Durban II: no-show is slap in face of victims of apartheid

Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, 17 March 2009

Israel has been convincing its allies to boycott the upcoming anti-racism conference, which in the past has criticized Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories. (Wissam Nassar/MaanImages)

More and more Western countries are either announcing their boycott or are threatening to boycott Durban II, a United Nations conference scheduled for April to review progress made since the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) held in Durban, South Africa in 2001, nicknamed Durban I. Earlier this month, Italy became the first EU member to withdraw from the event, stating that it could not endorse a draft agenda that criticizes Israel. Italy followed in the footsteps of Israel, Canada and the United States. France and the Netherlands are threatening their own boycotts. Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch foreign minister, recently explained that "The Netherlands will not be party to a propaganda circus." In December 2008, Verhagen claimed that the 2001 summit was an "anti-Semitic witch-hunt."

Perhaps in September 2001, the world was not yet ready to accept the notion that Israel is in fact practicing apartheid. But ever more observers are coming to precisely that conclusion. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman warned four years ago that "if Israel does not relinquish the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinians will soon outnumber the Jews and Israel will become either an apartheid state or a non-Jewish state."

Four years later, Friedman wrote, "Well, having taken a little drive through part of the West Bank, as I always do when I visit, it strikes me more than ever that it's not only five after midnight, it's five after midnight and a whole week later."

The Israeli organization Peace Now stated early in March that Israel's housing ministry has plans that would nearly double the number of settlers in the West Bank, rendering a two-state solution impossible. Israel has planned 73,000 new housing units in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli group stated, of which 15,000 have already received approval. Moreover, Israel's prime minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a government he leads will expand settlements.

Israel worked hard to influence its allies to stay away from the forthcoming review conference. However, this is not the first time that it has done so. The first two conferences of 1978 and 1983 took strong positions against apartheid and are credited by observers as having contributed greatly to end apartheid in South Africa. In 1978 the US led a boycott of the WCAR and was followed by a number of European countries, because the document of that conference, which referred to apartheid-era South Africa, also included a condemnation of Israel's systematic violations of Palestinian rights. In 1983, the WCAR declared that "apartheid as an institutionalized form of racism is a deliberate and totally abhorrent affront to the conscience and dignity of mankind, a crime against humanity and a threat to international peace and security." In September 2001, the US and Israel walked out of Durban I. In that year, preceding the UN conference, the African National Congress (ANC) stated that having defeated apartheid, South Africans had a direct stake in the eradication of apartheid practices on a global scale and particularly in relation to the plight of the Palestinian people.

Since Durban I, an increasing number of respected observers have borne witness to the reality of Palestinian life under occupation. Most prominently this includes Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Jimmy Carter as well as veterans of the ANC anti-Apartheid struggle.

Even Israel's outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert admitted to the truth of the apartheid analogy, albeit without endorsing it, when he warned in November 2007 that Palestinians, already equal in number to Israeli Jews within the borders of historic Palestine, could soon demand political rights in a single state. Olmert warned that Israel would "face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, and as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished." More recently, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu, proposed that hundreds of thousand Palestinians in towns in northern Israel be stripped of their Israeli citizenship and transferred to a future Palestinian entity.

Last year, UN General Assembly President, Ambassador Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, stated that "although different, what is being done against the Palestinian people seems to me like a version of the hideous policy of apartheid. That cannot, should not, be allowed to continue."

It may take time for these hard truths to be fully absorbed but ever more individuals who make an effort to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and look for creative solutions are convinced that the occupation must end and that peoples need to live in freedom and be respected on the basis of full equality no matter where they live.

Arjan El Fassed is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and the author of Niet iedereen kan stenen gooien (Uitgeverij Nieuwland, 2008). In 2001 he was part of the Palestinian non-governmental delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

Broad nonviolent resistance to Zionism

Ahmad Hijazi, The Electronic Intifada, 18 March 2009

An artist in Gaza paints a mural depicting the Nakba in 1948 and the ongoing war on Palestine. (Hatem Omar/MaanImages)

Amid the escalating violence, and the 60-year-long status quo, there are certain fundamental questions that need to be asked.

Are there certain values and absolute foundations that make resistance in general, and against Zionism specifically, a moral and humane necessity? What is the framework for nonviolent resistance, and how is it connected to these values? What is the ultimate end goal of the struggle? Is it returning the land and some rights to the indigenous Palestinian population, or can it lead to "solutions" that include acceptance of Zionism or even its right to exist?

Millions of persons hope for a chance to participate in this noble struggle, yet can't find the medium in which they can contribute. This is where there is an important role for a group of "movers" to create the vehicles for individual and collective contributions within the above framework and mobilizing the hitherto wasted support to achieve measurable results.

The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions defines Zionism as: "a global, political, ideological movement that aims to return the land of 'Israel' to the Jewish people," but this definition, besides its racist flavor (as it doesn't mention or consider an entire people who were inhabiting that land), doesn't tell the complete story. It might be important to mention that UN Resolution 3379 of 10 November 1975, after a prolonged discussion of the mechanisms of racist regimes, their alliances and human rights violations, decided that Zionism was equivalent to racism (the General Assembly revoked this decision by resolution 84/86 in 1991 after the advance of "peace negotiations").

To properly understand Zionism we cannot rely only on how it defines itself or how the dictionary defines it, as indicative as those might be. We must also look at the behaviors and practices that have characterized Zionism from the beginning of the movement and that were given intellectual and ideological rationales, fundamentally related to the materialization of Zionism through a state.

Zionism could not have effected its program without the ethnic cleansing of the people that inhabited what it called Greater Israel. Forced displacement, terrorism, murder and devaluation of the most basic human rights were justified because of the complete belief in the right of the Jewish "race" which consequently becomes racially "supreme" because Zionism claims that this "race" possesses an undeniable and superior "right" in this land.

