Toespraak Gretta Duisenberg op conferentie in Zuid-Afrika 5-12 februari 2009
Reageer (0)Mrs Gretta Duisenberg
Chairperson
at the Conference
Stop the Humanitarian Crises in Palestine
(5th - 12th February 2009)
Johannesburg / Cape Town, February 2009
The Way Forward in Palestine
May I, first of all, present the Netherlands' foundation Stop the Occupation. For those of you who speak Afrikaans, the official name is Stop de Bezetting.
the foundation Stop the Occupation and its goals
Ariel Scheidermann (aka Ariel Sharon, 1928), accompanied by a force of some 800 Israeli police, deliberately provoked Palestinians by visiting the Temple Mount, home of the third most holy place of Islam, site of the Dome of the Rocks and the Al-Aqsa mosque, in Jerusalem on 28th September 2000. The provocation by this aggressive, 'non-negotiation' politician worked. The Second Intifada, a sheer act of stone throwing desperation against the fourth army in the world, began.
This naked act of aggression was my defining moment. I engaged in active support of the Palestinian cause.I participated in a protest march against Israel's so-called Operation Protective Shield in Amsterdam on 13th April 2002 and carried a Palestinian flag along. After the rally, I draped it over the balcony of my house in Amsterdam. It drew worldwide attention. As a result, our Foundation got a high public profile as promoter of a better destiny for the Palestinian people.
I established the Foundation under Netherlands law, called Stop de Bezetting (Stop the Occupation, StO) in 2002 in order to provide a wider base for the activities of myself and my.
Our activities are both humanitarian and political. In the humanitarian field, we try to assist orphans on the West Bank as well as women and children with cancer in Gaza. You may understand the difficulties we encounter.
Our political activities have one simple goal. It is equally difficult to achieve as our humanitarian activities are, but of an entirely different nature. Let me explain. Our goal is obvious: stop the occupation. Put in other words: we want a just and lasting peace to become a reality in the Middle East region. The question is: how.
We decided to adopt two principles.
One is that we apply and promote international law as the sole basis and the only way forward. This approach immediately yields a first result. Common wisdom wants us to believe that the problem is devilish complex and difficult to solve. Not so. International law brings order and a sense of direction. And, as the concept of the rule of law implies, international law is a product of civilization. In its many forms and as a whole spectrum of instruments, it provides the values and the norms for decent, civilized behaviour.
Our second principle is equally simple. We commit ourselves to address the essence of the problem. We take on the cause of the problem, not what follows. The argument goes as follows. The main problem was, is and will be for quite some time to come: the Israeli regime. The secondary problem, of significance though, is the bewildering and difficult to understand loyalty of Western world countries to this Israeli regime. Our direct goal is to try and convince the United States and the European Union member states that this approach is unwarranted and will not solve the many conflicts in the Middle East. In short, and put bluntly,: we aim at destroying the reputation of this Israeli regime which terrorizes the Middle East region for too long. As we are seeking to achieve peace, however, we also offer a way to peace in that region.
We were battling an uphill fight for many years, making some progress, but too slow by any standard. Now, however, we feel a stronger push into the right direction. And what is the reason? Israel's aggression in the Lebanon in 2006 and more so the all-out atrocities applied to the defenceless people of Gaza have damaged Israel's reputation in the Western World. And I sincerely hope that this Israeli mistake is beyond repair.
May I ask your attention to two vital subjects:
- what is the nature of the regime of the State of Israel and
- how does a serious roadmap to peace look like.
Israel and fascism
These are troubling times. After choking the people to near-death, Israel is waging war against Gaza, the encircled enclave. Once again, practically defenceless men, women and children are being murdered by one of the mightiest war machines in the world. What can we do, apart from showing our anger and demanding that the international community steps in?
This is a good time to reflect on a period of Israeli history. But, is this indeed the right time for abstract considerations? The reason for doing so is that the violence of the Israelis will become more understandable and possibly become even more reprehensible than first thought.
1948 saw the creation of the state of Israel. Towards the end of that year, twenty-eight American intellectuals, amongst whom were many Jews, wrote a letter to the New York Times1. Albert Einstein, who was already a famous scientist by then, was one of the signatories. It warned the American government not to be accommodating to Menachem Begin, the founder of the Israeli political party Tnaut Harerut. They wrote:
Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our time is the emergence in the newly created State of Israel of the Freedom Party (Herut), a political party closely akin in its organisation, method, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties.
