GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The International Red Cross in Geneva says that it is “extremely concerned about the deteriorating health condition of six Palestinian detainees who have been on hunger strike for between 47 and 71 days.” More than 1,600 people being held in what is called “administrative detention: by Israeli authorities have been on a hunger strike since 17 April. The six to whom the ICRC refers “are in imminent danger of dying, says the ICRC.
The hunger strikers’ main demands are for the authorities to allow family visits from Gaza to resume and for an end to solitary confinement in Israeli places of detention.
The ICRC insists Israel must allow families to visit the hunger strikers, saying that “in such extreme circumstances, allowing contact with family members becomes an imperative humanitarian need.”
ICRC delegates and medical staff have been visiting the detainees since their hunger strike began.
“We urge the detaining authorities to transfer all six detainees without delay to a suitable hospital so that their condition can be continuously monitored and so that they can receive specialized medical and nursing care,” says Juan Pedro Schaerer, the head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied territories.
“While we are in favour of any medical treatment that could benefit the detainees, we would like to point out that, under resolutions adopted by the World Medical Association, the detainees are entitled to freely choose whether to consent to be fed or to receive medical treatment. It is essential that their choice be respected and their human dignity preserved.”
Detail from the Hans Erni peace fresco on the front wall of the UN building in Geneva, where the Human Rights Council meets
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Israel’s announcement Monday that it is suspending all relations with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva came just after the 19th session of the Council ended in Geneva, Friday 23 March. The decision capped a divisive debate towards the end of the session that once again pitted Israel and the United States against most of the rest of the council, but the debate received less media attention than usual because it was eclipsed by heated sessions on Syria, Sri Lanka, Iran, Myanmar/Burma and North Korea.
The UN office did not immediately confirm that it had received notice from Israel that it is suspending ties.
The council last week voted 36-1, with 10 abstentions, to send a fact-finding mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to study the impact of Israeli settlers on Palestinians. It was one of a number of votes concerning Israel and Palestine.
Austria, Belgium, Norway and Switzerland, among European countries, voted for the measure. Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Spain abstained. The council has 47 member countries elected for three-year terms; France, Germany, Italy and the UK currently send observers.
Israel’s foreign ministry decided Monday morning at a meeting led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman that “Israel’s ambassador to the UN organizations in Geneva will not appear before the council, answer any of its phone calls or cooperate with Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay in any way,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
Participants of the 18th session of Human Rights Council in Geneva - Photo Jean-Marc Ferré UNIS
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A panel of five independent UN rights experts reporting to the Human Rights Council unanimously rejected the conclusion of the Palmer Report that says Israel’s blockade of Gaza is legal.
On a statement produced by the UN in Geneva on 13 September, the panel says it rejected the Palmer Report findings because the blockade had subjected Gazans to collective punishment in “flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
“The Palmer report was aimed at political reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. It is unfortunate that in the report politics should trump the law,” said Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur on human rights, on the statement.
According to the panel, the blockade should immediately cease as “the people of Gaza must be afforded protection in line with international law.”
For the United Nations experts, “decisive steps must be taken to defend the dignity and basic welfare of the civilian population of Gaza, more than half of whom are children.”
Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food said at least two-thirds of Gazan households are food insecure, and “evidence has shown that the so-called ‘easing’ of the blockade has not led this to improve.”
Israeli tank fire injured five people when a house in Gaza was hit, medics have told Reuters. The injuries were not confirmed by Israel, but if the information is accurate, its brings to 24 the number of people wounded in Gaza since Monday 21 March. Israel says it responded with air attacks after rocket and mortar fire from an area controlled by Hamas. Hamas, for its part, claimed responsibility for a dozen attacks on Israel over the weekend.
France has called on the two parties to use restraint.
The New York Times, which generally gives generous space to Israeli-Gaza conflict news, barely found room on its online “front” page for the story, in the face of continuing news from Libya and Japan.
Links to other sites: Jerusalem Post, New York Times, Reuters
French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie had shoes and eggs thrown at her car when she crossed from Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip, and protestors held up posters of family and friends in Israeli prisons. The border-crossing incidents took place after the minister met with the father of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier, who also has French nationality, now held in captivity for five years. She made remarks to the young man’s father that his son should be allowed Red Cross visits, but when the father told reporters that not permitting the visits is a war crime, some media attributed the remarks to the minister. Le Monde reports that she was booed because of “a misunderstanding”.
