unions and associations and their conditions of membership, and to consider such legislations null and void.
The National Council pointed out that since 2014, more than 160 laws and bills have been brought before the Knesset, violating human rights, international treaties and the foundations of fair legislation, which are supposed to be consistent with international law.
The National Council confirmed, through the, that memoranda the extension of the legislation mandate of the Israeli Knesset to the territory of the State of Palestine under occupation is a grave violation of all international legitimacy resolutions, the latest of which are UN Security Council Resolutions 2334 of December 2016 and the violation of all international normative treaties of international humanitarian law, which obliges the authorities on the occupying power to respect the legal regime prevailing over the occupied territory.
The National Council pointed out that the Knesset has become one of the most prominent systems of legitimizing the occupation and its crimes, such as a bill to apply Israeli law to academic institutions in the West Bank settlements as part of a plan to annex it to Israeli sovereignty and a bill to deduct the Palestinian tax revenues on the pretext of supporting the families of prisoners, the murdered and the wounded. The draft law calling for the execution of Palestinian prisoners, the law on the withdrawal of Jerusalemites’ residency, the law of defining the bodies of the murdered, which restricts the handover of the bodies of the murdered to their family unless conditions are met such as not performing funerals and burial services, the law of the arrest of children and sentencing them. In addition to other unfair laws that bluntly violate the principles and rules of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and United Nations resolutions, and put all the crimes of the occupation under the guise of the so-called law.

The National Council also confirmed that the support and backing of Israeli murderers comes from the occupation government and also from Israeli governmental organizations and institutions for their release and provision of monthly salaries to them, which comes in light of the rise of racism and fascism in the Israeli society and support of extremism and terrorism against the Palestinian people.
The National Council notes that the tsunami of racist legislation falls in the context of double standards adopted by the Knesset of the occupying power. For example, after Yoram Shakolnik, who killed Palestinian prisoner Musa Suleiman Abu Sabha on 23/3/1993 who was handcuffed, he received higher monthly salary from the Israeli government and salaries from the National Insurance establishment. After his release, he also received government assistance to open a commercial project. Shakolnick is a model and example of the Israeli government’s encouragement to execute detainees, commit war crimes and provide protection to criminals.
The National Council pointed out that 99% of the Jewish murderers who committed crimes against Palestinians have been released, legally and socially supported, shielded and protected by the Israeli government and extremist organizations in Israel. This confirms that the Israeli occupation and Knesset support organized crime and both act as a shield for it sympathizing with the killers and issuing superficial judgment against them.
The National Council requests that this memorandum to be circulated to member parliaments of international unions and forums and to invite them to join efforts to stop the Israeli Knesset’s Legitimization of the occupation and its crimes.

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) said that a bill to include higher education institutions in Israeli settlements in the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty is part of a plan to annex settlements in the West Bank, which the Knesset is expected to ratify soon. This comes a long side with the practical application of the decision of the ruling Likud Party to annex the West Bank to Israeli sovereignty.
The PNC said in a statement issued by its speaker Saleem Al-Zanoon on Wednesday that Israel is continuing its policy of defying the will of the international community, the international law and violating international legitimacy resolutions, the latest of which is resolution 2334 where it considered the settlement in all its forms is illegal, and called on Israel to immediately cease all its settlement policies in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including the city of Jerusalem.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union, in particular, and other regional parliamentary associations, called for the rejection and condemnation of this racist law that falls within the settlement policy led by the occupation government and aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital, as well as violating the Geneva Conventions which considers settlements are a crime and perpotrators must be held accountable.
He called on the United Nations to bear its' responsibilities and work to confront the Israeli flagrant challenges to its resolutions, save the two-state solution, take steps to stop Israel's violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and stop the policy of ignoring the occupation and its racism which is destroying any possibility of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause.
The bill calls for the abolition of the Council of Higher Education in charge of Israeli academic institutions in the settlements established in the 1967 occupied territories and transferring the responsibility to the Israeli Ministry of Education. These institutions include: Ariel University, Elkana College (Salfit District), Alon Shabot College Jerusalem) and the Herzog College in Alon Shvut settlement near the Bethlehem and Jerusalem Governorates

The Trump Administration informed the United Nations that it had frozen $65 million to be paid earlier this year and decided not to pay $45 million worth of food aid to Palestinian refugees, all this in the context of its blackmail and punitive measures against the Palestinian Arab people and their leadership. This Trump’s behavior comes in full unison and concord with the Israeli policies.

