Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694573759286.pdf (Belize)
Belize House of Representatives Resolution on Palestine Motion, 2021.
WHEREAS, bearing in mind that in 1948 more than seven hundred thousand Palestinians were forced to leave their homeland in consequence of acts of ethnic cleansing, including terrorist acts that wiped out entire villages, and that there has been a continuing policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by the State of Israel; AND WHEREAS, deeply concerned at the consistent refusal of Israel to comply with UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948, which recognized the right of return of the expelled Palestinians; AND WHEREAS, conscious of the fact that for 73 years the UN has repeatedly condemned Israel’s illegal annexation of occupied Palestinian territory and violations of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, while Israel has ignored even relevant binding resolutions issued by the United Nations Security Council; AND WHEREAS, deeply concerned about Israel’s brutal suppression of Palestinian popular resistance against the forcible removal of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem to make space for more illegal settlements; AND WHEREAS, appalled by the latest Israeli military assault, in May 2021, on Gaza, a territory of 141 square miles housing over 2 million Palestinians, 80% of whom are refugees driven from their homes in other parts of Palestine, resulting in the killing of at least 240 Palestinian civilians, including 66 children of Gaza, leaving all 2.1 million people facing shortages of water and power, while the bombings destroyed or damaged over a thousand homes; AND WHEREAS, considering that, in 2018, the Israeli parliament passed a “Basic Law” which states that the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and that the fulfilment of the right of national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people, thereby institutionalizing the de facto apartheid practiced by the Israeli state; AND WHEREAS, mindful that, in 2010, the International Committee of the Red Cross stated that “the whole of Gaza's civilian population is being
 punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility; the closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law”; AND WHEREAS, mindful that, in 1984, Belize became a party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states at Article 49 that “the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies,” and that Israel has violated this Convention, various UN Security Council resolutions, international human rights law and international humanitarian law by transferring over 600,000 Israelis into the Occupied Palestinian Territories and declaring its intention to continue to create more settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; AND WHEREAS, recognizing that Belize has the international obligation to condemn apartheid and any support or assistance toward the maintenance of apartheid anywhere; AND WHEREAS, recalling the unequivocal support of Belize for the right of the people of Palestine to exercise freely and without fear their right to self-determination; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable House resolves: 1.
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.
That Israel’s regime of systemic oppression of the Palestinian people constitutes a regime of settler colonialism and apartheid; That the Government should support efforts of the UN investigation of Israeli apartheid; To urge the Government to support by all means at its disposal the International Criminal Court’s investigation and prosecution of individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; To call for an immediate end to Israel’s illegal 14-year blockade of Gaza, which constitutes a form of collective punishment and a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention as well as international human rights and international humanitarian law; That the Government should ensure that Belize complies with its obligation under international law to contribute to lawful and effective measures, including targeted sanctions, aimed at ending Israel’s grave violations of international humanitarian law and Palestinian human rights; This Parliament therefore calls on Government to put an end to any kind of military, police training or security exchange or trade with Israel; and To call on the Government to adopt measures to ensure that businesses operating in Belize do not engage in or profit from Israel’s human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people, and to support annual updates of the UN database of companies involved in business with Israel’s illegal settlements.