Situation in the OPT – Letter from CEIRPP Chairman

Letter dated 13 April 1988 from the Acting Chairman of

the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights

of the Palestinian People addressed to the Secretary-General

In my capacity as Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I wish to draw your most urgent attention to the intensification of repression by Israel against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the deportation of persons, the demolition of houses, the imposition of curfews over long periods, restrictions on media coverage, and other measures. Live ammunition continues to be used indiscriminately and widely against demonstrators. The growing death toll of Palestinians due to Israeli gun-fire has now reached at least 138 since the beginning of the uprising in early December.

The Committee, in particular, strongly deplores the expulsion of eight Palestinians to southern Lebanon, and the decision by the Israeli authorities to deport another 12 Palestinians, as reported in The New York Times of 12 April 1988. Such deportations are taking place in defiance of Security Council resolutions 607 (1988) and 608 (1988), which strongly requested Israel, the occupying Power, to abide by its obligations under the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to refrain from deporting any Palestinian civilians from the occupied territories, and to ensure the return of those already deported.

According to The New York Times of 13 April 1988, the eight deportees are: Khalil Kuka, Hassan Abu Shakra and Abdel Aziz Odeh, religious leaders in Gaza; Furavi Khalil Khavri, a union leader in Gaza; Adil Bahir Hamad, a youth leader in the Kalandia refugee camp in the West Bank; Mohammed Abu Samara, a student in Gaza; and Jamayel Shatti Hindi and Abdul Nasser Affo from the West Bank, accused by the army of being associated with the Palestine Liberation Orqanization.

While the army is reportedly accusing the deportees of being "leading activists in terrorist organisations involved in incitement and subversive activities", The New York Times reported on 12 April 1988 that according to Israeli television, a major reason for the expulsions was "to rehabilitate the deterrent power of the army in the eyes of the residents of the territories".

It was also reported that six of those designated for future deportation are from the village of Beita, where the army has engaged in massive repression following a confrontation between Israeli settlers and Palestinian villagers during which an Israeli girl was killed. While early reports had accused Palestinians of stoning the girl to death, the army later revealed that she had been killed by a shot fired in panic by an armed Israeli guard, who had also provoked the confrontation by killing a Palestinian farmer outside the village.  It was also reported that Palestinians had tried to protect the Israeli children during the confrontation. Nevertheless, the army has taken measures of collective punishment against the entire village, razing 14 houses, uprooting hundreds of trees, and placing the village under curfew.

In view of the gravity of these developments, the Committee wishes once again to express its utmost concern at the intensification by Israel, the occupying Power, of its repressive policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, international human rights instruments and United Nations resolutions. These policies and practices pose further obstacles to international efforts to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestine question.

The Committee reiterates its appeal to you to take all possible measures for ensuring the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians under occupation, and to intensify your efforts towards the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 38/58 C.

I should be grateful if you would arrange for the text of this letter to be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under item 37 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Oscar ORAMAS-OLIVA

Acting Chairman

of the Committee on the Exercise of

the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

_______________

 * A/43/50.