The Politics of Pragmatism, Remi Kanazi, April 16, 2007

        

Free Alan Johnston Petition  http://www.petitiononline.com/freealan/petition.html 

        

- 25 april (was eerst 17 april) Den Haag 18 uur: Palestina-Israel-debat

http://www.tweedekamer.nl/vergaderingen/commissievergaderingen/volgende_weken/index.jsp?p=a41109.xml 

        

Vijfde Palestijns- Europese conferentie in Nederland met als hoofdgast Ismaïl Haniyeh
Zaterdag 5 mei 2007, bevrijdingsdag, in de Doelen in te Rotterdam

  

- 17-4 Amsterdam / Volkskrant-debat Joris Luyendijk met hoofdredacteuren

- 19 april Rotterdam discussiebijeenkomst Palestina Komitee Rotterdam (**)

- 20-22 april Amsterdam: Marxisme Festival met diverse Palestina-discussies.
http://www.internationalesocialisten.org/marxisme%202007/index.html

     

NPK/WL, 16-4-2007

 

(*)

 

----- Original Message -----

Palestinian Minister of Information: "There is No Israeli Partner for Peace"

Ramallah, 14-04-07: In a press conference held in Ramallah today, 
Minister of Information and Official Government Spokesperson, Dr. 
Mustafa Barghouthi, underlined that Israel's continued refusal to 
discuss final status issues pointed to a lack of willingness to engage 
in peace negotiations.

He added that the Israeli government had failed to constructively 
address the four most recent Palestinian initiatives, namely (a) the 
formation of the new national unity government with a flexible 
political platform; (b) the Arab peace initiative for a comprehensive, 
complete solution; (c) the Palestinian proposal for complete cessation 
of all forms of violence through a mutual, reciprocal ceasefire 
agreement, and (d) the Palestinian proposal for a prisoner swap in 
exchange for the Israeli soldier captured in Gaza in June 2006.

The Minister emphasised that Israel's failure to address final status 
issues such as the borders of a future Palestinian state, the status 
of Jerusalem, the refugee issue, and the issue of settlements, which 
were due to have been resolved under the Oslo process by 1999 but have 
never been addressed as Israel refuses to discuss these issues in 
violation of the Oslo agreement, betrayed the lack of a real Israeli 
partner for peace.

By continuing talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas whilst 
bypassing the goal of final status negotiations he said, Israel was 
buying time to create irreversible facts on the ground.  Dr. 
Barghouthi added that by evading the issue of final borders, Israel 
was seeking to substitute the creation of a sovereign Palestinian 
state with the idea of a self-governing authority within interim 
borders with jurisdiction over people, but not land, water or borders.

Dr. Barghouthi also focused on the continued use of Palestinian 
civilians, including children, as human shields by the Israeli 
military, the violent repression of peaceful protests against the 
Apartheid Wall by Israeli soldiers and border police, and the plight 
of more than 10,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli 
prisons.

Human Shields

The issue of the use of human shields, a practice frequently employed 
by the Israeli military, has been brought back into the media 
spotlight by a film recorded by a member of the Research Journalism 
Initiative.  The footage clearly shows Israeli soldiers using two 
Palestinian youths, one aged just 14-years-old, as human shields 
during an Israeli military invasion into Nablus last Wednesday, [1] a 
practice illegal under both the Fourth Geneva Convention and under 
Israeli law itself. [2]

The film can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqInB1Pvnhk

Dr. Barghouthi stressed that this was not an isolated incident but a 
systematic procedure that endangers the lives of Palestinian 
civilians.  Nineteen-year-old Nidal Abu M?khisan was killed in this 
way on 14 August 2002. [3] He called the incident a war crime, and 
labelled the suspension of the commander in charge of Operation Hot 
Winter by the Israeli military in response to the issue as mere 
"window-dressing," adding that the Israeli military has continued 
using human shields despite an Israeli Supreme Court ruling in October 
2005 forbidding the practice.

Violent Repression

The Minister also showed a film recorded at yesterday's weekly 
peaceful protest against the construction of Israel's Apartheid Wall 
in a village south of Bethlehem, at which peaceful protests were met 
with violent repression by the Israeli military and border police, who 
can be seen beating and kicking a group of Palestinian, Israeli and 
international protesters, without provocation.  The film was yet one 
more example of the aggression with which Israel responds to 
non-violent protests against construction of its Wall, which was 
declared illegal under a ruling by the International Court of Justice 
in The Hague in July 2004.