Menachem Begin went on to become Israeli Prime Minister. In 1982, he made the following statement in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset:
[The Palestinians are] beasts walking on two legs. 2
Therefore the murder of Palestinian men, women and children does not pose a problem for some Israelis – after all, they are only beasts.
His party later became an important element in Likud, a party that does not afford any rights whatsoever to the Palestinians on the West Bank of the river Jordan or in Gaza. The relatively recent political party Kadima is a splinter group of Likud. This was the work of the arch-violator of international law, Ariel Sharon. The political manifestos of Likud and Kadima, give voice to unadulterated fascism. The idea of a 'Jewish State', exclusively for the so-called 'chosen race' is the same ideal as the Blut und Boden (or Blood and Soil) ideology which took hold in Austria and Germany before and during the Second World War. The manifestos are saturated with racism. To be clear: the international community does not recognise a 'Jewish State', but rather the state of Israel, whose population consists of around twenty percent non-Jews. These people have considerably fewer rights than the Jewish communities. In a continuing process, more and more of their democratic rights are taken away from them.
It's worth examining the backgrounds of a number of politicians who make up these unsavoury political parties.
Yitzhak Shamir, who was also Prime Minister of Israel, stated on April 1, 1988 (and this is no April fool's joke):
"The Palestinians" would be crushed like grasshoppers… heads smashed against the boulders and walls."3
Shimon Peres is the current President of Israel. Previously, along with his many other crimes, he was responsible for the torture centre at Khiam in the Lebanon and for the murder of children on at least two occasions in Qana, also in the Lebanon. In his Presidential acceptance speech, he plainly stated that the West Bank does not belong to the Palestinians but to the Jews.4
Tzipi Livni is the leader of Kadima and Minster of Foreign Affairs. In Trouw, a authoritative Dutch newspaper, an unimpeachable source,5 it was stated that she had worked for the infamous secret service, the Mossad, in Paris. Her task was allegedly to kill the Palestinian hostage-takers who had captured Israeli sportsmen during the Olympic games in Munich, without going through any legal process whatsoever. On December 12 last year, she stated that Palestinians who are Israeli nationals, around twenty percent of the Israeli population, should be moved to the yet to be established Palestinian state. This would be better for the Palestinians and would be advantageous to the Jewish character of Israel, as well as – don't laugh – Israeli democracy. 6
Ehud Barak, leader of the Socialist Party and Minister of Defence, is proud of the fact that he single-handedly killed thirteen wholly innocent people in Beirut.
"Because," he said, "the world must know that you don't mess with Israel." 7
We could go on highlighting the despicable side of leading political figures in Israel. It's perhaps more interesting to note that nearly the entire Israeli leadership consists of criminals. Their behaviour is typically fascist. They rob, destroy and confiscate. They lie through their teeth. The Israeli leadership deprives the Palestinians of their political, economic and social life. They deny them education and health care, food, drink, sanitary provisions, medicines, petrol and gas. They kidnap tens of thousands of men, women and children, throw them in jail and torture them… even women and children. They are serial killers. Every now and then they subjugate the Lebanese. They have been subjugating the Palestinians for over half a century. They violate the integrity of other countries: Palestine, the Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and, perhaps most significantly, the United States, their bosom friend. Iran is seriously threatened by extensive and long lasting air strikes.
We can draw only one conclusion from this: the Israeli regime is fascist through and through. It's not difficult to form this opinion. Anyone who spends even a little time examining the behaviour of Israel, even if only through the media, will reach the same conclusion.
Another root of the problem then presents itself. This criminal administration is stubbornly supported by the United States and the member states of the European Union. We could spend a long time reflecting on the reasons for this. However, it is more useful to look to the future. The key question is how to change this highly improper policy.
In America, President-elect Obama has already surrounded himself with members of the virtually all-powerful pro-Israel lobby. It would take some doing to change American policy. Nonetheless, there are an increasing number of people there who are coming to the realisation that the continuing support of Israel is not necessarily in America's best interest.
