Palestinian Council for Justice and Peace
A Periodical - Deals With The Israeli Violations - Issued by The PalestinianCouncil for Justice and Peace
March 2001
“Occupation is the worst of all forms of violence and settlements are the most aggressive expression of this occupation under which the Palestinian people are forced to live. International protection for the people of Palestine is urgently needed”., President Yasser Arafat.
Khalil Abu-‘Ulbah is a 35 year-old Palestinian from a middle class family in the Gaza Strip. He worked for the Israeli Bus Company “Eged” for the past five years. Khalil, a father of five, was known to be a hard working person who easily obtained the necessary permit to transport Palestinian workers from Gaza to Israel. He was never a member of any Arab or Palestinian political faction and never carried a weapon. Yet, Khalil Abu-‘Ulbah, single-handedly, planned and executed the most dangerous attack inside Israel since the beginning of the current Intifada (Al-Aqsa Uprising). The attack left eight Israelis dead and twenty injured. Most of them were Israeli soldiers. Khalil did not use a rifle, a grenade or any explosive device. He only used the bus he normally drives to transport workers. Khalil ran into a bus stop, at Yazur Junction, crowded with Israeli soldiers. Abu-‘Ulbah, who survived with serious injuries, did not care about his own fate nor did he think thoroughly of the fate of his family and five children. He had an objective and did his best to achieve it. He only wanted to prove that there is no military solution to the Intifada and he did.
Abu-‘Ulbah’s action deserves a close look from us all. Israelis, before any one else in the world, should meticulously contemplate the incident. Any Palestinian could carry a suicide attack. When a human being is willing to sacrifice his soul he does not need any weapons or be a member of a faction to inflict heavy casualties on the occupation. Khalil was not moved, as Israelis claim, by any incitement from the PNA or any Islamic or nationalistic factions or the Palestinian media. His action was compelled by the intolerable Israeli practices of aggression, willful killing, settlements and settlers’ violence, and daily systematic harassment of Palestinians at Israeli roadblocks spread all over the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israeli contempt and total disregard of Palestinian feelings towards holy Islamic symbols, such Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon Him) or vandalism of mosques pushed Khalil to carry his suicide attack. Israeli soldiers who, disrespectfully, ask Palestinian women to take off their Hijab (Headdress) or kiss unrelated males at checkpoints drove Khalil to take action. Israeli use of internationally prohibited ammunition such as Depleted Uranium ammo or Nerve Gas along with the systemic and systematic assassination of Palestinian cadres in cold blood, using helicopter-launched anti-tank missiles, the daily random bombardment of whole residential neighborhoods, drove Khalil to take things into his own hands. Israeli forces indiscriminately fire heavy machine guns into Palestinian homes and snipers often shoot Palestinians, including children, out of boredom. An Israeli sniper admitted to Ha’aretz, an Israeli Daily, he often shoots at Palestinian children playing in front of their homes “Out of boredom and to kill time”. All these reasons pushed Khalil to carry the suicide attack. Should Israeli occupation and oppression persist others like Khalil would follow suit. The Israeli occupation must end and the Palestinian rights to freedom, independence and return must be realized.
Khalil Abu-‘Ulbah is a simple Palestinian heavily burdened with his people’s anguish, concerns, and aspirations. Sooner, Ariel Sharon would stop daydreaming and wake up to face reality. Palestinian resistance will persist as long as the Israeli occupation continues. It is impossible to defeat a people determined to gain freedom and independence. There is one and only one solution i.e. Israel must withdraw from the Palestinian Territories it occupied in June 1967, dismantle Israeli settlements, relocate Israeli settlers back inside Israel and reach a just resolution of the Palestinian refugees’ problem. Israel should earnestly recognize the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as capital. Sharon and other Israeli leaders must face reality. Further postponement would result in more casualties on both sides.
