Letter sent by Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Ambassador and Permanent
Observer of Palestine to the U.N., to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, the President of the Security Council, and the President of the
General Assembly: (Israeli Accusations)
I refer to the letter addressed to you by the Israeli
Representative to the United Nations, dated 6 March 2001
(A/55/823-S/2001/197), and its attachment, the exchanged letters of mutual
recognition signed by Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in September of 1993. I
refer as well to other previous letters by the representative of Israel, which
contained similar accusations leveled at the Palestinian Authority and the
Palestinian leadership.
The crux of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process is indeed
the mutual recognition between the two sides and the agreement to implement
Security Council resolution 242 (1967) upon conclusion of a transitional
period of five years. However, in spite of the achievements of the peace
process, the Israeli side has over the years adopted many policies undermining
the process and its crux as well as its successful conclusion. The new Israeli
government, even after the end of the transitional period and its extensions,
is calling for yet another interim agreement, thus attempting to escape
implementation of resolution 242 and abandon existing agreements
altogether.
With regard to the ongoing Israeli military campaign against
the Palestinian people, which began on 28 September 2000, Israeli accusations
are indeed preposterous. It is the Israeli occupying army and the Israeli
settlers who are killing and wounding Palestinian civilians and who are
effectively and severely punishing the entire Palestinian population under
occupation, using the most sophisticated military machinery. Until now, we
have nevertheless taken Israeli accusations as attempts to divert attention
from reality and to evade responsibility, albeit partially. However, we
believe that the increasing intensity of those accusations, including the
above-mentioned letter, might indicate Israeli preparation for even worse and
much more dangerous actions.
Several hostile Israeli statements allude to such a
possibility as well, including statements by the Chief of Staff of the Israeli
occupying army, Lt. General Shaul Mofaz, who bears special responsibility for
the illegal actions of the Israeli occupying forces, and some ministers in the
new Israeli government. For example, on 7 March 2001, the Israeli Public
Security Minister, Uzi Landau, stated that it was "not enough to build
defensive walls, we must take the battle into the adversary’s camp". Further,
Minister Ze’evi, in an article in the Ma’ariv newspaper on 4 March 2001,
affirmed that he and his movement call for the transfer of Palestinians as a
solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict. In defending his position, he claims
that other historic Israeli leaders supported transfer and some of them even
carried it out in 1948.
Your Excellency, we are sharing our serious concerns in this
regard with the international community so that it is forewarned and remains
vigilant in order to contribute to the prevention of potentially worse Israeli
positions and actions against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian
leadership.
In the meanwhile, the bloody Israeli military campaign
against our people continues. Today, Israeli settlers shot a Palestinian
shepherd, who is now in critical condition, claiming that he exhibited a
"threatening posture". I also wish to refer to previous letters to you on the
matter, dated from 29 September 2000 to 2 March 2001 (A/55/432-S/2000/921;
A/55/437-S/2000/930; A/55/450-S/2000/957; A/55/466-S/2000/971;
A/55/474-S/2000/984; A/55/490-S/2000/993; A/ES-10/39-S/2000/1015;
A/ES-10/40-S/2000/1025; A/ES-10/42-S/2000/1068; A/ES-10/43-S/2000/1078;
A/ES-10/44-S/2000/1093; A/ES-10/45-S/2000/1104; A/ES-10/46-S/2000/1107;
A/ES-10/47-S/2000/1116; A/ES-10/48-S/2000/1129; A/ES-10/49-S/2000/1154;
A/ES-10/50-S/2000/1173; A/ES-10/51-S/2000/1185; A/ES-10/52-S/2000/1206;
A/ES-10/53-S/2000/1247; A/ES-10/54-S/2001/7; A/ES-10/55-S/2001/33;
A/ES-10/56-S/2001/50; A/ES-10/57-S/2001/101; A/ES-10/58-S/2000/131;
A/ES-10/59-S/2001/156; A/ES-10/60-S/2000/175; and A/ES-10/61-S/2001/189).
Since my last letter to you on 2 March, five more Palestinians were killed by
the Israeli occupying forces, bringing the total number of Palestinian martyrs
to 371 persons. (The names of the five martyrs are contained in the annex to
the present letter.) Many more have also been injured, including twenty
wounded just today.
At the same time, in addition to the closure being imposed by
Israel, the occupying Power, on the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, since 7 March the Israeli occupying forces have isolated
Bir Zeit University and the surrounding area in the West Bank, which is home
to 70,000 individuals. Such closures, curfews and measures of isolation
continue to devastate the already difficult socioeconomic conditions of the
entire Palestinian territory.
We repeat our urgent call for the provision of protection for
the Palestinian civilians and the establishment of the U.N. observer force in
this regard.
Names of Martyrs killed by Israeli security forces
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem
(Saturday, 3 March 2001 through Monday, 5 March 2001)
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Saturday, 3 March 2001
- Aida Dawoud Feteha
- Baher Shafeek Odeh
- Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Allan
Sunday, 4 March 2001
- Ra’ed Shehdah Al-Halees
Monday, 5 March 2001
- Osama Ibrahim Naghnaghiah