The existence of Zionism, and its continuation as it is, constitutes a legitimization of all the previously mentioned crimes, co-existence with the logic of power, and the acceptance of the practical if not openly acknowledged racial inferiority of the Palestinian (read "Arab") people.

The right to resist derives from the values of justice, equality and freedom, but in the case of the Arab people it specifically gains the added value of being an existential struggle and a fight against the supremacist vision of the inferiority of the Arab people, and a refusal of the ideology of the oppressing power. Thus it is in no way merely a nationalistic, Arab or Islamic idea and its end goal can never be fighting the Jewish people or even uprooting Israel.

The clear goal of resistance should be defeating the Zionist ideology. This is an existential fight and one should never fear clearly stating a complete refusal of this ideology and its result (which in no way is an uncivil or a non-life-loving expression). Peace negotiations achieved nothing regarding this central dimension of the struggle, although removing Zionism as an ideology and practice is vital for peace in the Middle East.

The rocket and the gun -- as significant as their role may be -- cannot have the decisive word in the realm of the cultural, intellectual and humanistic battle. We need to understand the role of holistic resistance that the Arab people now more than ever have the ability and interest in deploying to place a siege around Zionism and racism. This resistance is very closely connected to values, culture and history.

In the age of globalization, the Internet and social media, the importance of centralized efforts is diminished as compared with decentralized, self-driven networks. More than ever, nonviolent resistance can harness the work of individuals contributing to a worldwide effort that has several aspects:

The knowledge dimension (cultural/educational/learning): This dimension is the most connected to the motives for resistance and is the logical input into the other dimensions. Understanding the motives and reasons behind the struggle and understanding the adversary and its methods, contributes to building the relationship between the values of justice and humanity on the one hand and the actions of resistance on the other. This dimension answers the "why" and increases the sense of moral and humane responsibility. Resistance must include learning curricula about the values being defended, and the educational and cultural work has to attack Zionism through arts and literature and the other cultural contributions. This is an important role of parents, researchers, writers and the elites in general.

Media and public relations: This dimension has internal and external aspects. The internal is directed to Arab audiences, educating them about the struggle, its goals, methods and cultural importance which it should be emphasized are humanistic and not nationalist or religious.

The external effort is directed to global public opinion which has a central role in the cultural struggle. Zionism realized this from the start and developed its strategy of hasbara (propaganda) and became a model to be studied in polishing the reputation of Israel and pressuring different groups and organizations. There are so many Israeli websites that aim to "educate" volunteers on how to refute accusations against Zionism, on creating pressure groups and organizing networks and public relations campaigns through tapping the huge potential of networks ready to provide support. We need to develop this dimension to empower the many people who believe in the cause but lack the means get the chance to express themselves.

The political-social dimensions: And here I don't mean politics in its direct relation with the military struggle, but rather as the translation of the wishes of the people. It should reflect the people's hopes of a dignified life and culture, and advancement towards good living that supports the belief in the values of justice. Civil society should, as a unit, communicate the values of resistance, justice and equality.

The economic and financial dimension: This is a very important weapon that we have until now failed to utilize. The least we can do is not buy the products of companies that are committed to the prosperity and development of the Israeli economy. I am not calling for a mass-scale boycott here, but rather surgical boycott of certain companies that really have a black history of unlimited and unjustified support to Israel, after communicating with them clearly about the reasons and the intent to boycott their products. There is already a global and growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that provides a framework to build on and support.

The judicial dimension: To try all Israeli and other individuals (and the state) for their responsibility for all the crimes (massacres, assassinations, displacement, theft, piracy, murders, rape, kidnapping and more) and flooding the international courts of law and civil rights groups with cases addressing Israeli crimes on all levels. There is a secondary role to this activity which is to direct the world's attention to the gravity of the various crimes. This should include all institutions that and individuals (even those deceased) who have actively contributed to supporting Zionism so they are recognized for what they are: criminals. There seems to be a need here for a central body that can coordinate the efforts of many research and legal groups.

All the above-mentioned aspects of nonviolent resistance are at the heart of a dignified, prosperous and humane life. The belief in and practice of these values can never be negative or destructive, but is a positive, value-affirming activity.

All efforts need to be directed to the origin of the problem in order to solve it, and the origin here is very clear: Zionism. As for occupation, that is just a symptom.

Ahmad Hijazi is Lebanese writer and researcher on the Arab-Israeli struggle and the effects of media and international opinion on shaping it. His blog is nth-word.blogspot.com.

Did Clinton sabotage a Palestinian reconciliation?

Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2009

Hillary Clinton speaks at a press conference at the International Conference in support of the Palestinian Economy and Reconstruction of Gaza, 2 March 2009. (Victoria Hazou/Sipa Press)
Still reeling from the Israeli massacres in the occupied Gaza Strip, Palestinians have lately had little to celebrate. So the strong start to intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo last week provided a glimmer of hope.

An end to the schism between the resistance and the elected but internationally-boycotted Hamas government on the one hand, and the Western-backed Fatah faction on the other, seemed within reach. But the good feeling came to a sudden end after what looked like a coordinated assault by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, European Union High Representative Javier Solana, and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas whose term as president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) expired on 9 January.

On Friday 27 February, the leaders of 13 Palestinian factions, principal among them Hamas and Fatah, announced they had set out a framework for reconciliation. In talks chaired by Egypt's powerful intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, the Palestinians established committees to discuss forming a "national unity government," reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to include all factions, legislative and presidential elections, reorganizing security forces on a nonpolitical basis, and a steering group comprised of all faction leaders. Amid a jubilant mood, the talks were adjourned until 10 March.