Links to other sites: BBC, Jerusalem Post, Le Monde (Fr)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government Tuesday 11 January took to task the Israeli government for allowing the demolition of the Shepherd’s Hotel in East Jerusalem to go ahead, under the protection of Israeli armed forces. The hotel is being demolished to make way for a new housing settlement, which Switzerland points out is clearly in violation of international law.
“The 4th Geneva Convention, whose applicability extends over the entire occupied Palestinian territory, prohibits the Occupying Power from destroying personal or State-owned properties in the occupied territory with the exception of destruction rendered absolutely necessary by military operations, and it forbids the Occupying Power to transfer parts of its own civilian population into an occupied territory. Moreover, the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory undermines the resumption of negotiations in view of realizing a two-state solution.”
The Swiss government says it is appealing to Israeli authorities to “respect International Law and to avoid any actions which might jeopardize the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.”
US Secretary of State hosts Israeli, Gaza leaders for relaunch of peace talks
Hillary Clinton is pushing a solution to the West Bank to the top of the US foreign policy agenda when she hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday and Thursday in Washington. The New York Times reports that while an agreement on two states, with Israel giving up significant control to Palestinians is a long way off, “there are breakthroughs”. According to the Jerusalem Post, “Netanyahu told Likud activists at a pre-Rosh Hashana toast in Tel Aviv that he would be cautious during the talks and insist on security guarantees, so an Israeli withdrawal would not be met by the firing of hundreds of rockets, as was the case when Israel left the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.” The newspaper points out that he did not mention a 26 September moratorium on the settlement housing start that badly ruffled American diplomatic feathers several months ago.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, Jerusalem Post, NPR, New York Times
"The imposed closure of Gaza is entering its fourth year, choking off any possibility of economic development and condemning the population to unemployment, poverty and a deteriorating health care system." (caption, photo ©2010 ICRC
US ambassador to UN in Geneva Monday afternoon calls current situation “unsustainable”, says US open to possible international intervention in inquiry
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Red Cross (ICRC) has issued a strong condemnation of Israel and Egypt’s blockade of Gaza, about to enter its fourth year. The call MOnday 14 June for the international community to ensure that the “closure” ends comes as the European Community steps up pressure on Israel, and as Israel opens an internal investigation into a 31 May attack by its forces on an activists’ aid convoy heading for Gaza.
US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, told the UN Human Rights Council Monday that “The situation in Gaza is unsustainable, and we urge all parties to work together to ensure that humanitarian and reconstruction goods are delivered to the people of Gaza,” after noting that “the United States government is deeply disturbed and regrets the tragic loss of life and injuries suffered among those involved in the May 31 incident aboard the Gaza-bound ships. We condemn the acts that resulted in the loss of lives and express our condolences to their families. We expect Israel to conduct a prompt, credible, transparent, and impartial investigation conforming to international standards into all the facts surrounding this tragic incident. We are open to different ways of assuring a credible investigation, including international participation.”
The ICRC said Monday morning 14 June in a press release that “The whole of Gaza’s civilian population is being punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.” Humanitarian aid will not stop the growing problems of poverty, unemployment and poor health care, it argues: only ending the blockade can do that.
The ICRC says that before the blockade some 4,000 types of goods reached Gaza, and that this number is now 80, although it has doubled in the past 12 months. Electricity cuts average seven hours a day, with a “devastating” impact on public services, especially the primary healthcare system.
In recent years, the quality of heath care provided in Gaza has declined with a lack of medicines, drugs and equipment. ©ICRC/C. Goin
Prices have risen and the quality of goods has fallen, says the ICRC. “This is one consequence of the largely unregulated trade conducted through the tunnels that have been dug under the Gaza-Egypt border to circumvent the closure.”
Ninety percent of Gaza’s 4,000 fishermen are now considered poor or very poor, as Israel has continued to tighten fishing restrictions, with fishermen now limited to three nautical miles.
The blockade has had a major impact on agriculture, with the buffer zone imposed by Israel extending over one kilometre into the Gaza Strip. The 50 km2 area is host to nearly one-third of Gaza’s farmland and a large share of its livestock, says the ICRC, which notes that agricultural activities in the area are hampered by security conditions.
