ETIKETTERING PRODUCTEN UIT DE ISRAELISCHE NEDERZETTINGEN/BRIEF AAN
LEDEN TWEEDE KAMERCOMMISSIE BUITENLANDSE ZAKEN
“The world will not be destroyed by people who do evil but by those who
watch it without doing anything”.
UITSPRAAK EINSTEIN
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/935864-the-world-will-not-be-destroyed-by-those-who-do
AAN DE LEDEN VAN DE TWEEDE KAMERCOMMISSIE
BUITENLANDSE ZAKEN
Onderwwerp: Tweede Kameroverleg over etikettering van producten
uit de illegale Israelische nederzettingen in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden
Te nemen maatregel tegen Israel
Geachte dames en heren,
Aanstaande donderdag 26 mei overlegt u [De Tweede Kamer] over
maatregelen van de EU inzake etikettering van producten
uit de illegale Israelische nederzettingen in de bezette
Palestijnse gebieden, waarbij de vraag centraal staat, of
die producten van een speciale sticker moeten worden
voorzien. [1]
Hierbij een dringende oproep aan u, niet zozeer te beslissen, dat deze
producten door een sticker moeten worden voorzien
[hoewel dat een goede zaak zou zijn], maar een stap verder te gaan.
Dat kan door het weren van alle uit de nederzettingen afkomstige
producten.
Maar beter en doeltreffender zou zijn:
Opschorting, dan wel opzegging
van het Associatieverdrag, of het nemen
van economische sanctiemaatregelen tegen Israel.
Daar is meer dan genoeg reden voor, namelijk:
De 47 jarige onderdrukking en bezetting van de Palestijnse gebieden
en de voortdurende schendingen van het Internationaal Recht. [2]
Zie hieronder een onluisterend [en zeker niet compleet] overzicht
van Israel’s misdaden/ Schendingen van het Internationaal Recht:
Voor diegenen, die weinig tijd om te lezen hebben of al uitputtend
op de hoogte zijn:
Ga voor het resume direct door naar ”TENSLOTTE”
ISRAELISCHE SCHENDINGEN VAN HET INTERNATIONAAL RECHT
ILLEGALE NEDERZETTINGEN
We beginnen met de reden van uw Tweede Kameroverleg:
De illegale Israelische nederzettingen in bezet Palestijns gebied:
Deze nederzettingen, worden sinds eind zestiger jaren gebouwd
[en nog geregeld worden uitgebreid] op bezet Palestijns gebied.
Niet alleen is dit landdiefstal [Palestijns land wordt onteigend
zonder enige compensatie], ze zijn volgens het Internationaal
Recht [artikel 49, 4e Conventie van Geneve en het Haags Verdrag van
1907] illegaal. [3]
Hiervan bent u op de hoogte.
Ook is de illegaliteit van de nederzettingen bevestigd
door het Internationaal Gerechtshof, dat op 9 juli 2004 de door
bezet Palestijns gebied lopende Israelische Muur illegaal
verklaarde:
”“The Court concludes that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law.” [4]
De EU beschouwt, zoals u weet, de nederzettingen als illegaal:
Op 14 mei 2012 verklaarden de ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken van
van de 27 EU lidstaten, waaronder Nederland:
”“Settlements remain illegal under international law, irrespective of recent decisions by the government of Israel. The EU reiterates that it will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties.” [5]
ISRAELISCHE SCHENDINGEN VAN HET INTERNATIONAAL RECHT
BEZETTING/MILITAIRE INVALLEN IN GAZA/
BLOKKADE GAZA
Die illegale nederzettingen zouden er niet geweest zijn zonder
de nu bijna [vanaf juni 1967] 49 jarige bezetting van de Palestijnse gebieden,
ondanks VN Veiligheidsraadsresolutie 242 [1967], die Israel
destijds opriep, zich terug te trekken uit de in de juni oorlog
veroverde gebieden, waaronder de Palestijnse [6]
Nooit gehoor aan gegeven.
Integendeel, dagelijks plukken de Palestijnen de bittere
vruchten van die bezetting, die onderdrukking, vernederingen
en [oorlogs]misdaden inhoudt.