(This is from an article, by Hani al-Masri, was published on 17 February 2001 in the Palestinian Daily al-Ayyam)
Al-Aqsa Intifada: An Uprising Towards Freedom and National Independence
Indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of Palestinian residential areas continued undeterred for the fifth consecutive month. Using American made Apache and Cobra helicopter gun-ships, Israeli military forces fired heavy machine guns and anti-tank rockets at dozens of Palestinian areas. The office of Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary-General of the PLO and Head of the Palestinian Team to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations was directly hit, for the second time, with high caliber bullets fired from nearby Israeli positions. Israeli troops, armored vehicles and tanks continue to impose a rigorous siege around each and every Palestinian city, town or village. Movement between Palestinian urban centers and the countryside is severely restricted. Soldiers, using special bayonets, punctured tires of vehicles that attempted to transport people or goods between cities or villages. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces used internationally prohibited Nerve Gas against Palestinian demonstrators. Scores of civilians were rushed into hospitals suffering unprecedented symptoms. Doctors stood helpless while trying to figure the nature of the gas used. The Israeli occupation machine continues to inflict heavy physical and psychological destruction to the Palestinian civilian population determined to end the Israeli occupation.
a.. A total of 24 Palestinians, including 5 children, two women and 3 elders, were killed during the month of February 2001 as a result of Israeli shelling and sniper fire. The number of Palestinians killed during the past five months reached 424 persons.
b.. On 10 February 2001, Israeli soldiers shot dead Aiman Abdel-Razeq Abu-Howley, a 16 year-old Palestinian, from Dair al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. On 111 February, Bara’ Kamal Qalalwah, a 22 month-old died when Israeli troops shelled her family home in al-Bireh. On 13 February, members of an Israeli Special Forces unit shot dead ‘Atef Nabulsi, a 35 year-old from Bithunia, a town, west of Ramallah. The same day, Israeli troops fired at a bus carrying Palestinian laborers near the entrance of Bethlehem. Ziad Abu-Sway, a 22 year-old Palestinian laborer from the village of Artass, died instantly.
c.. On 14 February 2001, an Israeli helicopter gun-ship fired 4 anti-tank rockets at a vehicle killing Colonel Mass’oud ‘Ayyad, a sixty year-old, officer in the Palestinian National Forces.
d.. On 23 February 2001, Qul Ha’ir, an Israeli Paper, reported an Israeli army commander sentenced Private Daniel Stempher, a member of the Golani Brigade, to 49 days in prison. The soldier shot dead Issa Ibrahim al-‘Umor, a 14 year-old Palestinian, near the settlement of Kfar Daroum in the Gaza Strip. Members of the same unit testified their colleague had shot the boy on his way to school. Soldiers added the schoolboy did not pose any danger to the soldiers in their fortified positions.
e.. On 14 February 2001, Israeli troops shot dead Bilal Tawfiq Ramadan, a 14 year-old from Buraij Refugee Camp, in the Gaza Strip. On 15 February, members of an Israeli Special Forces unit ambushed and killed ‘Ayed al-Hroub near Nour Shams Refugee Camp in the District of Tulkarem. On 17 February, Israeli police chased Mohammad Ismail Hawamdah in the Israeli town of Beer Shiva. Hawamdah, from Somou’ near Hebron, who was on his way home from work, died in the car crash. On 19 February, members of an Israeli Special Forces unit assassinated Mahmoud al-Madani in Balata Refugee Camp near Nablus. On 20 February, Israeli tanks shelled the town of Bait Jala, near Bethlehem. Eighteen year-old Ussama Mohammad Massalmeh died when shells destroyed his family home.
a.. Israeli troops and settlers injured more than a thousand Palestinians during last February. For the first time, Israeli army used poisonous Nerve Gas against civilian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip. Scores of injured were rushed into hospitals. Medical professionals had trouble figuring out the type of gas used.
b.. On 5 February 2001, Israeli soldiers assaulted Salam ‘Alian Rujabi, a 9 year-old girl, from Hebron. The third grader suffered injuries in the face and legs.
c.. On 6 February 2001, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded 9 Palestinian journalists at the northern entrance to Ramallah. The journalists were covering confrontations between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation army. The following day a Belgian journalist was injured also at the same site. On 12 February 2001, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded another three Palestinian journalists while they were covering confrontations in Hebron.
d.. A report by LAWE, a Palestinian human rights organization, affirmed a total of 39 Palestinian and foreign journalists were injured since the beginning of the current uprising.
e.. On 12 February 2001, 4 months old Nasrallah Nassar suffered serious burns when an unidentified explosive device blew up near him inside the house. One of the victim’s sisters found the device on the street outside. Palestinians in Hebron affirmed Israeli soldiers intentionally scatter explosive devices decoyed as biscuit and chocolate boxes around Palestinian homes.
