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AL-HAQ
INTERVENTION
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
07 February 2007
As a
non-governmental
organisation
committed to the
promotion and
protection of
human rights in
the Occupied
Palestinian
Territory (OPT),
Al-Haq would
like to respond
to the recent
briefing issued
by the
Government of
Israel’s Office
for Coordination
of Government
Activities in
the Territories
(CoGAT). The
briefing,
entitled “Key
Measures for
Easing the Daily
Lives of the
Palestinian
Population,”
purports to
provide a
general overview
of recent
Israeli measures
aimed at
improving the
Palestinian
population’s
“fabric of life”
within the OPT.
The
aforementioned
briefing, aside
from being vague
and
incomprehensive,
is a purely
cosmetic
exercise,
designed to
distract
attention from
the reality on
the ground. The
humanitarian,
economic and
financial
situation in the
OPT today is
worse than ever
before. Israel
’s almost
40-year-old
occupation
continues to
create “facts on
the ground”
through
settlement
expansion, the
construction of
the Annexation
Wall, and
increasingly
oppressive
movement
restrictions.
Combined with
economic
disintegration,
lack of
protection of
civilians and
attacks on
Palestinian
democratic
institutions,
these measures
have perpetuated
the suffering of
the Palestinian
people,
exacerbated
tensions and
escalated the
Israeli /
Palestinian
conflict.
The CoGAT
briefing makes
no reference to
core aspects of
the occupation
which have a
severe impact on
the daily lives
of the
Palestinian
civilian
population,
including Israel
’s excessive use
of force.
Israeli military
actions in the
West Bank
and
Gaza Strip
systematically
violate
fundamental
norms of
international
humanitarian
law, notably the
principle of
proportionality,
the prohibition
on collective
punishment and
the prohibition
on targeting
civilian persons
and objects.
Since January
2006, Israeli
military
operations in
the OPT have
resulted in the
deaths of 687
Palestinians,
including 126
children, and
injured
thousands more.
During the same
period, Al-Haq
has documented
that 79
Palestinians
were killed in
targeted
assassinations.
Many of those
killed were
civilians not
participating in
hostilities.
There are no
justifications
under
international
law for Israel
’s clearly
disproportionate
and
indiscriminate
use of force
against
Palestinians.
The CoGAT
briefing also
overlooks the
issue of the
destruction and
confiscation of
Palestinian
private
property, most
importantly
houses and land.
Throughout the
OPT, Israeli
authorities
continue their
policy of land
confiscation and
levelling in
order to either
expand existing
Israeli
settlements and
their associated
infrastructure,
or construct the
Annexation Wall
in defiance of
the
International
Court of
Justice’s 2004
Advisory
Opinion. On 31
January 2007, it
was reported
that Israeli
Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert has
approved the
moving of the
Annexation Wall
deeper into the
West Bank
to encompass two
Israeli
settlements of
some 1,500
settlers. The
proposed
amendment to the
route will shut
about 20,000
Palestinian
villagers into
two enclaves,
irrevocably
disrupting their
daily lives.
With regard to
those topics
actually dealt
with in the
briefing, there
is a significant
gap between the
picture
presented by
CoGAT and the
reality on the
ground. The
briefing talks
of assisting
movement,
however, it
fails to
properly address
the question of
physical
movement
restrictions in
the form of
checkpoints and
various kinds of
road blocks.
There are
currently more
than 520 of
these in the
West Bank
. The
difficulties
posed by the
system of
checkpoints and
road blocks are
compounded by
the system of
separate roads.
The presence of
illegal Israeli
settlements in
the
West Bank,
including East
Jerusalem, has
led to the
creation of a
network of
restricted roads
which connect
the settlements
to each other
and with Israel
. These roads
are accessible
only to Israelis
or to
Palestinians
with special
permits, which
are very
difficult to
secure. In
addition to the
above,
restrictions on
movement between
the northern,
central, and
southern areas
of the
West Bank
have
intensified, and
have been
particularly
acute in the
areas between
the Green Line
and the Wall and
in the Jordan
Valley, which
can only be
reached with a
special permit
or with an ID
indicating
Jordan Valley
residency. The
effect of all
this is to
divide
Palestinian
communities from
one another,
making economic
and social
interaction
extremely
difficult. The
system of
permits,
separate roads
and road blocks
is
discriminatory
and ultimately
aims at
fragmenting the
West Bank
into a series of
isolated
communities.
