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Probe into Israeli killing of UN monitors unable to determine why appeals were ignored

29 September 2006


A board of inquiry into an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed four United Nations military observers in July had no access to the commanders involved and was therefore unable to determine why the attacks were not halted despite repeated appeals from UN personnel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s spokesman said today. The Board, appointed by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) as standard procedure in such circumstances, noted that the Israeli authorities accepted full responsibility for the attack on the UN post at Khiyam and apologized for what they say was an “operational level” mistake, the spokesman added in a statement. 

Intervention to Member States of the United Nations on the Sixth Anniversary of the Second Intifada

29 September 2006


On 29 September 2006, the sixth anniversary of the second intifada against the Israeli occupation, the international community appears to have forgotten the continuing Israeli disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, together constituting the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The Palestinian people looks to the UN General Assembly, the body that in 2004 requested the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the construction of the Wall in the OPT, as a source of hope at a moment of extreme distress and disillusion. 

Six years of Israeli aggression and war crimes in the OPT

28 September 2006


This report coincides with the 6th anniversary of the eruption of the al-Aqsa Intifada, which broke out following the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to al-Aqsa Mosque (the Holy Sanctuary) in occupied Jerusalem. Over the last six years, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have perpetrated grave breaches of international law, including war crimes, against Palestinian civilians in a manner unprecedented since 1967. The sixth year of the Intifada witnessed an increasing escalation in Israeli war crimes as the international community remained silent and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 failed to meet their obligations to provide protection for Palestinian civilians. 

Bad faith and the destruction of Palestine

Jonathan Cook 29 September 2006


A mistake too often made by those examining Israel’s behaviour in the occupied territories — or when analysing its treatment of Arabs in general, or interpreting its view of Iran — is to assume that Israel is acting in good faith. Even its most trenchant critics can fall into this trap. Such a reluctance to attribute bad faith was demonstrated this week by Israel’s foremost human rights group, B’Tselem, when it published a report into the bombing by the Israeli air force of Gaza’s power plant in late June. Jonathan Cook comments. 

Dutch company involved in construction of the Wall

28 September 2006


Research undertaken by United Civilians for Peace, a Dutch NGO-platform dedicated to promoting justice and peace in Palestine and Israel, has revealed that Dutch company Lima Holding BV, inSpijkenisse, is involved in the construction of the illegal Wall that Israel is building in the occupied West Bank. Lima Holding, which operates in Israel under the Riwal brand name, provides mobile cranes for putting into place the up to 9-metres high concrete elements that make up the Wall. The exact scope and nature of the company’s involvement in the construction of the Wall is yet to be determined. 

Echoes of Ireland in Palestine: a review of Ken Loach's new film

Ali Abunimah 29 September 2006


Watching The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Ken Loach’s new feature film set mainly during the Irish Civil War in the early 1920’s, it is impossible not to make comparisons with contemporary events. Indeed Loach, whose film won the Palme D’Or at Cannes, has been quite explicit about his own view that the film is not merely an examination of the past, but a comment on the times we live in. Loach also recently announced his support for the call by Palestinian film-makers, artists and others to boycott state sponsored Israeli cultural institutions and acknowledged that “Palestinians are driven to call for this boycott after forty years of the occupation of their land, destruction of their homes and the kidnapping and murder of their civilians.” 

UNHCR links with social development centres to help Lebanese IDPs

Annette Rehrl 28 September 2006


World attention may have shifted away from Lebanon, but many people continue to suffer from the recent conflict - including hundreds of displaced people in Beirut’s crowded Hai Al Sullam area. Before the five-week war, the southern suburb’s 275,000 permanent residents - mostly Shia Muslims and poor - lived cheek by jowl with migrants and Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers. They have since been joined by hundreds of displaced Lebanese, whose houses in neighbouring districts were destroyed by Israeli fire or who fled from the south to stay with families in the capital until it is safe to return. Uncertainty among the internally displaced people (IDPs) is high. 

UN human rights chief to visit Occupied Palestinian territories, Israel

28 September 2006


United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour briefed the Human Rights Council today on the worldwide work of her Office, voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and announcing that she would soon visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Turning to the Palestinian Territories (OPT), she stressed that only a political solution “will bring an end to the loss of life, immense suffering and hardship.” Her forthcoming visit will allow her to conduct a first-hand assessment of the situation. 

Lebanon is recovering quickly from recent conflict between Israel and Hizbollah - UN

28 September 2006


Lebanon is making speedy progress towards recovery after the destructive conflict between Israel and Hizbollah this summer and humanitarian agencies are preparing to close down or transfer their activities to relevant Government authorities or development agencies, the United Nations officials reported today. As early as tomorrow the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) plans to hand over of the role of coordinating international activities in southern Lebanon to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The official end of humanitarian operations is scheduled for 24 October, according to OCHA’s latest update. 

200,000 remain displaced

27 September 2006


Fourteen people have been killed and 90 injured from all types of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon from 14 August until 19 September. Of these totals, children (6 years to 18 years of age) accounted for two of the fatalities and 32 of the injuries, according to Lebanon’s National Demining Office. All the fatalities and most of the injuries resulted from cluster munitions. According to UNHCR, some 200,000 people remain displaced because of the level of destruction in their villages, and because of the UXOs and cluster sub-munitions which contaminate their houses and hometowns.