f.. On 12 February 2001, Israeli army fired internationally prohibited Nerve Gas canisters at Palestinian in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. About 40 persons were rushed into hospitals with nervous breakdowns and hysterical symptoms. On 19 February, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded 4 children in the Rafah Refugee Camp in Gaza Strip. Soldiers detained Nasser Omar, a 15 year-old, for an hour. He was bleeding from a gun wound in the leg.
a.. Settlers from Rachel, an illegal Israeli settlement, near the village of Qaryout in the Nablus District, usurped 50 dunums of land. The property belongs to Moussa Ali Ahmad, a resident, of Qaryout.
b.. Settlers from Karmi Tsur, an illegal Israeli settlement, near Hebron, seized a hill near ‘Aroub Refugee Camp. The land belongs to villagers of Bait Ummar and Halhoul in the District of Hebron.
c.. Settlers from Yitzhar, an illegal Israeli settlement near Nablus, set up additional pre-fabricated houses in the settlement.
d.. Settlers from Kfar Daroum, an illegal Israeli settlement, near Dair al-Balah in the Gaza Strip usurped 174 dunums of land and annexed to the settlement.
e.. A report by the Israeli Peace Now movement affirmed Barak’s government had issued tenders to build 3370 housing units in settlements built illegally in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The outgoing Israeli government ratified, on 23 February 2001, plans to establish a new neighborhood near Psagot, an illegal Israeli settlement, built on land confiscated from the city of al-Bireh near Ramallah. The initial stage would involve construction of 696 housing units.
a.. Israeli occupation authorities continued to impose a rigorous military siege around each and every Palestinian city, town or village. Thousands of troops, supported by armored vehicles, tanks and helicopter gun ships, enforced the round-the-clock five months old siege. Israeli soldiers set up roadblocks on major and secondary highways throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. When Palestinians resort to dirt roads soldiers would move immediately to close these roads with heavy cement blocks or rocks.
b.. Israeli troops arrested a total of 221 Palestinians during the Month of February 2001. These included 175 Palestinian laborers caught inside Israel. Because of the hard economic times, Palestinian laborers would venture into Israel risking their lives to earn a living.
c.. On 4 February 2001, Israeli army imposed a 24-hour curfew on the town of Silwad near Ramallah. The curfew lasted for five days. Soldiers arrested several of the town’s residents and assaulted many others. The central part of Hebron, a Palestinian city in southern West Bank, has been under curfew for the past five months. Hawwara, a town near Nablus was subjected to strict curfews since 28 September 2000.
d.. On several occasions during February, Israeli troops raided dozens of villages and refugee camps. Soldiers, normally, order all inhabitants outside into the cold weather while others search the homes. The villages of Harith in the Qalqilia District and al-Waljah in Bethelhem District were the hardest hit. Israeli Border Guard units stormed the house of Shadi Sulaiman, a Palestinian from Bait Hanina in occupied Jerusalem. The soldiers and police dogs vandalized the house during the search.
e.. Israeli authorities released Yoram Scholnik from prison. Scholnik killed Moussa Abu-Sabha, a Palestinian in cold blood in 1993. He was sentenced to life but was released after serving only eight years. Israel’s Minister of Justice Youssi Beilin commented: “It is too early a release for this horrible crime”.
f.. On 15 February 2001, Israeli military authorities imposed a strict closure on the Palestinian Territories declaring them as Closed Military Areas. The closure comes as part of Israeli systematic policy of collective punishment imposed on the Palestinians.
a.. On 13 February 2001, Israeli bulldozers dredged parts of the Moslem cemetery on Mount Jirzim overlooking the city of Nablus. The cemetery is about 2060 square meters. Dredging on Mount Jirzim comes as a part of Israeli military operations to set up army fortifications on the mountaintop. Other sites such as Sheikh Ghanem Tomb, a Byzantine church and the sacred altar of the Samaritan Sect were also affected.
b.. On 15 February 2001, Israeli military authorities restricted the travel of 70 Palestinian pilgrims to Mecca and arrested two pilgrims. In Bethlehem, Israeli authorities prohibited a Christian delegation from entering the holy city. The 400-person delegation representing 20 countries were to participate in a conference organized by SABEEL, a Palestinian NGO. The delegates entered Bethlehem on foot using rough mountainous trails.