In addition to
controlling
movement within
the
West Bank,
including East
Jerusalem ,
Israel
controls all
access to the
OPT. At present,
an undeclared
Israeli policy
is in effect,
whereby foreign
passport holders
who want to
visit, live or
work in the OPT
are increasingly
denied entry
and/or re-entry.
Since the
beginning of
2006, many
thousands of
foreign passport
holders,
particularly
Palestinians,
have been
arbitrarily
turned away at
Israeli ports of
entry, through
which they must
transit to reach
the OPT. The
affected
individuals have
been separated
from their
families, homes,
jobs and places
of education.
The CoGAT
briefing, which
states changes
in Israel ’s
policy of
denying entry to
foreign
nationals
travelling into
the OPT, leaves
many questions
unanswered and
the crisis
unresolved.
Since the
procedures
outlined in the
briefing were
introduced,
foreign passport
holders have
continued to be
denied entry
under
circumstances
that indicate
the
implementation
of the newly
announced
procedures
remains
arbitrary,
abusive and
unlawful.
Insofar as the
CoGAT briefing
alludes to
strengthening
the private
sector, the fact
is that the
conditions of
occupation –
curfews,
movement
restrictions,
the Annexation
Wall, the
network of
settlements and
the accompanying
discriminatory
infrastructure –
are not
conducive to the
growth of the
Palestinian
private sector,
and have led to
a downturn in
economic
activity. This
situation is
aggravated by
the decrease in
job
opportunities
for Palestinians
in Israel .
Despite the
briefing’s
stated claim of
increasing the
number of
Palestinians
working in
Israel and the
settlements, the
reality is that
since the start
of the second
intifada,
in September
2000, the number
of such workers
has decreased
from 146,000 to
43,000. On top
of all this, the
Israeli
Government is
unlawfully
withholding from
the Palestinian
National
Authority (PNA)
tax and customs
revenues
amounting to
$50-60 million
per month that
it collects on
the PNA’s
behalf. Israel’s
refusal to
transfer
Palestinian
revenue, coupled
with the
withdrawal of
support by major
international
donors, has
denied over
160,000
Palestinian
civil servants
their source of
income, upon
which
approximately 1
million
Palestinians or
some 25% of the
population of
the OPT depend.
The downturn in
economic
activity, the
squeezing of the
private sector
and the
non-payment of
public sector
salaries have
all contributed
to an alarming
increase in
poverty and
hardship in the
OPT. Roughly 64%
of the
Palestinian
population now
live below the
poverty line,
compared to 20%
in 1998.
In conclusion,
it is evident
from the
situation on the
ground that
Israel has done
nothing of
substance to
improve the
Palestinian
population’s
fabric of life,
and that the
CoGAT briefing
is a cynical
political effort
to obscure this
reality. It is
only through
adherence to
international
law, including
the ending of
the occupation
and ultimately
the bringing
about of the
meaningful and
effective
exercise of the
right to
self-determination
by the
Palestinian
people, that the
living
conditions of
the civilian
population of
the OPT will be
improved. In
this regard,
Al-Haq suggests
a number of
questions you
may wish to
raise in any
future
communications
with the Israeli
Government:
-
When will
Israel make
public its
rules of
engagement,
and
demonstrate
how they are
compatible
with
international
human rights
and
humanitarian
law?
-
What
meaningful
steps has
Israel taken
to implement
the
International
Court of
Justice’s
Advisory
Opinion?
-
What
meaningful
steps has
Israel taken
to remove
obstacles to
Palestinians’
movement in
the
West Bank,
including
East
Jerusalem ?
-
When will
Israel
clarify and
consistently
apply in a
non-discriminatory
manner the
procedures
for granting
foreign
passport
holders,
whose life
and
livelihood
is in the
OPT, access
to the OPT?
-
When will
Israel
release the
tax funds
which
lawfully
belong to
the
Palestinian
National
Authority
under the
1994
Protocol on
Economic
Relations
between the
Government
of Israel
and
Palestine
Liberation
Organisation?
Additionally,
Al-Haq remains
at your disposal
for any related
questions,
comments or
requests that
you might have.
Should you wish
to discuss the
issues raised in
the CoGAT
briefing in more
detail, Al-Haq
would be more
than willing to
schedule a
meeting to do
so.
Sincerely,
Shawan Jabarin
General
Director,
Al-Haq |
