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Last
week Israel announced to the world that as a good will gesture during
Ramadan the closure imposed on the Occupied Territories would be relaxed and
that worshipers of all ages would be allowed to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque.
However, on 30 December 2000, the Israeli military authorities also decided
that the preexisting closure of the Occupied Territories would be tightened
banning all Muslims from the West Bank and Gaza from praying at al-Aqsa
Mosque.
Yesterday marked the first Friday of Ramadan. Traditionally, to mark
this occasion over 250,000 Muslims pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque. The
denial of access to Muslims living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the
Mosque cut the number of worshipers at the Mosque to only 25,000. The
closure of the West Bank was tightened with extra checkpoints set up to ensure
that residents of the Occupied Territories did not reach Jerusalem. Some
individuals tried to reach Jerusalem to pray but were turned back and several
were beaten and detained.
Yesterday also marked the official start of the Christian Advent season.
Generally, Christians from all over the world come to Bethlehem to celebrate
Christmas but events have been cancelled this year due to the violence.
Palestinian Christians living inside Israel are denied access to pray at the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and Christians living in the West Bank and
Gaza are not permitted to enter Jerusalem to pray at the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher.
The actions of the Israeli Authorities are a clear violation of Article 27 of
the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power must
provide for the protection of the religious convictions and practices of the
occupied party. It is also a violation of Article 46 of the Hague
Convention of 1907. The closure of the last two months may have been a
response to the actions of individual Palestinians or settlers. The
effect of these measures, however, is to collectively punish the entire
Palestinian population. Such collective punishments are illegal under
international law. The total and indefinite closure of the Occupied
Territories that has now been imposed poses an acute threat to Palestinian
community life and particularly to freedom to Religion.
Al-Haq calls upon the international community to demand that Palestinians
right to religious freedom be respected. Al-Haq also reiterates
its call to all High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to
signal to the Israeli Authorities that they will not tolerate grave breaches
of the Convention. Al-Haq urges the international community to pressure Israel
to abide by the numerous international instruments that it has willingly
ratified. In light of ongoing violence, and the continuing failure of the
Israeli Forces to ensure the safety of the Palestinians, al-Haq again calls
upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to provide
and/or guarantee protection for Palestinians living under Israeli Occupation.
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