Volume XVIII, Bulletin No. 1
|
|
Page
|
|
I.
|
Action taken by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People
|
1
|
|
II.
|
Secretary-General condemns bomb attack in Israel, appeals for continuation of peace process
|
2
|
|
III.
|
League of Arab States adopts resolution at a special session on 5 January 1995 concerning settlements in the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories
|
2
|
|
IV.
|
Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference issues statement on the start of Israeli troop withdrawal from the occupied Jordanian territories
|
3
|
|
V.
|
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation in the Palestinian territories
|
4
|
|
VI.
|
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East reports progress in implementing $20 million contribution from Saudi Arabia for peace implementation programme
|
4
|
|
VII.
|
Non-governmental organizations: activities and information
|
5
|
I. ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE
INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
On 17 January 1995, the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People wrote the following letter to the Secretary-General (A/49/831-S/1995/50):
"In my capacity as Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I wish to express the greatest concern at the growing Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank in recent months.
"On 17 September, Agence France-Presse reported that the Israeli Housing Ministry had given the green light for the construction of 1,050 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Betar, south of Bethlehem. According to the same source, the Ministry announced that thousands more houses would be built in the West Bank along the pre-1967 cease-fire line with Israel, `effectively ending a building freeze announced by Prime Minister Rabin shortly after he returned to power in June 1992'.
"The November issue of Israeli Settlement, a Washington-based bimonthly publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, reported that, as at 1 November 1994, 3,900 new housing units had been completed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and that 15,000 units were planned to be constructed through 1997 in the "Greater Jerusalem" settlements of Maaleh Adumim and Givat Zeev, north and east of Jerusalem. According to The Christian Science Monitor of 4 January 1995, another 80,000 settlers would be settled on expropriated Arab land in Jerusalem and its environs.
"On 22 December 1994, the daily Ha'aretz reported that settlers from Efrat had started preparation work for the establishment of a new settlement, Givaat Tamar, on nearby land confiscated from the West Bank village of El-Khadr south of Bethlehem. The same newspaper reported on 1 January 1995 that 200 dunums of land belonging to Kufr El-Labad near Tulkarm had been confiscated by the military authorities to be used for the expansion of the Jewish settlement of Avnei Khefetz. These developments have triggered widespread demonstrations by Palestinians and Israeli peace activists, highlighting the importance of the settlement issue for the future exercise of Palestinian rights and the peace process itself.
"On behalf of the Committee, I would like to recall that the Security Council, in its resolution 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980 and other resolutions, determined that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, have no legal validity, are in violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
"The Committee considers that the growing expansion and consolidation of settlements create facts on the ground inconsistent with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which the current peace process seeks to implement, and seriously compromise the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Noting the similar concerns expressed by the Council of the Arab League in its resolution of 5 January 1995 and by the Permanent Observer of Palestine in his letter to you of 9 January 1995 (A/49/824-S/1995/14), the Committee wishes to join them in appealing to you, to the Security Council, to the co-sponsors of the peace process and all other concerned to exert their influence on the Israeli Government to end its settlement policy, as an indispensable step towards the attainment of the just and lasting peace we are all working for."
II. SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS BOMB ATTACK IN ISRAEL,
APPEALS FOR CONTINUATION OF PEACE PROCESS
On 23 January 1995, the following statement was issued by the Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali (see SG/SM/5529/Rev.1):
"Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has learned with shock and dismay of the bomb attack in Israel near Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday and regrets the loss of life and the injuries that have been caused. He condemns in the strongest possible terms this abhorrent act of terrorism.
"The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the Government of Israel and the families and colleagues of those killed and wounded in the attack. The Secretary-General also expresses his concern over the potential impact of this gross act of political violence on the ongoing peace process. He urges all sides concerned to continue to pursue peace."
III. LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES ADOPTS RESOLUTION AT A SPECIAL SESSION
ON 5 JANUARY 1995 CONCERNING SETTLEMENTS IN THE OCCUPIED
PALESTINIAN AND ARAB TERRITORIES
The following text of resolution 5451 was submitted by H.E. Ramtane Lamamra, Chairman of the Group of Arab States, on 6 January 1995 (see A/49/823-S/1995/11):
"Settlements in the occupied Palestinian
"The Council of the League of Arab States,
"Having taken cognizance of the memoranda by the State of Palestine and the secretariat, as well as of the relevant previous resolutions of the Council of the League and the United Nations resolutions on this subject,
"Recalling the constant violations by the State of Israel of the resolutions of international bodies relating to the halting of the settlement process,
"1. Condemns the policy of the occupying Israeli authorities, which comprises using protection of the settlers as a pretext for expanding and consolidating the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, in particular in the city of Jerusalem, a policy which constitutes a flagrant violation of the resolutions of international bodies and seriously compromises the ongoing peace process;
"2. Calls on the Security Council to take as a matter of urgency the necessary measures to compel Israel to implement Security Council resolution 465 (1980), paragraphs 5 and 6 of which read as follows:
"`5. Determines that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof have no legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;
"`6. Strongly deplores the continuation and persistence of Israel in pursuing those policies and practices and calls upon the Government and people of Israel to rescind those measures, to dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem;'
"3. Invites the two States sponsoring the peace process to take all possible action to prevent Israel from continuing the establishment of settlements and induce it to comply with the Security Council resolutions on this question;
"4. Urges the United States of America, in particular, to compel Israel to comply with the conditions it subscribed to in order to obtain guarantees of American loans, and in the first place the freezing of the settlement process in all the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories;
"5. Invites member countries to intensify contacts with the international bodies concerned with a view to bringing pressures to bear on Israel to put an end to the establishment of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories;
"6. Pays tribute to the Palestinian people of the occupied Palestinian territories for its heroic resistance to the Israeli policy of settlement, repression and displacement;
"7. Reaffirms its resolution 5216 of 12 December 1992 on the situation in Jerusalem;
"8. Requests the Secretary-General to continue contacts at various levels with a view to the implementation of the present resolution and to submit a report to a forthcoming session of the Council of the League of Arab States."
IV. SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE
ISSUES STATEMENT ON THE START OF ISRAELI TROOP WITHDRAWAL
FROM THE OCCUPIED JORDANIAN TERRITORIES
The following text was issued by the office of H.E. Dr. Hamid Algabid, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on 31 January 1995:
"The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Dr. Hamid Algabid, welcomes the start of withdrawal by the Israeli occupation forces from the occupied Jordanian territories. He considers it a positive step towards the achievement of long-awaited peace in the region, which must include total Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan, the occupied Lebanese territories, and all the occupied Palestinian territories, including the city of Al-Quds al-Sharif. It must also include the exercise of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people including their right to return, to self-determination and to establish their own independent State on their national soil with Al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital."
V. DECLARATION BY THE PRESIDENCY ON BEHALF OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION ON THE SITUATION IN THE
On 5 January 1995, the following press release was issued by the secretariat of the European Union containing the following declaration by the Presidency (France) (See 4060/95 [Presse 001]):
"Recalling the undertaking by the Palestinians and the Israelis to abide by the Declaration of Principles and to continue the negotiations, the European Union reaffirms the need to continue the peace process in the Middle East.
"The Union wishes to express its concern at the difficulties in implementing the Declaration of Principles which have arisen in the last few days, both in Gaza and in the West Bank. It particularly deplores the acts of violence which have occurred and reaffirms in this connection its condemnation of all violence, whatever its origin.
"The European Union is also concerned at the incidents connected with continued Israeli settlement in the occupied territories. While welcoming the decision to stop work on disputed land in Efrat, further to the meeting of the Israeli Cabinet on 1 January, it would point out that the total cessation of work on settlements is vital to the smooth operation of the peace process.
