The legal flaws of the Palmer Commission flotilla report
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- Written by Richard Falk and Phyllis Bennis Richard Falk and Phyllis Bennis
- Published: 13 September 2011 13 September 2011
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The latest United Nations report on last year’s lethal flotilla incident – in which nine people were killed and many injured by Israeli commandos on board a humanitarian ship bound for Gaza – was released at the beginning of September, and generated much controversy. On the one hand, the report makes clear that Israel’s use of force on board the Mavi Marmara and in the treatment of those detained on the ship was excessive and unreasonable. It acknowledges that forensic evidence indicates at least seven were shot in the head or chest, five of them at close range, and recognizes that Israel still refused to provide any accounting of how the nine people were killed. It calls on Tel Aviv to compensate the families of those killed, eight Turks and one American, and also those who were seriously injured during and after the incident, passengers roughed up while in Israeli custody and whose cameras, cell phones and other belongings were confiscated .
The unusually small inquiry panel itself lacked credibility. It was chaired by former New Zealand prime minister and international environment law expert Geoffrey Palmer. Astonishingly, the only other independent member was its vice-chair, the former president of Colombia. Alvaro Uribe’s notorious history as a human rights abuser who called human rights advocates such as Amnesty International “rats,” as well as his legacy of seeking out the closest possible ties to and defense of Israel while in office, make him wildly inappropriate for such an assignment. The panel was rounded out with two members appointed by Israel and Turkey, each of whom appended a partisan dissent to the report.
It is therefore particularly significant that the report, despite several notable shortcomings, still confirmed several longstanding criticisms of Israel’s policies, especially the habitual reliance on excessive and unreasonable force when dealing with Palestinian issues.
Overall, however, the report of the Palmer Commission is severely flawed from an international law perspective. The most significant finding of the report is its most dangerous and legally dubious: the conclusion that Israel’s blockade of Gaza, in effect since mid-2007, was somehow, despite being severely harmful to the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza, a legitimate act of self-defense. The report gives considerable attention to the illegal rockets fired into Israel by Palestinian militants mainly associated with Hamas, and notes, appropriately, that “stopping these violent acts was a necessary step for Israel to take in order to protect its people.” But while that justifies protective action, it does not make the case for a valid claim of self-defense under international law.
The report ignores altogether the crucial fact that a unilateral ceasefire had been observed by Hamas ever since the end of the Gaza War in early 2009. An earlier joint Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire had been declared in July 2008, and had led to a virtual halt in rocket attacks until it was broken by Israel in November of that year, in a lethal assault on Gaza that led to a crumbling of the ceasefire and thereafter to Israel’s Operation Cast Lead on December 27, 2008. The Palmer report cannot be legally persuasive on the central issue of self-defense without addressing the relevance of these ceasefires that gave Israel a viable security alternative to blockade and force. The fact that the word “ceasefire” does not even appear in the 105-page document underscores why this report is so unconvincing except to Israel’s partisans.
Instead of trying diplomacy, which had shown itself effective, Israel relied on a naval blockade, which prevented every boat from reaching the Gaza Strip, establishing a military siege, cruelly confining all Gazans, children, women and men (more than 50 percent of Gaza’s population is below the age of 15) living under occupation in what amounts to an open-air prison. Such a blockade is a massive and sustained example of collective punishment, unequivocally prohibited by Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The main goal of the flotilla was to bring desperately needed humanitarian goods, primarily medical equipment, to Gaza’s hospitals and clinics. But a second important goal was to challenge the illegal blockade, end the siege, and protect the rights of the people of Gaza. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every human being has the right to freedom of movement both within and between all countries yet for more than four years Israel’s siege of Gaza has denied Gazans their right to leave this crowded, impoverished territory, and denied entry to foreign visitors and even to family members. With all land borders closed and the UN and neighboring states unwilling to do more than call repeatedly but futilely on Israel to fulfill its obligation toward an occupied people, the flotilla movement was a peaceful and powerful way to expose the criminality of the siege and blockade of Gaza.
We should not lose sight of the essential nature of the incident. Israel launched a naval attack in the middle of the night on a humanitarian flotilla in international waters, whose six ships had been publicly inspected by harbor and police officials in a number of European countries to ensure there were no weapons on board before heading into international waters and had been tracked from the time they left port. It was neither reasonable nor necessary to mount such an attack for the sake of Israeli security. Allowing a naval blockade – which the Palmer Commission acknowledges to be an act of war – to be imposed by Israel against the helpless civilian population of Gaza and then accepted as ‘legal’ by the UN, it is a sad day for both the global rule of law and the well-being of some of the most vulnerable and abused people on the planet.
Richard Falk is a professor of international law and serves as the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer.
US Campaign's 10th Annual National Organizers' Conference, 2011, September 16-19
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- Written by US Campaign US Campaign
- Published: 02 September 2011 02 September 2011
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Once a year, activists and member groups of our coalitions come together to discuss the current work of the movement and to help shape the work of the US Campaign.
Join the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation for our 10th Annual National Organizers' Conference in Washington, DC, September 16-19, 2011 at the historic Thurgood Marshall Center!
The Thurgood Marshall Center served as the nation's first full-service YMCA for African-Americans. We’re honored and delighted to hold this year’s conference at such a historic venue!
