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PERSONAL STATEMENT BY U.N. WORKERS IN PALESTINEThursday 05 Dec 2002
author: United Nations Workers (dhoud_in_palestine@yahoo.com)
summary
Statement signed by UNITED NATIONS WORKERS in PALESTINE
December 3,2002
To whom it may concern,
We, the undersigned, are staff members of the United Nations, but we
write in our personal capacities. All of us work in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip bringing badly needed humanitarian relief to a population in
distress. In the course of our duties we have witnessed much tragedy on
both sides of the conflict. We have come from all over the world to
work, without bias or favour, to try to alleviate some of the pain and
suffering that has for too
long afflicted this land.
Now we find that, once again, tragedy has touched us. For us,
expressions
of sadness and grief are not enough. The diplomatic language of the
bureaucrat will not suffice. We write to express our absolute
condemnation
at the senseless killing of Iain Hook in Jenin on November 22. Based on
publicly available information, we condemn the Israeli army in the
strongest
possible terms for this wanton act against an unarmed man - a man shot
in
the back by a military sniper while negotiating with the Israeli army
to
evacuate the women, children and UN staff who were in the UN compound
at the time.
Our condemnation is reinforced by the knowledge that the soldiers
refused to allow an ambulance called to evacuate Iain to travel the last few
yards
needed to reach him. Instead, UN staff here forced to seek an
alternative
route to rescue him. This caused a delay and made sure that the work
done by a bullet was completed by the Israeli army's refusal to respect
the most elementary standards of humanity.
The shock of that day's events does not come in isolation. For two
years,
United Nations staff have been subject to escalating harassment and
violence by Israel's military, so that the protection supposed to be
afforded by the blue letters of the UN is being steadily eroded.
UN staff - international and Palestinian alike - have been verbally
abused,
stripped, beaten, shot at and killed by Israeli soldiers. There has
been
armed interference with UN employees and vehicles, including attacks on
UN ambulances and medical personnel. UNRWA schools, health clinics and
offices have been hit by bombs, rockets, tank shells and gunfire even
during
daytime, thereby endangering the lives of staff and, in the case of
schools, the lives of refugee children. Buildings occupied by UN staff
have
been repeatedly damaged during Israeli airforce bombing.
Tragically Iain Hook was not the first person working with the UN to
die at
the hands of the IDF this year. In March, Kamal Hamdan was shot and
killed
while travelling in a clearly marked UNRWA ambulance in the West Bank..
In
April, Husni Amer died in Israeli military custody in Jenin after,
according to witnesses, receiving a brutal beating by the soldiers at
the
time of his arrest. From its silence, we presume the Israeli
authorities
have ignored UN requests for an investigation and report of these two
incidents, and have not seen fit to take any disciplinary action
against
the soldiers involved. To us, this seems to confirm a pattern of utter
contempt on the part of the Israeli army for the lost lives of these
men,
the safety of UN staff or the minimum standards imposed by
international
law which should protect UN staff and other humanitarian workers.
The official military spokesperson's statement on the initial
investigation
into Iain's killing asserts that shots were fired from UNRWA's compound
in
the Jenin refugee camp towards Israel's forces. This contradicts
eyewitness
accounts of our colleagues in Jenin and the information relayed to
UNRWA's
Field Office by Iain just prior to his death. The most charitable
characterization one can make of this statement is that it lacks any
credibility. To us, it has all the makings of propaganda designed to
tarnish the reputation of the UN, excuse the killing of an unarmed man
and
perpetuate the false charge that UNRWA shelters terrorists, in the
public
mind. We strongly request that any investigation carried out by the
Israeli
government will be independent, transparent and impartial. We strongly
request that the Israeli government will bring those responsible for
Iain's
killing promptly to justice. Only the most lawless societies allow
gunmen in
uniform the impunity to kill aid workers without fear of punishment..
We are
confident Israel does not wish to see its troops painted in the same
colours as the militiamen who have stalked some of the world's other
conflicts.
As UN staff, we expect the protection of the Israeli government to
enable us to undertake our humanitarian responsibilities wherever they are
needed. This is not a matter of courtesy or favour, but rather an
implementation of Israel's own obligations under international law and its
express commitment to UNRWA to facilitate the Agency's operations in the
occupied territories.
Israel's often stated regret at the loss of civilian lives is not an
impervious shield that can deflect all criticism. It is a shield that
is, in
our view, tarnished by the attempts of Israeli spokespersons to link
Iain's
death to wider political issues or to claim that the UN was somehow
culpable
for his killing. In these tragic circumstances, rather than easily
uttered
regrets, we expect the Israeli Government take the necessary steps to
stop
the harassment, beating and killing of UN staff. We expect respect and
protection as United Nations employees. As international staff members,
we
hope and expect to return alive to our own countries and families after
our
work here is done. We hope and expect no less for our Palestinian
colleagues so they can live and work in safety until the parties to the
conflict eventually find the road to peace.
Sally Airs, Australia; Naomi Ando, Japan; Ignacio Artaza Zuriarrain,
Spain
Alan Barnie, Australia Peter Bartu, Australia Pamela Bell, USA Susan
Brannon, USA Marlise Brenner, Australia Deidre Connolly, USA Marisa
Consolate Kemper, Canada Joanna Corbin, UK B. Scott Custer Jr., USA
Omar
Dajani, USA Calvin Dasilvio, USA Isabelle dela Cruz, Germany Marc De la
Motte, Italy-France Mark Dennis, USA Ray Dolphin, Ireland Juliet
Dryden, UK
Teresa Fallarme, Philippine Jean-Marie Frentz, Luxembourg Christopher
Gabelle, UK Jagannathan Gopalan, India Philippe Grandet, France Pentti
Hakonen, Finland Roger Hearn, Australia Grigor Hovmannisyan, Armenia
Thierry Kaiser, France Sima Kanaan, Jordan Elizabeth Kawambwa, Tanzania
Jan Kolaas, Norway Antje Kunst, Germany Marc Lassouaoui, France Brett
Lodge, Australia Ali Mahmuda, Canada Henrik Mathiesen, Norway Carlos
Mazuera, Columbia Paul McCann, UK Amanda Melville, Australia Severine
Meyer, France Zeina Mogarbel, Spain Merethe Nedrebo, Norway Gustav
Nordstrom, Finland Patrick O'neil, Ireland Melissa Parke, Australia Joachim
Paul, German Alex Pollock, UK Gerhard Pulfer, Austria Timothy Rothermel,
USA Sam Rose, UK Ehab Shanti, Canada Shahwan Huda, Jordan Jean-Luc
Siblot, France Guy Siri, France Elna Sondergaard, Denmark Juerg Staudenmann,
Switzerland Angelo Stefanini, Italy Gretta Van Bleek, Netherlands Arjan
Van Houwelingen, Netherlands
Andrew Whitley, UK Hanna Wintsch, Switzerland Cecilia Wreh-McGill, USA
Ros Young, UK Kirsten Zaat, Australia
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