Then the blows began to strike the fragile Palestinian body politic. The first came from Clinton just before she boarded her plane to attend a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh ostensibly about pledging billions in aid to rebuild Gaza.

Clinton was asked by Voice of America (VOA) whether she was encouraged by the Cairo unity talks. She responded that in any reconciliation or "move toward a unified [Palestinian] Authority," Hamas must be bound by "the conditions that have been set forth by the Quartet," the self-appointed group comprising representatives of the US, EU, UN and Russia. These conditions, Clinton stated, require that Hamas "must renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by previous commitments." Otherwise, the secretary warned, "I don't think it will result in the kind of positive step forward either for the Palestinian people or as a vehicle for a reinvigorated effort to obtain peace that leads to a Palestinian state."

The next strikes came from Ramallah. With the EU's top diplomat Solana standing next to him, Abbas insisted that any national unity government would have to adhere to the "two-state vision" and abide by "international conditions and signed agreements." He then demanded that Gaza reconstruction aid be channeled exclusively through the Western-backed, but financially bankrupt and politically depleted PA. Solana affirmed, "I would like to insist in agreement with [Abbas] that the mechanism used to deploy the money is the one that represents the Palestinian Authority." Solana fully endorsed the campaign waged by Abbas ever since the destruction of Gaza that the PA, plagued by endemic corruption, and which only pays salaries of workers deemed politically loyal, be in sole charge of the funds, rather than neutral international organizations as Hamas and others have suggested.

Was the Sharm al-Sheikh summit then really about helping the people of Gaza or was it about exploiting their suffering to continue the long war against Hamas by other means? Indeed, Clinton had already confirmed the politicization of reconstruction aid when she told VOA, "We want to strengthen a Palestinian partner willing to accept the conditions outlined by the Quartet," and, "our aid dollars will flow based on these principles."

Hamas warned that Clinton's and Abbas's statements set Palestinian reconciliation efforts back to square one. "Hamas will not recognize Israel or the Quartet's conditions," said one spokesman Ismail Radwan, while another, Ayman Taha, said Hamas would "reject any preconditions in the formation of the unity government." Khaled Meshal, head of the movement's political bureau, insisted that the basis for national unity must remain "protecting the resistance and the rights of the Palestinian people."

Such statements will of course be used to paint Hamas as extremist, intransigent and anti-peace. After all, what could be more reasonable than demanding that any party involved in a peace process commit itself to renouncing violence, recognizing its enemy, and abiding by pre-existing agreements? The problem is that the Quartet conditions are designed to eliminate the Palestinians' few bargaining chips and render them defenseless before continuous Israeli occupation, colonization, blockade and armed attacks.

None of the Western diplomats imposing conditions on Hamas have demanded that Israel renounce its aggressive violence. Indeed, as Amnesty International reported on 20 February, the weapons Israel used to kill, wound and incinerate 7,000 persons in Gaza, half of them women and children, were largely supplied by Western countries, mainly the US. In a vivid illustration, Amnesty reported that its field researchers "found fragments and components from munitions used by the Israeli army -- including many that are US-made -- littering school playgrounds, in hospitals and in people's homes."

For Palestinians to "renounce violence" under these conditions is to renounce the right to self-defense, something no occupied people can do. Palestinians will certainly note that while Abbas stands impotently by, neither the US nor the EU have rushed to the defense of the peaceful, unarmed Palestinians shot at daily by Israeli occupation forces as they try to protect their land from seizure in the West Bank. Nor has Abbas' renunciation of resistance helped the 1,500 residents in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan whose homes Israeli occupation authorities recently confirmed their intention to demolish in order to make way for a Jewish-themed park. A cessation of violence must be mutual, total and reciprocal -- something Hamas has repeatedly offered and Israel has stubbornly rejected.

While Israeli violence is tolerated or applauded, Israel's leaders are not held to any political preconditions. Prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu emphatically rejects a sovereign Palestinian state and -- like his predecessors -- rejects all other Palestinian rights enshrined in international law and UN resolutions. When told to stop building illegal settlements on occupied land, Israel responds simply that this is a matter for negotiation and to prove the point it revealed plans in February to add thousands of Jewish-only homes to its West Bank colonies.

Yet Quartet envoy Tony Blair, asked by Al-Jazeera International on 1 March how his masters would deal with a rejectionist Israeli government, said, "We have to work with whoever the Israeli people elect, let's test it out not just assume it won't work." Unless Palestinians are considered an inferior race, the same logic ought to apply to their elected leaders, but they were never given a chance.

It is ludicrous to demand that the stateless Palestinian people unconditionally recognize the legitimacy of the entity that dispossessed them and occupies them, that itself has no declared borders and that continues to violently expand its territory at their expense. If Palestinians are ever to recognize Israel in any form, that can only be an outcome of negotiations in which Palestinian rights are fully recognized, not a precondition for them.

During last year's US election campaign, Clinton claimed she helped bring peace to Northern Ireland during her husband's administration. Yet the conditions she now imposes on Hamas are exactly like those that the British long imposed on the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, thereby blocking peace negotiations. President Bill Clinton -- against strenuous British objections -- helped overturn these obstacles by among other things granting a US visa to Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, whose party the British once demonized as Israel now demonizes Hamas. Like Tony Blair, who as British prime minister first authorized public talks with Sinn Fein, Hillary Clinton knows that the negotiations in Ireland could not have succeeded if any party had been forced to submit to the political preconditions of its adversaries.

Former British and Irish peace negotiators including Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, and former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami made similar points in a 26 February letter they co-signed in The Times of London. "Whether we like it or not," the letter states, "Hamas will not go away. Since its victory in democratic elections in 2006, Hamas has sustained its support in Palestinian society despite attempts to destroy it through economic blockades, political boycotts and military incursions." The signatories called for engagement with the movement, affirming that "The Quartet conditions imposed on Hamas set an unworkable threshold from which to commence negotiations."