We're delighted to announce that our fantastic lineup includes syndicated columnist Rami Khouri, whose writing has informed public opinion throughout Europe, the Americas, and the Arab World; political analyst Omar Barghouti, whose recent book on Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) is a must-read; Phyllis Bennis, who directs the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and serves on the US Campaign's Steering Committee; and more to be announced in the coming weeks!
We're also thrilled that internationally renowned violinist and oud player Simon Shaheen will perform at our Saturday night benefit concert. Simon is applauded for his unique and masterful fusion of Arab, jazz and Western classical styles.
We hope you will be able to join us to reflect on our coalition's past and current work, our achievements and struggles, and to help us set the stage to end U.S. support of Israeli occupation and apartheid.
Call to Action: Don’t Reward Caterpillar
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- Written by Cindy Corrie Cindy Corrie
- Published: 02 September 2011 02 September 2011
- Hits: 6098 6098
Despite a long history of complicity in human rights abuses and violations of international law, Caterpillar Inc. has been selected to receive the National Building Museum’s Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology. This prize, to be awarded in Washington DC on September 14, is given annually to recognize “an invention, an innovative methodology, and/or exceptional leadership by an individual or team of individuals in construction technology.” Sadly, in Palestine and around the world, Caterpillar and its bulldozers have become a symbol of the Israeli occupation and of destruction – rather than one of innovative building and construction appropriate to the National Building Museum and the Henry C. Turner prize.
PLEASE ACT NOW!
Sign our petition from individuals and organizations and tell the National Building Museum that it must reconsider its decision to reward Caterpillar Inc.’s complicity in human rights violations.
Israel trains settlers to confront Palestinian protest
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 30 August 2011 30 August 2011
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Israel trains settlers to confront Palestinian protest
Talks between the two sides are stalled over continued building of settlements in the West Bank
The Israeli army has said it is training Jewish settlers in the West Bank to repel violent protest.
The moves comes a month ahead of anticipated unrest by Palestinians when they make a bid for separate statehood at the United Nations next month.
The campaign for recognition is opposed by Israel and officials fear the bid could revive violence.
Settler officials denied a newspaper report that suggested settlers would be equipped with tear gas.
Haaretz said the military had been training settlement security chiefs and their teams and giving them tear gas and stun grenades.
In a written statement, the Israeli army said it was "devoting great efforts to training local forces and preparing them to deal with any possible scenario".
Stalled talks
Drills among dozens of civil defence teams have reportedly been stepped up and the Israeli military is being prepared for possible violent protests too.
According to Reuters, scenarios include protesters reaching the gates of settlements and possible confrontations.
Israel has long permitted settlers to carry weapons but Jewish settler groups have insisted any use of firearms would be for defensive purposes only.
"Certainly during a period of tension, with intelligence reports of possible threats, of course readiness crews are being trained," Danny Dayan, chairman of the settlers' Yesha Council told Reuters in a telephone interview.
He said that armed settlers operated under Israeli army orders to avoid killing civilians.
Palestinians and human rights groups say settlers have used weapons to attack Palestinians and that Israel has been lax in investigating such incidents.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has said that September's debate on Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly will put pressure on Israel to negotiate a final peace deal, but Israel says it will have the opposite effect.
Direct talks between the Palestinians and Israelis are currently stalled over the Palestinian refusal to take part while the Israeli government continues to build settlements in the West Bank.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and annexed East Jerusalem, a move not recognised by the international community.
More than 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, among a Palestinian population of about 2.5 million.
Local Human Rights Groups Calls for Ending Military Aid to Israel Ad Campaign Kicks Off on Key TriMet Bus Routes
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- Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller
- Published: 30 August 2011 30 August 2011
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Human Rights Groups Calls for Ending Military Aid to Israel
Ad Campaign Kicks Off on Key TriMet Bus Routes
PORTLAND, OR (August 30, 2011) - As part of a growing national campaign, advertisements urging an end to U.S. military aid to Israel went up this week on key Portland TriMet bus routes. The Portland media campaign was initiated by Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR) and is supported by groups and individuals around the Portland area including the Portland Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land -- A Ministry of Central Lutheran Church, Portland, OR, Friends of Sabeel—North America, and Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights.
A rally announcing the campaign to the public will take place at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 5pm.
The “Be on Our Side” media campaign promotes a productive U.S. policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on peace, security, and equality for Israelis and Palestinians. The organizers of the campaign point out that the tens of billions of dollars in aid granted to Israel over the past decades have not brought peace any closer, and instead, are being used to perpetuate the hopeless cycle of death and destruction.
The Metro campaign is aimed at bringing the public’s attention to the U.S. government’s commitment to at least $30 billion more dollars in military aid to Israel between 2009 - 2018.
According to Donna Boyd of AUPHR, “Combined with the Arab Spring and the shifting Middle-Eastern political relationships and our own American financial budget crisis, it is time that we re-examine our financial support to Israel. This campaign is to make Portlanders realize that we have been spending billions of American tax payers dollars arming Israel with weapons used to keep four million Palestinians under military occupation and oppression while Oregonians are experiencing cutbacks in greatly-needed social services. In Oregon alone, $28 million in federal taxpayer money goes toward Israel’s military each year.”
Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR) is a Portland based organization that advocates for a US foreign policy that promotes adherence to and compliance with international human rights by all countries including Israel. AUPHR is a member organization of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, whose member groups around the country are working to end U.S. military aid to Israel.
More information on the campaign is available at the campaign’s website at www.TwoPeoplesOneFuture.org > Press Kit