The Palestine National Council would like to recall that the establishment of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s Services UNRWA came on the background of the catastrophic repercussions of the Catastrophe (Nakba) of 1948, which led to ethnic cleansing that led to the displacement of more than three quarters of a million Palestinian who were scattered, in that period, in the countries surrounding Palestine, beside the part unoccupied of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These repercussions led the international community to adopt Resolution 194, which was rejected by Israel. Followed by Resolution 302 (4) of December 8, 1949, which established UNRWA as interim measure pending implementation of the abovementioned Resolution 194.

For more them sixty-five years, the United States has been the largest single donor to UBRWA and has consistently praised UNRWA’s quality, transparent and accountable services. In early 2017, with the arrival of President Trump, the Israeli entity requested the US administration cut its financial contributions to UNRWA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally asked US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley to do her best to dismantle UNRWA and transfer of its services to the UNHCR, the main UN refugee agency.

The US administration has required the Agency to change the curriculum of its schools in order to write off all its assets related to the right of return and the Palestinian refugees issue, to relinquish the identity of Jerusalem as the capital of the desired Palestinian state, to renounce the struggle against the occupation, or the expression of Palestinian Intifada (uprising) and the cancellation of activities and festivals related to special events of the Palestinian cause, all these American requirements should be met in order to ensure the continuation of US support for UNRWA, which will be confined only to the regions of Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territories, excluding Syria and Lebanon, from the five areas of operation.

The main objective of these great pressures is to efface the Palestinian identity and to falsity the history and facts on which the Palestinian generation has been raised, and has became well aware of it, and has even influenced its behavior with the Israeli occupier.There have been explicit American and Israeli call for the amendment of the Palestinian curriculum, because it succeeded in establishing and raising generations capable of standing up, challenging , facing the occupation and adhering to national principles. The Palestinian curricula are based on international educational laws. The general principles of the Palestinian curriculum are derived from the General philosophy of the Palestinian Arab society and derive its principles from its heritage, religion, values, customs, traditions and the aspiration of the Palestinian people towards the future.

The Palestine National Council affirms that these steps conceal an Israeli-American goal that seeks to get ride of the most important issues embodied and bearing the Palestinian issue, namely the Palestinian refugee issue, through several steps, most notably, the freezing of financial allocations to the agency with the aim of reducing and paralyzing its services, dismantling and emptying it of all political implications, as the survival of its existence means the continuation of issue of refugees and Palestinian comps as witnesses to the Nakba, as well as what is related to this issue of international resolutions such as Resolution 194, which calls for the return of refugees. These steps will be followed by an attempt to dispose of and dismantle the Palestinian camps, to resettle and absorb the refugees living there.

The Palestine National Council warns of the grave consequences of the Trump administration decisions on Palestinian refugees. Which will put them at risk in all of the five areas of UNRWA operations in which it provides its services, increase the funding crisis and reduce the basic services that have already been reduced in the health and education sectors. This will also endanger the lives of about 75% of the refugees. The suffering and crisis will affect the camps in the Gaza strip, the West Bank and the diaspora, including more than 1 million Gazans living on relief assistance provided by UNRWA, which will bead to a real humanitarian disaster.

UNRWA faces a formidable challenge in upholding its mandate and preserving key services like education and health care for Palestine Refugees. This reduced contribution threatens one of the most successful and innovative human development endeavors on the Middle-East. At stake is the access of 525’000 boys and girls in 700 UNRWA schools, and their future. At state is the dignity and human security of millions of Palestine refugees, in need of emergency food assistance and other support in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At state is the access of refugees to primary health care, including pre-natal care and other life-saving services. At stake are the rights and dignity of an entire community. The reduced contribution also impacts regional security at a time when the Middle East faces multiple risks and threats, notably that of further radicalization and terrorism.

