2 articles.
Aug. 18, 2005. 01:00 AM
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Israeli settler pullout won't make Gaza free
It seems that Israel wants to lock up Gaza and throw away the key, says Paul McCann
PAUL MCCANN
There is a Bedouin village — breeze-block shanties built on sand dunes — in the north of the Gaza Strip that has been overlooked by the army watchtowers of the Jewish settlement of Nisanit. On most nights during the intifada, soldiers in these watchtowers fired down into the alleys of the village, keeping everyone hemmed into their homes at night.
On occasion, children, disorientated and panicked by the firing, had been known to run out of their shacks and into the line of fire.
There were many randomly-firing watchtowers surrounding the Israeli settlements in Gaza. They have killed hundreds of Palestinians, both militant and innocent, and are hated by the local population.
Their removal this week, along with the settlements themselves, will rightly be a moment of celebration. But just because the most visible and oppressive signs of the Israeli occupation will be gone, no one should be under the illusion that Gaza will cease to be the world's largest prison camp.
Last week, the Israeli cabinet decided it would maintain troops on the border between Gaza and Egypt for the foreseeable future — along the so-called Philadelphia corridor. It was from a watchtower on this border that peace activist Tom Hurndall was shot in 2003.
The same cabinet meeting also decided that Israel must continue to control who enters and exits Gaza through Egypt and proposed a new border crossing at Kerem Shalom where Israel, Gaza and Egypt meet.
This busy cabinet meeting also decided that it would allow Gaza to have 5 kilometres of territorial waters; after that Israel would control the sea. It had already been decided that Israel will continue to control Gaza's airspace.
Earlier this year, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the guardian of international humanitarian law, sent the Israeli government a confidential position paper making clear that the removal of the Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza will not end the occupation.
The paper stated: "Israel will retain significant control over the Gaza Strip, which will enable it to exercise key elements of authority. Thus ... it seems at this stage the Gaza Strip will remain occupied for the purposes of international humanitarian law."
It is a view backed by the highly respected Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research. In a legal brief prepared for the donor community, the program's director wrote: "The partial redeployment of Israel's military presence in and around the territory is not the controlling factor in international law to determine the end of occupation ... The end of occupation rests essentially on the termination of the military control of the Occupying Power over the government affairs of the occupied population that limits the people's right to self-determination."
Why this matters is made clear in the disengagement resolution passed by the Israeli government last summer. That states: "The completion of the (disengagement) plan will serve to dispel claims regarding Israel's responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
But if it is still the occupying power, then in law Israel has very specific responsibility for the welfare of the population of Gaza.
If the occupation is seen to have ended, then it can wash its hands of all 1.3 million of them.
At the moment, Israel talks of improving conditions at the notorious Erez crossing from Gaza into Israel, where thousands of Palestinian cheap labourers are routinely humiliated for hours before they can get into Israel to work. But in the longer term, it seems Israel wants to lock up Gaza and throw away the key.
Shaul Mofaz, the minister of defence, and Ehud Olmert, the deputy prime minister, have both gone on record this summer as saying that no Palestinian workers will be allowed into Israel from 2008.
The wording of the disengagement bill states there are to be no labourers "in the longer term."
At the G8 summit, the international community promised to invest $3 billion in Gaza. But without access to the outside world, these funds will do little to improve life or create permanent jobs.
If Gaza is to feel the benefits of disengagement, the fishermen need to be able to fish, merchants to travel and import and crucially, after 38 years of enforced integration with Israel's economy, labourers will still need to work on the building sites of Tel Aviv and Ashkelon.
Otherwise the watchtowers of Gaza will only have moved a few hundred metres and no doubt will soon fire down once more on Palestinians — both militant and innocent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul McCann was spokesman for the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza from 2001 to 2005. This article first appeared in the Independent newspaper Tuesday.