c.. On 16 February 2001, Jewish extremists attempted to destroy the minaret of an ancient mosque in Zakaria, one of 450 Palestinian villages, destroyed by Israel in 1948. Another group of extremists turned the mosque of al-Bassah village into an animal coral and the village church to a garbage dump.
a.. A total of 31 homes were totally destroyed and scores of buildings suffered damages as a result of Israeli shelling throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israeli occupation authorities issued orders to demolish 22 homes in the Palestinian city of Hebron. Additionally, Israeli troops destroyed several artesian wells, a gas station near Ramallah, and a dairy farm in Hebron. The farm belongs to the Moslem Society for the Care of Orphans that provides guardianship to 2500 orphans. The destruction of homes left over 200 Palestinians homeless.
b.. An Israeli court, in Haifa, ordered the demolition of 22 homes belong to Zubeidat family in the village of Basma Tab’oun. The homes were constructed long before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
a.. Using bulldozers and electric saws, Israeli military authorities and settlers cut and uprooted over 3900 mature olive trees in Dair al-Balah and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip and near the village of Burin in Nablus District.
a.. Two hundred and fifty schoolgirls from Jalboun, a village in Jenin District, used their palm prints to sign a letter to Mr. Kufi Anan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The letter, made of cloth, stated: “We have the right to: life, special care and assistance, guardianship and protection, preserve identity and nationality, freedom of expression, a healthy family life and relations and the right to a state”.
b.. Israeli military shelled several schools and educational institutions throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Troops shot live bullets and tear gas into several schools in Hebron. Dozens of children suffered tear gas related injuries. About 12000 school children were unable to attend school regularly. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops shelled two schools in Dair al-Balah destroying fixtures and laboratories.
c.. Israeli troops, manning roadblocks, detained and harassed dozens of schoolteachers on their way to work. The educational process suffered frequent disruptions in several areas of the occupied territories.
a.. Israeli troops at roadblocks throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories continued to harass, hinder and restrict the movement of emergency medical professionals. Doctors and paramedics were unable to reach besieged villages in the Jenin and Ramallah Districts. Additionally, Israeli military authorities prohibited the entrance of a shipment of food and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip. The International Committee of the Red Cross who attempted to bring in the supplies deplored the Israeli action. In a press release the ICRC stated: “The Israeli action represents a flagrant violation of international laws, norms and provisions of international humanitarian law and would exacerbate the already stressful crisis. The acute shortage in food and medical supplies and the inability to deliver it to the needy is a result of arbitrary Israeli restrictions”. Furthermore, Israeli soldiers restricted the transport of patients to hospitals. As a result, 79 year-old Abdel-Rahman Abu-Juma’a from Tulkarem and 55 year-old Mariam Jebara from Bait Fourik died in such circumstances.
b.. Israeli soldiers and armed settlers continued to attack ambulances of the Red Crescent and the Red Cross Societies. Settlers from Shilo, an illegal Israeli settlement near Ramallah, attacked a Red Cross ambulance causing heavy damages to the vehicle.
c.. Israeli occupation forces used Nerve Gas against demonstrators near Kahn Younis in the Gaza Strip. 238 Palestinians were rushed into Gaza hospitals in a-near-collapse state. Preliminary lab tests indicated the presence of poisonous elements in the Nerve Gas used. Palestinian Ministry of Health accused Israel of using internationally prohibited type of Gas against civilians.
a.. As a collective punishment measure, Israeli occupation authorities disconnected, on 4 February 2001, the main power lines that provide electricity to Buraij, Maghazi and Shati’e Refugee Camps in the Gaza Strip.
b.. On 13 February 2001, Israeli settlers attacked and vandalized dozens of Palestinian vehicles traveling on the Nablus-Ramallah Highway.
c.. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism affirmed Israeli shelling had caused extensive damages to the Ponds of Solomon in the Bethlehem area.
d.. On 15 February 2001, Israeli troops, under orders from the area military commander, closed the areas around the Municipal Slaughter House of al-Bireh near Ramallah. The army alleged the closure was for security reasons.
e.. On 18 February 2001, Israeli occupation forces destroyed the main sewage pipes in Sheikh ‘Ajellin in the Gaza Strip. Large amounts of sewage spilled into the area streets.
f.. On 18 February 2001, Israeli forces restricted distribution of Palestinian Newspapers into the Gaza Strip.
