Situation in the OPT – CHR/Sub-Comm. – Letter from Indonesia/Memorandum by Palestine to OIC meeting

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL

FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE

TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL

FREEDOMS, INCLUDING POLICIES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND

SEGREGATION AND OF APARTHEID, IN ALL COUNTRIES, WITH PARTICULAR

REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND

TERRITORIES:  REPORT OF THE SUB­COMMISSION

UNDER COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION 8 (XXIII)         

Letter dated 16 July 1997 from the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia

to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Chairman of the forty­ninth session

of the Sub­Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities      

I have the honour, on behalf of the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to transmit to you the memorandum on recent developments in the Palestinian occupied territory submitted by the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations Office in Geneva at the meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held in Geneva on 7 July 1997.

I would appreciate it very much if you could kindly have the enclosed memorandum circulated as an official document under the relevant agenda item at the forthcoming session of the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub­Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

(Signed)  Agus TARMIDZI

Ambassador

Permanent Observer

The recent developments in the Palestinian occupied territory

Mr. Chairman,

First of all, I would like to thank you for convening this important meeting, to discuss the recent developments in the Palestinian occupied territory, which have come to a very dangerous stage, threatening the peace process as a result of the intransigence and of the intentions of the Government of Israel, which renounced a just peace and persists in continuing its occupation to the Palestinian and other Arab territories, ignoring the national rights of the Palestinian people, as well as those of the other Arab peoples.

The current situation

Two weeks have passed, and the Israeli occupation forces are still opening fire on Palestinian civilians in Hebron and the Gaza Strip, killing some and wounding more than 250 others.  In doing so, the Israeli occupation authorities are continuing their violation of the principles of human rights and international law, as well as the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, of 1949, on the protection of civilians in time of war.

In addition, the Israeli occupation authorities are still confiscating Palestinian lands, establishing Israeli settlements on them and expanding the ones already established.  Moreover, they are still building an Israeli settlement on Jabal Abu Ghenaim, in East Jerusalem, occupied since 1967.  Therefore, Israel is emphasizing its continuous insubordination with regard to resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.  It also proves its disdain to the will, principles and provisions of the international community.

In addition to the massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces inside the Al Aqsa Mosque on 8 October 1990, killing 32 Palestinians at prayer and wounding hundreds of others; after an Israeli guard, wearing a military uniform, killed 30 Palestinians at prayer and wounded 150 others inside the Ibrahimi Shrine, in Hebron, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, on 25 February 1994; and after the opening of a tunnel under the Al Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli occupation authorities, with the aim of its demolition, in September 1996; the Israeli occupation authorities are emphasizing today their hatred for Islam and for Muslims, as well as their racist hostility based on religious intolerance, by their distribution of a poster, on 28 June 1997, offensive to the Prophet Mohammed (God's blessing and peace be upon him), to the Holy Koran and to the religion of Islam as a whole.  This poster, a copy of which is enclosed, Available for consultation in the Secretariat. has been attached on the walls in Hebron.

These acts were followed by the breaking into of the girls' Yaacobia school in Hebron, on Sunday 6 July 1997, perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces, who tore to pieces the Holy Koran there and threw it on the floor, after throwing away the whole contents and the furniture of that school.

This is how Israel is revealing its true picture to the world as a racist State, built on the hatred of all non­Jewish people, in such a flagrant manner that it does not need any interpretation.

These practices, which are liable to stir up conflicts between divine religions, reflect at the same time the eagerness of the Government of Israel to blow up the situation in the region and to destroy the peace process as a whole.

On the political level

Israel refuses to abide by what has been agreed on with the former Government of Israel in Oslo, Washington and Cairo.

Israel persists on establishing Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, in violation of the agreements concluded between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the former Government of Israel.

The continued establishment of settlements and the expansion of the ones already established, means the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, in complete violation of the principles of the peace process, which was built on Security Council resolution 242, providing for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967, including Jerusalem; it is also a total violation of the principle of land for peace, one of the principles of the Madrid Conference.

All this confirms the disguise of the current Government of Israel to the peace process, and its intentions to continue its occupation of the Palestinian territory, and the other Arab territories, which is not conducive to peace and to security in the region.

The withdrawal of Israel from the peace process, and from its above­mentioned principles, would conduct the region to an explosive situation, the outlook for which is starting to be reflected in the anger prevailing among the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, and it would also bring the region back to a state of bloodshed and warfare.

The Government of Israel would bear responsibility for the failure of the peace process, as well as all the consequences of its intransigence and its obstinacy in continuing its occupation of the Palestinian territory and establishing settlements there, since there could be no peace with Israeli occupation.

The Israeli practices mentioned above not only expose the life of Palestinian civilians to danger, but they also endanger the right of the Palestinian people to self­determination, through the determination of Israel to continue its occupation of the Palestinian lands and to continue establishing settlements on them.

All this, highlights the clear intentions of the Israeli occupation authorities in denying the peace process which started at the Madrid Conference on the basis of the implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and the principle of land for peace.

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