An ongoing human rights crisis
Woman sitting in the remains of her house in al-'Ayn refugee camp in Nablus. |
The human rights situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories continues to deteriorate. Some 2,500 Palestinians, most of them unarmed and including some 450 children, have been killed by the Israeli army and more than 900 Israelis, most of them civilians and including more than 100 children, have been killed by Palestinian armed groups since the start of the current uprising, or Intifada, in September 2000. Tens of thousand of Palestinians and thousands of Israelis have been injured, many maimed for life. Palestinians do not feel safe neither in the street nor in their homes, as Israeli army aircrafts, helicopter gun-ships and tanks frequently shell Palestinian refugee camps and densely populated residential areas. Israelis also do not feel safe when they leave their homes, as Palestinian armed groups deliberately target Israeli civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks on buses, restaurants and other public places.
In addition, Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are subject to a wide range of human rights violations. Close to 20,000 Palestinians have been made homeless and thousands of others have lost their livelihood as the Israeli army has destroyed some 3,000 homes, vast areas of agricultural land and hundreds of other properties in the past three and a half years alone. Thousands of other houses have been damaged, many beyond repair. Israel's justification for the destruction is "military/security necessity". In Israel and in the East Jerusalem area security forces have also destroyed hundreds of homes of Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel on the grounds of lack of building permits.
Families are forcibly evicted from their homes, often at night, without prior warning. They are given only a few minutes to leave their home and are not allowed to salvage their possession. The unprecedented scale of destruction has resulted in widespread violations of the right to adequate housing and standard of living for tens of thousands of people and violates fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law. Whatever the justification for the destruction, the result is the same: thousands of families have been made homeless and left to rely on the charity of relatives, friends and humanitarian organizations.
The massive destruction of agricultural land in the Occupied Territories includes vast areas of land recently destroyed to make way for a fence/wall which Israel is building in the West Bank. Composed of a series of obstacles 60 to 80 meters wide in average, the fence/wall is planned to run for more than 600 kilometers. Although Israel claims that it is intended to block entry into Israel to Palestinian suicide bombers and other potential attackers, most of the fence/wall (close to 90%) does not run between Israel and the Occupied Territories but inside the West Bank, turning Palestinian towns and villages into isolated enclaves, cutting off communities and families from each other, separating farmers from their land and Palestinians from their places of work, education and health care facilities and other essential services. The route of the fence/wall has been designed so as to encompass a large number of Israeli settlements inside the Occupied Territories, in violation of international law.
The construction of the fence/wall inside the Occupied Territories violates international law and is causing grave human rights violations. Israel's legitimate need to secure its borders and prevent entry to people who may constitute a threat to its security do not justify the building of such a fence/wall inside the Occupied Territories, as security measures could be taken on Israeli territory, between Israel and the Occupied Territories
In addition to the fence/wall, military checkpoints, blockades and a barrage of other restrictions confine Palestinians to their homes or immediate surroundings. Such disproportionate and discriminatory restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have had a devastating impact on the lives of three and a half million Palestinians.
For Palestinians even short trips of a few kilometers, when at all possible, can take hours on lengthy detours to avoid areas surrounding Israeli settlements and roads used by Israeli settlers. Ordinary activities, such as going to work or to school, getting to hospital or visiting relatives expose women and men, young and old, to such risks.
As a result, the Palestinian economy has virtually collapsed. Unemployment has soared to close to 40%, two thirds of the Palestinian population is now living below the poverty line, and malnutrition and other health problems are spreading. Most Palestinians are now forced to rely, to some degree at least, on charity for food and other basic needs.
Israel's right to take reasonable, necessary and proportionate measures to protect the security of its citizens does not allow such disproportionate and discriminatory restrictions and collective punishment, which violate international law.
The worsening situation is frequently discussed by world leaders, the United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League and others. Yet the international community has failed the Palestinian and Israeli victims in the pursuit of a "peace and security" formula which, if achieved, cannot be durable unless based on respect for the fundamental human rights of all and unless all parties are held accountable for their abuses. As the situation continues to worsen the need for steps to be taken becomes more pressing. Amnesty International has repeatedly called for international monitors to be sent to Israel and the Occupied Territories. The call has been echoed by Palestinians and Israelis and at the international level, but the international community has failed to act in the face of Israel's refusal to allow monitors. While the deployment of human rights observers alone cannot solve the complex situation, their presence could contribute to saving Palestinian and Israeli lives..