g.. On 19 February 2001, Israeli soldiers destroyed the amplification towers of Nablus TV station disrupting broadcasting for four days.
h.. As a punitive measure, Israeli military authorities prohibited the transfer of fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip on 19 February 2001.
a.. On 5 February 2001, an art exhibition was opened at Salah-Eddine Elemntary School in Gaza. Students displayed their artworks that portrayed themes of the Intifada. Another exhibition was opened on 9 February at Sultan Sulaiman Elementary School. Children works reflected their anguish caused by arbitrary measures of the Israeli occupation. Several works depicted attacks by Israeli soldiers on Palestinian life and properties.
a.. Hafa Cohen, an Israeli journalist wrote in the Haifa-based Al-Ittihad on 2 February 2001: “While it sends humanitarian aid and emergency medical teams to help earthquake victims in India, Israel ignores the austere repercussions of its five-months old military siege on the Palestinian population. The Israeli closure inflicts serious ramifications mostly on Palestinian civilians. Children, women and seniors died at Israeli roadblocks because soldiers would not allow them through to hospitals. Israeli military authorities confiscated humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies, destined for the Palestinian Territories. Simply, this is a contrast of Israeli public relations efforts on the international scene compared to measures carried out by the army against the Palestinians”.
b.. Eitan Haber, wrote in Yedi’ot Ahronot on 4 February 2001: “Regardless of “Brainy” ideas or propositions, such as transfer or re-occupying Palestinian cities, from Sharon and his followers there is no alternative to peace. The worst ever conditions surrounding Palestinians nowadays like closures, assassinations and lack of employment, would naturally intensify their hatred even towards moderate Israelis”.
c.. “I shall fear for the future of my children in this country if Sharon becomes the next Prime Minister. Sharon would not be able to make any moves without support from Ghandi, Liebermann or Levinger, all of whom are obstinate advocators of settling in the heart of Arab areas. Certainly, this is not the path to peace. Sharon is an expert on pushing things towards the abyss”. Eli Geiba’a, a Colonel in Israeli Reserve, published by Ma’ariv on 4 February 2001.
d.. On 7 February 2001, Reuben BidhaTsur wrote in Ha’aretz: “Israeli high-ranking military officers trumpet statements about threats from Hizballah, Iran and Iraq against Israel. Most of these threats are unreal. These officers only aim to cover up their failure and incompetence. They want to scare the people in order to get bigger budgets and purchase more unnecessary weapons”.
e.. “The brilliant notion that claims: As long the Palestinians do not agree to peace according to Israeli conditions they would remain under occupation is a moral catastrophe. There is not one single territory under occupation in this world. Even Indonesia got out of East Taimur. The occupation had interpenetrated deep into our conscience to the extent that certain Israeli Leftist writers composed a letter to the Palestinians claiming: “The Palestinians Right to Return is unethical” and contradicts with the Jews’ Right to Self-Determination. This sounds as if the Jews’ right to self-determination entails ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”. Tzevi Reichlubsky, Ma’ariv 8 February 2001.
f.. “Should Israeli-Arabs choose to secede from Israel we must promptly help them to do so. As Rahva’am Ze’evi suggested they should be led to buses that would transfer them to Jordan or the Palestinian state if established”. Dani Shalom, Hatsofe, 11 February 2001.
g.. “There is no place for the Palestinians among the peoples of the world”. Rabbi Mordechai Fary, Al-Ittihad, 13 February 2001.
h.. In a statement encouraging Jewish extremist to carry out terror attacks inside Palestinian populated areas, Rabbi Gedeon Breil of Alon-Shivot, an illegal Israeli settlement near Bethlehem said: “If we could organize armed militias to go into Arab areas to carry terrorizing raids we would. I would not be surprised if a Jew drives a booby-trapped vehicle into an area where Palestinian leaders live”.
i.. In a letter to Israel’s Prime Minister Barak, Latif Douri wrote on 15 February 2001: “Continuing with your deplorable policy to assassinate Palestinian activists including the most recent killing of Colonel Mass’oud ‘Ayyad in Gaza and ‘Ayed Abu-Harb in Tulkarem demonstrates your ethical degradation and total indifference to the plain truth. You have blackened the face of Israel with such appalling crimes. This would only lead to intensification of the Intifada”
j.. “I am ready to climb the Tower of David and shout with all my voice that there is no military solution to this crisis. Let everyone hear and grasp that there is no other solution but a political one. Let us learn from the American experience in Vietnam and the French in Algeria. There is no power in this world that can defeat a popular uprising or continue to oppress a people”. Dr. Shlomo Bin ‘Ami, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Al-Ittihad, 15 February 2001.
