UN Committee breaks Israeli taboo on Gaza
by Thalif Deen
When the United Nations General Assembly created a three- member
special committee to investigate Israeli human rights violations in
occupied territories, the Jewish state reacted with obvious anger. And
not surprisingly, the committee was barred from entering any of the
occupied territories - forcing the three members to hold sittings in
Cairo, Amman and Damascus where Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza
were given a hearing twice a year.
But geopolitics in the region has dramatically changed the political
climate - much to the chagrin of the Israelis.
For the first time in 43 years, members of the ‘U.N. Special
Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in Occupied Territories’
gained entry into Gaza last week, through Egypt which has ousted its
Israeli-friendly president, Hosni Mubarak.
The new Egyptian government facilitated the visit via the border
crossing at Rafah, breaking the longstanding Israeli taboo.
The visit further reinforced the continued criticism by the committee
of the horrible living conditions in the occupied territories and the
devastating impact of the Israeli economic blockade, as chronicled in
several of the committee’s previous reports.
In a critical report released Friday, the committee expressed dismay
at Israel’s “continuing disregard of its obligations under international
law”.
“Unfortunately, what we found [in Gaza] was that the oppressive
restrictions imposed on Gaza by Israel have the effect of collectively
punishing the population,” it said.
With around 35 percent of Gaza’s land area excluded from agriculture
due to Israel’s vague buffer zone along the border, and its fishing
areas limited to only three nautical miles from the coast (85 percent of
fisheries), the people of Gaza could hardly feed themselves, much less
revive a decimated economy through exports, the committee said.
“We were alarmed by allegations that Israel enforces these policies
employing live fire, including in some instances against children and
the elderly,” said the committee.
The committee - comprising Ambassador Palitha T.B. Kohona, permanent
representative of Sri Lanka to the U.N. (chair); Ambassador Hussein
Haniff, permanent representative of Malaysia; and Ambassador Fod Seck,
permanent representative of Senegal to the U.N. based in Geneva, is
expected to submit a more comprehensive report to the 193- member
General Assembly in September.
Ambassador Kohona told IPS the conditions in the Gaza, “to say the
least, are very unsatisfactory, and the blockade is to be blamed for
this”.“The economic, educational, psychological, health and social
conditions are affected by the blockade,” he asserted.
The lifting of the blockade will have an immediate and positive
impact on the people of Gaza, both economically and psychologically, and
will contribute to confidence building, he added.
Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza contravenes the human rights of
the people of Gaza and international humanitarian law and standards,
said Kohona, a former chief of the U.N. Treaty Section.“It is oppressive
and diminishes the lives of the people of Gaza and must be ended now,”
he declared.
In its report, the committee said it listened to victims, witnesses
and U.N. officials who underlined the dire impact on human rights of the
Israeli blockade.
Homes, schools and other infrastructure that were destroyed by
Israeli attacks in December 2008 and January 2009 could not be rebuilt
due to restrictions on the import of building material.
The economy declined significantly and is sustained by illegal
imports through tunnels.
“It would be the occupying powers responsibility to assist with the
reconstruction of Gaza”, noted the committee.
Beyond the homes, schools and businesses that were destroyed, there
is an urgent need for water treatment facilities, roads, sewage
treatment and the restoration of power, it said.
The committee also noted the valuable services provided by local and
international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and especially the
U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA).
For many of Gaza’s children, life is difficult and the future is
hopeless, the committee pointed out, referring to testimony concerning
worrying health, psychological and social problems, increasing school
dropout rates, and an increasing incidence of child labour.
“We hope the government of Israel will seriously consider the
potential consequences of a generation of Gazan children being raised in
an environment of near-total deprivation and a lack of opportunities to
lead a productive and hopeful life,” it said. The policies and practices
of the government of Israel which violate the rights of Palestinian
children was a constant theme throughout the hearings in Gaza.
Witnesses and officials reported that Palestinian children’s access
to education is being impeded through, among other things, restrictions
on freedom of movement, constraints on access due to the security wall,
a lack of schools especially in East Jerusalem and Gaza, and threats and
actual violence by Israeli settlers.
The committee said its attention was drawn to the large number of
children detained, and in this regard, a range of practices of serious
concern, including harsh interrogation techniques, torture, and
expulsion from their villages.
The committee also underlined its deep concern regarding reports that
Israeli security forces are raiding Palestinian homes in the middle of
the night to detain children, allegedly as young as seven years old.
The committee’s nine-day investigative visit to the region also
included hearings in the Jordanian capital of Amman, where it met with
victims, witnesses and officials working on human rights in the West
Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights.
Asked about security and his personal impressions of Gaza, Kohona
told IPS, “We travelled in armoured vehicles and were provided high-
level security cover by the United Nations.”
From the hotel terrace, he said, “We could imagine what Gaza would be
like without the current blockade.”
“Families joyfully dining on the terrace while the red orb of the sun
was slowly descending in to the Mediterranean, whiffs of shisha (bubbly
hubbly) drifting in the air, children playing, fishing boats heading in
the sea, etc. Perhaps one day!”
IPS
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