Source: Amnesty International
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Why not look into you hearts and find solutions;
The issue in palestine and Israel is about humanity;
It is about mothers being killed
Children being killed
Innocent lives taken away
Dreams of humanity shattered into pieces
Children with no homes playing toys in the open air;
Everyone is hiding behind the veil of her/his heart;
When we can all reach out for one other
With peace and beauty from the heart
Flowers instead of bullets
Peace instead of violence
Then can the heart find some rest
To reflect on her/his short moments of short glory
Glory to be alive
Glory to breath
Glory to have shade under the beauty of God's creation;
Glory to reflect on our short chapter of living in this world;
Remember the next world is eternal
Much longer and forever
One wonders why make life difficult for one another in this world;
When we should be treasuring every moment of it
With peace and happiness in our hearts
Celebrating our humanity with dignity
Dignity from the heart with no ego attached to it
Peace to you all my brothers and sisters in humanity;
Israel (Zeonists) is The NEONAZI
They should remember what happened with their grandparents. So don't say that you're the victims of holocaust!!! Stop saying that junk, coz you did the same thing!!!!
the Muslims these days bitch on about israel but they dont actually do anything! God, whats wrong guys!!!!
ok forget trusting the Arab leaders to do anything (they cant even visit Palastine and look at the murder, opression, pain and suffering let alone help it)
right so forget having faith in the arab leaders...
if all of you Muslims did that "jihad" thing you belive in, then Israel would be long gone.
Muslims really need to gear up. i understand becasue Christians are the same, they completely ignore their relgion and dont follow anything but atleast we can unite and fight wars together (even if it is for our own intrest, as it usually is!)
U Muslims got a lot of work to do you know.
Let's analyse your inane comment:"It doesn't help, and it makes people just stop reading and caring." My answer to your more than imbecilic suggestion is, did any reading of this site impede a catastrophe like Abu Ghraib? No! Maybe because ..Ben and "goody-goodys" like you visit more often this site than people that are not Muslims and would care to dare to change things. ..Why, .. does US give a hoot on the Arab League's opinion? I care for the opinion of people like Akbar Khan, Ahmed Ashgher, Zinedine, and many others for whom I apologize to leave out. For the opinion of people like you or Ben, Samir Bolous, Mike D., Tim B., etc., .. You are taking up precious space from those people that honestly and sincerely want to establish an intelligent dialogue with the Muslims trying to understand the sensitivities of Islam and its message.
Bottom line Mebrocky, if anybody is insensitive to the current situation in Iraq and Palestine and comes up with .. means of diverging the attention, I'll pound on him or her! US is commiting a crime against humanity together with Israel, last we had this was in the time of Hitler! As it was played down then up to the point when it was too late and 6 million people were inhumanely disposed of, I DREAD THAT TO HAPPEN AGAIN! Comprende ..?! Turn around, .. and if you really want to help, address the problem, explane yourself before anybody else to people like Ben and Samir Bolous what is going on, .. Do not pick at me or at any of the Muslims on this site! OK?
I think that the answer to the issue is to change tactics. We've all seen the violence in the media. What has it gotten us? Just more violence. I think the time has come for passive resistance; protest injustice, yes, but do so in the manner of Martin Luther King Jr. I believe that this will get the job done a lot faster and with less heartache for everyone.
Salaam
Although the situation in any of these places, Sudan, Rusia, India, China, etc. is deplorable, they have simple solutions. An ultimatum from UN or USA. Why they don't do it? Shoot me, I can't tell, maybe because they are considered internal issues? Palestine and Iraq are not internal issues, they are an international scandal, dude!
Here you err, if the Israelis weren't Jewish, but Ottomans(Muslim Turks) or Christians or Hindus or even Arab Muslim invading from Yemen, you would still have the intifada
the 30-50 million Muslims in China, the Muslims in Sheeshan/Chechnya, Kashmir, Gujurat, Albania, Bosnia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Iraq, Thailand, Singapore, etc. etc. etc.....these are all places where Muslims are being slaughtered, humiliated, burned alive, tortured, and so on. Do you see a constant pattern here. These issues cannot be ignored...but at the same time, I find in your comment an undertone which sounds like to me that you're trying to say that Muslims should forget about Palestine and let it be taken over by Israeli's, and focus on other parts of the world. Sorry but, last Saturday, the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe of 1948) Anniversary took place, and the Likud Government ordered the demolition of thousands of homes and made thousands of refugees....is this how Israel wishes to spread democracy? Kind of like American soldiers in Iraq spreading freedom and democracy in Abu Ghraib prison and other places raping women, torturing men and little 12 year old girls...if someone commits a crime against humanity, tey should be condemned. Israel is not exempt and their intentions are well known and understood by many Muslims and non-Muslims alike. There are many like Sharon and Sharon himself have explaiend their beliefs of "greater Israel" from Egypt across to Jordan and so on passed the Euphrates.
