http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/mar07/6.php

ADALAH'S NEWSLETTER
Volume 34, March 2007

UN Committee Urges Israel to Revoke the Citizenship Law, Dismantle the Wall, Bind the Jewish National Fund to Anti-Discrimination Principles, and Recognize the Unrecognized Villages

Adalah: “The UN Committee, which is composed of legal experts, reached these concluding observations based on the principles of anti-discrimination. Therefore the concluding observations constitute an official statement that institutionalized discrimination exists in Israel.”

On 9 March 2007, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“the Committee”) issued its Concluding Observations, following its review last month of Israel’s implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“ICERD” or “the Convention”). In its Concluding Observations, the Committee emphasized 25 areas of concern and recommendations regarding Israel’s compliance with the Convention concerning the rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Representatives of Adalah, Attorney Sawsan Zaher and Rina Rosenberg, Esq., and other Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations participated in the UN sessions held on 22-23 February 2007 in Geneva.

The Concluding Observations reflected numerous issues highlighted by Adalah in its reports to the Committee noting Israel’s violations of the ICERD.

A high-level delegation of 13 state representatives, headed by Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Yitzhak Levanon, also participated in the Committee’s sessions. Nevertheless, many of the questions sent in advance to Israel remained unanswered, as the Committee noted at the outset.

The main concerns and recommendations adopted by the Committee, which is composed of eighteen independent experts including law professors, lawyers and former judges, included:

1) The right to equality and a prohibition on racial discrimination should be explicitly included in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

2) Israel should ensure that the definition of the state as a Jewish state does not result in any systemic distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin in the enjoyment of human rights.

3) Israel should ensure “equality in the right to return to one’s country and in the possession of property”.

4) Israel should ensure that the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund, which manage land, housing and services exclusively for the Jewish population, are “bound by the principle of non-discrimination in the exercise of their functions.”

5) Israel should revoke the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) – 2003, and “ensure that restrictions on family reunification are strictly necessary and limited in scope, and are not applied on the basis of nationality, residency or membership of a particular community.”

6) Israel’s policy of affording highly advantageous benefits, particularly for housing and education, to those who perform military service is incompatible with the Convention, bearing in mind that most Arab citizens do not perform national service.

7) Israel should assess the significance and impact of Israel Land Administration’s “social suitability” admission criterion to small communities, as it may allow in practice for the exclusion of Arab citizens from some State-controlled land. The Committee recommended that Israel take all measures to ensure that State land is allocated without discrimination, direct or indirect, based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin.

8) Israel should assess the extent to which discriminatory attitudes by employers against Arabs, scarcity of jobs near Arab communities, and lack of daycare centers in Arab villages are a cause of high unemployment rates, particularly for Arab women.

9) Israel should enquire into possible alternatives to the relocation of inhabitants of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev/Naqab to planned towns, in particular through the recognition of these villages and the recognition of the rights of the Bedouin to own, develop, control and use their communal lands, territories and resources traditionally owned or otherwise inhabited or used by them.

10) Israel should address concerns that the psychometric examinations used to test aptitudes, ability and personality indirectly discriminates against Arab citizens in accessing higher education.

11) Israel should ensure that laws and programmes be equally devoted to the promotion of cultural institutions and the protection of holy sites of both Jewish and other religious communities.

12) Israel should increase its efforts to prevent racially motivated offences and hate speech, and ensure that relevant criminal law provisions are effectively implemented by prosecuting politicians, government officials and other public figures for hate speech against the Arab minority.

13) “A high number of complaints filed by Arab citizens against law enforcement officers are not properly and effectively investigated and that the Ministry of Justice’s Police Investigations Unit (Mahash) lacks independence.” The Committee regretted that Israel provided no comments in this regard as requested or information as to whether the persons responsible for the October 2000 killings have been prosecuted and sentenced.

14) Israel’s position that the ICERD does not apply in the OPT “cannot be sustained under the letter and spirit of the Convention, or under international law as also affirmed by the International Court of Justice.” Moreover “the Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.”

15) Israel should cease the construction of the Wall in the OPT, including in and around East Jerusalem, dismantle the structure, and make reparation for all damage. Israel should also “give full effect” to the 2004 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice.

16) Severe restrictions on the freedom of movement in the OPT targeting a particular national or ethnic group, especially through the wall, checkpoints, restricted roads and permit system, have created hardship and have had a highly detrimental impact on the enjoyment of human rights by Palestinians, in particular their rights to freedom of movement, family life, work, education and health.