Voorbeelden zijn er te over:
De regelmatig terugkerende militaire invallen op Gaza, met
als misdadig resultaat 1492 burgerdoden, waaronder 551 kinderen
[25 procent], 11. 000 gewonden, 1000 kinderen blijvend gehandicapt. [7]
Duizenden Palestijnen dakloos geraakt, duizenden huizen verwoest,
scholen verwoest, ziekenhuizen beschadigd. [8]
De ellende is niet te tellen.
Zodanig zelfs, dat volgens een VN rapport, Gaza onbewoonbaar
dreigt te worden. [9]
De sinds 2007 heersende Gaza Blokkade is wurgend:
Door de blokkade en andere beperkingen is 35% van het agrarisch land in Gaza en 85% van de viswateren niet meer vrij toegankelijk. De import is beperkt en er is vrijwel geen export mogelijk. [10]
Ook is de watersituatie kritiek:
90% van de ondergrondse watervoorraad van Gaza is niet geschikt voor consumptie. Daarnaast stroomt dagelijks zo’n 90 miljoen liter rioolwater niet of nauwelijks gezuiverd in de zee. De hoofdoorzaak: door de blokkade kunnen de Gazanen geen adequate waterzuivering opzetten. [11]
Dit komt neer op een oorlog tegen de burgerbevolking.
Volgens de VN is de blokkade in strijd met het internationaal recht en komt zij neer op collectieve bestraffing, wat volgens artikel
33, 4e Conventie van Geneve, verboden is. [12]
De VN zegt:
“The blockade, imposed by Israel following the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007, intensified the closure applied since the early 1990s. It is a denial of basic human rights in contravention of international law and amounts to collective punishment.”
[13]
De Europese Unie eist dat Israël de blokkade “onmiddellijk, permanent en onvoorwaardelijk” opheft:
“The EU continues to call for the immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from the Gaza Strip.” (14)
ISRAELISCHE SCHENDINGEN VAN HET INTERNATIONAAL RECHT
DE ISRAELISCHE MUUR
Tien jaar geleden stelde het Internationaal Gerechtshof vast dat de muur die Israël op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever bouwt illegaal is. [15] Israël moest de muur afbreken en gedupeerde Palestijnen schadeloos stellen, bepaalde het Hof.
Maar dat heeft Israël niet gedaan. Gevolg: tienduizenden Palestijnen zijn door de muur geïsoleerd geraakt van familie, land, werk, scholen en ziekenhuizen. [16] Israël heeft de muur namelijk niet gebouwd langs de internationaal erkende grens (Groene Lijn), maar op de Palestijnse Westelijke Jordaanoever. Maar liefst 85% van de muur loopt door bezet Palestijns gebied.
Een de facto annexatie dreigt na de voltooiing van de Muur,
omdat dan 9,4 procent van de Westelijke Jordaanoever
bij Israel is ingelijfd, een gebied, waar 85 procent
van de kolonisten wonen. [17]
Bovendien isoleert de Muur Oost-Jeruzalem van de
Westelijke Jordaanoever. [18]
TENSLOTTE:
Uit bovenstaande genoemde Israelische schendingen van
het Internationaal Recht, waarvan u grotendeels op de hoogte dient
te zijn, moge duidelijk zijn, dat Israel systematisch en bij
voortduring niet alleen het Internationaal Recht geschonden
heeft, maar daarmee vrolijk en schaamteloos doorgaat.
Recentelijk nog hebben de Israelische autoriteiten door
een hulporganisatie aan een groep mensen verstrekte onderkomens
weggebulldozerd, teneinde een illegale nederzetting uit te breiden!
Dit vond plaats ten noordoosten van Jeruzalem. [19]
En dit alles in het kader van de verdrijving [zeg maar gerust
”etnische zuivering”]van duizenden mensen in de bezette Westbank! [20]
Mag ik u eraan herinneren, dat ”etnische zuiveringen”
volgens het Statuut van Rome, misdaden tegen de menselijkheid
zijn. [21]
Niet minder misdadig is de Israelische vernietigingsorder van door
de EU geschonken watertanks, bestemd voor irrigatiedoeleinden. [22]
Terwijl de waterproblematiek onder de Palestijnen een nijpend
probleem is. [23]
Regelmatig worden EU projecten door Israel vernield! [24]
Dat is toch iets, dat u, parlementariers van een EU land, niet
over uw kant moet laten gaan!
