ZGram - 12/17/2002 - "U.N. Workers Petition Israel: Stop 'Beating and Killing' Us"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

December 17, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

A trusted researcher sent me the following:


U.N. Workers Petition Israel:  Stop "Beating and Killing" Us


  On 3 December 2002, sixty-four U.N. workers
     issued a stunning petition. Stationed in Israel
     and the Occupied Territories, they demanded that
     the Israeli military stop "beating and killing"
     them.

     You might think that such a strongly-worded
     statement sent by more than five-dozen United
     Nations workers to the "Middle East's only
     democracy" would be highly newsworthy. Apparently
     not. Among the very few media outlets to cover it
     were Reuters, the BBC, the Independent (London),
     Ha'aretz (Jerusalem), and the Jerusalem Post.
     Notice that all these sources are British or
     Israeli. Not one American media outlet has covered
     the story.

    The petition reads as follows:

     December 3, 2002

     To whom it may concern,

     We, the undersigned, are staff members of the
     United Nations, but we write in our personal
     capacities. All of us work in the West Bank and
     Gaza Strip bringing badly needed humanitarian
     relief to a population in distress. In the course
     of our duties we have witnessed much tragedy on
     both sides of the conflict. We have come from all
     over the world to work, without bias or favour, to
     try to alleviate some of the pain and suffering
     that has for too long afflicted this land.

     Now we find that, once again, tragedy has touched
     us. For us, expressions of sadness and grief are
     not enough. The diplomatic language of the
     bureaucrat will not suffice. We write to express
     our absolute condemnation at the senseless killing
     of Iain Hook in Jenin on November 22. Based on
     publicly available information, we condemn the
     Israeli army in the strongest possible terms for
     this wanton act against an unarmed man--a man shot
     in the back by a military sniper while negotiating
     with the Israeli army to evacuate the women,
     children and UN staff who were in the UN compound
     at the time.

     Our condemnation is reinforced by the knowledge
     that the soldiers refused to allow an ambulance
     called to evacuate Iain to travel the last few
     yards needed to reach him. Instead, UN staff here
     [were] forced to seek an alternative route to
     rescue him. This caused a delay and made sure that
     the work done by a bullet was completed by the
     Israeli army's refusal to respect the most
     elementary standards of humanity.

     The shock of that day's events does not come in
     isolation. For two years, United Nations staff
     have been subject to escalating harassment and
     violence by Israel's military, so that the
     protection supposed to be afforded by the blue
     letters of the UN is being steadily eroded.

     UN staff--international and Palestinian
     alike--have been verbally abused, stripped,
     beaten, shot at and killed by Israeli soldiers.
     There has been armed interference with UN
     employees and vehicles, including attacks on UN
     ambulances and medical personnel. UNRWA schools,
     health clinics and offices have been hit by bombs,
     rockets, tank shells and gunfire even during
     daytime, thereby endangering the lives of staff
     and, in the case of schools, the lives of refugee
     children. Buildings occupied by UN staff have been
     repeatedly damaged during Israeli airforce
     bombing.

     Tragically Iain Hook was not the first person
     working with the UN to die at the hands of the IDF
     this year. In March, Kamal Hamdan was shot and
     killed while travelling in a clearly marked UNRWA
     ambulance in the West Bank. In April, Husni Amer
     died in Israeli military custody in Jenin after,
     according to witnesses, receiving a brutal beating
     by the soldiers at the time of his arrest. From
     its silence, we presume the Israeli authorities
     have ignored UN requests for an investigation and
     report of these two incidents, and have not seen
     fit to take any disciplinary action against the
     soldiers involved. To us, this seems to confirm a
     pattern of utter contempt on the part of the
     Israeli army for the lost lives of these men, the
     safety of UN staff or the minimum standards
     imposed by international law which should protect
     UN staff and other humanitarian workers.