Those who claim to be peacemakers should heed this advice. They should allow Palestinians to form a national consensus without external interference and blackmail. They should respect democratic mandates. They should stop imposing grossly unfair conditions on the weaker side while cowering in fear of offending the strong, and they should stop the cynical exploitation of humanitarian aid for political manipulation and subversion.

There are many in the region who were encouraged by US President Barack Obama's appointment of former Northern Ireland mediator Senator George Mitchell as Middle East envoy. But in all other respects the new president has continued the Bush administration's disastrous policies. It is not too late to change course, for persisting in these errors will guarantee only more failure and bloodshed.

Hasan Abu Nimah is the former permanent representative of Jordan at the United Nations.

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah is author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Metropolitan Books, 2006).

Chris Hedges condemns Israeli Gaza Massacre

Chris Hedges, author, spoke at a Revolution Books Town Hall Meeting at Ethical Culture Society January 13, 2009 condemning Israel and US complicity in Israel's murderous destruction of Gaza

The dismantling of Israel Document: Israel is an outlawed entity

The dismantling of Israel Document: Israel is an outlawed entity

In the name of God
The Lord of all human beings

The authors of this document are a group of youth who do not belong to a political trend or party, and do not have any ethnic, racist, or religious agenda. We uphold humanity and the right of all humans to live with dignity and peace regardless of religion, color, race, political beliefs, ethnicity, and nationality.
We announce our full respect of all principles and creeds, and our support to righteousness and justice against oppression, suppression, murder, usurpation of rights, and distortion of facts.

As advocates for human rights and values, we believe in dismantling what is internationally recognized as “the state of Israel”.
This document states our legitimate and humanitarian arguments.

First: Israel is not a state according to the international definition.

The definition of a state is: “A state is a political association with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population.”
In reference to the above definition, we can construe that:
- Israel is not a political association; it is a religious-ethnic racist association.
- Israel is not a sovereign state, it depends entirely on US political, economical, and militarily support, making it an American colony, rather than a sovereign state.
Consecutive US administrations unremittingly state its commitment to Israeli security. According to international norms, every state is committed only to its own security, and no state on earth is committed to another state’s security, except the United States of America which is committed to Israeli security.
It would be more realistic and precise if Israel is recognized as a US colony.

Second: Israel is an internationally outlawed entity and must be prosecuted.
Although Israel is the creation of the United Nations — created after Zionist terrorist groups assassinated Folk Bernadette, the Count of Weisberg, who acquired legal proofs to avert the foundation of Israel — yet, Israel, from its very inception, was a deviant entity that never conformed to international laws or UN Security Council resolutions, relying on the US veto.

1- Israel was founded by terrorist groups prosecuted of bombing civilians in hotels, cinemas, and markets: Lehi, Stern, Revisionist Zionist group, Irgun, and Haganah.
2- Israel has violated 35 UN Security Council resolutions and, protected by the US veto, has not been prosecuted.
3- Israel maintains occupation, deliberately targets civilians, reporters, and doctors, and it prevents the arrival of aid to the injured.
4- Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel develops weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, and deliberately targets civilians with internationally prohibited weapons.
5- Israel violates the political and civil rights of its own citizens despite its claims of being a democracy. Israel has banned a number of Israeli political parties from nomination in the late elections because members of these parties are from Arab origins. This decree was issued according to discriminating and racist measures which are against international law and are reminiscent of the obsolete South African apartheid system.
Israeli officials announce openly that they believe in the “purgation” of the “Jewish State” from non-Jewish citizens. Tzipi Livni said that in the case of founding the Palestinian state, all Israelis from Arab origins would have to leave Israel to the Palestinian state in order to “purify” Israel.

Third: Zionism contradicts articles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

1- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Articles breached by Israel:

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colors, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

- Zionism is based mainly on discrimination. It is rooted in the idea of the “Chosen People”. Such a misinterpretation for the Torah explains the discrimination practiced by Israel against Palestinians and Arab-Israeli citizens as seen in occupation, blockade, targeting civilians, land confiscation, building an apartheid wall, and deprivation of political, social, and economical rights. All these atrocities are directed to Arabs because of their ethnicity and religions.
- N.B.: Such violations are totally condemned by religious Jews, and as human beings we believe that Zionism and Israel are the greatest anti-Semites in the world as they defame Judaism, distort the Jewish image, and monopolize what they think is the right interpretation of Judaism, which is completely rejected by anti-Zionist Jews.

Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.

- From the moment Israel was founded, it was mainly based on depriving people from their rights of life, liberty and security. It started with the Deir Yassin massacre, which was executed by the Zionist terrorist groups. This massacre was the seed of the Zionist state. Immediately after the foundation of Israel, several massacres against civilians took place. As there is no space to mention all of them here, so we will mention only a few of them: al-Dawayma massacre (1948), Kafr Kassem massacre (1965), and the most recent massacre took place in Gaza (2008/2009). Israel officials stated frequently that they deliberately target civilians to put pressure on groups that resist them.
- Israel bombed UN buildings and staff several times in Lebanon and Palestine.
- Israel targets civilians and UN buildings with internationally prohibited weapons.
- Israel refused to receive the UN deputy after the Jenin massacre (2002).

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

- Israel practices unrelenting torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian prisoners, civilians seized at checkpoints, children on their way to schools, and civilian inhabitants of the Occupied Territories.
- Israeli soldiers handcuff and blindfold civilians and children seized at checkpoints. They also take children as human shields to protect themselves from the rocks thrown by other children.
- Palestinian homes are also subject to daily incursions by Israeli soldiers directing their rifles toward children and women to terrify them.

Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

- Israel from its very beginning expelled Palestinians from their lands, demolished their homes. As a result, Palestinians are now living as refugees in different countries.
- Israel denies the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
- Israel is imprisoning thousands of Palestinians, many of whom are children and women.
- Reports as well as eyewitnesses assert that during the recent aggression on Gaza (2008/2009), Israel arrested more than one thousand Palestinians over the age of 16 and placed them in dangerous areas, often using them as human shields.
- During the war on Gaza (2008/2009), the Israeli army arrested injured civilians and deliberately left them bleeding, preventing medical crews from reaching them.
- Witnesses assert that during the war (2008/2009), the Israeli army used injured civilians as human shields by placing them in holes dug right in front of tanks, jeopardizing their lives by placing them on the line of fire.
- Witnesses testify that Israeli soldiers used a number of families as human shields during breaking into homes in Gaza (2008/2009).
- The Israeli army used homes in Gaza as military observation points and military bases, detaining families in these homes to use them as human shields.
- Till now, there are more than 200 citizens under the custody of the Israeli army, some of whom were subjected to direct investigation, torment, and extortion.
- The Israeli army refused to cooperate with the Red Cross, Palestinian authorities, and human rights organizations which demanded that Israel reveal the numbers and names of the arrested. Such rejection of cooperation arouses intense apprehension in relation to the safety of the arrested.

Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

- Israel deprives Palestinians from their right to freedom of movement and residence by seizing them at checkpoints for long periods of time that may reach twenty hours or more.
- Israel prevents refugees from returning to their homeland.
- Israel restricts the residence of a huge number of Palestinians and stops them from leaving the country without stating reasons.

Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

- Israel bombs Palestinian cities and stops Palestinian civilians from leaving dangerous spots by the closure of borders and blockade (war on Gaza 2008/2009).

Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

- Israel grants its nationality to any Jew in the world on a religious basis, while it threatens some Arab-Israelis with the revocation of their nationality, because they adopt certain political views that Israel does not agree with.
- After exiling Palestinians from their lands, Israel refuses to grant them the right of return.
- Israel imposes Israeli nationality on residents in the Golan Heights and practices all kinds of intimidations on those who refuse the Israeli nationality.

Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

- Israel confiscates Palestinian lands, expels Palestinians, and banishes them in order to build its own settlements on occupied territories.
- Israel, for decades, uproots and destroys tens of thousands of olive trees, as well as citrus and grape groves. They all belong to the Palestinians for centuries.
- Israel built an apartheid wall on confiscated Palestinian land and divided Palestinian villages into unviable cantons.

Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

We have already pointed out that Israel has denied Arab-Israeli parties participation in elections and exercising their democratic rights because of their ethnic background. Israel refuses, suppresses, and undermines all democratic options of the Palestinian people at the territories under the Palestinian Authority’s rule. It detains democratically elected ministers, deputies, and representatives, and suppresses their freedom without trials or with formal military trials. Detainees do not enjoy the most basic civil rights as individuals and as representatives of the people.

Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

- Israel closes border crossings and denies Palestinians access to humanitarian aid as has been the ongoing situation in Gaza.
- Israel exploits Palestinian workers and makes them work for lower wages. Palestinian workers do not enjoy any legal rights inside Israel, further exposing them to ill-treatment and being fired at any time without having any legal rights.

Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Israel is violating all these articles by putting restrictions on Palestinian workers, detaining them for long hours at the crossings and checkpoints. Israel is also politically exploiting most of them by asking them to reveal security information to its intelligence agency about Palestinian officials and citizens in order to kill or arrest them, in exchange for the workers’ wages and rights.
Israel has made the humanitarian situation and living conditions of Palestinians a living hell.
Many Palestinian pregnant women give birth at the crossings and checkpoints in the open. The Israeli army does not offer any assistance or facilities to transport pregnant women and patients.
Hundreds die annually at the crossings after having been denied access to hospitals and aid. Palestinian children are born and grow up under bombardment and blockade, and among scenes of death and destruction, depriving them of their most basic rights as children.
Israel imposes on children a life in an environment of perpetual war, depriving them from their rights to learn and to go safely to schools.
Schools have been bombed many times, and the proportion of dead Palestinian children is the highest in modern wars. Among these children many infants are shot dead at point-blank range.

Israel breaches most, if not all, the articles of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political rights in relation with its conduct to Palestinians and residents in the occupied Golan Height’s.

PART 1

Article 1
1- All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
2- All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
3- The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

- Israel is occupying Palestinian territories and the Golan heights, refusing to conform to Security Council resolutions stating that Israel must retreat from the occupied lands.
- Israel denies Palestinians and tenants of the Golan's their right of self-determination, and denies their rights of freedom in determining their political status, pursuing their economic, social and cultural development, and uses fierce and illegal force to prevent them from practicing the mentioned rights.
- Israel targets prominent Palestinian cultural figures. In 1970, Israel assassinated the prominent Palestinian literary figure Ghassan Kanafani. In 1987, Israel assassinated the prominent Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al-Ali.
- Israel prevents Palestinians from reaching their schools, and prevents them from joining universities, and when they try to acquire grants abroad, it stops them from traveling.

PART II
Article 2
Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps. in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in the present Covenant.
Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes:
To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity; to ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his rights thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of judicial remedy;
To ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies when granted.

