Today, 14 February 2001, at approximately 11 AM, Israeli Occupying Forces opened fire near the Rafah border crossing at Palestinian pilgrims who were on their way to Mecca. The 500 pilgrims were refused exit from the Gaza International Airport and then detained until the airport was closed. Due to time constraints, rather scheduling a new flight from Gaza the trips organizers attempted to transport the pilgrims through the Rafah border crossing that connects the Palestinian territories with Egypt. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces opened fire at the pilgrims soon after they reached the area of the crossing. The pilgrims were thus unable to complete their trip and had to return to their homes.
These Israeli actions violate the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. Of specific relevance are the articles related to freedom of worship including Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights which states, “Everyone has the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes… freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Al-Haq would like to express concern over this incident and demands that:
- The Israeli military hold an immediate investigation into the incident
- The international community intervene to guarantee immediate and safe transportation of Palestinian pilgrims to Mecca
- The UN Human Rights Commission currently present in the Occupied Territories immediately call for international protection for Palestinian civilians
- The UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance act immediately to guarantee Palestinian pilgrims’ access to Mecca.
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Palestinians Demand INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
As a Step towards Implementation of their
Right to SELF-DETERMINATION and Refugees' RIGHT of
RETURN in face of
Deepening Crisis in the Middle East
In the wake of the recent Israeli elections, prospects for a durable
and just peace in the Middle East have dwindled. Prime minister elect
Ariel Sharon is accused of war crimes by the Palestinian people.
Information emanating from the ongoing negotiations over a national
unity government (Likud-Labor coalition agreement) indicate that the
future Israeli government will abandon the search for a historical
compromise with the Palestinian people. A comprehensive negotiated
peace agreement will be replaced by the target of achieving "long term
and partial interim agreements", i.e. a euphemism for the continuation
of Israeli occupation and subjugation of the Palestinian people. The
new Israeli government is about to adopt this policy, although the UN
Commission on Human Rights, already in 1980, "strongly condemned all
partial agreements and separate treaties which constitute a flagrant
violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, the principles of
the Charter and the resolutions adopted in the various international
forums on the Palestinian issue." (UN Commission on Human Rights
Resolution 2 (XXXVI), 14 February 1980, paragraph 6)
Deeply concerned about the deterioration of the political and
economic situation in Palestine, the continuation of Israeli military
and settler violence, and the alarming lack of international action,
52,000 individuals and organizations in Palestine and worldwide have
endorsed an appeal initially presented to UN High Commissioner Mary
Robinson during her first special fact finding visit to the region on
23 November 2000 (16,000 signatures at the time). The appeal calls for
the implementation of the Palestinian right to self-determination and,
as a first step, for an international protection force that will stop
Israeli violence which is causing massive destruction and injuries
among all sectors of Palestinian society.
The appeal was signed by concerned individuals and organizations from
around the globe. The signatories include residents of the cities and
villages in the Hebron, Jerusalem and Ramallah area; refugees and
their community organizations in West Bank refugee camps;
representatives of Palestinian political parties, public institutions,
NGOs and university student organizations, unions, women committees,
refugee organizations, and Palestinian expatriates. The signatories
also include tens of thousands of academics and intellectuals, artists
and business people, human rights activists and their organizations
members of political parties and international agencies, as well as
professionals and ordinary citizens of various religious faiths, ages
and nationalities, from across Europe, Asia, the Arab countries,
Africa, South America, Canada and the United States.
Implementation of international law and UN resolutions in the region
must no longer be conditional on the consent of the Israeli occupier.
The urgency of this Palestinian demand is highlighted by the renewed
Israeli escalation of military repression of the Palestinian people as
they justly demand their rights and freedoms, Israel's policy of
extra-judicial killing of Palestinian activists and political leaders,
and the continuation of heavy sieges and blockades aimed at
strangulating the Palestinian people's economic and social
infrastructure. 365 Palestinians (including 13 Palestinian citizens of
Israel) have been killed, 97 of them minors below the age of 18 (PCBS
data up to February 11), and more then 11,194 injured (PRCS data up to
6 February) since 28 September 2000. Damage caused to residential and
non-residential buildings and infrastructure (not including the
agricultural sector) is estimated at US $26 million, damage incurred
to Palestinian refugee camps are estimated at US $605,000 (PCBS data
by 8 January 2001). New settler caravans have been set up on
Palestinian lands, and large scale uprooting of trees and agricultural
crops - the lifeline of Palestinian subsistence - continues as the
Israeli government is determined to continue the colonization of the
1967 occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, even at the expense of another
war in the Middle East.
