Israel's Use of Excessive And Indiscriminate Fire continues to cause casualties
Last night, the 24 November 2000, Sami and Nahed Amer were killed by Israeli tank fire in the village of Kufur Qalil. The two killed were brothers. According to reports, there was an exchange of fire between the Israeli security forces and armed Palestinians in the vicinity of the village. The brothers were apparently killed during the exchange of fire. Sami Amer (32) was married with 3 children and his brother Nahed (26) was also married and was the father of 2 children. During the shelling, 5 residents of Kufur Qalil were also injured. Juhad Amer (18) was injured in the head and right arm by shrapnel. Ghada Amer, Nasser Sayel, Mahmoud Ghazawi and Hasan Amer also sustained injuries as a result of Israeli tank fire.
In Gaza, Eyad Abu Jazar (21) from Rafah was shot and killed yesterday evening while standing outside his home. Jazar's home was approximately 150 meters from the Salah al Din Gate which has been a familiar flash point. Jazar was physically and mentally handicapped.
As the daily toll of deaths continue, with the vast majority of those killed being unarmed civilians, the urgency of the situation increases. The Israeli security forces have been responsible for the use of excessive, indiscriminate and lethal force, which has been condemned by international human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The United Nations Security Council in its resolution 1322 of the 7 October 2000 condemned "Israel's use of excessive force against Palestinians resulting in injury and loss of life". Many of the acts carried out by the Israeli security forces may well be war crimes. The killing of unarmed civilians in a deliberate manner in circumstances where they do not pose an imminent threat to the life of soldiers is wilful killing. Wilful Killing is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and is subject to prosecution under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Furthermore, it is particularly heinous to fire upon targets in civilian areas, which the Israeli security forces did in the case of the Kufur Qalil killings. International humanitarian law, of which the Fourth Geneva Convention is an integral part, is intended to safe guard the interests of the civilian population in times of belligerency and occupation, and prohibits attacks on places of civilian habitation.
LAW condemns, unreservedly, the violation of the right to life.
LAW strongly urges the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure Israel's respect of all its relevant provisions.
LAW calls upon the United Nations Security Council to act upon resolution 242 and 338 in order to ensure Israel's compliance with its stipulations concerning the inadmissibility of the acquisition of Territory by force. LAW also calls upon the world body to ensure Israel's compliance with resolution 194, (the right of return and compensation of the Palestinian refugees). return to top
November 29 - International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
United Nations
New York
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
We are gathered for this solemn meeting in the House of Peace at a moment of unparalleled peril for the Palestinian people. In my capacity as the chairman of the ICCP, I have had the honor of representing the world's network of NGOs actively committed to the question of Palestine at this honorable event on several occasions since 1982. I have heard eloquent appeals for solidarity with the people of Palestine for many years. But rarely has there been a time in the struggle for Palestinian individual and national rights when the costs have been so grave. At this time, international protection for the Palestinian nation must be on the daily agenda of the United Nations and on the priority list of every member state committed to peace and justice in the Middle East. Survival of the people may literally depend on the clear, focused attention of the world's states and the gathering place they have created, the United Nations.
Each day the world's media reports the grim and steadily increasing number of dead and wounded in occupied Palestine. Each day the toll rises in both columns. Each day the antiseptic press admits that "most of those killed or wounded are Palestinian". In this chamber and among NGOs dedicated to support the creation of the state of Palestine, the harsh realities of such reporting are written in the names, ages and description of the injuries that Palestinians are suffering each day. Many Americans think that the daily clashes that have become almost monotonous to most of them are occurring in Israel. The fact of the occupation is now lost on a world preoccupied with a thousand distractions including monitoring the world's global financial markets. The issue of Palestine and peace in the Middle East is not foremost in the global public's mind. The raw and protracted injustice of this reality does not command the sustained interest of a cyber-preoccupied, self-indulgent world.
First and foremost, the immediate issue before us must be saving lives, so that parents and their children may actually be able to live that peace all of us daily dream of, and strive for,in thought, word and deed. Today peace is an orphan, almost a myth among the reports of gunships destroying buildings, reports that it is the Palestinians who have Israel under siege, and the inexorable daily tally of the dead and wounded, most of them young and disfigured for life. The scars of this national, sustained cry for independence and for assistance are indelibly written on the faces and maimed bodies of children of Palestine.