17) Different laws and practices apply to Palestinians and to Israelis in the OPT, in particular the unequal distribution of water resources to the detriment of Palestinians, the disproportionate targeting of Palestinians in house demolitions, and different criminal laws leading to prolonged detention and harsher punishments for Palestinians for the same offences.

18) While stressing that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is an important cultural and religious site for people living in the OPT, the Committee urged Israel to ensure that the excavations in no way endanger the Mosque and impede access to it.

19) Israel should increase its efforts to protect Palestinians against violence perpetuated by Jewish settlers, particularly in Hebron, and ensure that such incidents are investigated in a prompt, transparent and independent manner, are prosecuted and sentenced, and that avenues for redress are offered to the victims.

The Committee also recommended that Israel make its reports and the Committee’s concluding observations readily available to the public in both Hebrew and Arabic.

Israel should submit answers to questions not provided in its submission and representations within one year, together with information on any first steps taken towards implementing the Committee’s recommendations. Israel should submit its next periodic reports and address all points raised in the concluding observations in February 2010.

For more information, see Adalah’s Special Report on UN CERD available at: http://www.adalah.org/eng/cerd.php

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=20745

Palestinian Medical Relief Society warns of a looming public health disaster in northern Gaza following sewage flood
Date: 28 / 03 / 2007 Time: 17:28

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) has issued a press release warning of a public health disaster in the northern Gaza Strip following the waste water flood on Tuesday.

PMRS reports that six people were killed in the flood of sewage, including two elderly women, two children and a teenage girl. PMRS also assured in its press release that 18 people were injured, and 11 people are still missing due to the flooding. At least 96 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the flood, and up to 300 families were forced from their homes, PMRS reports.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, reported earlier that it had set up tents for over 150 displaced families, adding that the majority of the village's residents are UNRWA-registered refugees. PMRS adds that the UNRWA tents can house up to 800 people.

PMRS reports that its primary healthcare clinic, the only medical centre in the village of Um Nasser, was affected by the flooding of sewage on Tuesday, but has now been cleared and remains on 24-hour alert, providing primary healthcare services to those injured in the flood.

PMRS continues to assist with the rescue and relief operation along with UNRWA, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Islamic Relief and other agencies. Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported earlier that it is providing the village with drinking water and tanks for potable water.

According to the PMRS press release, Dr Mohammed Yaghi, head doctor at the PMRS clinic in the village for five years, was overwhelmed with calls from patients when the flooding began, and started to receive cases at the clinic as soon as it had been cleared. Forty-six people have been treated at the clinic so far, the press release says.

Dr. Yaghi said, “This has been a tough day for everyone. It was particularly heartbreaking when an 11-month-old child whom I had treated at the clinic just two days before for a common cold, was found dead in his house along with his grandmother.”

PMRS reports that the tank, which overflowed on Tuesday morning, was originally built in 1976 to serve up to 50,000 inhabitants of north-eastern Gaza. Today, the total population served by the plant is now over 200,000.

PMRS says that the relocation of Bedouin communities to the village by the Palestinian Authority in 1995, in an attempt to prevent the encroachment of then–Israeli settlements into the area, further exacerbated the existing burden on the waste water treatment facility. In addition, a combination of overcrowding and poor planning meant that residential areas were built in close proximity to the plant, with one of the pools standing just 20 metres from the village.

PMRS recalls that local and international agencies have long warned of the environmental and health threats posed by the treatment plant. Construction of a new plant was planned east of Jabalia, yet a number of obstacles have prevented this plan from being realized including prohibitions by Israel of any works on the new site; a lack of funding due to Israel’s continued refusal to transfer tax monies collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority; and the prolonged closure of Gaza’s borders by Israel, preventing the entry of materials necessary for construction and repairs. PMRS recalls that, in 2006, the Rafah, Karni and Sufa crossings were open an average of just 57, 71 and 60 percent respectively in relation to the number of days they were due to open.

The plant was also badly affected during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in June 2006, PMRS states, when the bombing of Gaza’s only domestic power plant meant that there was a lack of electricity to pump sewage from the pools. In addition, Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling damaged part of the plant, PMRS says, and repairs were prevented as the situation was too dangerous to allow workers to access the area.

PMRS warns that, as a result of this disaster, the risk of water-borne diseases has increased immeasurably. In addition, the local population is suffering from a lack of clean drinking water, and groundwater resources and land are becoming further polluted.

PMRS says that the villagers are in need of basic items such as toilets, mattresses, blankets, showers, baby milk, pampers, and hygiene kits. PMRS is also already experiencing a shortage of certain vaccines at its clinic, the press release states, including the MMR vaccine.

PMRS also warns that it expects the numbers of dead and injured to rise in the coming days.