En daarom wordt het hoog tijd om eindelijk doeltreffend tegen
Israel op te treden:
Door opschorting/opzegging van het Associatieverdrag, dat immers
een mensenrechtenclausule heeft [25] of door het besluit tot
economische sancties.
Net zolang totdat Israel het Internationaal Recht respecteert en
de bezetting van de Palestijnse gebieden beeindigt, de illegale
nederzettingen ontmantelt, de illegale Muur afbreekt, de misdadige
Blokkade van Gaza beeindigt en het recht op terugkeer erkent. [26]
Wanneer u niet in actie komt tegen bezettingsstaat Israel,
besef dan, dat u politiek en moreel medeverantwoordelijk
bent voor het de Palestijnen aangedaan onrecht.
Denk aan de uitspraak van Einstein, waarmee ik deze brief begonnen
ben:
“The world will not be destroyed by people who do evil but by those who
watch it without doing anything”.
Vriendelijke groeten
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
NOTEN
[1]
TWEEDE KAMER DER STATEN GENERAAL
ALGEMEEN OVERLEG
MIDDEN-OOSTEN VREDESPOLITIEK
26 MEI 2016
https://www.tweedekamer.nl/vergaderingen/commissievergaderingen/details?id=2016A00311
[2]
ISRAEL WERELDKAMPIOEN SCHENDINGEN VN RESOLUTIES
LODE VANOOST
30 JULI 2014
http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2014/07/30/israel-wereldkampioen-schendingen-vn-resoluties
[3]
DE ILLEGALITEIT VAN DE NEDERZETTINGEN
”The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49).
The Hague Regulations prohibit an occupying power from undertaking permanent changes in the occupied area unless these are due to military needs in the narrow sense of the term, or unless they are undertaken for the benefit of the local population.”
LAND EXPROPRIATION AND SETTLEMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL
LAW
http://www.btselem.org/settlements/international_law
”Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.”
ARTICLE 49, FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION
HET HAAGS VERDRAG VAN 1907
HAGUE CONVENTION 1907
http://www.opbw.org/int_inst/sec_docs/1907HC-TEXT.pdf
THE RIGHTS FORUM
NEDERZETTINGEN
http://www.rightsforum.org/achtergronden/nederzettingen
NEDERZETTINGENMONITOR
http://www.rightsforum.org/achtergronden/nederzettingenmonitor
[4]
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF
A WALL IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
9 JULY 2004
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf
[5]
EU COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS ON THE MIDDLE EAST
PEACE PROCESS
14 MAY 2012
http://eu-un.europa.eu/articles/en/article_12170_en.htm
[6]
”1. Affirms that the fulfilment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;”
UNITED NATIONS
SECURITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION 242
https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/7D35E1F729DF491C85256EE700686136
TEKST
Resolution 242 (1967)
of 22 November 1967
The Security Council,
Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East,
Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,
Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,
- Affirmsthat the fulfilment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;
- Affirms furtherthe necessity
(a) For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area;
(b) For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;
(c) For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;
- Requeststhe Secretary-General to designate a Special Representative to proceed to the Middle East to establish and maintain contacts with the States concerned in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution;
- Requeststhe Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.
Adopted unanimously at the 1382nd meeting.