Made-in-Israel Paper Cups Used in Local Hospital
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab News
JEDDAH, 22 August 2005 — Paper cups with Hebrew writing disturbed both employees and medical staff at King Khaled National Guard Hospital on Saturday. The catering subcontractor for the hospital coffee shops began using them on Saturday after their usual supply ran out.
“We were shocked and angry,” said an employee. “How can Israeli products be allowed and how did they enter this hospital?” he asked.
The Filipino employee who works in the Al-Musbah coffee shop asked: “Why is everybody mad about the cups?” He was told: “Because they are made in Israel!”
According to hospital officials, the matter is being investigated and action will be taken.
Saleh Al-Mazroi, executive director for operations at KKNGH, said the matter had been referred to authorities in Riyadh and was being dealt with.
On the bottom of the paper cup was a website address and a telephone number. When Arab News looked at the website — www.orion-rancal.co.il. — it was found to be in Hebrew though there were a few words of English: “Israeli disposable paper, plastic and foam dinnerware supplier for restaurants.”
Arab News contacted Ibrahim Al-Musbah, manager and owner, who said, “I thank you for informing me. I will look into it personally and the offending articles will be disposed of.” He added that the company has a supplier in the Kingdom from whom they buy restaurant supplies. According to Al-Musbah, the supplier might be unaware of the problem.
Al-Musbah later contacted Arab News and said that the paper cups had come to his company by mistake. The cups were in a cardboard box that looked exactly like the ones his company normally receives and so the employees did not notice any difference. Al-Musbah added that the supplier was named “Jeelani” and that he would supply Arab News with his contact numbers today.
The paper cups were quickly withdrawn from use but might there not be other, less obvious, Israeli products in our shops and marketplaces?
My comment : On one hand UN officials , the Arab countries say Israel must open its doors to palestinian workers.
Despite the suicide bombings , the arabs insist israel must open the borders as if there were no attacks from Gaza or the west bank.
On the other hand the very same fellows that claim Israel must open her borders , close their own countries not only 2 israelis , but also to anything that might come from Israel , small cups included.
>ADVERTISEMENT<
Israeli settler pullout won't make Gaza free
It seems that Israel wants to lock up Gaza and throw away the key, says Paul McCann
PAUL MCCANN
There is a Bedouin village — breeze-block shanties built on sand dunes — in the north of the Gaza Strip that has been overlooked by the army watchtowers of the Jewish settlement of Nisanit. On most nights during the intifada, soldiers in these watchtowers fired down into the alleys of the village, keeping everyone hemmed into their homes at night.
On occasion, children, disorientated and panicked by the firing, had been known to run out of their shacks and into the line of fire.
There were many randomly-firing watchtowers surrounding the Israeli settlements in Gaza. They have killed hundreds of Palestinians, both militant and innocent, and are hated by the local population.
Their removal this week, along with the settlements themselves, will rightly be a moment of celebration. But just because the most visible and oppressive signs of the Israeli occupation will be gone, no one should be under the illusion that Gaza will cease to be the world's largest prison camp.
Last week, the Israeli cabinet decided it would maintain troops on the border between Gaza and Egypt for the foreseeable future — along the so-called Philadelphia corridor. It was from a watchtower on this border that peace activist Tom Hurndall was shot in 2003.
The same cabinet meeting also decided that Israel must continue to control who enters and exits Gaza through Egypt and proposed a new border crossing at Kerem Shalom where Israel, Gaza and Egypt meet.
This busy cabinet meeting also decided that it would allow Gaza to have 5 kilometres of territorial waters; after that Israel would control the sea. It had already been decided that Israel will continue to control Gaza's airspace.
Earlier this year, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the guardian of international humanitarian law, sent the Israeli government a confidential position paper making clear that the removal of the Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza will not end the occupation.
The paper stated: "Israel will retain significant control over the Gaza Strip, which will enable it to exercise key elements of authority. Thus ... it seems at this stage the Gaza Strip will remain occupied for the purposes of international humanitarian law."