NGO's have been speaking, writing, gathering, lobbying and demonstrating about the impact of this injustice, and proclaiming their support for UN resolutions on peace and justice in the Middle East for many years. There has been a close association between the NGO movement and the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People since the 1983 UN International Conference on the Question of Palestine. NGOs have assumed increasingly relevant roles on international issues and the work of the UN. The Secretary General reminded us earlier this year that it is in collaboration among nation-states, international organizations and NGOs that an effective, active coalition can be assembled to tackle the problems of the planet that eclipse the ability of any one actor to satisfactorily resolve.
NGOs remain unswervingly committed to the United Nations and its relevant resolutions as the only effective pathway to peace. The collapse of the peace process,which conspicuously bypassed the UN, clearly confirms the accuracy of this NGO vision. One nation alone, even a superpower, can produce this peace between the parties when its policies and relations are consistently and overwhelmingly biased in favor of one party.
The NGO network firmly believes that it is time to return to the United Nations as epicenter of any international search for peace, and for the UN to step forward and fulfill the convener role. Any serious path to peace has been directly or indirectly connected to Resolution 242 and to the UN. It is time to return this global organization to its rightful place at the center of new resolve. And there is not a moment to spare. Though it is 26 years old, the land for peace formula squarely addresses the illegality of protracted occupation and reminds us that, despite sophistry to the contrary, whole sections of international law, the law of responsible nations, squarely apply to the question of Palestine.
This is Day ___ of the new intifada and the number of dead and wounded will increase at the expense of Palestinian youth and their mourning families.
For many NGOs this stark reality means that genuine progress to end the confrontation by seeking a real and workable peace must emerge as the top priority of the UN and each of its members each and every day. And for every member state there are numerous non-governmental organizations in all parts of the world actively striving to produce that result.
Bring the quest for peace back to this House dedicated from its inception to the pursuit and maintenance of peace. NGOs are eager to assist in mobilizing civil societies to demand support from their governments for such an initiative. Since 1982 and the UN Conference on Palestine, NGOs, as an emerging network, have toiled as civil partners of the United Nations in championing the rights of the Palestinian people. The securing of the right to a state with East Jerusalem as its capital, the right to return, the right to freedom from want and fear, and the right to live a normal life, is the common bond that links NGOs to one another and to this international organization.
It is time to introduce a new generation to international law, to Resolution 242, and to a United Nations striding into a new era with confidence and competence. The fate of the Palestinian people is the issue before us.
Respectfully submitted,
Don Betz
Chair, ICCP
International Coordinating Committee
for NGOs on the Question of Palestine
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DAY 58 ISRAEL’S USE OF HEAVY ARTILLERY CLAIMS 4 LIVES
Today, the 25 November 2000, four Palestinians were killed by the Israeli security forces.
During clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces at the Al Jalami checkpoint in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers entered agricultural land south of Al Jalami village where Amjad Abadi (21) from Jenin and Bashar Samoudi (17) from Al Yamon were working. The Israeli soldiers fired four bullets into the direction of the two Palestinians. Abadi was hit in the stomach by live ammunition. He died in Jenin Hospital shortly after the incident. Samoudi was shot in the chest and is reported to be in serious condition.
At 5 p.m. this afternoon, 17-year old Abad Az-Aden from Araba village near Jenin was killed during clashes at the entrance of the village close to the Israeli army base of Dotan. Az-Aden was reportedly shot by a bullet which entered his mouth and exited through his head.
In Nablus, Fouad ‘Adnan Doweikat (27), an administrative employee of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, from Balata village, was hit and killed in the back by live ammunition on the Nablus-Jerusalem road. In the same incident, Israeli security forces injured three more Palestinian civilians. Fadi Mohammad Aouda (18) from Tamoun was hit in the back by live ammunition and severely injured. Amjad Hussein (18) from Balata refugee camp and Atif Yusef Hamaisha (26) from Beit Djan were both hit in the left leg.
In the Gaza Strip Israeli security forces fired two missiles at a grocery shop located at a distance of 250 meters from the Tufah checkpoint. According to information collected by LAW, Israeli forces fired two missiles aimed at Palestinian demonstrators hiding behind the shop. The missiles hit the grocery shop and killed Taisar Adnan Hamad Abu Araj (18) from Khan Younis. At the time of the attack Araj was standing inside of the grocery shop. Moreover, at the same location, Israeli security forces attacked an ambulance of the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Both the driver of the ambulance, Awni Al Agha (40) from Khan Younis, and paramedic Sami Namus (35) suffered injuries from shrapnel. return to top
Settler Attack in the Beqa'a
By Bourke Kennedy
As dusk settled over the Palestinian fields and homes in the Beqa'a Valley, men in kippahs began to gather at the intersection of route 60 and the road leading to Givat Ha Harsina settlement. White cars parked on the settlement road. Women with small children in their arms, pre-teen boys and girls, teenaged boys and men carrying M- 16s continued to swell the settler ranks to around 100 people.
