Khaled Osaily. خالد العسيلي رئيس بلدية الخيل السابق خالد العسيلي
Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily received in his office today a delegation from the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. The delegation is currently visiting Palestine to get acquainted with the situation in the Palestinian Territories which suffer under continuous occupation and settler presence. The delegation was accompanied by Randa Saniora, Executive Director of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights as well as by a team from the Commission.
Mayor Osaily welcomed the delegation comprising members from New Zealand, Nepal, the Philippines, Australia, and Jordan as well as representatives from the National Commission’s Secretariat. He thanked them for their interest in the situation in Palestine and for their defense of rights guaranteed by international laws, customs and religions. Osaily described to the delegation the daily sufferings of Palestinians in the city due to continuous Israeli occupation and the presence of Israeli settlers in its heart, adding that the Old City center has become a ghost town deprived of all economic activity. “The current situation in Hebron contradicts with human rights and international laws that guarantee human beings their freedom, including the freedom of movement, freedom to pursue daily life activities in security, and freedom of worship and religion”, he said.
Continuous closures of Old City streets, the more than 110 Israeli checkpoints surrounding it with only one gate for Palestinians to go through under harsh security measures and humiliation, abuse caused by Israeli settlers and Israeli military decrees have caused more than 800 businesses to close and have driven away around 1000 Palestinian families from the Old City. This has completely paralyzed commerce in the old city and has turned it into a ghost town. In addition, Palestinians need to go through 4 electronic gates in order to reach the Ibrahimi Mosque, while the Mosque itself is closed for Moslems during Jewish holidays.
Osaily explained that Hebron is famous for industries producing glass, pottery, granite, leather, shoes, and grapes. He said that Hebron contributes substantially to the Palestinian National Income, and that it is one of the larger and more populated Governorates of the Palestinian Territories.
Randa Saniora took the floor and stressed that the Human Rights Law gives Palestinians the right for self determination and considers the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories illegal. There needs to be an international drive to force Israel to follow international laws, she said.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Osaily asked the delegation to pressure Israel to respect international laws, to lift the closure imposed on Hebron and its Old City, and to end the Israeli occupation and remove the settlers.
After the meeting, the delegation went on a tour of the old city of Hebron and of the Ibrahimi Mosque to see for themselves the reality of the situation.