k.. In a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Barak published by Ma’ariv on 19 February 2001, Israel’s Foreign Minister Shlomo Bin ‘Ami wrote: “The policy of assassinating Palestinian activists puts Israel among dictatorial and oppressive regimes”.
l.. “Although with great difficulty, we have to ask ourselves what can we expect from tightening the siege around the Palestinians? These people have reached the brink of starvation and live extremely unprecedented hard times with closures, roadblocks and increasing unemployment. Each and every Palestinian family has been affected. Poverty is wide spreading and quickly to the edge of desperation. We have tried everything against the Palestinian throughout the past decades including incarceration, coercion and oppression. All forms of repression were useless”. “We have to admit even during these hard times that the Israeli army can not win this war. If we do not acknowledge the limits of power we would lose that very power. We were the only ones in charge of Gaza for 25 years and we failed to stop the violence. Segregation would be futile also. Instead, we need to reach an agreement that would enable the Palestinians establish a state of their own. Otherwise we should remove the Israeli settlements and accept an international force to serve as a buffer between the two states”. Youssi Sarid, Yedi’ot, 15 February 2001.
m.. “We have been actively settling the [Palestinian Territories] for decades. We tried not to stop for even one day. What is happening today is no different than what had taken place under previous governments”. Shlomo Filber, Secretary of Settlements Council (Yesha’), Ha’aretz, 19 February 2001.
a.. The Final Communiqué by the Central Committee of the International Council of Churches affirmed the Palestinian peoples’ right to struggle for freedom and an independent Palestinian state. The Central Committee called for a prompt end of the Israeli occupation and immediate cessation of Israeli oppression against the Palestinian people. WAFA, 6 February 2001.
b.. The International Committee of the Red Cross affirmed Israeli authorities flagrantly violate the Geneva Conventions. The ICRC suspended visits to investigate conditions of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli prisons because of Israeli arbitrary measures including closures that hinder family visits to the prisoners. Al-Quds, 7 February 2001.
c.. Professor Ernest Martin, a specialist in the ancient history of Jerusalem, emphasized Israeli claims regarding the existence of ruins of the Jewish Temple underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque are baseless. He asserted Jews are mistaken to believe the Western Wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of the supposed Temple. Professor Martin was speaking at a seminar organized by the Jerusalem Center for Social Services. Al-Quds, 8 February 2001.
d.. President Yasser Arafat called upon the international community to promptly provide international protection for the Palestinian people to help end the escalating Israeli military aggression against the Palestinians. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 10 February 2001.
e.. “We need international protection for the Palestinian people now and not tomorrow. Mr. Kufi ‘Anan must do his work in accordance with Resolution 294. Ehud Barak is acting upon his own instinctive personal vendetta against the Palestinians blaming them for his failure and personal mistakes. The Palestinian people are facing a new Israeli policy that aims to coerce, by brutal force, the Palestinian people into submission and to discard the peace process with all its undertakings”. Dr. Saeb ‘Eraikat, Head of the Palestinian Negotiations Team, Al-Ittihad, 16 February 2001.
f.. The Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Tunisia called upon the international community, the United Nations and relevant INGOs to intervene promptly and provide international protection for the Palestinian people facing Israeli atrocities. Al-Quds, 16 February 2001.
g.. “The Communist Party of South Africa deplores Israeli atrocities and demands prompt international protection for the Palestinian people”. Belid Mizmandi, Secretary-General of the Communist Party in South Africa, Al-Quds, 16 February 2001.
h.. “The Palestinian people need international protection today and it is one of the issues being debated by the Security Council. The situation is very grim. A decrease in the intensity of violence is only possible through ending all restrictions imposed on the Palestinian Territories”. Terje Roed Larsen, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, WAFA, 13 February 2001.
i.. The office of the United Nations Special Coordinator estimated losses to the Palestinian economy to be around $1.115 billion dollars as a result of Israeli restrictions. This is equivalent to 20% of estimated GNP for the year 2000 before imposing restrictions. Unemployment had increased to 38 %, equivalent to 250000 workers. During the first 9 months of year 2000 unemployment remained around 11%.
