RAMALLAH (Dispatches) -- At least 277 human rights groups and civil society organizations have condemned Israel’s crimes of apartheid against Palestinians and said the occupying regime must be held accountable for the practice.
The organizations, hailing from 16 Arab countries as well as six European and Latin American states, demanded in a joint statement the trial of Israeli authorities involved in genocide, war crimes and racial discrimination.
They condemned the Zionist regime’s treatment of Palestinians as an inferior race, calling for a campaign to put an ultimate end to the Israeli apartheid.
They also urged punitive measures, including travel bans and freeze of assets, against Israeli military officials besides arms embargoes on the regime.
The groups further called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include apartheid crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in its future investigations.
The organizations voiced support for pro-Palestinian groups that document and expose Israeli atrocities and racism, above all the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The BDS movement, which is modeled after the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, was initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations that were pushing for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law”.
Thousands of volunteers worldwide have since then joined the BDS movement, which calls for people and groups across the world to cut economic, cultural, and academic ties to Tel Aviv, to help promote the Palestinian cause.
Last year, more than 600 scholars, artists, and intellectuals from over 45 countries across the world lambasted the Israeli practices against Palestinians, calling for an immediate end to “Israel’s apartheid regime” in the occupied territories.
Back in July 2018, Israel’s parliament (Knesset) adopted a controversial bill that declared the occupying entity as the so-called “nation-state of the Jewish people”.
The law prioritizes “Jewish” values over democratic ones in the occupied territories, declares Al-Quds the “capital” of Israel, allows Jewish-only communities, sets Hebrew as the official language and relegates Arabic from an official language to one with “special status”.
Observers blame U.S.-led Western powers for enabling Israel’s violations against Palestinians.

Palestinians on Hunger Strike Over Assassinations

On Wednesday, Palestinians staged a general strike in the occupied West Bank in protest to the Tuesday assassination of three Palestinian youths by Israeli forces.
The official WAFA news agency said Palestinian factions, including Fatah, jointly called for the one-day general strike.
The Palestinian Students’ Association and the Palestinian Youth Movement also cancelled classes to take part in mourning ceremonies held in commemoration of the martyrs.
In a statement, they called for strengthening resistance against Israeli forces and the settlers in Palestine.
The general strike was observed

in main West Bank cities such as Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, and Tulkaram.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine joined in condemning the assassination.
The three youths were assassinated by Israeli special forces in what was described as an extrajudicial execution in the Al-Makhfeya neighborhood of Nablus.
WAFA said the Israeli forces came to the neighborhood with an unmarked civilian vehicle bearing a Palestinian number plate, from which they emerged to bring down the car passing by in a hail of bullets.
Three of the youths in the car were martyred and a fourth was taken away.