Transcript: The Palestinian Authority Draft to UN Human Rights Council (15 October)

Israel-Palestine: No UN Progress on Goldstone Report on Gaza

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

Haaretz has obtained a copy of the draft resolution that the Palestinian Authority will present to the United Nations Human Rights Council today. Here is the full transcript of the draft:

The Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

A

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Affirming the responsibility of the international community to promote human rights and ensure respect for international law,

Emphasizing the particularity of The Occupied East Jerusalem in its rich religious and cultural heritage,

Recalling all relevant United Nations resolutions including Security Council resolutions on Occupied East Jerusalem,

Deeply concerned also at the Israeli policy of closure and severe restrictions, including the permit regime, that continue to be imposed on the movement of Palestinians hindering their free access to their Christian and Muslim holy sites, including Al Aqsa Mosque,

1 - Strongly condemns al policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, to limit access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites particularly in Occupied East Jerusalem, on the basis of nation origin, religion, sex, age or any other status, which are in grave violation of the Palestinian People's civil. political, economic, social and cultural rights;

2 - Demands Israel, the occupying power, to respect the religious and cultural rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Hague convention and the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and to allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites;

3 - Demands also Israel, the occupying power to immediately cease all digging and excavation works and activities beneath and around Al Aqsa Mosque and its vicinity, and refrain from any acts or operations that may endanger the structure or foundations or change the nature of holy sites both Christian and Islamic in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in addition to articles 23, 25, 46 of the Hague Conventions;

B

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Considering that the promotion of respect for the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and rules of the international law is among the basic purposes and principles of the United nations,

Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by use of force, as enshrined in the charter of the United Nations,

Acknowledging that peace, security, development and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations system,

Affirming the applicability of the international human rights law and the international humanitarian law, namely the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Expressing serious concern at the lack of implementation by the occupying power, Israel, of previously adopted resolutions and recommendations of the council relating to the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Recalling its resolution A/HRC/S-9/L.1 of 12 January 2009, in which the Council decided to dispatch an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, and its call upon the occupying power, Israel, not to obstruct the process of investigation and fully cooperate with the mission,

1 - Condemns the non-cooperation by the occupying power, Israel, with the independent international fact-finding mission;

2 - Welcomes the report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission;

3 - Fully endorses the recommendations contained in the report, and calls upon all concerned parties including UN bodies, to ensure their immediate implementation in accordance with their respective mandates;

4 - Recommends the General Assembly to consider the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, during the main part of its 64th session;

5 - Requests the United Nations Secretary General to submit to the 13th Human Rights Council's session, a report, on the status of implementation of Paragraph 3. above;

C

The Human Rights Council,

Emphasizing that international human rights law and international humanitarian law are complementary and mutually reinforcing,

Recalling the obligations of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention,

Reaffirming that each High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War is under the obligation to respect and ensure the respect for the the obligations arising from that Convention,

Stressing that the right to life constitutes the most fundamental of all human rights,

Recognizing that the Israeli siege imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, including the closure of border crossings and the cutting of the supply of fuel, food and medicine, constitutes collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and leads to disastrous humanitarian and environmental consequences,

1 - Welcomes the first periodic report of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights on the implementation of the Human Rights Council resolution S-9/1;

2 - Fully endorses the recommendations contained in the first periodic report of the High Commissioner, and calls upon all concerned parties including UN bodies to ensure their implementation in accordance with their respective mandates;

3 - Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to the 13th Human Rights Council's session, a report, on the status of implementation of this report;

4 - Decides to follow up on the implementation of the present resolution at its 13th session;

Palestine: Abbas Goes on Offense, Criticises Hamas, Israel, and the US

US to Egypt: Stop the Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Talks

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

Facing increasing internal pressure and Washington's intervention in Fatah-Hamas talks, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has tried to take the political offensive. On Tuesday, he implicitly threatened that he could not control the masses if a "Third Intifada" arose in response to Israeli restrictions in East Jerusalem, announcing the re-submission of a motion to the UN condemning Israel's offensive during the Gaza War, and accused Hamas of unwillingness to reach a reconciliation agreement.

The UN Human Rights Council announced that the Goldstone Report on Gaza will be discussed on Thursday, and the UN Security Council will discuss the matter today. Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority's UN ambassador in Geneva, said the two-day debate would also examine recent incidents of violence in Jerusalem.

