Mohammad Zeidan
Middle East Monitor : https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east
As the crisis in Gaza escalates to truly
critical levels, with a death toll breaching 1,900 Palestinians and rising and
an 80% civilian mortality rate, we are overdue a serious reflection on the
nature of the positions being taken by international bodies. It is with grave
concern that we must note the lack of human rights and international
humanitarian law principles that are guiding the most recent statements from
bodies including the UN, the EU Foreign Affairs Committee and those of foreign
ministries around the world.
In the past three weeks, the world has
watched Israel launch deadly attack after deadly attack against densely
populated civilian areas and infrastructures. In the course of its bloody
offensive, Israel has deemed legitimate targets to be hospitals, medical
centers, ambulances, press and media reporters and UN facilities, including six
UNRWA schools used to shelter families who had been forced to abandon their
homes as their neighborhoods fell under Israeli fire. Such attacks which fail
to differentiate between civilian and military areas breach the principles of
distinction and proportionality and equate to war crimes, creating unacceptable
mortality and injury rates as were condemned "in
the strongest terms" the reported ceasefire violation by Hamas and
demanded that an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza be released immediately and
unconditionally!!! who claimed the occupation that a soldier captured by the
Palestinian resistance and relied on false story to justify the killing of more
than 270 children, women, men, youth and elderly, in addition to the hundreds
of wounded and the destruction of more homes and the displacement of thousands
from their homes during the period of the truce as an
uninhabitable living situation within the Gaza Strip which has left residents
without access to the most basic provisions including clean water, electricity
and shelter.
Despite mounting casualties and
mortality rates, there has thus far been a failure on behalf of the
international community to implement any practical steps to curtail Israel’s
aggressions, such as diplomatic, economic or military pressure. After Amnesty
International launched an urgent appeal calling on the international community
to stop arms sales to Israel, the United States days later agreed to provide
Israel with additional ammunition.
This latest military operation is the
third that Gaza has suffered through in the past five years and has fast become
the bloodiest. Lack of meaningful action and empty statements, which do not
draw on the basic principles of human rights and international law, have done
nothing but provide Israel with confidence and diplomatic cover to continue
their hostilities. Continued emphasis on Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’ and
statements which focus on "both" sides ceasing hostilities obscure
the asymmetry of the conflict. They undermine the imbalance of power between
one of the most sophisticated and highly funded militaries in the world and
that of a nation who have lain under a seven year blockade which has crippled
all military and civilian infrastructures.
Reports which fail to clearly differentiate between the numbers of
civilian and military fatalities on "both sides" evade the question
that the world needs to be asking itself now: ‘who is the terrorist state?’. This
is clearly illustrated by the recent UN General Secretary’s statement in which
he condemned "in the strongest terms" the reported ceasefire
violation by Hamas and demanded that an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza be
released immediately and unconditionally!!!. While in reality, Israel had
perpetuated the falsehood that this soldier had been ‘kidnapped’ by the
Palestinian resistance in order to legitimize the killing of more than 270 Palestinians,
including women, children and the elderly. This is in addition to leaving hundreds
wounded, destroying more homes and displacing thousands during the period of the
‘ceasefire’.
The international community is
continuing in its failure to address the origins of the problem which are
rooted in over 60 years of Palestinian suffering dating back to the 1948 Nakba,
the destruction of over 500 villages, the creation of millions of refugees the
world over, 46 years of occupation, a seven year siege on Gaza, confiscation of
land, building of settlements, and over 20 years of futile negotiations which
have resulted in nothing more than an increase of ‘facts on the ground’.
Rather, the message being sent by the
recent statements of the UN and EU are that human rights do not apply to
Palestinians and international law doesn't apply to Israel. This was illustrated recently by the EU’s
public dissuasion of Palestinians from seeking justice through the
International Criminal Court. The international community has shown shameful
hypocrisy in its failure to act on behalf of the Palestinians and to afford
them protection under international law. Of the 47 members of the UN Human
Rights Council, only 29 nations voted to set up a commission to launch an
international, independent inquiry into human rights violations in Gaza. Within
Europe not a single EU state voted in favor of a Human Rights Council-mandated
Commission of Inquiry to be sent to investigate violations of international law.
It cannot be emphasised enough that this was merely an inquiry into wrong doing
and did not constitute punitive measures of any form. Furthermore, since 1948
tens of UN resolutions relating to the rights of the Palestinians have gone
unimplemented. The findings of the Goldstone report which was produced after
Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9 have not been acted upon and has not prevented
subsequent hostilities of even greater proportions. Within Europe, governments
are seeking to amend domestic laws to prevent Palestinians from utilizing
international jurisdiction and seeking justice through foreign courts.
The message sent by this failure to
adequately and indiscriminately implement international law and human rights
protection mechanisms is twofold. Firstly, it sends a message to Palestinians that
using peaceful and legal mechanisms to secure national and human rights is
ineffective. Secondly, it tells us that the United Nations is not serious about
its remit, thus undermining the entire system of international cooperation and
rights protection. Sadly, these failures set another dangerous precedent which
will shape the actions of future victims and perpetrators around the world.
Human rights cannot under any
circumstances be sacrificed for a 'peace process' especially for a process that
has only lead to the strengthening of the Israeli occupation and the
establishment of more settlements on the lands grabbed from the Palestinians.
History has shown us that there is no peace without justice and no justice
without respect for human rights and accountability. To achieve sustainable
peace, the international community must choose between upholding international
law and universal values or continuing to maintain the law of the jungle,
whereby size and strength champions over the weak to the detriment of justice
and equality. Failure to judge Israel’s war crimes and actions against human
rights and international humanitarian law standards and to take robust measures
to prevent further abuses, will only result in the continuation of war and
further civilian bloodshed, whilst also preventing the victims from using
peaceful and legal remedies to demand their basic rights. This constitutes fertile
ground for extremism to breed. As recent history has shown us, extremism
crosses borders and breaches continents and when this happens humanity may pay
the price that Palestinians are now paying.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east
