Report on Settlers' Attacks on Palestinians During the al-Aqsa Uprising
Nov.23-Nov.27, 2000
Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been steadily increasing in the past few weeks. These settlers have generally acted with impunity, as the Israeli military and court system historically have been reluctant to arrest, try, and punish settlers for violence they commit against Palestinian civilians. As a result, settlers are virtually free to carry out intimidation, assaults against people and property, and even murder against the Palestinian population.
The existence of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories violates both international law and particular international agreements Israel is signed on. According to Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention it is prohibited to transfer civilians of an occupying power to the territory occupied.
Since the Oslo accord in 1993, the number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza has doubled to 200,000, not including approximately 200,000 settlers now living in East Jerusalem. The building during Barak's government has actually escalated, with 14,000 settlers added and tenders issued for building 4,000 units last year alone, compared with 3,000 units a year built under Netanyahu. Compared to 1999, in the year 2000 there has been a 96% increase in settlement building.
Israel has continually expropriated large amounts of land from Palestinians for the settlement of Jewish civilians, in order to change the demography of the area and create irreversible facts on the ground.
The AIC has been monitoring settler violence, and now introduces a regular updated report.
Report VIII,
November 23 - November 27, 2000
On November 23:
Settlers from Arial protected by IDF soldiers uprooted about 200 olive trees near the Borkeen junction in the north of the West Bank. The trees belonged to the residents of Borkeen and Salfeet. Israeli sources claimed that the uprooting was necessary because Palestinians have been throwing stones from among the trees.
Tens of settlers threw stones and fired weapons on the main road leading to the village of Goseen. As a result windows of eight cars were smashed. The settlers also took over the road for approximately three hours and prevented Palestinians from using it. The event came after a settler was killed in the area.
During a demonstration and confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the village of Husan west of Bethlehem, settlers from the neighboring Beittar settlement joined the army in firing at Palestinian houses and cars near the bypass road leading to the settlement.
On November 24:
Settlers in down town Hebron attacked Arab houses in the east of Haret al-Shaikh and houses near Tel- Rumeida point. Three car windows have been smashed. Israeli soldiers were present but did not intervene to stop the settlers.
Settlers from Daniel took over the main road between Hebron and Bethlehem for about an hour and threw stones at Arab cars, forcing the drivers to return to Bethlehem.
On November 25:
Settlers attacked an Ambulance belonging to Rafidya Hospital with stones Near Fasail road by Jericho. The driver, Imad Annatour (aged 35), was injured in head, shoulder and hand. The ambulance was taking an injured person from Ramallah to Nablus and was forced to use this long route because the road between the two cities was closed. The settlers also shot in the air.
Near the southern entrance to Nablus, settlers burned two carriages and a store belonging to Jamal Jamil Younes and Zuhair Kan'an. The damages are estimated at 200 thousand Shekels.
On November 26:
Settlers burned a car belonging to Malik Ghannam from Zababda near Jeneen. While he was on the way into town the settlers stopped their car in the middle of the road and one armed settler walked towards Malik raising a weapon at his direction. Malik left his car on the road and escaped into town, and when he returned with others found that the car was totally burned.
On November 27:
Settlers from Qiryat Sefer used big rocks to block the way linking villages in the Ramallah area to villages in the west, forcing Palestinians to use the long routes.
Settlers from Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip burned a house belonging to Abed al-Mu'tee Abu-Ghayyada, while other settlers opened fire on Waheed Thabet's house in the Aldeek section. They then prevented ambulances from reaching the houses.
The Palestinian Agriculture Ministry has issued a special report on the uprooting of trees by the Army and settlers during the current conflict, estimating the number of trees at around 44,181. (In more detail: 20,435 grapevines, 9,905 woodland trees, 6,621 olive trees, 2,555 citrus trees, 2,000 banana trees, 489 almond trees, 101 palm trees and 75 trees of other types.) return to top
The UNHRC Report of Commissioner Mary Robinson: A Promise to be Fulfilled
Rarely does one encounter a public official, let alone an international civil servant, who brings humanity and genuine concern to the exercise of his/her duties. The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, in her report to the UN General Assembly on human rights conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories does just that.
In the language of her written report and in the discourse of her oral presentation, Mary Robinson is candid, forthright, and honest. In summing up the conclusions reached as a result of her visit to the occupied Palestinian territories and to Israel, Mary Robinson paints a bleak picture of the tragic suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli military forces and settlers. Unlike other officials, though, she goes straight to the heart of the matter and addresses the real cause of such pervasive human rights violations as being the Israeli occupation itself.