Based on all of the above, the Palestine National Council calls on you and appeals to you to :
First : Refusing to harm the UNRWA Agency, insisting on maintaining its mission, linking the termination of its work with the implementation of Resolution 194 which calls for refugees return and compensation in accordance with the Agency’s founding decision. And refusing all attempts to transfer its functions to host countries.
Second : calling on all partners-host Arab countries and donors- to further increase their mobilization in support of the Agency’s services, which must continue until the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes, recalling the profound responsibility by the international community of states to assist the Palestine refugees, and continue UNRWA services of education, health care, relief and social services, which must continue until a just and lasting solution has been found.

The Palestine Central Council held its twenty-eighth ordinary session, under the name “Jerusalem – the eternal capital of the State of Palestine “, between January 14-15, 2018 in the city of Ramallah, in the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas.

PNC Speaker Saleem Al-Zanoon opened the session announcing that the quorum was attained, as a total of 87 members out of 109 members attended the session, while a number of members were unable to attend because they were either arrested or prevented by Israeli occupation authority.

PNC Speaker Al-Zanoon said in his opening speech “The time has come for our Central Council, which is acting on behalf of the Palestine National Council which has decided to establish the Palestinian National Authority as the nucleus of the state, to decide its future and duties, and to reconsider the recognition of the State of Israel until it recognizes the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees in accordance with Resolution 194 “.
Speaker Al-Zanoon stressed that the Central Council should reject and confront any ideas that are circulating under the so-called “ Deal of the Century “ because it does not comply with rules of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy, and seeks to impose an incomplete solution that does not meet the minimum of Palestinians’ legitimate rights.
Al-Zanoon called for the search for other international channels under the auspices of the United Nations to sponsor resolving the Palestinian issue.
Al-Zanoon added saying “ Our success in dealing with these risks and challenges requires accelerating the steps of implementing the reconciliation, ending the division and developing a plan to strengthen the national partnership with the frame work of the Palestine liberation Organization as the supreme national political and legal reference for our people which requires activating the role of its institutions, and enabling them . Proposing to hold a session of the National Council, in which both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad will be invited with the task of reshaping, choosing or electing a new national council, as stipulated by the electoral system of the National Council.

 
Al -Zanoon said “We respect and appreciate the position of brethren Arabs and their support for the Palestinian issue. We demand the implementation of the decisions of the Arab summits on Jerusalem, especially the Amman summit of 1980, which called for severing of all relations with any state that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or transfers its embassy to it.

Al -Zanoon stressed the sacrifices and struggles of prisoners in Israeli jails obligate Palestinians to provide all forms of support and that the dignity of Palestinians remains above any consideration.

The Council listened to the speech of Mr. Mohamed Baraka, Chairman of the Higher Follow-up Committee of the Arab masses at home (in Israel).

Speaker Al-Zanoon welcomed the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, and invited him to address the Council.

The President Abbas began his speech saying “We are meeting here to defend and protect Jerusalem, and no excuse for anyone to say that the place is not appropriate. We are at a dangerous moment and our future is at stake. We will not go away. We will not commit mistakes of the past. This is our country from the days of the Canaanites.

The President stresses that we are committed to a two-state solution based on international legitimacy, the Arab peace initiative based on the 1967 borders, the cessation of settlements and unilateral actions. Adding that he was open to talking to Israel’s peace camp. President Abbas affirmed that the Palestinians will continue to seek the Security Council until full membership is achieved, stressing that Palestinians will not accept what the US attempts to impose, and the PLO will reconsider its relations with Israel , yet engage in any serious negotiations under the auspices of the UN.
The President Abbas stressed that we continue to meet the needs of the families of martyrs, prisoners and wounded. We are for popular, non-violent struggle, and continue to join the international organizations. We will continue our meetings with peace supporters in Israel, stressing the necessity of working for convening of the National
Council as soon as possible, activating and developing the PLO, continuing to achieve reconciliation that has not stopped, but needs great efforts and good intentions to complete it.