European Union considers the option of accompanying aid ships
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has refused calls from the international community for an outside investigation into an Israeli raid last week of a flotilla of aid ships heading for Gaza. France Sunday said that the European Union would be willing to check the cargo of aid ships if Israel agrees, in order to ease the blockade.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, France 24, Guardian, Today’s Zaman
An Irish ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, is heading towards Gaza with 11 people and a load of cememt, part of a humanitarian aid delivery. The group on board includes former UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday, who says they will not stop unless forced to by Israel, but that they are not armed and do not plan to put up a fight, reports CNN.
©2010 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
The United Nations Security Council early Tuesday 1 June formally condemned the Israeli commando raid on a flotilla of six ships carrying aid supplies to Gaza, demanding a full and open investigation into the incident. The Security Council, which met for 10 hours in an emergency session that ended in the early morning hours, also insisted that Israel provide consular access to families of passengers, and that it return the ships immediately.
Links to other sites: CNN, Guardian, NPR, Ria Novosti
International condemnation but Israel says, a bit late, it was ambushed
Update 15:40, video International condemnation has been swift, following an attack by Israeli commandoes on a convoy of six humanitarian aid boat taking supplies to Gaza, despite an Israeli sea blockade. Reports vary that anywhere from 10-19 activists were killed, with four Israeli soldiers injured.
In the wake of foreign outrage, Israel has scrambled to show what happened, saying the ship carried “peace activists” who had terrorist ties and that the attack took place after warnings were issued – and that the peace activists attacked its forces with weapons. So far, the Israeli version of events has done little to soften the criticism of other governments, although there is widespread recognition that Israel did not expect a confrontation, given its handling of previous, similar ships.
The attack has increased tensions with Turkey, whose flag the ships were carrying.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, BBC, CBS, Jerusalem Post, Reuters
Video, Reuters
Catherine Ashton, who heads the European Union’s foreign policy programme, is stopping in Gaza to see for herself how the EU’s aid to Palestinians is being used, before she continues on to Moscow for a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet: the EU, US, UN and Russia. The EU is the biggest contributor of aid to the Palestinians, according to the BBC. Ashton’s visit is unusual: officials at this level rarely visit Gaza itself because of diplomatic complications, and it follows Ashton’s condemnation of new Israeli settlements which have dampened hopes for a Middle East settlement.
Violent clashes broke out along the Gaza-Egyptian border Wednesday 6 January when an aid delivery from the movement Viva Palestina was delayed in an Egyptian port. An Egyptian soldier died and scores of people were reportedly wounded, with CNN being told by one official that at least two people were in critical condition. The convoy of sedan cars was led by British Parliament Member George Galloway and has sparked some controversy.
Links to other sites: CNN, CS Monitor
The findings of the Goldstone report on the war in Gaza last December 2008 and January 2009 are being debated 4 and 5 November in the UN General Assembly in New York.The Goldstone investigation was commissioned by the UN to investigate allegations of war crimes during the brief war that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 31 Israelis.
A resolution could be voted on that includes calls for the General Assembly to endorse the Goldstone report, that both Israel and the Palestinians conduct independent investigations into the allegations that war crimes were committed, and for the Secretary General of the UN to refer the matter to the Security Council.
The Goldstone report calls on both sides to investigate the allegations or else be referred to the Security Council for consideration by the International Criminal Court. Israel, which did not cooperate with investigators, has said it is opposed to the findings because they are biased.
It’s summer in Geneva, Switzerland, and with the annual office drain and fewer press releases the serious news takes up less space, and the lighter news around the world is keeping us all a little happier:
- One of the most cheering bits of news to come out of Gaza in years occured 30 July when children in Gaza appear to have broken a Guinness world record for the number of kites flown at the same time: the old record was 713 and the new one, still being calculated, may be as high as 4,000, thanks to an event organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Al Jazeera
- British women turned a cold shoulder on an attempt to beat the world record for the most women wearing bikinis in the same place, when only 42 of the 1,924 needed showed up; sunshine prevailed but a forecast for cloudy, cool weather in Southend-on-Sea, Essex was blamed. UK Telegraph
- Almost half of post-secondary students in a recent survey in Canada said they pass along their old tech toys – iPods, for example – to their less tech-savvy parents. The Globe and Mail, Canada
- At a music festival in North Germany featuring Anthrax and Napalm Death, organizers asked concert-goers not to kiss and share bottles of beer to reduce the spread of A/H1N1 swine flu. Reuters
- Scottish pride is on the line with new claims by a researcher that haggis, considered a national dish north of the English border, was actually an English dish 132 years before it was mentioned in Scotland (haggis, for the uninitiated, is made with oatmeal, liver, heart and lungs – and Wikipedia updated its entry on this today, based on the news). The Scotsman
- A “career shoplifter”, age 86, was arrested for the 61st time in Chicago, in a career that began with her first arrest in 1956. Chicago Sun-Times
A children’s television show in Gaza provoked outrage as well as concerm among psychiatrists for its impact on children when it was aired two years ago: it showed the mother of young children preparing to kill herself in a suicide bomb attack, which succeeded. The show has been aired again, but this time with a studio audience of children, prompting new protests from observers. CNN
Geneva is home to the UN Human Rights Council, set up in 2006
Geneva, Switzerland and New York, USA (GenevaLunch) – The US announced 1 April that it intends to seek a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council “with the goal of working to make it a more effective body to promote and protect human rights.”