- Israel breaches this article. Arab citizens in Israel are denied all the rights that are granted to any Jewish Israel. Jews in Israel are allowed to own and carry weapons, practice rituals of their religion — even if those rituals include extremist or racist activities like cursing other religions and races — and Jews are allowed to point their weapons at any non-Jewish citizens walking in the streets. Such acts are not illegal according to Israeli law.
- Non-Jewish citizens are forced to join the army, placed in the line of fire, and their lives are jeopardized deliberately, while Jews serving in the army are highly protected.
- Non-Jewish citizens are compelled to serve in the army in Arab districts, and forced to attack their own people. If they refuse, they face imprisonment.
- Israel deprives non-Jewish citizens from practicing rituals of their religions frequently, and if they allow them, the army sieges the church or the mosque.
- Israel prevents men under the age of fifty to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque and force them to pray in the streets surrounded by tanks and rifles.
- Arabs arrested by Israel are denied all their rights, exposed to torment and receive fake trials in which the judge deals with the prisoner according to religion and race, not according to the legal situation.
- More than ten thousand Arabs are incarcerated in Israeli prisons because of their political views. Many of them have not undergone any trials.

Article 4
In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, color, sex, language, religion or social origin.
No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be made under this provision.
Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates such derogation.

Israel violates all these points in the above article. Under the pretext of protecting Israeli security, Israel divests all Arab citizens from security.
Protected by US veto, Israel never complies with UN Security Council resolutions.

Article 9
Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.
Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.
Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgment.
Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.
Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

Palestinians under Israeli occupation do not enjoy any security. Israeli forces break up homes and subject civilians to arbitrary arrest. They are deprived of their freedom without any legal pretext and without even knowing the reason of their arrest.
They receive inhumane treatment during their arrest.
After arresting one Palestinian, frequently, Israeli army bulldozes his or her home, and abuses his or her family.
After arrest, Palestinians are subjected to fierce torture.
Israeli courts do not apply the law on the Palestinians. They take a prior hostile position toward the prosecuted according to race and religion.

Article 10
All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.
Accused persons shall, save in exceptional circumstances, be segregated from convicted persons and shall be subject to separate treatment appropriate to their status as unconvicted persons;
Accused juvenile persons shall be separated from adults and brought as speedily as possible for adjudication.
The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation. Juvenile offenders shall be segregated from adults and be accorded treatment appropriate to their age and legal status.

- Any Palestinian or Arab arrested by Israeli forces is treated with indignity and inhumanely.
- Every Palestinian arrested by Israeli forces is subjected to torture.
- Palestinians arrested for political reasons are put in the same cells with criminals.
- Palestinian juvenile persons are put in the same cells with criminal adults.
- More than ten thousand Palestinians and Arabs are imprisoned and subjected to inhumane conditions. Many of them are children, women, and pregnant women.
- Pregnant Arab women imprisoned in Israeli jails give birth in the prison, and the babies are not allowed to go to relatives' custody outside the prison.

Article 12
Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.
The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.

- Israel deprives millions of refugees from returning to their country from which they were expelled by force.
- Israel arbitrarily deprives Palestinian youths from leaving the country to receive an education abroad. It also deprives them from receiving education in their country.

Article 14
All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law. The press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice; but any judgment rendered in a criminal case or in a suit at law shall be made public except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children.
Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;
To be tried without undue delay;
To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;
To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;
Not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt.
In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take account of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.
Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.
When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him.
No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.

- Every single item in this article is violated by Israel when it comes to Palestinians and Arabs.
- Israeli courts defuse the action of Israeli law when it deals with Palestinians and Arabs. They are found guilty before they even step into the courtroom.
- Israeli courts often dismiss attorneys assigned by the accused and assign other ones who are known of their prejudice against Arabs as a race.

Article 17
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Israel violates this article under international cover. Israeli forces storms into Palestinian homes without any respect for privacy, abuses families, especially children.
Concerning the unlawful attacks on a person’s honor and reputation:
During the past years there have been constant attacks against Muslims and Arabs that are known as "Islamophobia" and "Arabo-phobia". Such an organized denigration, depicting Muslims and Arabs as "terrorists", "backwards", and "uncivilized" people was meant to give excuses and justify all illegal military atrocities waged against Arab and Muslim population, starting with Israeli massacres, the US invasion of Afghanistan, the illegal occupation in Iraq and ending with the most notorious prisons in the world: Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
Such a campaign caused a great damage to all Muslim and Arab population worldwide. May Muslims, Arabs and even some Sikhs and Hindus (because they resemble Middle Eastern Muslims in color and features) were subjected to persecution, job loss, arrest and racist homicides.
Many Arab and Muslim nations were damaged economically, politically and militarily with the full support of both states and mobs.
Inhuman crimes and internationally prohibited acts were directed to Muslims and Arabs, collectively and individually word wide.
International media, relentlessly, broadcasts materials contains hate speech against Muslims and Arabs. FOX news persistently broadcasts materials arouse hatred towards Muslims, International News papers….etc).
Now, after taking steps toward closing Guantanamo Bay and retreating from Iraq, we demand the following:
1- Official apology from all those who convicted actions of material and moral atrocities against Muslims and Arabs which cause them great damages collectively and individually.
2- The immediate cease of any kind of hatred action whether militarily, economically or speech hatred.
3- Legal international condemnation of all offensives against Muslims and Arabs.
4- This spread hatred policies were meant to be a cover for inhuman war crimes executed by Israel and the world powers. Such policies have to be internationally condemned with official declaration and new legislations to protect Muslim and Arab subject from persecution.
5- Arabs are Semites, yet, they are not allowed to resort to the anti-Semite international law when they are attacked, therefore, it is essential to issue a new law to protect Arabs and Muslims.
6- Suitable financial, political and moral compensations for Arabs and Muslims have to be attributed immediately.

Article 20
Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.

Israeli politicians lead war propaganda and use it in election campaigns in which they repeatedly echo the call for war using racist tones against Arabs and threatening them with genocide.
By monitoring the Israeli politicians' statements since the foundation of Israel until now, we find constant campaigns led by politicians and religious leaders waged against Arabs, describing them with the most racist descriptions inciting soldiers to kill them for racist, religious, and security reasons.

