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Association of International Development Agencies in Palestine AIDA

Statement on Recent Events from the Association of International Development Agencies in Palestine

7 October 2000

The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) views with great gravity the recent events that have taken place within the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and Arab towns within Israel.

Violent clashes which erupted Friday 29 September 2000, following a provocative visit by Likud Party head Ariel Sharon to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, have to date resulted in the deaths of 78 Palestinians and three Israelis (Reuters, 7 October 2000). Among the fatalities are at least 20 Palestinian children. Over 2000 Palestinians have been injured, including hundreds of children. Particularly alarming is the number of injuries from live ammunition to the upper part of the body.

We see how local medical workers struggle to provide emergency care to the wounded in facilities that are quickly overwhelmed by the numbers of casualties. Of particular concern is the lack of immunity and safety for emergency medical personnel. Calls for donations of blood throughout the conflict areas continue. An urgent appeal from the East Jerusalem Hospitals and the Palestinian Ministry of Health asks the international community to offer assistance in the purchase of medical supplies and medicines urgently needed for emergency treatment and surgeries.

AIDA is a group of over 40 international NGOs working with local communities. A number of our members have been working here for over 50 years. Some of us now find that our development and humanitarian work is hindered by the level of insecurity in Jerusalem and Palestinian territories and by the imposition of movement restrictions by the Israeli authorities.

We are deeply alarmed at the escalating violence and the indiscriminate and excessive use of force exhibited since 29 September. We are gravely disturbed at the number of civilians and young children who have become victims of the recent violence.

In view of the above, AIDA:

  • Urges all parties to do everything that they can to stop the current violence. Both the Israeli authorities and the Palestine National Authority could play a useful role by calling for an end to all violence.
  • Asks for an international commission of inquiry to investigate the indiscriminate and excessive use of force by the Israeli Authorities, violations of international law and human rights, and the causes of the violence that has claimed at least 81 lives.
  • Urges the Israeli Government to immediately order its security forces to use only the minimum force in all situations. The Israeli Government must be held responsible for violations by its forces' of international conventions and standards of human rights and humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and its 1977 Protocols, and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • Urges the international community to bring all necessary pressure to bear to achieve the above points. Signed by: 1. ACSUR-LAS SEGOVIAS; 2. America-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST); 3. American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA); 4. CARE International; 5. CARITAS Jerusalem; 6. Cooperation for Development Near East Foundation (CDNEF); 7. Diakonia; 8. Handicap International; 9. INTERMON; 10. Japan International Volunteer Center; 11. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP/UK); 12. Mennonite Central Committee; 13. Movimiento por la paz, el desarme y la libertad (MPDL); 14. MOVIMONDO Molisv; 15. NOVIB; 16. Oxfam GB; 17. Oxfam-Quebec; 18. Solidaridad Internacional; 19. Solidarite (Belgium); 20. Sunbula 21. Swedish Organization for Individual Relief (SOIR) 22. UNAIS 23. World Vision Jerusalem

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    Land Center for Human Rights (Cairo, Egypt):

    LCHR is denouncing the killings of children & women and demands prosecuting both Sharone & Barak.

    In a very savage and barbarian scene that the world didn't witness before, the Israeli war criminals had shot the child "Mohammed El-Dorra". Through the last few days the Israeli barbarians were using tanks and helicopters to fight the unarmed Palestinians demolishing dozens of houses in an inhuman crime that caused up till now the death of 83 martyrs and the injury of over 2000 persons.

    In spite of all these bloody massacres, the international community didn't do anything but only blaming!! in a time that it could impose other countries to economic and political sanctions. LCHR is denouncing the barbarism of the Israeli troops and its crimes against the unarmed Palestinians. At the same time, LCHR is urging the international community to take more effective procedures towards the Palestinians in order to protect them and to stop the Israeli bombing.

    We also are demanding the prosecution of Sharone and Barak as war criminals to be judged against an international court and the immediate implementation of the international resolutions regarding the Palestinian issue and to enforce Israel to respect them. LCHR is also urging the other countries to lend a helping hand to the Palestinians and to make some pressure on the Security Council to issue an instant resolution to stop the massacre against the Palestinian women, children and old people.

    Editted on 7thof October, 2000

    Land Center for Human Rights established in December 1996.
    *122 Galaa' St., Borg Ramsis Building, 7th floor, Ramsis Sq., Cairo Egypt.
    ((202) 5750470
    2 (202) 5750470
    lchr@thewayout.net

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