In Europe, the counter-forces are also becoming stronger, but do not yet have enough influence on the political elite. Political leaders such as Germany's Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarcozy, United Kingdom Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and the Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende, almost unconditionally align themselves with Israel and the United States. While Western influence in the Middle East is in notable decline, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert congratulates himself that, thanks to this political support, his country has never had it so good. In the meantime, the political and economic interests in the region of countries such as Iran, Russia, India and China are increasing.
Israel is a small country with a disproportionately big mouth. It can't even survive without massive financial support from the United States, the European Union and the global Jewish community. If the European Union wanted to, it could force Israel into decent behaviour within the foreseeable future. This would take some effort and would require unity, but it is possible. It would be a great service to the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Are those who reject Israeli fascism powerless? Are they the voices crying in the wilderness? This is nonsense, of course. For a start there are millions of people throughout the world who are willing to demonstrate against Israel. In addition, the Israeli regime is so criminal, that even the most avid supporter must have doubts, at least if they listen to their voice of reason and their instincts. Finally, Israel is doing its best to be internationally unacceptable.
Are those who truly strive for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East really powerless? Of course not. A useful and available instrument is an investigation, under the auspices of the United Nations, into war crimes in Gaza and bringing the guilty to justice. This proposal deserves every support from the EU and the member states.
This is now an urgent appeal to European political leaders: do not let this suffering continue any longer. Release the Palestinians, the Lebanese and the Israelis from this criminal and fascist regime. This will also be to the advancement of world peace.
the key to peace in the Middle East
Israel has obligations under international law. The country must immediately apply The Hague rules on warfare of 1899 and 1907 and the humanitarian rights of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In this way there will be an end to military aggression and the Palestinians will receive the necessary protection against military violence and the continuous mistreatment by the heavily armed, illegal, colonisers. Israel must – on the basis of Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 – give up all Arab occupied territories and honour all stipulations of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 2004.
In addition, under international law, Israel must:
- in the interest of a nuclear-free Middle East, dismantle their weapons of mass destruction in a verifiable manner, with internationally-guaranteed security in its place;
- recognise the state of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders, including East Jerusalem;
- evacuate all settlements and hand over the running of East Jerusalem;
- immediately repatriate all settlers who do not want to live under Palestinian rule to Israel;
- dismantle the illegal wall on the West Bank and pay damages;
- release all Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners;
- end the occupation of Gaza and refrain from collective punishment;
- refrain from military operations on the West Bank and in Gaza;
- end the identification system for Palestinian citizens and take down the wall;
- refrain from any form of aggression and violation of the integrity of neighbouring countries.
Should Israel fail to comply with the above, the European Union will enforce a massive, but peaceful, package of sanctions. In the Security Council of the UN, legal sanctions are proposed, such as the suspension of Israeli membership to the various organs of the UN familyi and the establishment of an Israel Tribunal in The Hague. The responsible politicians, military officers and judges who allow torture can then be made responsible in front of the international community for their deeds from a prison cell in The Hague. The US will, at least in the short term, apply their veto in order to prevent this from happening. Nevertheless, the sending of a signal is of great importance. The EU will apply its own series of sanctions: legal, consular, military, financial and economic. The EU will also demand, as a result of 60 years of material and psychological damage inflicted by Israel, extensive compensation for the Palestinian people. And of course there can be no question of the maintaining of links between Israel and the EU, as long as the country has not joined the community of civilised nations.
Bearing in mind the vulnerability of Israeli society, Israel will listen and comply within two years. The proposed peace strategy of the EU is the only political instrument through which a just and lasting peace can be achieved.
1] The New York Times, December 24, 1948
2] Cited in Amnon Kapeliouk's Begin and the Beasts, June 25, 1982
3] Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, in an address to Jewish settlers, New York Times, April 1, 1988
4] Haáretz, July 15, 2007
5] Trouw, September 17, 2008, Mrs. Clean [sic] - versus Mr.Mannetjesputter
6] NRC, December 12, 2008, 'Israëls Arabieren naar Palestina'
7] NOVA, December 15, 2005
8] Francis A. Boyle, Palestine, Palestinians and International Law, Clarity Press, Inc., pages 153 - 156