[7]
MILITAIRE INVAL GAZA ”PROTECTIVE EDGE” 2014
1492 BURGERDODEN
FRAGMENTED LIVES
HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW 2014
MARCH 2015
11.100 GEWONDEN
OCHA
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY/GAZA EMERGENCY
4 SEPTEMBER 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_09_2014.pdf
1000 KINDEREN BLIJVEND GEHANDICAPT
OCHA
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY/GAZA EMERGENCY
4 SEPTEMBER 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_09_2014.pdf
[8]
DUIZENDEN PALESTIJNEN DAKLOOS GERAAKT
OCHA
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY/GAZA EMERGENCY
4 SEPTEMBER 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_09_2014.pdf
DUIZENDEN HUIZEN VERWOEST
GAZA STRIP: HUMANITARIAN DASHBOARD NOVEMBER 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/humanitarian_dashboard_november_2014_02_dec_2014.pdf
SCHOLEN VERWOEST
GAZA STRIP: HUMANITARIAN DASHBOARD NOVEMBER 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/humanitarian_dashboard_november_2014_02_dec_2014.pdf
ZIEKENHUIZEN BESCHADIGD DOOR BOMBARDEMENTEN
GAZA STRIP: HUMANITARIAN DASHBOARD NOVEMBER 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/humanitarian_dashboard_november_2014_02_dec_2014.pdf
[9]
THE RIGHTS FORUM
VN LUIDT DE NOODKLOK: GAZA DREIGT ONBEWOONBAAR
TE WORDEN
17 SEPTEMBER 2015
http://www.rightsforum.org/ nieuws/vn-luidt-noodklok-gaza- dreigt-onbewoonbaar-te-worden
VN RAPPORT:
REPORT ON UNCTAD ASSISTANCE TO PALESTINIAN PEOPLE:
DEVELOPMENTS OF THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
6 JULY 2015
http://unctad.org/en/ PublicationsLibrary/tdb62d3_ en.pdf
[10]
”Blokkade
Sinds 2007 onderwerpt Israël de Gazastrook aan een blokkade. De gevolgen zijn ernstig. Door de blokkade en andere beperkingen is 35% van het agrarisch land in Gaza en 85% van de viswateren niet meer vrij toegankelijk. De import is beperkt en er is vrijwel geen export mogelijk.”
RIGHTS FORUM
ACHTERGRONDEN: GAZA
http://www.rightsforum.org/achtergronden/gaza
[11]
RIGHTSFORUM/WATERPROBLEMATIEK PALESTIJNEN
http://rightsforum.org/achtergronden/water
[12]
”
- No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
- Pillage is prohibited.
- Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”
ARTIKEL 33, 4E CONVENTIE VAN GENEVE
[13]
UNITED NATIONS
OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS
OCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
FIVE YEARS OF BLOCKADE:
THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN THE GAZA STRIP
JUNE 2012
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_june_2012_english.pdf
[14]
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
COUNCIL CONCLUSION ON THE MIDDLE
EAST PEACE PROCESS
14 MAY 2012
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/130195.pdf
[15]
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WALL
IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/ index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3& p2=4&p3=6&ca
[16]
´´Construction of the Barrier has imposed new restrictions on movement for Palestinians living near its route, in addition to the sweeping restrictions in force since the outbreak of the second intifada. Thousands of Palestinians have difficulty reaching their fields and marketing their produce to other areas of the West Bank. The areas west of the Separation Barrier are among the most fertile in the West Bank. According to the World Bank, the agriculture there generates 8 percent of overall Palestinian agricultural production. The damage to the agricultural sector means that Palestinian farmers cannot get supplementary income and makes it impossible to increase the number of workers in what is the primary sector of Palestinian economy.
The restrictions on freedom of movement also limit the access of Palestinian villagers to hospitals in nearby towns; the educational system suffers because many schools, primarily village schools, depend on teachers who live outside the community and must commute to the school; also family ties and social connections are adversely affected.
THE SEPARATION BARRIER
http://www.btselem.org/ separation_barrier/map
[17]
RIGHTS FORUM
ACHTERGRONDEN/DE MUUR
http://www.rightsforum.org/achtergronden/de-muur
[18]
RIGHTS FORUM
ACHTERGRONDEN/DE MUUR
http://www.rightsforum.org/achtergronden/de-muur
[19]
CIVIL ADMINISTRATION DISMANTLES AND CONFISCATES TRAILERS
WHICH WERE HOME TO 49 PEOPLE, NORTHEAST OF JERUSALEM
18 MAY 2016
http://www.btselem.org/facing_expulsion_blog
On Monday, 16 May 2016, a large force of Civil Administration and Border Police personnel arrived in the Badu al-Baba community, near al-‘Eizariyah, northeast of Jerusalem. The forces dismantled and confiscated ten trailers, which were home to 49 people, including 23 minors. The trailers were recently donated by a humanitarian aid agency to families who had until then lived in tin and wood shacks. The community has about 350 members, roughly half of them minors, and lives in the area designated by Israel as Area E1, where it plans to expand the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim to create a contiguous urban link to Jerusalem. The Civil Administration put this territory under the jurisdiction of the Ma’ale Adumim municipality. The Civil Administration previously demolished structures in the community on 21 January 2016.