Israel is not and should be be immune to the international laws, and the anti-proliferation treaty. This is a clear double standard. Israel is the threat to stability in hte region.
Americans tend only to look at pictures and perhaps read a few captions. Keeping that in mind, settlements are not pinpoints on a map; they are instead huge tracts of land. What Israel is building, throughout the West Bank of Palestine, is considerably more than a fence; it is more like a maze of "Berlin Walls" but with a twist - it is being built entirely on foreign territory (buffer zones and all). Don't bother telling the story to the Americans; telling Americans what they don't want to hear is simply a waste of time - but do perhaps consider making an effort to show them.
Here is another thought. Forcing your sympathizers (whether your sympathizers be American, Israeli or otherwise) into the embrace of your adversaries seems highly unlikely to help your cause. If the Vietnamese people had started terrorizing the American people, within America itself, Hanoi would have shortly thereafter begun to resemble the surface of the moon. Instead, the Vietnamese people restrained themselves (in that regard) and Vietnam - reunified - gained its independence.
Salaam.
In my understanding and according to the little knowledge that I have of my beautiful religion "Islam", you are absoloutly right. It is our weakness as Muslims that we are not standing up to defend the oppressed and persecuted all over the world. Indeed it is an obligation upon us to help the oppressed, whether they are Muslims or not and this is called "Jihad", which the enemy is trying to root out of our minds, lives and perhaps even our books. But insha Allah(God Willing) they cannot succeed, eventually Muslims will rise up to the task and the only way to do that is to obey God and His messenger as God has commanded. SO TO ALL THE MUSLIMS, WE MUST WAKE UP AND HOLD ON TO THE ROPE OF ALLAH TOGHETHER SO THAT ALLAH(SWT) MAY FORGIVE OUR SINS AND HAVE MERRCY ON US ALL. WE MUST ESTABLISH "SALAH" AND FOLLOW THE MESSENGER MUHAMMAD(PBUH) IN ALL OF OUR MATTERS.
I MAKE DUA FOR MYSELF AND ALL OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT WE WORK TIRLESSLY TO SPREAD THE DEEN OF ALLAH AND TO DEFEND IT WITH ALL OF OUR RESOURCES AND THAT THE LOVE OF ALLAH SHALL OVERCOME THE LOVE OF THIS WORLD. AMEEN, YA ALLAH! PLEASE ACCEPT MY PRAYER.
Did you already for get to what HITLER has done to you? The way you are doing to the Palestinians is not much difference.
Cruel, Barbaric and Inhuman.
If you want to keep their lands, at least give them weapons.
..
Yet none of them has the guts to face up to these morons and tell them to just get out of Palestinain lands. They just pussyfoot with words and more resolutions which Israel doesn't care about. Yet, its bulldog, The US, is happy to invade Iraq for breaking UN resolutions but not only vetos any resolution against Israel but also ignores the exisiting ones. Double standards.
So, knowing this indisputeable fact - Tom Delay just a couple of days ago said that the the US will stand by Israel no matter what. So, given this blind infatuation with this evil regime, what are we to do?
Some, join Al-Qaeda an others who act unilaterally are all called 'terrorists'. That includes anyone who rightfully tries to defend his patch from the thieving Israelis and Americans. They even closed down Moqtada Sadr's newspaper - which has led to this current state of standoff in Najaf/Karbala. Powell even has asked Qatari government to reign in Al-Jazeera because it shows their atroshities! So, they have proven to be dogmatic and unreasonable. They boast that their press is free but want to dictate their will on our press!
We can't expect multi-Islamic forces uniting and closing in on Israel with final ultimatums because they have chemical weapons and nukes. Besides our governments have not the guts to do such a heroic act.
Perhaps the common civilians can plan a peaceful march towards the borders of Israel and camp outside the total Israeli land borders to show the world their disgust at the Zionist killings. Once millions converge in Syria/Lebanon/Jordan/Eygpt, then perhaps the world will see our resolve - that is if our governments can facilitate such and open their borders with full support, including tents, food, and all facilities incl. medical. Any gutsy person for
When Isrealis terrorise and kills thousands of Palestinians, US will ask both sides to exercise maximum restraint. Look at the US hypocracy.
O Muslims. Be patient. Almigthy Allah is watching everything and Insha Allah he will take care of everything.
Allah(SWT) never destroyed any nations until they reach the height of attrocities. US and Isreal has gone beyond all those limits. Insha Allah, Allah will punish them severely and surely.
THIS IS THE BEGINING OF THE END, INSHA ALLAH.
Peace to all!