China on Friday urged Israel not to use the recently passed controversial law to discriminate against Palestinians.
Israel has adopted the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law that imposes the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners. The law has been worded and drafted in such a way that it spares Israeli jews from capital punishment. The legislation has triggered global condemnation.
“All legislation must conform to legal principles, such as the principle of legality, fairness and justice and must not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality or political view,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
Mao was responding to a question by Anadolu about a new controversial law passed by the Israeli parliament last Monday with a vote of 62-48.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also voted in its support.
Under the law, executions will be carried out by hanging, conducted by prison guards appointed by the Israeli Prison Service.
Unanimously criticised by human rights advocates from around the world, the law imposes the death penalty as a default sentence on Palestinians convicted of “terrorism” by the Israeli military courts.
The law creates a separate and harsher legal track because Palestinians in the occupied territory are automatically tried in military, instead of civilian, courts.
The law will ensure that illegal Jewish settlers or soldiers who kill Palestinians – often under the guise of “self-defence” in the occupied territories – face no consequences.
As Jewish terrorists cannot be accused of harming the “national revival of the Jewish people”, the death penalty will apparently come into play only when Palestinians and Palestinian Israelis go on trial for alleged acts of terrorism.
Mao said the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people “must be respected and protected.”
“Actions that escalate tensions and exacerbate confrontation must stop,” Mao added.