The appeal below, sponsored by Media Alternative on Palestine (MAP)
and BADIL Resource Center, will be presented to the Special
Investigation Committee of the UN Commission on Human Rights on
Friday, 16 February 2001. It represents yet another attempt to
emphasize the urgency of rapid action by the United Nations and its
Commission on Human Rights, both towards the immediate deployment of
international protection forces, and towards the establishment of a
new, rights-based and UN-supervised mechanism for a just and durable
solution of the historical Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The international community has a moral and practical obligation to
intervene and enforce, decisively, the rule and legitimacy of the
international human rights regime in Palestine, as it was enforced in
Kosovo and East Timor. It is urgent that the international community
act now, before it becomes complicit through omission in a new
disaster that is taking shape, and will wreak massive destruction of
Palestinian society for the second time in 52 years. Such a disaster
will have very long term and serious consequences for the entire
region.
Attached: Appeal text
AN URGENT CALL to MRS. MARY ROBINSON
UN HIGH COMMISSIONER on HUMAN RIGHTS
WE, the undersigned, call urgently on Mrs. Mary Robinson to uphold, in
full, the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on behalf
of the Palestinian people, at this most critical and dangerous
historical juncture. In particular, we call on her urgently to affirm
Article #1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, which calls for the inalienable right of all peoples to self-
determination, and which continues to be grievously and systematically
violated by Israel's occupation, and by its refusal to accept the
right of return.
The right to self-determination and continued occupation stand in
fundamental conflict. Continued occupation is the root cause of the
present situation. It is the machinery of occupation which produces
the systematic violation of the range of other individual and
collective rights provided for by the Covenant, including the right to
liberty and security of person, the right to freedom of movement, the
right to control one's own natural resources, and others. It is the
machinery of occupation which produces settlements, closures,
checkpoints, home demolitions, land confiscation, destruction of
crops, and wanton killings by settlers and occupation forces, which
the Palestinian people have continued to endure even during the last 7
years under cover of the peace process.
Occupation can be maintained only by violence or the threat of
violence. Instead of respecting the principles of human rights and
international law, and acknowledging the Palestinian right to self-
determination, Israel has declared war on the Palestinian people. It
has openly unleashed an arsenal of military violence against them. In
just six weeks, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed and over
six thousand wounded. We demand a total end to the occupation. We
appeal urgently to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to call for
the implementation of the Palestinian right to self-determination, and
as a first step, to call for an international protection force for the
Palestinian people, before continued violence against Palestinian
society results in massive destruction for the second time in 52
years.
PLEASE JOIN THIS APPEAL BY SIGNING ON TO www.petitiononline/palpet
* For additional information on the current uprising, Israeli
repression, relevant UN resolutions, and the Palestinian demand for
international protection, see
www.badil.org/Intifada2000/Intifada2000.html
* For more information about Media Alternatives on Palestine (MAP),
please contact: mapalestine@hotmail.com
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The United Nations Humans Rights Violations Inspection
Committee
started their visit to the occupied Palestinian territories on 11
February and will remain until 17 February.
This visit is a requirement of the resolution S-1/5 issued on 19th
October 2000 by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in their
Fifth Special Session.
This committee intends to collect and classify information on the
human rights violations and the activities which constitute severe
infringements of international humanitarian law by the Israeli
Occupation Forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Committee has already began its activities and has received a
number of official and local Palestinian accounts, including Al
Mezan’s, which tried to help and facilitate the work of the Committee
by bringing a number of victims and witnesses to provide a life
account of the crimes that violated their rights.