The film can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqInB1Pvnhk

Prisoners

In the run-up to Palestinian Prisoners Day on 17 April, Dr. Barghouthi 
also focused on the fate of the 10,400 Palestinians currently being 
held in Israeli jails in contravention of Article 76 of the Fourth 
Geneva Convention. [4]  Of these:

86 percent are from the West Bank
7 percent are from the Gaza Strip
7 percent are from Jerusalem

4,430 (44 percent) have been sentenced by Israeli military tribunals
611 (14 percent) have been sentenced to 50 years or more in prison
4,575 (46 percent) have not undergone trial
950 (10 percent) are being held in administrative detention
7 (0.7 percent) have spent more than 25 years in prison; 3 have spent 
29 years or more in prison
376 are children under the age of 18
5,000 children have been arrested since 2000
600 are women who have been arrested since 2000
118 women prisoners are currently in Israeli jails
40 are members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), including 
the Head of the PLC
95 percent of Palestinian prisoners have reported being subjected to 
various forms of torture
183 Palestinians have died in prison
69 died due to torture
42 died due to medical negligence
1,000 are suffering from chronic diseases
200 suffering from serious health conditions
72 Palestinians were assassinated following their arrest


Notes

[1]  The dialogue between the cameraman and the Israeli soldier can be 
clearly heard, in which the cameraman questions the use of the two 
youths as human shields:

Cameraman : I want to ask you, are these men being detained?
Soldier : Yes.
Cameraman : You can't use them as human shields, this is a war crime.  
You know that, right?
Israeli soldier : They're not human shields.
Cameraman : They're standing in front of your jeep.  That's not a 
human shield?
Solider : No.
Cameraman : How is that not?  You're using them to protect you from stones.
Soldier : We asked them to speak with their friends to stop throwing stones.
Cameraman : Then why are they standing here?  This is illegal, you know this.
Soldier : [Shuts jeep door, ending discussion]

[2]  Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that "The 
presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain 
points or areas immune from military operations."  Under Article 4 of 
the Convention, protected persons are defined as "those who, at a 
given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of 
a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or 
Occupying Power of which they are not nationals." 
[http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm]; In a ruling by Israeli 
Supreme Court on 6 October 2005, Judge Aharon Barak stated that "You 
cannot exploit the civilian population for the army's military needs, 
and you cannot force them to collaborate with the army."  The ruling 
came in response to a petition filed by seven Israeli-registered human 
rights organisations to the High Court of Justice against the use of 
Palestinians as human shields.  See the petition here: 
http://www.btselem.org/english/Legal_Documents/HC3799_02_20020505_Human_Shields_Petition.pdf.

[3] See B'Tselem.  14 August 2002.  IDF is Responsible for Death of 
"Human Shield".  
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20020814.asp.

[4]  Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that: 
"Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the 
occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences 
therein." [http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm].

----------

Kirsten Sutherland
Media & Advocacy Officer
Palestinian National Initiative
P.O Box 1351
Ramallah
Palestine
Tel: +972-546-514675
Fax: +972-2-2985917
E-mail: kirsten@almubadara.org
Web: http://www.almubadara.org/new/english.php

 

______________________________________________________________________

(**)

  

Informatieve bijeenkomst over de mogelijkheden en onmogelijkheden van
de 2 staten oplossing in het licht van de actuele ontwikkelingen.
Met ervaringsdeskundige Jan de Jong

   

Donderdag 19 april 20.00 u
Poortgebouw Stieltjesstraat 38  Rotterdam
TRAM 20, BUS 48, METRO WILHELMINAPLEIN

  

De situatie in het midden oosten lijkt muur vast te zitten. Voor
iedereen die denkt dat wegkijken geen oplossing is organiseert  het
Palestina Komitee Rotterdam, samen met de SP en Groen Links deze informatieve bijeenkomst.

Jan de Jong is Cartograaf van de "Foundation for Middle East Peace"
en was adviseur van de PLO tijdens onderhandelingen.

______________________________________________________________________