   
Following the general debate on the evening of the Fifteenth of January 2018, the Central Council issued the following resolutions:

First: Us recognition of Jerusalem
The Central Council condemns and rejects the decision of US President Donald Trump, considering Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, transferring embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and working to topple it. The Council considers that the US administration has lost its eligibility as a mediator and sponsor of the peace process and will not be a partner in this process unless the decision is reversed.
The Council stresses the rejection of President Trump’ policy aimed at presenting a project or ideas that contravene the resolutions of international legitimacy on resolving the conflict., which emerged in its essence by declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Central Council stresses the need to abolish the Congress’s decision considering PLO as a terrorist organization since 1987 and the state Department’s decision to close the office of the PLO general delegation in Washington on November 17, 2017.
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Second: The relationship with Israel (the occupation authority)
1- In light of the withdrawal of the occupying state from all agreements and revoking them by practice and imposing a fait accompli, and with the Central council stressing that the direct goal is the independence of the State of Palestine, which requires transition from self-governing to the stage of a state that is struggling for independence, with East Jerusalem as its capital and on the borders of 4 June 1967, in implementation of the resolutions of the National Council, including the Declaration of Independence in 1988, and relevant UN resolutions, including the General Assembly resolution 67/19 of 29/11/2012, as the political and legal basis for Palestinians reality, and the affirmation of adherence to the territorial unity of the State of Palestine, and the rejection of any divisions or facts imposed contrary to that The Central Council decided that the transitional period stipulated in the agreements signed in Oslo, Cairo and Washington, with its obligations no longer stand.
The Central Council calls upon the international community to assume its responsibilities on the basis of relevant UN resolutions to end the occupation and enable the State of Palestine to achieve its independence and to exercise its full sovereignty over its territory, including its capital, East Jerusalem, on the borders of 4 June 1967.
2- Assign the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization to suspend recognition of Israel until it recognizes the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders and revokes the decision to annex East Jerusalem and stops settlement activity
3- The Central Council renews its decision to suspend all forms of security coordination and to break away from the relationship of economic dependence established by the Paris Economic Agreement, to achieve the independence of the national economy. It requests the Executive Committee of the PLO and the institutions of the State of Palestine to start implementing this.
4- The Central Council should continue to work with world countries to boycott Israeli colonial settlements in all fields, to work on publishing the database for companies operating in Israeli settlements by the United Nations and to emphasize the illegality of Israeli colonial settlements since 1967.

 5- Adopt the BDS movement and call on world countries to impose sanctions on Israel to put an end to its flagrant violations of international law and to end its continued aggression against the Palestinian people and the apartheid regime imposed on them.
6- Reject and condemn the Israeli occupation and apartheid that Israel is trying to enshrine as an alternative to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and affirm the determination of the Palestinian people to resist by all means.
7- Reject any proposals or ideas for transitional solutions or interim stages, including the so-called state with temporary borders.
8- Refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Third: The internal Palestinian situation.

1- Adhere to the reconciliation Agreement signed in 2017 and its execution mechanisms, the latest of which is the Cairo agreement in 2017 and the provision of means of support for its implementation, and enable, the Government of National unity to assume its responsibilities fully in the Gaza Strip in accordance with the Amended Basic Law, and then conduct general elections and hold the Palestinian National Council session no later than the end of 2018 in order to achieve political partnership within the framework of the PLO, the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, and work to form a government of national unity in order to strengthen the political partnership and the unity of the Palestinian political system.
2- Affirm the right of our people to exercise all forms of resistance against the occupation in accordance with the provisions of international law and to continue to activate, support and strengthen the peaceful popular resistance.
3- Affirm the need to support Palestinians and their steadfastness in the eternal capital of the State of Palestine, Jerusalem and affirm the need to support their struggle against the Israeli measures aimed at Judaizing the Holy City.
4- Take all measures to support our people in the Gaza Strip, who faced the Israeli aggression and the Israeli siege and provide the support they need, including freedom of movement, access to health, the reconstruction and the mobilization of the international community to break the siege.
5- The Central Council condemns the leaking of the property by the Greek Orthodox Church to Israeli institutions and companies and calls for accountability of those responsible. It supports the struggle of the Palestinian people from the Orthodox community in order to preserve their rights and their role in administering the affairs of the Orthodox Church and preserving its property.