With regards to the escalation of danger which occurred the day before
yesterday the occupation forces opened fire with machine guns against
the Palestinian civilians in Khan Yunis where 130 Palestinian
civilians were injured with varying degrees of severity. Accordingly
the Committee decided that it was necessary to visit the area that was
suffering from attacks to witness the facts on the ground.
Yesterday morning the committee headed for Khan Yunis and when it
tried to approach ash-Shuhada Crossing (Hajiz at-Tufah) the occupation
forces opened fire on them with machineguns, the field worker of Al
Mezan added that due to the heavy firing the delegation was forced to
take refuge in the UNRWA clinic in the area to protect themselves.
Al Mezan Center sees this escalation of violence as a proof of the
Israeli crimes against the rights if the Palestinian civilians and
their property in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It also
emphasizes its previous request to immediately provide international
protection for the Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories and hopes that this Committee holding a high status will
strengthen this request.
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Man assassinated by combat helicopter in Gaza;
Over the last 24 hours, there has been a serious escalation of Israeli
violations against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories. They are as follows:
This morning, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated Maso'ud
Hussein A'yyad. This is the latest in a growing record of
assassinations and extra-judicial killings reflecting the policy
adopted by the Israeli government in blatant violation of
International Humanitarian Law. At approximately 9:45 local time, an
Israeli combat helicopter flew over Gaza City and fired three rockets
at a Palestinian civilian car, a white Hyundai. This car was inside
areas under the control of the Palestinian National Authority,
traveling on Salah El-Din Street (the main road between the north and
south of the Gaza Strip) on the way from Gaza City to Jabalya.
The direct hit on the vehicle killed its driver Maso'ud Hussein
A'yyad, 50, from Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. A'yyad was a
major in Force 17 (the Palestinian President's guards). PCHR's field
officer in Gaza City reported that A'yyad's body was removed from the
scorched vehicle and transferred to Shifa' hospital in Gaza City.
According to Shifa' hospital, A'yyad was wounded with shrapnel in the
head and the body, burns of the head, ruptures in internal organs, and
lacerations on the right hand. PCHR's field officer added that a
passing Palestinian civilian, Samir Yousef Shahin, 41, from Tal
El-Za'tar in Jabalya, was also wounded with shrapnel throughout the
body. In addition, a number of passing Palestinian civilian cars were
also damaged.
In addition, on January 29, 2001, the Israeli occupation forces
arrested A'yyad's son, Nasser Maso'ud A'yyad, 33, when they
intercepted a Palestinian civilian car on the coastal road between
Gaza City and Deir El-Balah. (For more information about this arrest,
see PCHR's weekly report on February 2, 2001.)
At approximately 10:30 local time, Israeli forces shot and killed the
child Bilal Tawfiq A'wwad Ramadan, 14, from Al-Boreij refugee camp,
with a live bullet in the chest. PCHR's field officer reported that
Israeli forces opened fire on demonstrating Palestinian children. The
children were located more than 100m south of road connecting Salah
El-Din Street with Netzarim settlement (to the south of Gaza City)
where the forces were positioned.
Yesterday, at approximately 6:00 local time, Israeli occupation
soldiers opened fire on a bus of Palestinian laborers traveling from
Bethlehem to their places of work in Israel. Ziad Ali A'ayesh Abu
Swai, 22, from Artas village near Bethlehem, was killed with a live
bullet in the chest. Mohammed Abdel-Rahaman El-Barmil, 47, from
Al-Douha village near Bethlehem, was seriously wounded with a live
bullet in the neck and subsequently evacuated to the intensive care
unit at Al-Maqased hospital in Jerusalem. Haidar Bassem A'ayesh, 18,
was wounded in the head with shrapnel from live ammunition.
According to eyewitnesses, the bus was traveling on bypass road 60, to
the west of Al-Khader village near Bethlehem, when Israeli occupation
soldiers at the Housan junction roadblock ordered the driver to stop.
Israeli occupation soldiers positioned approximately 50m away opened
fire on the bus without justification. There were no clashes in the
area.