Article 25
Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:
To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;
To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors;
To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.

Palestinians do not enjoy any political rights under the occupation. Israel does not respect the election results of the Palestinian people, and does not recognize the Palestinian people's representatives. Moreover, Israel arrests elected Palestinian MPs with disregard to their parliamentary immunity.
Arab-Israelis are not allowed to occupy leading posts no matter how qualified they are.
In employment, Jews have the priority over any Arab, even if the Arabs are more qualified.

Article 27
In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.

Israel violates this article as mention above in the document.
Israel breaches all items of Part IV of the Covenant. It does not permit the establishment of any international human rights committees to follow up the rights of people under occupation, or assist in the prosecution of criminals who take part in killings, genocide, arrest and imprisonment against the people. The United Nations and the international community are responsible for this part, but cannot prosecute Israel, its leaders, officers or soldiers. At the same time, Israel prevents the work of any international inquiring committee, whatever its reasons and goals are.
This part is not recognized or practiced by Israel, nor practiced at all on Israel by any international organization.

It is obvious to any researcher that Israel has clearly violated all international documents, charters and treaties. It is very strange indeed that Israel and its officials had never been prosecuted or held accountable for their actions.
As for the economic part of the International Covenant, below we show how Israel deals with this aspect:

Article 1
1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.

- We have mentioned earlier in the civil and political covenants how Israel violates this article by occupying Palestinian land, building the separation wall, placing Gaza under siege, and building settlements on Palestinian land whose owners have documents of ownership, deploying barriers between cities and villages, and stopping Palestinians for long hours on these barriers, including the workers who lose their jobs because of permanent delay.
- Israel has seized all fresh water resources in the West Bank and Golan Heights. It is establishing settlements on fertile land after the expulsion of its inhabitants and confiscation of the land. It builds its army camps near freshwater resources.Israel also had and is still cutting off hundreds of thousands of olive and citrus trees which belong to Palestinians, destroying their orchards and vineyards and confiscating them to construct the separation wall and build settlements or military barracks.

PART III
Article 6
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.
2. The steps to be taken by a State Party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training programs, policies and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual.

- Most of the Palestinian youth are unemployed due to harassment at Israeli checkpoints. They are delayed for long hours and asked to provide information about their own people in order to facilitate their transit to work. At the same time, Israel has bombed most factories in Gaza after a suffocating siege where it denied Gaza the entry of any raw materials or spare parts for machines. Israel bombards small workshops, continuously pounding them to the ground and claiming that the resistance fighters are using them to manufacture explosives. These claims have often proved to be untrue because these workshops are very small and do not have any facilities for manufacturing any explosives or the like.
- All these items are not available in Gaza or the West Bank because of the policies of the occupation. No efficiency or technology is available in schools and educational institutes because of the poverty, siege, and restrictions. A Palestinian worker can not find a decent job except in Israel and most employed workers lose their jobs for the reasons mentioned earlier (delaying at checkpoints or being questioned by Israeli intelligence).

Article 7
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work which ensure, in particular:
(a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with:
(i) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work;
(ii) A decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant;
(b) Safe and healthy working conditions;
(c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and competence;
(d) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays

Such conditions cannot be obtained under the constraints mentioned earlier as a result of the occupation. Palestinian women work in very bad conditions under the occupation in dilapidated old factories. Palestinian women working as teachers are always vulnerable to danger and stop working as schools often close for security reasons. Workers do not get paid often because Israel denies the entry of money to Gaza and prevents the entry of private banking remittances of employee salaries. Gaza often witnesses strikes because workers do not receive their salaries for months, therefore, they do not have the minimum requirements of employments and payments. They cannot get paid most of the year.

Article 10
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that:
1. The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children. Marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the intending spouses.
2. Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. During such period working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits.
3. Special measures of protection and assistance should be taken on behalf of all children and young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions. Children and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law. States should also set age limits below which the paid employment of child labor should be prohibited and punishable by law.

- There is no protection for an individual or family under the Israeli occupation. Almost every Palestinian family is divided in several countries because of the displacement, and each Palestinian house has victims because of the Israeli bombardment. This article and many others cannot even be applied on Palestinians under the relocation, displacement, killings, bombings, and intimidation.
- Many Palestinian mothers, whether working or not, have given birth at checkpoints and on the way to hospitals because of the restriction policy at the crossings, and long waits with no distinction between patients and pregnant women or ordinary people.
- Palestinian children are exposed to death in the streets and on the way to schools. Many of them are forced to leave schools and work to support their families due to the death of the father or the mother, or because of extreme poverty caused by the continuous blockade and the starvation policy imposed on Gaza by Israel.

Article 11
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.
2. The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programs, which are needed:
(a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources;
(b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.

- We have stated previously and it is well known that the Israeli blockade makes the application of such articles impossible. Israel has bombed relief warehouses, even those belonging to the UNRWA, as happened in Gaza recently.
- Israel has been imposing a suffocating siege, shelling relief agencies and warehouses, and preventing Palestinians from importing goods, food and medicines from abroad.

Article 12
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for:
(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;
(b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;
(c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;
(d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.

- Palestinian hospitals and clinics have no modern equipment, and there is no electricity most of the time because Israel prevents fuel and gas from reaching Gaza. It also prevents the import of medical equipment. Palestinian patients often die because of simple medical causes which can easily be cured, as a lot of medicines are not available and cannot be imported because of the blockade.
- We've described previously the situations in hospitals and how babies are born in primitive conditions on crossings which cause their death due to the lack of basic conditions of life that the newborn needs and the requirements of special monitoring and care at hospitals.
In addition to the foregoing reasons, Israel has bombed populated Palestinian areas with internationally prohibited weapons such as phosphorus bombs, and this poses a threat to people's health as well as the environment in general.
Israel has bombed ambulances and paramedics were killed and prevented from reaching victims who die as a result. This has happened in all Israeli wars in southern Lebanon, the West Bank, Jenin, and Gaza recently.
In all wars Israel targeted ambulances and paramedics; the archives of these wars are available.