"The European Union welcomes the fact that, in spite of these difficulties, the Israeli-Palestinian talks on the process of autonomy started again in Cairo on 3 January. It hopes that these talks will open the way to progress on the principal question outstanding."
VI. UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
IN THE NEAR EAST REPORTS PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING $20 MILLION
CONTRIBUTION FROM SAUDI ARABIA FOR PEACE IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME
On 17 January 1995, the following press release was issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) (See PAL/1814):
"The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner-General, Ilter Türkmen, met yesterday in Vienna with a high-level delegation from the Saudi Fund for Development headed by Yousef Al-Bassam, Director-General of the Technical Department. They reviewed the Agency's progress in implementing projects valued at $20 million in the West Bank and Gaza using Saudi assistance for the Palestinian people.
"Project funds earmarked for Gaza include support for upgrading health services, constructing and providing equipment for five Agency schools and shelter rehabilitation. In the West Bank, project funds are being used to upgrade four health centres and nine UNRWA schools, as well as to construct and equip five Agency schools and a polyclinic, and to support health institutions in Jerusalem.
"The contribution from Saudi Arabia of $20 million is the largest from a single donor for UNRWA's peace implementation programme, which was launched in October 1993 to upgrade local infrastructure and create jobs for Palestinians, especially in the West Bank and Gaza.
"During the meeting, the delegation also finalized the details for using the $7.5 million contribution of the Saudi Government to pay the salaries of the Palestinian police force through UNRWA.
"The UNRWA Commissioner-General expressed his appreciation to the Saudi Government for its generous support to the peace implementation programme, as well as for its contribution to the Agency's regular programmes."
VII. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS: ACTIVITIES AND INFORMATION
1. Middle East International: Issue No. 491 of 6 January 1995 includes articles on the peace process, expansion of settlements, UNRWA's move to Gaza, Jerusalem and international law, and water. Issue No. 492 of 20 January 1995 includes articles on Israel and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, settlements, the PLO, and the Israeli army's treatment of detainees.
2. The Other Front: Issue No. 304 of 4 January 1995 includes articles on settlements, on Mordechai Vanunu, and Israeli NGO activities. Issue No. 305 of 11 January 1995 includes articles on the Commission of Inquiry's report on the October 1973 War (Yom Kippur War), a nuclear-free Middle East campaign, on a Hamas member held captive by the Shabak, Israeli NGO activities and a poll on settlements. Issue No. 308 of 31 January 1995 includes articles on Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli settlers, settlements and Palestinians inside Israel.
3. Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories, a bimonthly publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, is available from 555 13th Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20004-1109, United States of America (Fax 202 637 5910). The January 1995 issue includes articles on Netzarim, Israeli construction in East Jerusalem (projects and plans), settler population in the West Bank and Gaza, and a United States loan guarantee update.
4. Kav La'Oved: Workers' Hotline for the Protection of Workers, is available from 78 Allenby St., Tel Aviv, Israel (Fax: 03 5173081). The January 1995 issue includes articles on the employment of workers from the occupied territories in Israel, Palestinian workers and Labor Courts, closure cases and proposed severance pay, the Histadrut and Palestinian trade unions and foreign migrant workers.
5. Pierres pour la Paix, a publication of the Aide Sanitaire Suisse aux Palestiniens, is available from 25, rue Kleberg, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland (Fax: 022 738 5049). The January 1995 issue includes articles on Palestinians in Lebanon and activities of NGOs.
6. Al-Haq, an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists, has published the following press releases during the month of January 1995. Copies are available form P.O. Box 1413, Ramallah, West Bank (Fax: 972 2 995194):
"Summary execution of four Palestinians in Beit Liqia by an Israeli Special Unit"
"Assassination of Ibrahim Yaghi in the autonomous areas points to Israel's involvement"
"Illegal police raid of Quds Press News Agency threatens press freedom"
"Update on the administrative detention of Sha'wan Rateb Jabarin".
