Kamervragen over Mevr. Duisenberg

Vragen van het lid Karimi
(GroenLinks)aan de minister van
Buitenlandse Zaken over de
weigering van de Israëlische
autoriteiten mevrouw Duisenberg tot
Israël toe te laten.(Ingezonden
12 oktober 2005)
1
Hebt u vernomen dat mevrouw
Duisenberg de toegang tot Israël is
geweigerd?1
2
Bent u tevens op de hoogte van de
«schandalige manier »waarop
mevrouw Duisenberg bejegend en
behandeld zegt te zijn?Zo ja,wat is
uw oordeel hierover?
3
Bent u bereid een nader onderzoek in
te stellen naar dit incident en de
Israëlische ambassadeur in
Nederland te ontbieden om
opheldering in deze zaak te krijgen en
uw zorg hierover uit te spreken?
4
Bent u,mede naar aanleiding van dit
geval,bereid de kwestie van
ontzegging van toegang tot Israël aan
mensen die opkomen voor de rechten
van Palestijnen op EU-niveau aan de
orde te stellen?
1 de Volkskrant,10 oktober jl.
Antwoord
Antwoord van minister Bot
(Buitenlandse Zaken).(Ontvangen
31oktober 2005)
1
Ja.
2en3
Mevrouw Duisenberg,noch de
delegatie waar zij deel van uitmaakte,
heeft tijdens het voorval de
Nederlandse ambassade in Tel Aviv
benaderd.Eerst na terugkeer in
Nederland heeft mevrouw
Duisenberg contact gezocht met de
Nederlandse ambassade.Naar
aanleiding van dit contact heeft de
ambassade bij de Israëlische
autoriteiten om opheldering
gevraagd over de weigering
mevrouw Duisenberg toe te laten tot
Israël en haar behandeling.
4
Voorzover mij bekend,ontzegt Israël
niet structureel de toegang aan
mensen die opkomen voor de rechten
van de Palestijnen.Ik zal deze kwestie
dan ook niet in EU-kader aan de orde
stellen.

Toevoeging:

Punt 4 is niet correct zoals hieronder en in vele andere berichten te lezen is:

In the early hours of this morning the Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv
airport stopped a group of international observers who were en route to a
Christmas peace conference in Bethlehem.

After lengthy interrogations, two (UK) were allowed to enter the country
and three were denied entry on â?~security groundsâ?T. The three (S
Africa, Italy, Australia) intend to challenge this decision in the Israeli
courts. Now they expect to spend Christmas in jail, rather than in
Bethlehem.

The group are experienced peace campaigners who were on their way to the
â?oCelebrating Non-Violenceâ? conference to be held in the Palestinian
town early next week. All five have worked previously as international
observers in the Palestinian territories.

Spokesperson Charlotte Carson states: â?oOur colleagues are being stopped
from attending a conference about non-violent activism because they are
non-violent activists. Clearly, Israel is afraid of the power of
non-violence.�

The detained are all members of Access for Peace in the Middle East, a
pressure group that intends to challenge the criminalisation of peace
workers and the deliberate isolation of Palestinians from international
observation and assistance.

Robin Horsell, a UK-based South African who formerly campaigned against
apartheid gave his reasons for making this legal challenge:

â?oIsrael gives spurious grounds for deportation or refusal of entry. But
the real reason is our support for human rights and justice. We hope this
legal challenge sets a precedent that in future will allow international
citizens full access to Palestinian lands.�

This campaign is supported by many prominent peace campaigners, including
Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Nonviolence International, George
Monbiot, AngieZelter, Jeremy Hardy and European Jews for a Just Peace.

Notes:

Since 2000, the Israeli authorities have denied entry to the Occupied
Palestinian Territories to hundreds of international citizens who intend
to work with grassroots organisations such as the International Solidarity
Movement, Christian Peacemaker Teams, the International Womenâ?Ts Peace
Service, and many other NGOs that provide humanitarian assistance to the
occupied civilian population.

Israel calls itself â?~the only democracy in the Middle Eastâ?T, yet its
practice of obstructing the passage of hundreds of observers and peace
activists calls its democratic credentials into question.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent organisation (the equivalent of
the Red Cross), during the last five years 3754 Palestinian men, women and
children have died from Israeli military action. The vast majority of
these casualties have been civilians.

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