The United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (the Committee) held a two-day conference in Geneva, Switzerland from 3-4 April 2024. The conference was entitled “Building Bridges with International Civil Society to Address the Ongoing Nakba”.¹   

In light of Israel’s military aggression launched against the Gaza Strip following the attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, the conference focused primarily on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) around the world in calling for a durable and sustainable ceasefire and in seeking accountability for Israel’s ongoing war crimes and breaches of international law.²

CSO representatives from a number of countries and regions including the Occupied Palestinian Territory, United States, Israel, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Australia were invited to address successive plenary sessions.

The conference offered these representatives the opportunity to inform the Committee of their respective lobbying and campaign initiatives. It also offered the Committee the opportunity to build partnership with CSOs where possible to help advance these initiatives.

Rawan Arraf, executive director and principal lawyer at the Australian Centre for International Justice was one CSO representative who addressed the conference. Her address highlighted the strong response from Australian civil society to Israel’s “most ferocious military assault on Gaza and the Palestinian people since the 1948 Nakba.”

Arraf noted that this response was “multifaceted and widespread given the majority support from the Australian people for a permanent ceasefire.” This was evident in the large anti-war protests which have been held in capital cities and many regional centres around the country.³ These ongoing weekend protests have been described as the largest anti-war movement in Australia since the war against Iraq.

Arraf noted that more than 100 civil organisations have collectively called for a permanent ceasefire. This contrasts sharply with the Australian parliament’s general silence on Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza’s infrastructure and civilian population which were “manifestly in violation of international law.”

Below are casualty figures as of 16 July 2024.⁴Rawan Arraf also detailed the significant challenges faced by civil society, including anti-Palestinian racism and attempts by the Zionist lobby and right-wing groups to divert attention from Israel’s atrocities and war crimes. Despite this, there was strong support for Palestinians arriving from Gaza, with local communities and professional groups offering various forms of assistance and advocacy.

Arraf criticised the Australian government and the majority of the Australian parliament for ignoring “Israel’s attacks even in the face of what was prima facie evidence and statements of genocidal intent and policies coming from Israeli authorities.”

She also criticised the Australian government’s slow and inadequate response to the International Court of Justice’s order dated 28 March 2024.⁵

As well, she called on the government to act more decisively by implementing the following measures:

• hold an inquiry to review and assess its political, military and economic relationships with Israel and move to impose diplomatic sanctions and travel bans against Israeli officials;
• impose a two-way arms embargo and rescind existing military contracts with Israeli arms manufacturers.

Furthermore, Arraf stated that Australia should “issue an advisory to dual nationals warning them of criminal liability when serving or volunteering abroad in the Israeli military. Australia should monitor those individuals who are abroad and investigate them on return and refer them to prosecution where appropriate.”

Rawan Arraf’s full presentation can be viewed in the video above. The text of her presentation can be found here.

Notes
1. Refer to the Conference’s Concept Note.  The conference’s program and speakers can be accessed here.
2. Refer to Francesca Albanese , ‘War in Gaza ‘one of most critical cases of genocide”, interviewed by FRANCE 24, Jul 17, 2024. Francesca Albanese is UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.
3. For example, the group Mountains for Palestine in the Blue Mountains has been holding weekend rallies in Katoomba on a fortnightly basis over the last six months.
4. AJLabs, ‘Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker’, updated Jul 16, 2024. Also refer to Al Jazeera, ‘Gaza toll could exceed 186,000, Lancet study says’, Jul 8, 2024.
5. The International Court of Justice issued an additional order on 24 May 2024.