The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine strongly condemns and categorically rejects the report issued by Human Rights Watch in which it accuses the Palestinian resistance factions of committing “crimes against humanity and war crimes on the seventh of last October.”
We hold the organization fully responsible for the repercussions of this suspicious report and demand that it apologize for it and withdraw it immediately. It is clear that this report was drafted by Zionist hands, and its goal is to divert attention from the ongoing Zionist war of extermination against our people in the Gaza Strip, and to provide cover for the enemy to escape punishment.
– After reviewing the report, it was proven that this report is highly biased towards the Zionist narrative, and ignores the true dimensions of the Palestinian conflict, as it ignored the horrific crimes that the occupation has committed and is still committing against our people, such as indiscriminate killing, arbitrary arrests, forced displacement, the economic siege of the Gaza Strip, and what is happening. Of atrocities against Gaza detainees in extermination camps, in which all forms of violations are practiced, including the policy of slow executions, which confirms that what was stated in the organization’s report is based on weak, non-multiple and discussed evidence and evidence, and lacks objectivity and impartiality.
– The organization has a confusion between describing the political and legal status of the Palestinian people who are suffering under occupation, and classifying “Israel” as a brutal occupying force and a colonial entity that practices all forms of crimes and war of extermination. Therefore, the organization deliberately equates the victim with the executioner in its report, and describes the legitimate resistance of our people as terrorism, which insults the sacrifices of our people. Therefore, the Popular Front affirms the right of peoples subject to foreign occupation to use all available means to defend themselves and restore their legitimate rights in accordance with international law.
Ignoring this right in international reports, especially Human Rights Watch reports, encourages the occupation to continue its repressive practices without any accountability. According to international conventions related to civil and political rights, peoples have the right to self-determination and to use all legitimate means of resistance to resist occupation, which is what the organization’s report ignores.
The organization uses a lot of unreliable testimonies and evidence, including accounts from within the Zionist entity. The report relied on testimonies from Israeli relief organizations whose claims were proven to be incorrect, and some of whom retracted their statements. The occupation also prevented the work of international investigation committees.
– Contrary to the false and tendentious accusations stated in the report, the Palestinian resistance respected the standards of international humanitarian law and dealt ethically with the events of October 7, even with the testimony of international organizations and newspapers that were initially influenced by the Zionist narrative, but retreated after the occupation’s lies were proven.
Blaming the Palestinian factions constitutes a kind of incitement and deliberate distortion that serves the occupation’s agendas and justifies the continuation of its crimes against our people. Therefore, we reject this one-sided narrative, and consider it achieving the goals of the occupation with impunity.
– Human Rights Watch continues to make many fatal mistakes, and in many cases they constitute a net profit for the occupation, which the occupation exploits to distort the resistance and escalate its aggression.
In light of this suspicious report, we demand an independent and impartial international investigation that includes all violations against the Palestinian people, with a focus on the ongoing Zionist crimes. Human Rights Watch has proven that it is not an impartial body or authorized to deal with the Palestinian issue in light of the lies contained in the report and an attempt to beautify the ugly face of the occupation.
The Front, along with all resistance factions as a national liberation movement, affirms that it will continue to defend the rights of our people by all legitimate means in accordance with international law, and will not stop until their right to self-determination, freedom, and independence is taken away and the enemy is defeated from our land.
We call on the international community and human rights institutions to stand by truth and justice and hold the Zionist entity accountable for its crimes against humanity and the Palestinian people, not to justify its crimes and contribute to its impunity.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Central Information Department
17-July-2024