Palestinian Envoy To Nigeria Narrates Ordeal From Israel, Others
. Says They Used To Kill Us For Fun Before The Cameras
. Calls For Ceasefire, Humanitarian Aids
By Fredrick Wright
“The Palestinians used to be killed for fun. This is shocking. Yes, it is very shocking, but there are lots of evidences. They used to kill us in the daylight before the cameras and no one queried them and they did not investigate”, these were the words of the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullah Abu Shawesh.
Shawesh, during a media briefing in Lagos, however called for ceasefire and urged the international community to intensify humanitarian aid to his people.
He also called on the African Union and other International communities to launch and independent investigation into the matter regarding Israel and Palestine in the Gaza dispute.
According to him, more than 300,000 innocent Palestinians have been killed since the war started while many more were missing and others jailed.
He alleged that the Isrealis have been killing the Palestinians for a long time. According to him, “on October 6 last year, the Israeli military excavation killed six Palestinians. Since the beginning of the year 2023, till October 6 alone, more than 152 Palestinian have been killed,” he said.
Shawesh continued: “Since October 7, 2023, till today, approximately 300,000 Palestinian have been killed, while over 7,000 of them are still missing. A lot of the Palestinian bodies in Gaza were already decomposed in the streets. Can you imagine decomposed bodies in the streets? A lot of collective cemeteries are filled”.
He denied the Isrealis allegation that their families were burnt alive and that babies were beheaded.
“This is completely not true. There is no evidence that there is any single baby beheaded or killed, or any baby had been killed before his family or the family that killed before their baby,” he said.
He therefore called for an investigation by independent bodies, urging the African Union (AU) to partake in the investigation.
“We need an international independent inquiry commission to come and investigate what happened on October 7. This is very important because everyone will give his claims, but who is going to say this is true or not true?
“Then, anyone who committed any war crime should be held accountable. Again, I call on the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. This is very important to put an end to all of these claims.
“We need an international investigation, independent community to be established by the Human Rights Council and the EU. We also need the African Union to be part of this investigation.
“In Africa, we share a common history. We have a shared future. It’s our interest, collective interest, to make sure that international law is implemented.
“We have lost more than 30,000 Palestinians. Gaza is nearly completely leveled. When I say completely leveled, I mean tens of thousands of housing units have completely become rotten. You cannot go back to them at all. Tens of thousands of the homes are still heavily heated. So, it will take a lot of time for reconstruction and rehabilitation. The universities are completely leveled just for fun,” he said.
He expressed displeasure that the United State is supplying arms and ammunition to Israel, while it refuses to call for a ceasefire.
“The United States of America and Israel till today, are denying our right of self determination which is the basic right for every single person all around the world
“We are losing people everyday. We are losing many of our children. Just yesterday, approximately 200 Palestinian were killed.
“So what we need now is a call for complete and immediate ceasefire. We also need an Investigation Commission to come to investigate what happened on October 6, before October 7, and what happened after October 7 till today. It’s very important, he said.
Shawesh said: “Humanitarian aid should come to Gaza. Starvation is a real issue in Gaza.
“Even the water in Gaza today is completely destroyed. So, we used to boil it to make sure that we could drink it, before it became a health issue,” he said.
He also called for freedom for all the hostages, both Palestinians and Israelis.
The world’s court had ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, including by its forces on the ground, and allow humanitarian aid into the territory.
The international court of justice (ICJ) said Israel’s military operation “had resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries, as well as the massive destruction of homes, the forcible displacement of the vast majority of the population, and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his response to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision on South Africa’s genocide claim against the nation said: “The charge of genocide levelled against Israel is not only false, it’s outrageous, and decent people everywhere should reject it,”
He said Israel’s commitment to international law is unwavering and equally unwavering is the country’s sacred commitment to continue to defend “our country and defend our people”.
“Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself. The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected.” Netanyahu said.
How it all started
The Palestinian ambassador to Nigeria said the issue did not start on October 7, 2023, but it started a long time ago.
Tracing the history, he said: “It all started on November 2, 1917. As at that time, the United Kingdom did not have yet the mandatory power over the historical land of Palestine. And when I say the historical land of Palestine, it’s the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordanian River.
“We the Palestinians still insist this is the historical land of Palestine. So, at that time, the United Kingdom issued the notorious Balfour Declaration. In this declaration, the United Kingdom promised the European Jewish of our land. This is the root of the issue. This is the essejooyince, this is the main problem.
“At this time, the United Kingdom has neither legal validity nor a legal mandate over the Palestinian land, but they sew the seeds for all the problematic issues that you heard about today.
“After the First World War, they had mandatory power over the historical land of Palestine. From the first day ever, they entered Palestine as a military occupation. They did not spare any effort to facilitate the immigration of the foreigners. They turned their blind eyes over the Jewish militarization while the Palestinians were used to being hanged to death. So, in 1974, the United Nation divided the historical land of Palestine, according to the resolution 181, which is called the Division of the Land of Palestine. We refused it. The Palestinian political leader refused for a very simple reason – It is the historical land of Palestine.
“We have our official document that we are the owner of 94% of the land.
“They used to have the Palestinian passport, the Palestinian nationality at that time.
“So, at that time, they defeated us. They completely expanded the majority of the Palestinian people and ethnically cleansed us. They expelled us and we became refugees. I was born a refugee. My late father, Hamid was born in our original village – Bariga. My distinguished brother Harem Hamid was also a refugee in Lebanon.
“Some of us became refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the other parts, likewise me in Gaza. At that time, instead of 54% that was designated to the Jewish people out of the historical land of Palestine, the Jewish people succeeded in building their estate in 78% of the historical land of Palestine. This is the root of the issue,” Shawesh narrated.