j.. On 13 February 2001, the Palestinian Council for Justice and Peace called for prompt international protection for the Palestinian people. The PCJP appealed to the international community to honor its obligations under international instruments and help end Israeli intransigence. The PCJP affirmed, in its press release, the Palestinian people are determined to carry on with the struggle until their rights to independence and freedom are realized.
k.. The Final Communiqué issued at the end of their meeting in Amman on 12 February 2001, Arab Foreign Ministers asserted the necessity to provide international protection for the Palestinian people. They called for immediate common action by Arab states to help end Israeli aggression and military siege against the Palestinian people. The Communiqué called for immediate intervention by States Party to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to help end Israeli atrocities.
l.. In a press release, the Palestinian Human Rights Organization (Al-Haq) called upon the United Nations and States Party to the 4th Geneva Convention to immediately provide international protection for the Palestinian people and to pressure Israel to cease its violations of the provisions of the said Convention.
m.. A research prepared by Ann Christine Bruenberg from Norway on behalf of PHRMA Human Rights Group affirmed: “The Israeli army conducts raids imposing collective punishment on heavily populated Palestinian areas. Something had happened to the very structure of the Israeli army with a new aggressiveness taking hold of the soldiers. About 70% of Israeli soldiers have actually perpetrated crimes that constitute grave violations of the 4th Geneva Convention which categorize these soldiers as war criminals”.
n.. LAWE, a Palestinian human right organization, demanded international protection for the Palestinian people, the formation of an international criminal court to try Israeli war criminals. Additionally, LAWE called upon the UN Security Council to persuade Israel cease its aggression against the Palestinians and to adhere to international legitimacy resolutions.
o.. The Palestinian Minister for Culture, Mr. Yasser Abed-Rabbu, called upon the Arab World and the international community to take effective steps to confront Israel’s racist policies and continuous attempts to destroy Palestinian institutions and suffocate the Palestinian economy. The Minister said: “The Palestinian National Authority will complain to the UN Security Council about the Israeli measures and its effects on three million Palestinians”.
p.. A report by Human Rights Watch asserted Israeli soldiers fire randomly at Palestinian residential areas causing the death of many civilians especially in the city of Hebron. A delegation from HRW had visited the city before writing the report.
q.. Israeli Daily Ma’ariv reported on 20 February 2001 the Foreign Minister of Norway had strongly criticized Israeli practices against the Palestinians. The Minister was reported as having said: “I am very much worried about Israel’s military siege of the Palestinian areas which is starving the Palestinians”. He threatened Norway would reconsider its diplomatic relations with Israel. Al-Quds, 21 February 2001.
r.. On 21 February 2001, Amnesty International condemned Israeli policy of assassinating Palestinians. AI report indicated that Israeli military authorities opted for killing those Palestinians while they could have easily arrested them. Thus, the assassination was predetermined. Also, the report affirmed Israeli rockets, fired at marked activists, have killed Palestinian bystanders while others were killed in the vicinity of Israeli targets.
s.. “The effects of Al-Aqsa Intifada have surpassed those of the October 1973 War. On the Israeli political level, the current uprising destabilized the political system and exposed the vagueness that surrounded this system, its alleged democratic nature and stability for so many years”. Dr. Assa’ad Ghanem, a Lecturer at the University of Haifa, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 24 February 2001.
t.. “Realization of full rights for the Palestinian people is an essential prerequisite before signing a peace treaty with Israel and an end of the conflict”. Mahmoud Abbass, Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
u.. The NGOs Conference on Cooperation and Solidarity, held in Cypress, denounced Israel’s use of Depleted Uranium ammunition and excessive force against the Palestinian people. Dr. Zakaria al-Agha, Member of the PLO Executive Committee, attended the conference.
v.. The American State Department Annual Report condemned Israel for using excessive force against the Palestinians including predetermined assassination of Palestinian activists. The Report also condemned Israeli measures that have led to the death of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
Peopel Under Occupation, March 2001
A Periodical - Deals With The Israeli Violations
Issued by The Palestinian
Council for Justice and Peace
P.O.Box 874-Ramallah/19545-Jerusalem Tel:972-2-2986601/ Fax:972-2-2980426
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