Yesterday, at approximately 8:30 local time, Israeli occupation
soldiers opened fire on Palestinian civilian cars near Rafat junction,
connected with a bypass road to the southwest of Ramallah. According
to eyewitnesses, a Ford vehicle suddenly deviated from its course and
collided with a sand blockade near an Israeli military post. Israeli
soldiers then opened fire on the above Palestinian civilian car from a
distance of 3m, killing its driver A'attef Ahmed El-Nabulsi, 35, with
live bullets in the neck and the chest. The forces prevented a
Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance from transporting
El-Nabulsi's body to Ramallah and instead took the body to an Israeli
military site, known as "Ofar" near Betounia. Shortly thereafter, the
ambulance was released but El-Nabulsi's body was not released until
18:00 local time.
Yesterday afternoon, the Israeli occupation forces fired artillery
shells, heavy bullets, and medium bullets at several neighborhoods in
Khan Yunis. Consequently, 30 Palestinian residents of Khan Yunis were
wounded with live bullets and shrapnel of live ammunition, some inside
their homes. The wounded were evacuated to Nasser hospital, which was
also fired upon, and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society hospital.
Three of the wounded, including a 70-year-old man, were transferred to
Shifa' hospital in Gaza City in serious condition. They are:
1) Mohammed Yousef El-A'qqad, 16, wounded in the head by a live
bullet; 2) Abdullah Abdel-Halim Joudeh, 70, wounded in the neck a live
bullet, and 3) Mahmoud Saleh Abu El-A'mrin, wounded in the neck by a
live bullet.
In addition, more than 40 Palestinian civilians suffered from fainting
and spasms due to tear gas inhalation. According to medical sources
at Nasser hospital, 16 victims were transferred the intensive care
unit due to the seriousness of their condition. The sources asserted
that the unique symptoms raised suspicions that the Israeli occupation
forces were using a new and more virulent tear gas. The hospital
lacked the technical means to identify the gas used. PCHR's field
officer in Khan Yunis added that fear and panic swept Khan Yunis as
Palestinian civilians were forced to flee their homes in order to
escape the shelling and shooting which caused severe damage to dozens
of houses.
The shelling and firing on Khan Yunis came from several military
sites. They are as follows: near Neve Dekalim settlement, located to
the southwest of Khan Yunis refugee camp; near Gani Tal settlement, in
the northwest of Khan Yunis, and to the west of Al-Amal neighborhood.
PCHR's field officer in Khan Yunis reported that indiscriminant
shelling and shooting continued until approximately 3:00 local time.
PCHR is also taking action regarding the notices issued by Israel on
February 8, 2001 to 22 Palestinian families ordering them to evacuate
their homes in the Al-Mawasi (agricultural) area in Khan Yunis,
currently under Israeli control. These notices are a preliminary step
toward demolishing the houses and leveling agricultural land in the
area of Tal-Reidan, adjacent to the Gush Qatif settlement block. On
February 11, 2001, PCHR's lawyers sent a communiqué to the legal
advisor of the Israeli occupation forces, demanding a stop to the
evacuations but has not yet received a response. PCHR also plans to
challenge the notices in the Israeli High Court.
PCHR expresses its profound concern regarding the recent quantitative
and qualitative escalation of Israeli violations against Palestinian
civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This escalation
also coincides with the arrival of the UN Human Rights Inquiry
Commission that arrived in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to
investigate Israeli human rights violations and breaches of
international law. PCHR reminds the High Contracting Parties to the
Fourth Geneva Convention of their obligations under the Convention and
calls upon them to undertake measures to provide protection for
Palestinian civilians and their properties.
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A number of shops and cars near the attack suffered damage:
1.. As-Sakani and Ghabain Car Company
A number of cars situated by the side of the road suffered from severe
damage caused by the shards from the explosion.
b. The Occupation Forces fired on the unarmed civilians at
ash-Shuahada Crossing which led to the death of the child Bilal Tawfiq
Ramadan, 13 years-old from al-Bureij Camp who was killed with bullets
fired to his heart.
c. The day before yesterday in the evening the Occupation Forces
continued to concentrate their shelling against the civilian houses on
the entrance of the Refugee Camp in Khan Yunis near the Neve Dekalim
Settlement with rockets and heavy machine guns. This led to the
complete destruction of five houses and setting fire to ten others and
a petrol station since the heavy shelling prevented the fire-fighting
vehicles from stopping the fire. The fire caused heavy losses and a
state of shock and terror amongst the unarmed civilians.
