Ref:
12/2010

The
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns with the strongest terms
storming the yard of the al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem by hundreds of
Israeli settlers and their supporters, escorted by Israeli security
forces. PCHR
further condemns the use of excessive force by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
against Palestinian civilians who gathered inside the Mosque and/or attempted
to prevent the provocative entry of settlers into the Mosque. PCHR recalls that the storming of the Mosque
took place one week after a decision taken by the Israeli government to include
the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque in Bethlehem on the
list of Israeli archaeological heritage sites. PCHR further notes that repeated attempts to cause disturbances at the
al-Aqsa Mosque have been a main reason for the escalation of tensions in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the most notable instance being the
provocative visit by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Mosque
on 28 September 2000, which led to the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada, during
which thousands of Palestinians were killed.

PCHR
strongly condemns all disruptive measures taken by IOF in East Jerusalem, and
reminds of the legal status of the OPT. PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to
force Israel, the occupying power, to stop such measures. PCHR believes that the failure of the
international community to take a decisive position towards Israel’s behavior
as a State above law encourages it to perpetrate more violations of
international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

According
to investigations conducted by PCHR, in the early morning of Sunday, 28
February 2010, IOF closed all roads leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque, and
established barriers at the entrances of the old city of Jerusalem, denying
Palestinian civilians access to it. A
few hours later, at least 200 Israeli police and security officers entered the
yard of the al-Aqsa Mosque and besieged dozens of Palestinian worshippers. They then closed the doors of the Mosque with
iron chains. At approximately 08:00, at
least 500 Israeli settlers and their supporters, escorted by IOF, broke into
the yard of the Mosque through al-Magharbah Gate, to conduct religious rituals
for the Jewish holiday of Purim. Soon
after, hundreds of Palestinian civilians gathered near Hatta Gate and attempted
to reach the al-Aqsa Mosque in an attempt to force Israeli settlers to leave
the yard of the al-Aqsa Mosque. Immediately, IOF

fired
rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at these
civilians. As a result, 6 civilians were
wounded by rubber-coated metal bullets. Israeli police officers also violently beat a number of Palestinian
civilians near al-Majles Gate, and a woman, Fatema al-Barsi, sustained a
fractured leg when Israeli police officers closed a gate on her legs when she
attempted to reach the al-Aqsa Mosque. Additionally, IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration
organized by female school children. They also attacked and fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian civilians
who gathered near al-Asbat Gate. At
least 12 civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation.

According
to eyewitnesses, IOF arrested 5 Palestinian boys in the old city and 5 boys in
the Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood. At noon,
after the settlers had left the al-Aqsa Mosque complex, IOF maintained the
closures of the entrances of the old city. They also prevented Palestinians below 50 years of age from reaching the
Mosque. 

PCHR
reiterates its condemnation of the storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque yard by
Israeli settlers, escorted by IOF, and the use of excessive force against
Palestinian civilians, and:

1) Calls upon
the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, jointly or
individually, to fulfill their legal and moral obligations to ensure Israel’s
respect for the Convention in the OPT according to Article 1 of the Convention,
and believes that the international silence and inaction encourage Israel to
act as a State above law and perpetrate more violations of international human
rights law and humanitarian law, including efforts intended to establish a
Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.

2) Calls upon
the international community to immediately act to force the Israeli government
to stop all settlement activities in the OPT, especially in East Jerusalem, and
to dismantle existing settlements, the existence of which constitute war crimes
under international humanitarian law.

3) Calls upon
the European Union and/or its Member States to activate Article 2 of the
Euro-Israeli Association Agreement, which links continuous economic cooperation
between the two parties to Israel’s respect for human rights, and to stop the
trade of Israeli products, especially those produced in Israeli settlements in
the OPT.