It is a view backed by the highly respected Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research. In a legal brief prepared for the donor community, the program's director wrote: "The partial redeployment of Israel's military presence in and around the territory is not the controlling factor in international law to determine the end of occupation ... The end of occupation rests essentially on the termination of the military control of the Occupying Power over the government affairs of the occupied population that limits the people's right to self-determination."
Why this matters is made clear in the disengagement resolution passed by the Israeli government last summer. That states: "The completion of the (disengagement) plan will serve to dispel claims regarding Israel's responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
But if it is still the occupying power, then in law Israel has very specific responsibility for the welfare of the population of Gaza.
If the occupation is seen to have ended, then it can wash its hands of all 1.3 million of them.
At the moment, Israel talks of improving conditions at the notorious Erez crossing from Gaza into Israel, where thousands of Palestinian cheap labourers are routinely humiliated for hours before they can get into Israel to work. But in the longer term, it seems Israel wants to lock up Gaza and throw away the key.
Shaul Mofaz, the minister of defence, and Ehud Olmert, the deputy prime minister, have both gone on record this summer as saying that no Palestinian workers will be allowed into Israel from 2008.
The wording of the disengagement bill states there are to be no labourers "in the longer term."
At the G8 summit, the international community promised to invest $3 billion in Gaza. But without access to the outside world, these funds will do little to improve life or create permanent jobs.
If Gaza is to feel the benefits of disengagement, the fishermen need to be able to fish, merchants to travel and import and crucially, after 38 years of enforced integration with Israel's economy, labourers will still need to work on the building sites of Tel Aviv and Ashkelon.
Otherwise the watchtowers of Gaza will only have moved a few hundred metres and no doubt will soon fire down once more on Palestinians — both militant and innocent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul McCann was spokesman for the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza from 2001 to 2005. This article first appeared in the Independent newspaper Tuesday.
Made-in-Israel Paper Cups Used in Local Hospital
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab News
JEDDAH, 22 August 2005 — Paper cups with Hebrew writing disturbed both employees and medical staff at King Khaled National Guard Hospital on Saturday. The catering subcontractor for the hospital coffee shops began using them on Saturday after their usual supply ran out.
“We were shocked and angry,” said an employee. “How can Israeli products be allowed and how did they enter this hospital?” he asked.
The Filipino employee who works in the Al-Musbah coffee shop asked: “Why is everybody mad about the cups?” He was told: “Because they are made in Israel!”
According to hospital officials, the matter is being investigated and action will be taken.
Saleh Al-Mazroi, executive director for operations at KKNGH, said the matter had been referred to authorities in Riyadh and was being dealt with.
On the bottom of the paper cup was a website address and a telephone number. When Arab News looked at the website — www.orion-rancal.co.il. — it was found to be in Hebrew though there were a few words of English: “Israeli disposable paper, plastic and foam dinnerware supplier for restaurants.”
Arab News contacted Ibrahim Al-Musbah, manager and owner, who said, “I thank you for informing me. I will look into it personally and the offending articles will be disposed of.” He added that the company has a supplier in the Kingdom from whom they buy restaurant supplies. According to Al-Musbah, the supplier might be unaware of the problem.
Al-Musbah later contacted Arab News and said that the paper cups had come to his company by mistake. The cups were in a cardboard box that looked exactly like the ones his company normally receives and so the employees did not notice any difference. Al-Musbah added that the supplier was named “Jeelani” and that he would supply Arab News with his contact numbers today.
The paper cups were quickly withdrawn from use but might there not be other, less obvious, Israeli products in our shops and marketplaces?
My comment : On one hand UN officials , the Arab countries say Israel must open its doors to palestinian workers.
Despite the suicide bombings , the arabs insist israel must open the borders as if there were no attacks from Gaza or the west bank.
On the other hand the very same fellows that claim Israel must open her borders , close their own countries not only 2 israelis , but also to anything that might come from Israel , small cups included.
posted by solitarioh2005 at
6:10 AM
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