PRESS RELEASE

20 June 1997 @ 8:00am GMT

American administration and Congress use double standards regarding developments in the region, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights denounces the most recent positions and decisions taken by the American administration and Congress which support measures conducted by the government of Israel within Palestinian territories and which jeopardizes the role of the United States of America as a co-sponsor of the peace process.

The Centre also expresses its deep dissatisfaction with the disregard demonstrated by the United States’ administration to the situation in the region and the increasing anger among the Palestinian people as a result of the continued Israeli policy of settlement and judiazation of Palestinian territory.

Additionally, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is shocked by the harsh attacks by the United States against Palestinian officials who allegedly called for the killing of land dealers involved in transferring Palestinian land to Israelis when at the same time Israel has escalated its settlement policy illegally confiscating land from Palestinians and causing grave danger to the entire peace process.

The Palestinian Centre expresses its deep concern over the double standards of the American administration and Congress for many reasons:

The issue of prosecuting land dealers who sell Palestinian land to Israelis

1. Official American statements exaggerate the issue of land dealers who sell Palestinian land to Israelis in a misleading manner under the auspices of protecting the human rights of the Palestinian people. Palestinian senior officials announced repeatedly that such land dealers would be brought before the court and tried within the rule of law for crimes committed against the interest and security of the Palestinian people.

2. As a human rights organization we vehemently oppose the death penalty and advocate for the abolishment of this form of punishment from local legislation. However, the Palestinian Centre abhors charges of Nazism by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich when referring to the application of the death penalty to land dealers collaborating with Israel. It must be emphasized that the laws applicable within the Palestinian Territories, including the death penalty, were inherited from previous administrations. The death penalty has never been used against any Palestinian since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in May 1994.

3. The recent statements by the United States are surprising in light of the strong support from the United States when the Palestinian National Authority established the State Security courts on 7 February 1995 which implied the implementation of the death penalty in cases affecting the high interests of the Palestinian people. In contrast to the Palestinian Centre’s clear stance against the establishment of the courts, Vice-President Al Gore praised their establishment on more than one occasion, including during a meeting with President Arafat in Jericho in 1995.

4. Selling Palestinian land by land dealers is not ordinary legal and civil behavior and jeopardizes Palestinian security interests by transferring Palestinian lands to Israelis. In the last few years thousands of dunams (approximately one fourth of one acre) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were transferred through fraud and illegal activities to settlers and American companies which support settlers through American capital. Although expected to take action, the government of the United States has yet to take measures against American companies which aid settlements or put an end to illegal acts related to Israeli settlements. (For more information on the activities of American companies supporting Israeli settlements refer to the press release of 3 June 1997 regarding Days Inn investments in the Gush Katif settlement.)

5. Measures taken by the Palestinian National Authority to protect Palestinian land and prevent its transfer to Israelis, including the call to apply the death penalty against collaborators trading with Israel, is an internal Palestinian affair. It is especially hypocritical of the United States to interfere in light of the fact that many states within America still implement the death penalty.

6. The United States has failed thus far to fulfill its undertakings as one of the high contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. According to Article I of the agreement, “the High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present convention in all circumstances.” According to Article 49 of the Convention, “the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” This article makes it very clear that Israeli settlements in Palestinian and Arab territories is illegal according to international law. However, the American administration seems to turn a blind eye regarding Israeli defiance of international law, United Nations security council and United Nation General Assembly resolutions relative to the settlements.

7. Since Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are illegal and contradictory to international law and United Nations resolutions, it is implied that all acts supporting and strengthening the settlements is illegal. Therefore the acts of land dealers who knowingly transfer Palestinian land to Israelis and facilitate the establishment of Israeli settlements are illegal acts and the Palestinian National Authority has the right to respond to these acts within the rule of law under its jurisdiction and in accordance with legislation promulgated by its legitimate legal institutions.

8. Instead of continuing its biased position towards the state of Israel, the United States should carry out its expected role as a co-sponsor to the peace process and take measures to force the government of Israel to stop its settlement program in Palestinian territory. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are a basic obstacle to reaching a peaceful settlement between the two sides. The continuation of the settlement program undermines the basis of final status negotiations as it changes facts on the ground, leaving little Palestinian land for negotiations. It is well known throughout the world that Israel’s settlement policies and land confiscation have been the main cause for the deadlock in negotiations and the essential death of the peace process.

Regarding the House of Representative and Senate decisions on Jerusalem

On Tuesday 10 June 1997, the House of Representatives recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and allocated 100 million USD for transferring the American embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Although the resolution is not binding on the American administration, it reflects defiance to international law and to the will of the international community by legitimizing the annexation of East Jerusalem, including United Nations resolutions relevant to the issue of Jerusalem.

All of these actions disregard Israeli measures against the welfare of Palestinian residents in Occupied East Jerusalem, even though the annexation of the city has never been

internationally recognized. These decisions adopted by the House of Representatives are illegal and contribute only to strengthening Israeli human rights violations in Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Territories.