  Fourth: The Security Council the General Assembly and the International Criminal Court.
1. Continue to work to provide international protection to the Palestinian people in the territory of the occupied State of Palestine (West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip) based on the Security Council resolution 605 for the year (1987), 672 (1967) and (1990), 904 of (1998), and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 (Protection of Civilians in Time of War).
2. Continue to work to strengthen the status of the State of Palestine in international forums and activate the request for full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations.
3. Provide referral on various issues (settlement, prisoners, aggression on the Gaza Strip) to the International Criminal Court.
4. Continue to join to international institutions and organizations, including the specialized agencies of the United Nations.
Fifth: The Arab and Islamic levels

1. Call for activating the resolution of the 1980 Amman Summit, which obliges the Arab states to sever all ties with any state that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or transfers its embassy to it, which has been reaffirmed in a number of other Arab summits with the request of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states to do the same.
2. Adhere to the Arab peace initiative and reject any attempts to change or alter it and maintain its priorities.
3. Work with the Arab countries (The Arab League), the Islamic countries (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement to hold an international conference with full powers to launch the peace process and in coordination with the EU countries, Russia, China, Japan and other international groups on the basis of relevant international resolutions and benefit from the outcomes of the 2017 Paris conference in a way as to ensure the end of the Israeli occupation and the empowerment of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders and exercise its independence and sovereignty and to resolve the refugee issue on the basis of UN Resolution 194 and other final status issues in accordance with the resolutions of the international community within a specific time frame.
4. The League of Arab States, the OIC, the Non-Aligned Movement and the African Union must stand firm in front of world countries that violated the resolutions of these collective frameworks on voting against the United Nations General Assembly resolution on Jerusalem 21/12/2017.
5. The Central council condemned US threats to cut aid to UNRWA, which is seen as a way for the US to abandon its responsibility over a refugee crisis that it has aided in creating and calls on the international community to commit itself to securing the necessary funds for UNRWA, which would put an end to the continued decline in the Agency's services and instead improve its role in providing basic services to the victims of the Nakbah and ensure a decent life for refugees as a responsibility that the international community should fulfill in accordance with resolution 194.
6. The Central Council rejects foreign intervention in Arab countries and calls for a political solution and dialogue in order to end the crises and wars experienced by some Arab countries. It calls for maintaining the unity of these countries and defying attempts to divide and alleviating the suffering of Arabs.

 Sixth: Sixth: Develop mechanisms to implement the decisions of the previous Central Council to represent women by at least 30% in all institutions in the State of Palestine and to harmonize the laws in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Seventh: The Central Council salutes the masses of Palestinians in refugee camps and exile camps in Syria, Lebanon and the Diaspora who affirm their adherence to the right of return every day. The Executive Committee is mandated to continue and intensify work with the Palestinian communities in the world and to communicate with international parties to mobilize support in facing decisions that aim to liquidate the Palestinian cause.
Eighth: The Central Council salutes the struggle and steadfastness of the prisoners in the Israeli jails and calls for their support in their daily confrontation and calls on national and international institutions to bring up their cases in all forums until their release.
The Council condemns the arrest and intimidation of children, including Ahed Tamimi, which has become a symbol of Palestinian pride in the face of occupation as well as dozens of other children.
It condemns the deliberate killings and field executions committed by Israel, as well as the killing of Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, and condemns the continued detention of the bodies of Palestinians in the numbers graves, and calls for their unconditional release.
Ninth: The Central Council salutes Palestinians for their mass uprising in response to President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transfer the US Embassy to it. It salutes the souls of martyrs who rose for Palestine and al-Aqsa.