[20]
THOUSANDS OF AREA C RESIDENTS FACE EXPULSION
About our live blog
Thousands of people – residents of dozens of Palestinian communities located throughout Area C, the West Bank – face imminent expulsion by Israeli authorities on a variety of pretexts. The live blog will pool the regular updates we get from B’Tselem field researchers regarding the communities and any attempts by authorities to expel them. Click on the number of a community cluster and then on the tent icon marked on the map for further information about communities facing the risk of expulsion.
The information in the blog reflects the latest state affairs known to us and is updated as we receive new data from the field. For more on the communities facing expulsion, click here.
http://www.btselem.org/facing_expulsion_blog
[21]
”Article 7
Crimes against humanity
- For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;”
……..
……..
ROME STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
https://www.icc-cpi.int/resource-library/Documents/RS-Eng.pdf
[22]
ISRAEL DELIVERS DEMOLITION NOTICES FOR EU-FUNDED
WATERTANKS IN HEBRON
18 MARCH 2016
https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771561
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities delivered four demolition notices on Wednesday ordering several Palestinians to remove water tanks being used for irrigation in the northern and eastern areas of the town of Beit Ummar in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, locals said.
The water tanks are used to irrigate lands in the areas of Beir Zaata, al-Furdeis and Thaghret al-Shabak, with an overall area of more than 30 dunams (7.4 acres) dependent on the tanks for irrigation, according to Muhammad Awad, a spokesperson for a local popular committee.
The tanks were set up earlier in 2016 under a UN-funded water development program, Awad said.
After Israeli authorities deliver a demolition order, the owners of the properties have seven days to remove the structures. If not, Israeli forces demolish the structures at the financial expense of the owners of the property.
Awad told Ma’an that the tanks belonged to Wahdi Hamdi Zamel Abu Maria, Jamil Muhammad Amer Abu Maria, Ghassan Muhammad Abed al-Aziz Brighith, and Khalid Youssef Abed al-Majd Brighith.
It remains unclear what legal pretext Israeli authorities used to issue the demolition orders.
Israel has come under international condemnation over repeated demolitions of EU-funded structures, with some accusing the Israeli government of demolishing Palestinian structures in retaliation for the EU’s decision in November to enforce labeling laws that would indicate if a product was produced in one of Israel’s 196 illegal settlements.
Since the start of 2016, Israeli forces have demolished 586 Palestinian-owned structures, leaving 800 Palestinians homeless in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to OCHA.
According to the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions, Israeli forces have demolished over 48,000 Palestinian homes and structures since the start of the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.
[23]
RIGHTSFORUM/WATERPROBLEMATIEK PALESTIJNEN
http://rightsforum.org/achtergronden/water
[24]
ISRAEL DISMANTLES EU FUNDED HOMES IN
JERUSALEM-AREA BEDOUIN NEIGBOURHOOD
16 MAY 2016
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771530
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Some 90 Palestinian Bedouins, the majority of them children, were left homeless on Monday when Israeli forces disassembled EU-donated mobile homes without giving prior notice in the Jabal al-Baba neighborhood in the outskirts of the village of al-Eizariya east of Jerusalem.Atallah Mazaraa, a representative of Jabal al-Baba, told Ma’an that Israeli forces began dismantling eight mobile homes after Israeli forces and Israeli Civil Administration officers stormed the area at 5 a.m., evacuating the families living inside them.
The majority of family members living in the caravans were children, Mazaraa said.
