Israel’s annexation plan ‘immoral’: Kashmiri activist

By Hilal Mir

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - The Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank is “immoral,” a Kashmiri human rights defender said Monday.

"As a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, I know what illegal annexation means. We know the pain of someone else deciding about your land, rights and future," said Khurram Parvez, coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a group of several rights organizations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to start annexing all settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank as of July 1.

The move, however, appears to have come to a halt in light of widespread international rejection of the plan along with differences with the US administration on its application.

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Parvez said while nearly the entire world opposes Israeli annexation plan, major world powers have been silent about the “annexation of Kashmir.”

"The annexation of Kashmir is as sinister as that of Palestine but we have been forsaken. There appears to tacit support for Kashmir's annexation. No one calls Kashmir's annexation as annexation," Khurram said.

He said India's claim of Kashmir being "an integral part of its Union" has gone uncontested for years.

"Annexation of Palestinian land should stop but all annexations must end. It is an abuse of human rights," he said.

On Aug. 5, 2019, the Indian government revoked Article 370 and other related provisions from its constitution, scrapping the country’s only Muslim-majority state with its autonomy. It was also split into two federally administered territories.