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Financial times , August 18 2005
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Evacuation 'will not end Gaza occupation'
By Sharmila Devi in Gaza City
Published: August 18 2005 03:00 Last updated: August 18 2005 03:00
Israel's failure to agree to cede control of Gaza's access to the outside world after four months of talks means its occupation will not end with the evacuation of Jewish settlers, Mohamed Dahlan, Palestinian Authority civil affairs minister, said yesterday.
Hamas, the militant group, also said yesterday the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza and the northern West Bank did not mean a complete liberation from Israeli rule, and it reserved the right to bear arms.
Although Israel is withdrawing unilaterally, and outside any framework of comprehensive peace talks, it agreed to co-ordinate the move with the Palestinians with the help of James Wolfensohn, former World Bank president. But Mr Dahlan said talks had so far failed to produce agreement.
"What does it mean that Israel wants to get out of Gaza but wants to retain control over Gaza?" said Mr Dahlan, who represented the Palestinians in talks with Israel. "My confidence in the Israelis is almost nil. They still want to control our lives and access to the outside world."
Israel has yet to agree completely on permitting the Palestinians to open air and sea ports and have safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank, or on granting control over the movement of goods and people on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The Palestinians say they are willing to provide security guarantees for Israel with outside help. Unless greater freedom is allowed, the evacuation constitutes only an end to colonisation, not occupation, they say.
"This has put us in an awkward position with the Palestinian people, although we gave Israel answers to everything they wanted," said Mr Dahlan. "I hope they are keeping a surprise for us. The technical teams are still working, but we need political answers to these political questions."
Hamas is competing with the PA to claim credit for the Israeli withdrawal as part of its campaign for legislative elections slated for January.
Although Hamas says it will maintain a ceasefireto allow an orderly Israeli pull-out, it says continued settlement expansion inthe West Bank and east Jerusalem also justifiespossible violent resistance.
"Israel will maintain the physical fundamentals of occupation, so we will not consider Gaza liberated," Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said.
Israel says its army could re-enter Gaza at any time by keeping control of the borders and air and sea space.
The Palestinians say that under international law, this constitutes occupation and requires Israel's responsibility for the Palestinians' welfare. Israel disputes this.
Israel has also threatened to scrap a customs union with Gaza if the Palestinians do not agree to Israel retaining security control over traffic between the territory and Egypt at the Rafah crossing.
Mr Dahlan said the Palestinians would refuse to concede on Rafah, as would Egypt. He also said he had yet to receive any Israeli answers on allowing access for agricultural exports. The Gaza Strip is deeply impoverished after almost five years of the intifada and the Palestinians say they must be allowed to trade if promised international aid is to have any impact.
Mr Dahlan echoed the view of many Palestinians when he said he was happy to see "the back of the settlers, not their faces". But he urged Washington to push Israel to the negotiating table on a final status deal.
He said the Palestinians had done their part in ensuring calm during the pull-out and organising what he said would be an orderly hand- over of the evacuated areas, most of which are earmarked for Palestinian public works.
The PA has formed a committee with representatives of Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to monitor the withdrawal and ensure transparency. In addition, more than 7,000 Palestinian troops have been deployed to prevent violence.
The Palestinians are not expected to enter the former settlements until October.
The Independent , August 16 , 2005
Published by The Star Aug. 18, 2005. 01:00 AM
Israeli settler pullout won't make Gaza free
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1124315411430&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
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.
´My comment : The same message is hammered over and over again.
Home UK Print article Email article
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fbec39c4-0f83-11da-8b31-00000e2511c8.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main page content:
Evacuation 'will not end Gaza occupation'
By Sharmila Devi in Gaza City
Published: August 18 2005 03:00 Last updated: August 18 2005 03:00
Israel's failure to agree to cede control of Gaza's access to the outside world after four months of talks means its occupation will not end with the evacuation of Jewish settlers, Mohamed Dahlan, Palestinian Authority civil affairs minister, said yesterday.
Hamas, the militant group, also said yesterday the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza and the northern West Bank did not mean a complete liberation from Israeli rule, and it reserved the right to bear arms.
Although Israel is withdrawing unilaterally, and outside any framework of comprehensive peace talks, it agreed to co-ordinate the move with the Palestinians with the help of James Wolfensohn, former World Bank president. But Mr Dahlan said talks had so far failed to produce agreement.
"What does it mean that Israel wants to get out of Gaza but wants to retain control over Gaza?" said Mr Dahlan, who represented the Palestinians in talks with Israel. "My confidence in the Israelis is almost nil. They still want to control our lives and access to the outside world."
Israel has yet to agree completely on permitting the Palestinians to open air and sea ports and have safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank, or on granting control over the movement of goods and people on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The Palestinians say they are willing to provide security guarantees for Israel with outside help. Unless greater freedom is allowed, the evacuation constitutes only an end to colonisation, not occupation, they say.
"This has put us in an awkward position with the Palestinian people, although we gave Israel answers to everything they wanted," said Mr Dahlan. "I hope they are keeping a surprise for us. The technical teams are still working, but we need political answers to these political questions."
Hamas is competing with the PA to claim credit for the Israeli withdrawal as part of its campaign for legislative elections slated for January.
Although Hamas says it will maintain a ceasefireto allow an orderly Israeli pull-out, it says continued settlement expansion inthe West Bank and east Jerusalem also justifiespossible violent resistance.
"Israel will maintain the physical fundamentals of occupation, so we will not consider Gaza liberated," Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said.
Israel says its army could re-enter Gaza at any time by keeping control of the borders and air and sea space.
The Palestinians say that under international law, this constitutes occupation and requires Israel's responsibility for the Palestinians' welfare. Israel disputes this.
Israel has also threatened to scrap a customs union with Gaza if the Palestinians do not agree to Israel retaining security control over traffic between the territory and Egypt at the Rafah crossing.
Mr Dahlan said the Palestinians would refuse to concede on Rafah, as would Egypt. He also said he had yet to receive any Israeli answers on allowing access for agricultural exports. The Gaza Strip is deeply impoverished after almost five years of the intifada and the Palestinians say they must be allowed to trade if promised international aid is to have any impact.
Mr Dahlan echoed the view of many Palestinians when he said he was happy to see "the back of the settlers, not their faces". But he urged Washington to push Israel to the negotiating table on a final status deal.
He said the Palestinians had done their part in ensuring calm during the pull-out and organising what he said would be an orderly hand- over of the evacuated areas, most of which are earmarked for Palestinian public works.
The PA has formed a committee with representatives of Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to monitor the withdrawal and ensure transparency. In addition, more than 7,000 Palestinian troops have been deployed to prevent violence.
The Palestinians are not expected to enter the former settlements until October.
The Independent , August 16 , 2005
Published by The Star Aug. 18, 2005. 01:00 AM
Israeli settler pullout won't make Gaza free
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1124315411430&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
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.
´My comment : The same message is hammered over and over again.
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3:14 PM
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