However, Abbas is trying to secure his position by moving attention to his negotiations with Hamas and Israel. He said that Hamas was using the Goldstone report as an "excuse to run away from reconciliation and, for the first time, criticized Washington clearly and harshly. According to the Associated Press, an internal Palestine Authority memo says:

All hopes placed in the new U.S. administration and President Obama have evaporated... Obama couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby, which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace.

Facing elections and amidst the reconciliation talks, Abbas's challenge to Washington is a risky game. At the end of the day, it is not clear how the Obama Administration will react to a man "shouldering all the troubles of the West Bank".

US to Egypt: Stop the Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Talks

Middle East: Israel’s Troubles with a Turkish Ally
The Results of the Mitchell Israel-Palestine Trip: Nothing

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

Washington has told Cairo that it does not support a reconciliation agreement which does not include the principles of the Quartet (US, UN, European Union, Russia): recognition of the State of Israel, acknowledgement of earlier agreements, and renunciation of terrorism. The Obama Administration believe the current agreement, which is supposed to be signed by both parties by October 15 , could undermine negotiations with Israel.

The Fatah Party, which leads the Palestinian Authority's West Bank Government, has already agreed with the draft of the reconciliation agreement, while Hamas has not made its position clear because of the recent PA support for deferral of the United Nations Human Rights Council vote on the Goldstone Report on Gaza.

With the pressure on Egypt to pull back from the reconcilation agreement, Fatah can concentrate on repairing its position. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that on 16 October 16 the PA will ask the Human Rights Council to forward the Goldstone report either to the UN Security Council or to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Which only leaves a question: if the Obama Administration really that a peace settlement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel can come true without an agreement between Fatah and Hamas....How?

Palestine: Abbas Facing Pressure from His Own Party?

The Results of the Mitchell Israel-Palestine Trip: Nothing
Palestine: Palestinian Authority Scrambles to Regain Authority
Palestine Video: Gazans Throw Their Shoes at Abbas

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

Tension between Fatah and Hamas increases. After Hamas's decision to postpone the reconciliation talks in Cairo, the Fatah Party's Central Committee has urged Fatah and Palestianian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to issue a presidential decree on 25 October for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Fatah's counter-plan is more of a rescue operation for the party itself, rather than for Abbas himself. The problem is now far more than Hamas' declaration that they would not shake the hand of the "traitor". Within the last two weeks, the furour over Abbas' blocking of a UN vote on the Goldstone Report on Gaza has turned many in the West Bank against him. Faced  with renewed corruption allegations against Fatah and a weakening position, Fatah elites are looking for a way to re-take the initiative.

Meanwhile, Abbas tries to regain his position by resubmitting the proposal for a vote on the Goldstone Report. He said:

The council must reach a decision to judge anyone who committed crimes against the Palestinian nation... I respect the majority opinion, and in the wake of everything that has happened, I have decided that the matter should be turned over again to the Human Rights Council!" Then, he defended his previous decision at the Council: "The decision to postpone [the vote] was a result of a consensus among the different parties at the Human Rights Council ... and in order to secure the largest number of supporters for any resolution in the future.

Both sides continue to blame each other for political manipulation of the Gaza finding. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior PLO official and adviser to Abbas, accused Hamas of exploiting the Goldstone Report to "damage national unity." In return, Hamas warned the Palestinian Authority not to declare new elections unilaterally. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that polls in the West Bank alone would further divisions between Palestinians.

Palestine: West Bank Leadership Scrambles to Regain Authority

Israel-Palestine: No Progress in Mitchell Tour

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

The Palestinian Authority, trying to fend off increasing pressure over its deferral of the Goldstone Report at the United Nations Human Rights Council last week, called for a general strike in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest Israel's "measures against the al-Aqsa Mosque" and asked the Human Rights Council to discuss both the Goldstone Report and the recent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli policemen in East Jerusalem .
On Friday, the Central Council of Fatah, the party of the Palestinian Authority leadership, called on the populace to mobilize "in defense" of al-Aqsa Mosque, protesting Israel's restrictions on access. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the UN, said, "We deferred, so we were expecting that the Israelis should respect in some way human rights, but this act of aggression against people, against the human rights and humanitarian law, is unbelievable."

Israeli media, however, report that the Palestinian move will be blocked by the US, which is supposedly embarrassed by the situation. Israeli officials claim that the "number one topic" for US envoy George Mitchell during his meeting with Palestinian officials was to convince them not to pursue the initiative.