A human rights crime in Gaza
President Jimmy Carter
(Illustration:) “Will You Sing Me A Lullaby?”
Daily News Egypt
The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a
million and a half human
beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world by
sea, air, or land. An
entire population is being brutally punished.
This gross mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza was escalated
dramatically by Israel, with
United States backing, after political candidates representing Hamas won a
majority of seats in
the Palestinian Authority parliament in 2006. The election was unanimously
judged to be honest
and fair by all international observers.
Israel and the US refused to accept the right of Palestinians to form a
unity government with
Hamas and Fatah and now, after internal strife, Hamas alone controls Gaza.
Forty-one of the 43
victorious Hamas candidates who lived in the West Bank are now imprisoned
by Israel, plus an
additional ten who assumed positions in the short-lived coalition cabinet.
Regardless of one’s choice in the partisan struggle between Fatah and
Hamas within occupied
Palestine, we must remember that economic sanctions and restrictions in
delivering water, food,
electricity, and fuel are causing extreme hardship among the innocent
people in Gaza, about one
million of whom are refugees.
Israeli bombs and missiles periodically strike the encapsulated area,
causing high casualties
among both militants and innocent women and children. Prior to the highly
publicized killing of
a woman and her four little children last week, this pattern was
illustrated by a previous
report from B’Tselem, the leading Israeli human rights organization: 106
Palestinians were
killed between February 27 and March 3. Fifty-four of them were civilians
who didn't take part
in the fighting, and 25 were under 18 years of age.
On a recent trip through the Middle East, I attempted to gain a better
understanding of the
crisis. One of my visits was to Sderot, a community of about 20,000 in
southern Israel that is
frequently struck by rudimentary rockets fired from nearby Gaza. I
condemned these attacks as
abominable and an act of terrorism, since most of the thirteen victims
during the past seven
years have been non-combatants.
Subsequently, I met with leaders of Hamas, both a delegation from Gaza and
the top officials in
Damascus, Syria. I made the same condemnation to them, and urged that they
declare a unilateral
ceasefire or orchestrate with Israel a mutual agreement to terminate all
military action in and
around Gaza for an extended period.
They responded that such previous action by them had not been
reciprocated, and they reminded
me that Hamas had previously insisted on a ceasefire throughout Palestine
including both Gaza
and the West Bank, which Israel had refused. Hamas then made a public
proposal of a mutual
ceasefire restricted to Gaza, which the Israelis considered and also
rejected.
There are fervent arguments heard on both sides concerning blame for a
lack of peace in the
Holy Land. Israel has occupied and colonized the Palestinian West Bank,
which is approximately
one-fourth (28.5%) the size of the nation of Israel as recognized by the
international
community. Some Israeli religious factions claim a right to the land on
both sides of the
Jordan River, and others aver that their 205 settlements with some 500,000
people are necessary
for “security.”
All Arab nations have agreed to full recognition of Israel if it will
comply with key United
Nations resolutions. Hamas has agreed to accept any negotiated peace
settlement between
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, provided
it is approved in a referendum among the Palestinian people.
This holds promise of progress, but despite the brief fanfare and positive
statements at the
peace conference last November in Annapolis, Maryland, a retrogression has
occurred in the
process. Nine thousand new Israeli settlement housing units have been
announced in Palestine,
the number of roadblocks within the West bank has increased, and the
stranglehold on Gaza has
been tightened.
It is one thing for other leaders to defer to the US on the crucial peace
negotiations, but the
world must not stand idle while innocent people are treated cruelly. It is
time for strong
voices in Europe, the US, Israel, and elsewhere to speak out and condemn
this human rights
tragedy among the Palestinian people.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Jimmy Carter, a former President of the United States, is founder of The
Carter Center,
promoting peace, health, and human rights worldwide. This commentary is
published by DAILY NEWS
EGYPT in collaboration with Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).
SOURCE: http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=13512
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