ZGram - 12/17/2002 - "U.N. Workers Petition Israel: Stop
'Beating and Killing' Us"
irimland@zundelsite.org
irimland@zundelsite.org
Tue, 17 Dec 2002 18:04:49 -0800
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 )