In that context, she refers to the impact of the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, to Israel's use of "excessive force" and its "lethal" impact, and to Israel's violations of Palestinian rights and freedoms, including freedom of movement. Significantly, she reiterates the de jure applicability of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, and calls on the High Contracting Parties to assume their responsibility under the Convention. In practical terms, Ms Robinson calls for legal accountability for all those who engaged in the use of lethal force, and for international monitors to be placed in the occupied Palestinian territories while pursuing the UN human rights Geneva resolution on the dispatching of special rapporteurs to the region.
The Commissioner's report is also framed by a call for dialogue, rectification of perceptions, and negotiations as the only means for the resolution of the conflict.
We may take issue with some of Ms Robinson's remarks-particularly those that address only Israeli settlements in "heavily populated Palestinian areas" and the "construction of new settlements" without actually pointing out the illegality of ALL Israeli settlements and their contravention of the laws and conventions whose applicability she advocates. We may also discern some diplomatic efforts at diluting her condemnation of Israeli violence by attempting to address both sides (hence creating the impression of a false symmetry between occupier and occupied).
On the whole, this report and its conclusions are significant in their diagnostic as well as corrective impact. What is urgently required at this point is the immediate implementation of its plan of action in order to give it reality and genuine impact on the horrific conditions on the ground. return to top
ISRAELI ARMY CONTINUES TO SHELL PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN AREAS
Yesterday, 27 November 2000, Israeli tanks shelled several residential areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The shelling of Rafah, Khan Younis, Hebron and Beit Jalla caused injuries to an estimated 30 Palestinian civilians.
Today, 28 November 2000, during clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in the occupied Palestinian territories, 31 Palestinians were injured, five of whom are in serious condition. At Salah Adin Gate in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Khafaja (26) was hit by live ammunition in the head and Mahmoud Asadni (20) was critically injured in the abdomen. According to information gathered by LAW, three Palestinians, Adba Al Shamali (16), Hamed Harz Allah (16) and Alla’ Siam (20), were hit in the abdomen by Israeli live-ammunition at Al Mintar checkpoint in Gaza.
More residential areas were attacked by Israeli tank fire, including Asheikh, Abu Sneineh and Bab Azawieh neighborhoods in Hebron. The shelling of Beit Jalla and Aida refugee camp has caused damage to four houses. Samira Kharouf (42) and Jihad Sandouqa (26) from Beit Jalla were injured by shrapnel.
At 7:00 p.m. Israeli settlers set on fire part of the farmland of Mohammad Said Abad Al Kader Al Sadi. After entering the village of Dahiat Sabah Al Kheir in the Jenin region, the settlers threw an unidentified flammable substance onto Al Sadi’s field, setting the plastic covering the vegetables on fire. The Israeli settlers also fired at the Palestinian checkpoint close to the bypass road, which leads to the settlement of Kadumim.
LAW condemns the attacks on Palestinian residential areas by Israeli security forces, causing serious damage to Palestinian property and inflicting injuries on the civilian population.
LAW is highly concerned about the lack of protection the Israeli army affords to the Palestinian civilian population in cases of violence by Israeli settlers. The establishment and maintenance of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is illegal under international humanitarian law. Regardless of a strong international consensus calling for the dismantling of Israeli settlements, the State of Israel continues to disrupt the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian territories, thereby creating an increasingly hostile environment between Israeli settlers and Palestinian civilians.
LAW calls upon Israel to refrain from imposing means of collective punishments such as the policy of closure on Palestinian areas. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is applicable to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, any form of collective punishment is prohibited return to top
PALESTINIAN EXHIBIT TO BE ON DISPLAY AT HEADQUARTERS 29 NOVEMBER TO 12 DECEMBER
An art exhibit presented by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations will be opened at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 November, in the Public Lobby of the General Assembly building.
Based on the theme "The Land", the exhibit will be on view until Tuesday, 12 December and is associated with the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. About 40 works of art will be on display for the exhibition. The artists will use earth, herbs, pieces of ancient pottery and pieces of old embroideries with motifs of land and trees to depict ancient legends from the history of the area.
The exhibit will be opened by Ibra Degučne Ka (Senegal), Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. A statement will also be made by a representative of Palestine. The Secretary- General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Security Council, all Member States and Observers of the United Nations, and high-level Secretariat officials have been invited to the opening ceremony, which is expected to last about 45 minutes. Following the statements, the Chairman of the Committee and the representative of Palestine will escort invited guests through the exhibit.
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed in accordance with the provisions of General Assembly resolution 32/40B of 2 December 1977.
For additional information, call Georgios Kostakos, Political Affairs Officer at the Division for Palestinian Rights, tel. (212) 963-1466 or 963-5172.
For information media - not an official record