They lit two bonfires on Route 60 opposite the settler road. There was singing and chanting-a family outing atmosphere. Suddenly, a cry went up and the young people dashed up the street and began throwing stones at a couple of approaching Palestinian cars.
Two Israeli police jeeps drove after the group. A loudspeaker called them to desist. Some of the mob began throwing stones at a house near the road. Another cry went up and the mob started running down route 60 in the opposite direction. Four army jeeps joined the police vans in trying to keep the settlers on the road. About three dozen settler youth climbed over the guard rails and began breaking off sprinkler heads and cutting irrigation pipes in the surrounding vineyards. They threw what they had pulled up into the bonfires. They then set a bonfire in the vineyards and the mob cheered.
Two hours later, most of the settlers had gathered near the Kiryat Arba road. Police and army vehicles began a "round up" and slowly drove the settlers back --women, children, people on bikes, people with M-16s, some singing, some laughing, some chanting--to the intersection where they began their ascent to their homes on the Givat Ha Harsina hill. return to top
Emergency Appeal from Private Palestinian Television Stations
Ever since the current conflict began, local Palestinian television stations have been in the forefront in carrying a major brunt of the burden of communicating what is happening to the Palestinian public.
At a time when major television stations were busy covering the story as a news event, local Palestinian TV stations were busy providing up to date news of what is happening in their own community as well as a wide assortment of counseling and other community related programming. The service provided by local Palestinian television stations has been credited by many as a major source of encouragement and moral support at a time of deep trauma. People felt at ease knowing what was happening and where as well as how to get help and advice. A survey conducted by Bir Zeit University showed that Palestinian media received 80% approval rating from the Palestinian public.
This has not been easy, though. Our stations and crews have been shot at, shelled, threatened and forced off the air. Our vidoe cameras have been destroyed, many nights our crew had to sleep in when getting home was impossible. In Jenin, Farah Tv was shelled. In Ramalla Wattan TV was forced off the air shortly after Israel threatened to bomb them. Even the home of the owner of one of our stations in Bethlehem was devastated by an Israeli missile. Nevertheless we have continued broadcast in order to keep our people informed.
Local Palestinian television stations, however, are now facing dire straits. As private non governmental stations, these stations depend solely on advertisement and program sponsorship. This crucial source of income has all but disappeared in the past six weeks as the Palestinian economy has come to a standstill. The economic pressure has caused the closure or major curtailment of programming for a number of local television stations.
SHAMS, a consortium of seven television stations covering major West Bank and Gaza cities, has been working hard during these times to stay afloat. We have done that by cooperating between our stations and by exchanging programs. The continuation of the difficult situation is endangering our consortium despite our efforts at cooperation and sharing our resources.
The stations included in the Shams consortuim are:
Farah TV (Jenin), Nablus TV, Wattan TV (Ramallah), Al Quds Educational Television (Jerusalem), Bethlehem TV, Majd TV (Hebron), and Ramattan TV (Gaza)
While we normally prefer to be self reliant, depending on advertisement income for our survival, the present situation is threatening our very existence as truly democratic and independent voices in Palestine.
We are therefore sending out this emergency appeal for help with the hope it will find listening ears. Our needs can be summarized as follows:
1. Direct financial support to cover the salaries of our staff or to sponsor programs and spots.
2. Support in replacing our equipment (Super VHS or Digital Cameras and editing equipment)
3. Video tapes
4. Protective gear for our camera persons (helmets and bulletproof vests).
Your support is crucial to keep this free and democratic voice alive in Palestine. You can support us directly by contacting the rotating chairman of Shams consortuim, Mr. Tareq Kayyal of Majd TV in Hebron at majdtv@hebronet.com. You can call Majd TV at 00972 2 2225458
If you wish you can contact us through the Danish partners INROADS who have taken a lead role in supporting the Shams consortium long before the latest events. Mr. Christan Jessen is the Inroads coordinator in Jerusalem. You can contact him by email at Jessen@inroads.net.
You can also contact me at 00 972 2 2959274 or by email at dkuttab@amin.org.
Sincerely yours,
Daoud Kuttab
Ramallah November 15, 2000
Ayman Bardawil
Director
Al-Quds Educational tv
Al-Quds University
P.O.Box: 2335, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine.
Tel: ++972-2-2959274
Fax: ++972-2-2959275
Mobile: ++972-52-482113