USA/Israeli Harassment Campaigns seek silence support for Human Rights, the Rule of Fair and Just Laws, Real Democracy, Palestine... and the list will not stop there: Your turn is coming.

“Gaza: no fuel allowed into the enclave for more than 4 months now. Without fuel, waste is piling up, clean water running out, clinics shutting down, electricity and telecoms patchy. All is deepening the immense suffering of 2 million people who continue to endure de-humanization and humiliation: a collective punishment. There must be a deal that will allow in a flow of basic supplies including fuel.” UNWRA

UNRWA

@UNRWA

“Gaza: no fuel allowed into the enclave for more than 4 months now. 

Without fuel, waste is piling up, clean water running out, clinics shutting down, electricity and telecoms patchy. 

All is deepening the immense suffering of 2 million people who continue to endure de-humanization and humiliation: a collective punishment. 

There must be a deal that will allow in a flow of basic supplies including fuel.” — UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini

UN Human Rights Palestine

@OHCHR_Palestine

With zero fuel entering #Gaza due to restrictions placed by Israel, critical protection services such as mental health and psychosocial support have been severely impacted, compromising the well-being and recovery of survivors of violence and trauma. 

 

 #FuelForGaza

 

António Guterres

@antonioguterres

 

I am appalled by the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

 

The last lifelines for survival are being cut off. 

 

Without an urgent influx of fuel, incubators will shut down, ambulances will be unable to reach the injured and sick, and water cannot be purified. 

 

The @UN has a clear and proven plan, rooted in the humanitarian principles, to get vital assistance to civilians – safely and at scale, wherever they are. 

 

I renew my call for an immediate permanent ceasefire and for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Abbas calls for UN committee on Israeli crimes against Palestinians

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]  

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710479

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called on UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon to form an international committee to investigate Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians, media reported.

The official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa said that Abbas gave Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for Mideast peace, a letter to deliver to Ki-Moon on the subject.

"Mohammad Abu Khdeir was burnt alive. Sixteen Palestinians, including children and women were killed during the past two weeks, aside from the ongoing kidnapping attempts and assaults against children," Abbas said, according the Wafa report.

"We all saw through the media the face of Tarek Abu Khdeir distorted with injuries by" Israeli police, he added.

"We are preparing for a set of steps to deter the Israeli aggression and curb settlers' crimes and the ongoing attacks against our people in the besieged Gaza Strip."

The President's remarks come as tensions soar amid riots by Palestinians in protest over the killing of 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir on Wednesday.

Abu Khdeir's murder is assumed to have been perpetrated by Jewish extremists angry about the recent killing of three Israelis in the West Bank.

*** 

United Nations

Middle East

The Question of Palestine

View of Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza City. IRIN

The UN has been working on the question of Palestine since the first special session of the General Assembly in April 1947, which set up a body to investigate the issue. Since then, the UN's work on the issue has continued to adapt to address changing realities on the ground.

• Palestinian application for UN membership
  • Palestinian Rights Committee
  • UN Information System on the Question of Palestine

Issues in Focus

• Quartet meetings, statements, action
• Road Map to Israeli-Palestinian peace
• Separation Wall - International Court of Justice advisory opinion and its aftermath
• Two States: Israel and Palestine - Security Council affirms the vision
• Security Council briefings by the United Nations Secretariat

Collective Apathy About Collective Punishment By Meg Walsh for MIFTAH

Collective Apathy About Collective Punishment

Date posted: June 22, 2011
By Meg Walsh for MIFTAH
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=23614&CategoryId=13

It feels like my surroundings are rapidly closing in on me. The metal bars in which I am enclosed are ugly and the ground is littered with trash. Desperate children are trying to sell me gum and candy. Candy is the last thing I want right now; I want to escape. Bodies are pressing up against me as people struggle to make it through the revolving gate that only lets a few through at a time. If I am not aggressive, I will never get through. A teenage boy is getting yelled at by a soldier for some unknown reason, and a father is denied although his wife and children are granted passage. An old man in the car lane is taking out his groceries one by one from his trunk as a young soldier stands inspecting, finger on the trigger. Cars are backed up and people are getting impatient. I am angry.

I must pass through the checkpoint every time I wish to enter Jerusalem from Ramallah, even though east Jerusalem is Palestinian territory. I have to answer the familiar questions such as “What were you doing in the West Bank?” or “Do you have any Palestinian friends?” I hate being forced to lie. Having Palestinian friends should not be looked at as criminal. And I hate that they almost – almost make me feel that I am truly doing something wrong. Most of all, I hate the way the Palestinians are treated, and although I am uncomfortable, chances are I will get through without much problem. Their reality is much different. Any random checkpoint encounter could mean harassment, detainment, or worse. It seems to mostly depend on the mood of the soldier.

I had underestimated the anger and anxiety that I would feel in these scenarios. Some people around me appear visibly upset while others just look bored. Because of the freedom that I have enjoyed my entire life, I refuse to accept this dehumanizing process. As I stand there, I vow to never adjust, to never become desensitized to this. For me, that would signal complicity in the face of the injustice that is occurring: a complete domination of one group of people over another—a betrayal of humanity. Threat levels are determined by the color of your ID card and the language that you speak. I will not thank the soldiers when they return my passport. I will not grant legitimacy to their role by acting like they are doing me a favor. I will not be forced to equate human rights with privilege.

When they ask, I tell the interrogators that I have been in the city of Nablus, visiting Jacob’s Well, which is the biblical site where Jesus is believed to have had encountered a Samaritan woman. This falls in line with my Christian tourism story that most visitors have to use if they are planning on having any contact with Palestinians. Although with suspicious looks, I am allowed to pass through the gates with the others like herded animals.

When you witness the policies that are in place and the apartheid system that is occurring, it is hard to stay outside the cycle of hatred. It is hard to see the ‘other’, the one who is enforcing the rules, as human—they become robots, trapped inside a system that teaches you to follow orders, not to ask questions. It denies all natural laws of humanity, so the challenge then becomes to stay human in an inhuman situation. People are not meant to be kept in cages, both figuratively and literally, and race and religion should not be prioritized. The ironies are many in this ‘Holy Land’.

But how do I communicate to others what I have seen and felt when most people choose the comfort of ignorance over awareness in our unjust world? If words could accurately describe this oppression, I do not believe it would be allowed to continue unchecked. The gap between words and lived experience is vast, and those who may actually have the power to change things may never understand the reality—the reality of the nightmare that is occupation. It was only through my experience in this region that I was ultimately changed. It was from looking it in the eye, from feeling powerless, from experiencing a fear that the unexpected could happen at any given moment.

In Palestine, where most days I feel useless rather than useful, I still somehow feel that I have to be here no matter how outside of my comfort zone it lies. I cannot continue to be complicit or neutral, because I have seen what that means in this conflict and how collective apathy has embarrassingly allowed the occupation of Palestine to continue for 44 years. I am standing on a bridge between two worlds—one in which the powerful are silent, and the other in which the powerless are screaming, yet ignored. It is through this paradox that I am seeking answers. And some degree of hope.

Meg Walsh is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.