Geneva, Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) – Fans of Patrick Chappatte, whose cartoons are carried by GenevaLunch, can now find his long comic journalism report on Gaza online. Le Temps published the report in its print edition earlier this month.
Israeli leaders over the weekend vowed to give a “disproportionate” response to cross-border fire and followed it up by bombing tunnels it blames Hamas for using to transport arms, in a series of air strikes. Al Jazeera, Jersusalem Post, Reuters
Shimon Peres, Israel (photo: WEF)
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey (photo: WEF)
Davos, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Israeli President Simon Peres has told Le Temps, which interviewed him after a clash with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that there was nothing personal in his rebuff of Erdogan’s words during a Thursday night debate on Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He confirmed that he telephoned the Turkish prime minister last night, after their clash. Erdogan flew home early from Switzerland and was met by cheering crowds in Istanbul,
Israel has bombed tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border that it believes Hamas is using to smuggle arms, reports the BBC. Israel on Tuesday sent tanks and troops into Gaza in response to an attack on a border patrol Tuesday that killed one Israeli soldier and injured three. The two sides declared separate ceasefires 17 and 18 January. The attacks come as US envoy George Mitchell arrives in Egypt for the first set of talks in the region. Independent
The number of dead was climbing Sunday despite a lull in the fighting, as Gazans began to dig out bodies from the rubble, and to identify the extent of the damage in what the International Herald Tribune refers to as ” the full, sometimes breathtaking extent of the destruction around them wrought by the Israeli military.”
The ICRC (International Red Cross), the UN and several governments including Switzerland expressed outrage after Israel hit a hospital in Gaza and UN shelters and offices, including the head office of Unrwa, the main relief organization. According to the BBC, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized for the strike to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, “but [he] said Palestinian fighters had been firing from the UN site.”
CNN reports that on the eve of an Arab summit in Kuwait the Arab world is being pulled in a tug of world that has Egypt and other countries who want to broker a peace between Israel and Hamas pitted against nations like Qatar who are more sympathetic to Hamas and its goals. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the ICRC‘s latest update on the humanitarian aid situation says it was “a devastating blow” when renewed fighting 12 January knocked out recently repaired power supplies from Israel to Gaza, essential for hospitals and other parts of the civilian infrastructure.
Geneva, Switzerland and Al-Arish, Egypt (Le Temps, Fre and AFP) – Two Norwegian doctors who work for Norwac and who have treated patients in the Gaza Strip for more than 20 years, told reporters in Al-Arish that they believe Israel is using a new and “extremely nasty” explosive tested by US military. The joint International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in a joint statement Tuesday praised the Egyptian Red Crescent Society for doing its utmost to help people wounded in the fighting in Gaza, but they also appealed to “the involved parties, in particular Israel, to remove restrictions on medical teams so they can do their life-saving work.”
Israel is intensifying its attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with 60 air attacks Monday night, according to the BBC, which notes that a new three-hour truce today will allow Red Cross and UN supplies to be delivered to Gaza. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of illegally using white phosphorus, which has limited legally accepted use in warfare, but which the group says should not be used in a high-density population such as that in Gaza, given the potential for burns, especially to civilians. CNN
The United Nations says the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to over 500 people as France and Egypt push for a diplomatic end to the 10-day-old Israeli offensive that has now cut Gaza in two. Reuters
Israeli warplanes “pounded” the Gaza Strip after dark on Sunday, Reuters reports, and the death toll rose to 307 in a third day of attacks, the country’s response to rocket attacks by Hamas that signalled an end to a six-month truce. Israeli tanks have gathered at the border and an invasion appears to be imminent.