The shelling led to the injury of 130 civilians with varying degrees
of severity and cases of affixation from the firing of tens of gas
bombs. Among these four cases are in a critical condition and were
transferred to Shifa Hospital in Gaza. They are:
1.. Muhammad Salih Abu al-Amrin, 20 years old, injured by a bullet
fired at his neck. 2.. Abdalla Abd al-Hamid Ramadan Jauda, 70 years
old, injured by a bullet fired at his neck. 3.. Muhammad Yusuf
al-Aqad, 41 years old, injured by a bullet fired at his head. 4..
Muhammad Salih Sarhan, 22 years old, injured by a bullet fired at
his head.
40 civilians are in a state of severe hysteria as a result of being
suffocated by dense gas which is believed to be nerve gas forbidden
internationally. The medical teams in the hospital at Khan Yunis
announced that they could not control the situation, and the
Palestinian Radio called upon doctors to attend Nasr Hospital in Khan
Yunis to support the medical teams there.
BADIL and Media Alternatives on Palestine (MAP)
52,000 Appeal to UN Commissioner on Human Rights Mary
Robinson
and the
Special UN Investigation Committee on Israeli Human Rights
Violations
in the 1967 Occupied Territories:
Al Mezan
The Israeli Occupation Forces open machine gun fire on the United
Nation Human Rights Violations Inspection Committee
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Israeli Violations Escalate:
Four Palestinians, including a 14-year-old child, are killed;
Indiscriminate shelling of Khan Yunis wounds dozens Palestinian
civilians
Al Mezan
Israeli Occupation Forces Continue the Extra-Judicial Killings of
Palestinians and Shell Khan Yunis Using Tanks
a. The Belligerent Israeli Forces committed a new murder this
Tuesday
morning (13/2/2001) at around 9.45 am. Two Israeli helicopters
launched four missiles against a white Honda civilian car with the
number plate 1-7983-31 which was crossing Salah ad-Din Street near
al-Qarm junction in Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. The car was coming from
Gaza City towards Jabalia driven by Masud Hasan Ayad, a 50 years old
inhabitant of the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City who work as
Colonel in the Forces 17 and was a Fatah activist. The attack led to
his death which was caused by severe injuries in the upper part of the
body and to the amputation of his left hand.
The attack also wounded other civilians passing by. These are:
1.. Salim Muhammad al-Batsh, 45 years old injured on his back by
shards.
2.. Samir Yusuf Ismail Shahin, 41 years old injured on his
right thigh by shards.
3.. Ahmad Said Tulan, 15 years old, from Bait
Hanun, injured on his body by shards.
4.. Suhaila Salman al-Hasaina,
50 years old, injured on her body by shards.
5.. Muhammad Salim
Muhammad al-Batsh, 23 years old in a state of shock that demanded
his transfer to hospital.
6.. Ghandi al-Batran, 32 years old in a
state of shock that demanded his transfer to hospital.
The attacks also led to Palestinian civilian material losses near the
area. The damage was suffered by a residential building consisting of
4 floors in which live: Faiq Hassan Hashim Jinid, Fuad Hassan Hashim
Jinid, Rahin Hasan Jinid, Salih Hassan Hashim Jinid, Abd al-Qadir Dhib
Hashim Jinid, Amr Dhib Hashim Jinid, Hashim Dhib Hashim Jinid and
Habib Dhib Hashim Jinid. The windows and doors were smashed breaking
the glass on the southern and western windows of the as-Sadiq Mosque.
2.. A car rental office owned by Salim Muhammad al-Batsh
3.. Yazji textiles factory
4.. A car exhibition owned by Salah ad-Din Ahmad Naim
5.. A company of spare car parts owned by Baha Ad-Din Hamada