The mobile homes belonged to Abdullah Mazaraa, Khadijah Mazaraa, Muhammad Hasan Mazaraa, Hasan Muhammad Mazaraa, Ahmad Muhammad Jahalin, Mahmoud Muhammad Jahalin, Hussein Mazaraa, and Adnan Khamis Mazaraa.Mazaraa added that in addition to the eight already dismantled structures, Israeli forces continued to disassemble other caravans. Each structure measured 80 square meters.
Dawood Jahalin, who chairs a local committee representing the Abu Nuwwar community in Jabal al-Baba, also confirmed to Ma’an that mobile homes belonging to his community were being disassembled.Israeli forces first raided the area on Sunday and took photos of the structures, according to Mazaraa.
He highlighted that the school children in the community were preparing for final exams and “were in very bad state of mind,” as they knew they would have to study for the coming exams while homeless.A statement later released by Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said: “enforcement steps were carried out against seven mobile homes and parts of structures that were illegally built in the last few days without permits.”The statement added that the Israeli Civil Administration, which is part of COGAT, “provided proper housing options with the appropriate infrastructure for legal structures for the Bedouin population living illegally in Ras Azaria,” using another name for al-Eizariya.“When the Israeli authorities disassemble and confiscate our houses without prior notice on the Nakba’s anniversary,” Mazarra said, their message to the Bedouin communities is: “We will chase you wherever you go and you will not have a moment of security or rest.”
“Our message to the Israeli occupation is that we will remain firm in our lands and counter all your plans to confiscate Jabal al-Baba to turn it into an Israeli settlement.”Mazaraa added that the Bedouin communities have been settled in Jabal al-Baba since they were forcibly displaced from their villages in Beer al-Sabi (Beersheba in Hebrew) during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
COGAT released its statement on Monday’s incident accompanied by a promotional video for a new project for a “legal alternative” for “Bedouins residing in illegal buildings.”
Under the proposed project, the community would be moved to “a nearby location,” at a maximum distance of one kilometer away from their original lands. Some 200 families were “successfully” relocated to a similar project in 1990s, the video added.
Jad Isaac of the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) told Ma’an that Israel’s proposed relocation plan was an attempt to “de-Palestinize” the greater Jerusalem area in order to make room for the illegal Israeli Maale Adumim settlement bloc, and continue the process of ethnic displacement in the E1 settlement corridor.
“(Israel) tried to do this in the Negev and it failed. We don’t want the better infrastructure (one kilometer away) — why couldn’t they provide the proper infrastructure there, where people have been living for decades?” Isaac said.
In January, three EU-donated housing structures in Jabal al-Baba were destroyed, displacing 17 Palestinians, half of them children.
Mazaraa said at the time that the whole area, which counts some 300 people, were being threatened with demolition.
Following the incident, the EU reportedly announced it would seek compensation for the demolished structures.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah condemned Israel for demolishing the homes as “an apparent retaliation” for a November ruling by the EU that said products made in Israel’s illegal settlements could no longer be labeled “Made in Israel,” and would instead have to indicate their origin in occupied territory.Jabal al-Baba is one of several Bedouin villages facing repeated demolitions due to plans by Israeli authorities to build thousands of homes for Jewish-only settlements in the E1 corridor.Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to suspend work on the housing units in 2013, settlement watchdog Peace Now reported in January that the Ministry of Housing has “quietly” continued planning 8,372 homes in the corridor.Settlement construction in E1 would effectively divide the West Bank and make the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state — as envisaged by the internationally backed two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — almost impossible.
[25]
”Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.”
Artikel 2, EU-Israel Associatieverdrag
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2010/april/tradoc_146089.pdf
[26]
VN RESOLUTIE 194 OVER HET RECHT OP TERUGKEER PALESTIJNSE VLUCHTELINGEN
The General Assembly,
Having considered further the situation in Palestine,
1. Expresses its deep appreciation of the progress achieved through the good offices of the late United Nations Mediator in promoting a peaceful adjustment of the future situation of Palestine, for which cause he sacrificed his life; and
Extends its thanks to the Acting Mediator and his staff for their continued efforts and devotion to duty in Palestine;
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………
11. Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible;
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations;
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION
194 (III)
11 DECEMBER 1948
https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/C758572B78D1CD0085256BCF0077E51A