: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/04/23_resume.html

George W. Bush's Resume
BuzzFlash Note: Now available as an email-attachment-friendly PDF.

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Kelley Kramer

I recently had an email exchange with a right-winger from my local newspaper, and of course the war with Iraq came up pretty quick. But he said something in defense of George Bush that really surprised me. In defense of the attack on Iraq he said 'between Hussein and Bush, Hussein is the bad guy'.

My first response was ... So your guy is better than a third world dictator, Wow! what an accomplishment! Does he put that on his resume?

And with that in mind, I started wondering ... what would a George W. Bush resume look like exactly?

Listed below is what I came up with,

Best!

Kelley Kramer

-------------

George W. Bush Resume

Past work experience:

Ran for congress and lost.

Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.

Bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using tax-payer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox.

With fathers help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas.

Accomplishments: Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money. Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.

Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my fathers appointments to the Supreme Court.

Accomplishments as president:

Attacked and took over two countries.

Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.

Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.

Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.

First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.

First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.

First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.

After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.

Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.

In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.

Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.

Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.

Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.

Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.

Signed more laws and executive orders circumventing the Constitution than any president in US history.

Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.

Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.

Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.

Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. (http://www.hyperreal.org/~dana/marches/)

Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.

Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleezza Rice has an Chevron oil tanker named after her).

Had more states to simultaneously go bankrupt than any president in the history of the United States.

Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.

Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.

Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.

First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.

First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.

Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.

Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.

Withdrew from the World Court of Law.

Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.

First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).

All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.

My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.

First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)

First US president to establish a secret shadow government.

Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).

With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.

Fist US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.

Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.

Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.

Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capitol building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.

In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.

Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.

In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.

Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

Records and References:

At least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

AWOL from National Guard and Deserted the military during a time of war.

Refuse to take drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.

All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.

All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.

Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public review.

For personal references please speak to my daddy or uncle James Baker (They can be reached at their offices of the Carlyle Group for war-profiteering.)

http://www.aljazeerah.info/
Libyan paper accuses Arab countries of 'conspiring' to surrender the Palestinian 'right of return'

Date: 14 / 03 / 2007 Time: 12:36

Khan Younis - Ma'an -

A Libyan paper accused some Arab countries on Tuesday of being involved in a "conspiracy" to abandon the Palestinians' right of return in exchange for pressuring Israel to agree to the Arab initiative, which calls for the 'normalization' of relations between all the Arab states and Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders.

The paper also confirmed that Libya will not participate in such a conspiracy, and is carrying out preparations to send the Palestinians living in Libya back to the Gaza Strip.

The 'Al Jamahiriya' paper, which is considered the official paper of Libya, said under the headline 'The Black Deal', that there are attempts to 'sell off' millions of Palestinian refugees as the price to persuade Israel to accept the Arab initiative. The Arab initiative calls for 'an agreed, just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948.' There are over 4 million Palestinian refugees registered with the UN, mainly in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, in addition to the occupied Palestinian territories.

This follows declarations by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that Israel would not accept the Arab initiative as it is, but would ask that any reference be dropped on the issue of the right of the Palestinians displaced in the 1948 war to return to their homes inside Israel.

The paper added that, according to this deal, "Palestinians in the Diaspora will be settled by the states they are in, so those in Lebanon will be Lebanese and those in Syria will be Syrians and so on."

The paper said that Libya will not be part of this deal, and called on Lebanon and Syria to frustrate this conspiracy. The paper also said that Libya is making contacts to enable thousands of Palestinians living in Libya to return to the Gaza Strip.

The paper also assured that Libya will not attend the Arab summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the end of March.

http://www.aljazeerah.info/
Israeli Excavations in occupied East Jerusalem have political goals

Occupied Jerusalem, Maisa Abu Ghazaleh Tuesday, 13 March 2007

From the Palestinian Antiquities Ministry, Dr. Yousuf Natsheh, said that the Israeli announcement at discovering a Jewish population in the Shu'fat neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem “does not add much” to the area that has been inhabited by various civilizations for thousands of years

“We have to wonder about the accuracy and validity of the information and whether the discovery is political or academic.” Dr. Natsheh noted that the Israeli Antiquities Ministry has been digging in Shu'fat area for years and on Shu'fat Street since February.

“It is clear,” he told PNN on Tuesday, “that this announcement has political objectives.”

It is noteworthy that this round of drilling is the third in 10 years, of which the second phase revealed “roots that could have been researched," said Dr. Natsheh. “But when asked by they are not researching what they found and are instead again digging up the Palestinian streets, they replied that they must go under all of the Shu'fat buildings.”

Shu'fat is the only refugee camp within the Jerusalem city limits.