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Statements |
- The Israeli
Destruction of Palestine Society
The brutal and destructive campaign of Israeli
Occupation Forces in Gaza in the past two weeks is yet
another step in the steady and slow process of
eliminating the Palestinians from Palestine. Whatever
name given to it, it does not hide the fact these
actions constitute war crimes as specified by the
Sixth Principle of Nuremberg Charter and article 8,
para (viii) of Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court of 1998.
People are not statistics. For every death or injury,
there is a family, school, business or office which is
affected. All these will grieve, will suffer and will
react. But statistics tell us that since September 28,
2000, 3747 Palestinians were killed, of whom 819 were
children, 250 women, 146 died at or because of check
points, 524 assassinated and 216 bystanders in an
assassination site.
It is not surprising that refugee camps were the
central target of these atrocities, because the
refugees were and still are the victims of the
biggest, planned and continually executed ethnic
cleansing operation in modern history.
Europe has an unshakable duty to take action, because
of historical, geographical and strategic reasons.
Europe cannot be satisfied with monetary aid and
sympathetic language. Europe, for its own interests,
cannot remain on the watch line while Sharon,
supported by the U.S., spreads havoc in the region.
The actions which the European Union and various
bodies of EU, including the European Parliament, can
do is the following:
1. Condemn in no uncertain terms Israeli violation of
the Fourth Geneva Convention.
2. Boycott Israeli goods and terminate commercial and
scientific cooperation, including the EU-Israel
Association Agreement.
3. Implement EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.
4. Reject Israeli request for WEOG membership.
5. Uphold the rule of international law in the UN and
other bodies and implement the July 2004 Advisory
Opinion of ICJ.
If we are to learn anything from the horrors of WWII
in Europe, it is that we should not repeat them. What
is happening today is that the Palestinians in
Palestine are made to pay for these horrors twice,
once in 1948 and again today. The resulting
instability will not bring peace to anyone in our
world.
We appeal to you to act immediately to save the
Palestinians, not only in accordance with
international law but also in the interest of EU which
no doubt desires peace and justice in our region.
Respectfully
Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
General Coordinator
Right of Return Congress
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