     The official military spokesperson's statement on
     the initial investigation into Iain's killing
     asserts that shots were fired from UNRWA's
     compound in the Jenin refugee camp towards
     Israel's forces. This contradicts eyewitness
     accounts of our colleagues in Jenin and the
     information relayed to UNRWA's Field Office by
     Iain just prior to his death. The most charitable
     characterization one can make of this statement is
     that it lacks any credibility. To us, it has all
     the makings of propaganda designed to tarnish the
     reputation of the UN, excuse the killing of an
     unarmed man and perpetuate the false charge that
     UNRWA shelters terrorists, in the public mind. We
     strongly request that any investigation carried
     out by the Israeli government will be independent,
     transparent and impartial. We strongly request
     that the Israeli government will bring those
     responsible for Iain's killing promptly to
     justice. Only the most lawless societies allow
     gunmen in uniform the impunity to kill aid workers
     without fear of punishment. We are confident
     Israel does not wish to see its troops painted in
     the same colours as the militiamen who have
     stalked some of the world's other conflicts.

     As UN staff, we expect the protection of the
     Israeli government to enable us to undertake our
     humanitarian responsibilities wherever they are
     needed. This is not a matter of courtesy or
     favour, but rather an implementation of Israel's
     own obligations under international law and its
     express commitment to UNRWA to facilitate the
     Agency's operations in the occupied territories.

     Israel's often stated regret at the loss of
     civilian lives is not an impervious shield that
     can deflect all criticism. It is a shield that is,
     in our view, tarnished by the attempts of Israeli
     spokespersons to link Iain's death to wider
     political issues or to claim that the UN was
     somehow culpable for his killing. In these tragic
     circumstances, rather than easily uttered regrets,
     we expect the Israeli Government take the
     necessary steps to stop the harassment, beating
     and killing of UN staff. We expect respect and
     protection as United Nations employees. As
     international staff members, we hope and expect to
     return alive to our own countries and families
     after our work here is done. We hope and expect no
     less for our Palestinian colleagues so they can
     live and work in safety until the parties to the
     conflict eventually find the road to peace.


     Sally Airs, Australia; Naomi Ando, Japan; Ignacio
     Artaza Zuriarrain, Spain; Alan Barnie, Australia;
     Peter Bartu, Australia; Pamela Bell, USA; Susan
     Brannon, USA; Marlise Brenner, Australia; Deidre
     Connolly, USA; Marisa Consolate Kemper, Canada;
     Joanna Corbin, UK; B. Scott Custer Jr., USA; Omar
     Dajani, USA; Calvin Dasilvio, USA; Isabelle dela
     Cruz, Germany; Marc De la Motte, Italy-France;
     Mark Dennis, USA; Ray Dolphin, Ireland; Juliet
     Dryden, UK; Teresa Fallarme, Philippines;
     Jean-Marie Frentz, Luxembourg; Christopher
     Gabelle, UK; Jagannathan Gopalan, India; Philippe
     Grandet, France; Pentti Hakonen, Finland; Roger
     Hearn, Australia; Grigor Hovmannisyan, Armenia;
     Thierry Kaiser, France; Sima Kanaan, Jordan;
     Elizabeth Kawambwa, Tanzania; Jan Kolaas, Norway;
     Antje Kunst, Germany; Marc Lassouaoui, France;
     Brett Lodge, Australia; Ali Mahmuda, Canada;
     Henrik Mathiesen, Norway; Carlos Mazuera,
     Columbia; Paul McCann, UK; Amanda Melville,
     Australia; Severine Meyer, France; Zeina Mogarbel,
     Spain; Merethe Nedrebo, Norway; Gustav Nordstrom,
     Finland; Patrick O'neil, Ireland; Melissa Parke,
     Australia; Joachim Paul, Germany; Alex Pollock,
     UK; Gerhard Pulfer, Austria; Timothy Rothermel,
     USA; Sam Rose, UK; Ehab Shanti, Canada; Shahwan
     Huda, Jordan; Jean-Luc Siblot, France; Guy Siri,
     France; Elna Sondergaard, Denmark; Juerg
     Staudenmann, Switzerland; Angelo Stefanini, Italy;
     Gretta Van Bleek, Netherlands; Arjan Van
     Houwelingen, Netherlands; Andrew Whitley, UK;
     Hanna Wintsch, Switzerland; Cecilia Wreh-McGill,
     USA; Ros Young, UK; Kirsten Zaat, Australia

(Source:  http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/un-petition.htm )