Article 13
1- The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

In addition to the previously mentioned status of Palestinian schools and students, Israeli curriculums are full of racial lessons, songs and stories inciting hatred against Arabs, showing them as primitive criminals who deserve to be killed, displaced and abused. This may be the most dangerous thing in the world facing children, to teach them the culture of hatred and racism. These children will not make peace in the future nor will they have any mercy on those whom they consider enemies. They grow up and learn that the "other" deserves to be killed. Israeli curriculums which contain a lot of this racism can be checked for details. Photos have also been published by international news agencies that show how young Israeli children were signing their names on the missiles of the Israeli army in Lebanon war in July 2006.

It should be noted here that Israel has breached and violated most of the Geneva Convention items relating to people's status and how to deal with them during wars and conflicts. All the violations that have been mentioned earlier in this document are explicit violations of the provisions of this treaty which is known to all countries and human rights and international organizations.

From the above mentioned, we find it clear that the so-called state of Israel, is a racial entity not entitled to live. It prevents decent living and peace for all its neighbors and those under its control, specifically non-Jews. It is an entity that is not governed by any basis of legal or ethical standards like the rest of the world.

Israel is a criminal entity based on murder and destruction, and poses a danger to humanity, environment, and all forms of life.
Hereby, as we place this document in front of all mankind, we express our clear resentment and rejection of the obvious silence of most international and humanitarian organizations, and even the bias of some of these organizations against the victim and their support of the aggressor. We put this responsibility before everyone who believes in humanity, and people's rights to enjoy all the noble standards of civilization.

Sign The dismantling of Israel Document: Israel is an outlawed entity Petition

Nawara Negm
Joe Ghanem
Iman Badawi
Mohammad Shaltaf
Mohammad Qandiel
Asem Al Kassem
Rehab Elfawkhry

Thousands of Gazans remain homeless

Report, The Electronic Intifada, 18 February 2009

Azza Abed Rabu with her neice and four-year-old daughter, who sustained serious head wounds during the family's evacuation. She and her family are now living in a tent in the Abed Rabu area of Jabaliya. (Erica Silverman/IRIN)

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain homeless after their houses were badly damaged or destroyed during Israel's recent military offensive there.

The Israeli army began with aerial bombardments of the enclave on 27 December and added a ground assault from 3 January. Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on 18 January while Hamas, the de facto ruling authority in the Strip, declared its own ceasefire later that day.

According to a 16 February report by Save the Children Alliance "at least 100,000 people, including 56,000 children, remain displaced with many continuing to take shelter in tents or crowding into remaining homes with other families, one month since the Gaza ceasefire was declared."

The non-governmental organization estimated that some 500,000 people, including 280,000 children, were forced from their homes at some point during the conflict and added that "tent cities" had sprung up where whole neighborhoods were destroyed. Many tent residents are without access to clean drinking water and toilets, it said.

The tents are small and offer no protection from the low temperatures at night, which can reach below 7-8 degrees Celsius, according to Save the Children UK's chief executive Jasmine Whitbread, speaking from Gaza on 16 February. She said that some camps of up to 40 families share one or two toilets between them, posing health risks.

Most of the tents have been provided by the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), UNICEF and other international and local aid organizations.

UNRWA said it had distributed emergency food parcels and non-food items, such as mattresses and blankets, to tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who had been affected by the conflict. This was in addition to UNRWA's regular food distribution to 900,000 refugees in the Strip.

Tented communities

According to UNRWA, tented communities have been set up in densely populated areas that came under fire by Israeli tanks. These are the northern areas of Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, the Zeitoun area in south Gaza City, Rafah on the southern border with Egypt and around Netzarim, a former Israeli settlement, where Israeli forces constructed a temporary military base during their operation.

Hundreds of tents stand in the Abed Rabu area of Jabaliya.

"Over the past two weeks we have distributed relief to 310 individuals who completely lost their homes and to 310 whose homes were damaged," said Fadi (he declined to give his family name), a volunteer with Islamic Foundation, a local NGO that supports Hamas, as he put emergency water and food supplies into packs in a tent.

The parcels contained soap, potatoes, flour, milk and a protein supplement provided by the Hamas government. The Red Crescent delivered the water supplies and UNRWA the blankets and mattresses, Fadi said.

"The Israeli troops bulldozed my home to enter the area with tanks," said Azza Abed Rabu, 27, while clutching her four-year-old daughter, who she said sustained serious head wounds during the family's evacuation. "We have narrow streets; they [Israeli forces] were searching for tunnels beneath the homes."

Thirty Abed Rabu family members are sheltering in two tents.

At least 4,000 homes were destroyed and about 17,000 badly damaged, according to a recent UN Gaza flash appeal, while 50,000 residents took shelter in UNRWA facilities during the height of the conflict and tens of thousands took refuge with family and friends.

A UNDP-led survey of damaged and destroyed housing throughout Gaza conducted immediately following the ceasefire found the greatest destruction in the two northern governorates of north Gaza, where 1,436 houses were completely destroyed, and Gaza governorate, where 752 houses were completely destroyed.

UNRWA estimates that an average of $4,000 will be needed to repair each housing unit.

As of 5 February, the Gaza health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the three-week conflict had reached 1,440, including 431 children and 114 women. Some 5,380 were injured, including 1,872 children and 800 women, according to the ministry.

This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Baroness Tonge: "Israel stands accused of war crimes witnessed by the whole world"