Ref: 08/2008
Date: 06 march 2008
PCHR Organizes a Conference on Repercussions of the Siege on the Civilian Population of the Gaza Strip
On Thursday, 6 March 2008, PCHR organized a conference on the repercussions of the siege on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Representatives of NGOs working in the field of health, education, economy and human rights and a number of academics and journalists participated in the conference.
In his opening speech, Mr. Khalil Shaheen, Director of PCHR Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit, welcomed the participants. He then pointed out that the conference was organized in the context of efforts jointly made by PCHR and a number of local, regional and international organizations to exert pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to lift the tightened siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has disastrously impacted about 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Shaheen further emphasized that this Israeli policy constitutes a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
In his speech, Mr. Jaber Wishah, Deputy Director of PCHR, emphasized the importance of the conference as an integral part of the agenda of economic and social rights, which enjoys a special attention. He indicated that the conference was a complementary effort to other efforts made by civil society groups to highlight the siege as a form of the renewing Palestinian suffering, whose repercussions should be addressed. The conference, Mr. Wishah added, seeks to discuss the repercussions of the siege and to formulate a national plan to appeal to the world to lift the siege.
In the first session, titled “Economic and Social Rights of the Civilian Population under the Siege,” Mr. Khaleel Shaheen explained PCHR’s view of the economic and social rights of the civilian population under the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip from the perspectives of international humanitarian law and human rights law. He pointed out that the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and the closure of its border crossings violate international human rights law, and constitute a form of collective punishment prohibited under the International Bill of Human Rights. Mr. Shaheen further explained that Israel has developed such policy since the first Palestinian Intifada, which started in 1987. He also highlighted a number of international human rights instruments, which clearly prescribe Israel’s legal obligations, as an occupying power, towards the civilian population, stressing that such instruments prohibit penal measures and reprisals against civilians.
In her intervention, Ms. Hanan Taha, Executive Director of Palestinian Trade Center, focused on the impacts of the closure of commercial border crossings on the Palestinian private sector. She provided a survey of commercial activities at the crossings of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Ms. Taha also referred to the losses resulted from the Israeli siege, especially the losses incurred to the Palestinian private sector in the Gaza Strip since June 2007.
In his intervention, Dr. Jihad Hamad, Professor of Sociology at al-Azhar University, focused on the impacts of the Israeli siege on social conditions in the Gaza Strip. He highlighted a series of measures taken by Israel in the context of practicing such policy and their impacts on health, education, living conditions, unemployment and poverty in the Palestinian society. He further stressed the importance of supporting social services to be appropriately provided to the Palestinian population.
In the last working paper submitted at the first session, Ms. Nadia Abu Nahla, Director of Women’s Affairs Technical Committee in the Gaza Strip, highlighted the status of women and children in the Gaza Strip under the siege. She indicated that Palestinian women have become a representation of the suffering of a whole people because of the Israeli aggression and the tightened siege. She further discussed the impacts of the siege on the Palestinian people, especially women, with regard to production, agriculture, national income, humanitarian aids, construction and education.
In the second session, which focused on the impacts of the siege on humanitarian services in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Bassam Abu Hasheesh, Professor of Education at al-Aqsa University in Gaza, highlighted the conditions of education under the siege. He pointed out that the Israeli siege is not a new policy rather it is an old Israeli strategy practiced against Palestinians since the beginning of occupation. He further stressed that the siege has become a rule and allowing Palestinians to enjoy their right to the freedom of movement has become an exception. Additionally, Dr. Abu Hasheesh highlighted some impacts of the siege, including: The suffering of students due to shortages of school needs; the lack of school equipment; denial of access of students to universities; the lack of financial resources to cover the costs of education.
In his intervention, Eng. Munther Shublaq, Director of Association of Coastal Municipalities Water, talked about environmental health services under the siege, indicating that many projects aimed at providing clean drinking water to the population of the Gaza Strip have been suspended due to the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. He highlighted a number of obstacles that have impacted his association’s ability to carry out its activities, including: The disability to implement several projects due to the lack of raw materials and machines; suspension of donations to emergency projects; denial of entry of spare parts needed for the facilities of water and sewage; shortages in fuel supplies; obstruction of the entry of some materials needed for the desalination of water; and others.
In his intervention, Dr. Bassam al-Badri, Director of External Medical Treatment Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, talked about health services under the siege. He highlighted the impacts of the siege on his department, including: Increasing applications for transferring patients to hospitals abroad due to the lack of medical supplies at Palestinian hospitals; and increasing applications for transferring patients suffering from cancer to hospitals outside the Gaza Strip due to the lack of chemotherapy. Dr. al-Badri pointed out that at least 20 Palestinian patients have died due to restrictions imposed by Israeli occupation authority at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.
In a concluding intervention, Dr. Mahmoud al-Khuzondar, Deputy Chairman of the Association of Owners of Fuel Stations, talked about the shortages in fuel supplies on economic and social conditions. He highlighted a series of decisions taken by Israeli occupation authorities since October 2007 to decrease fuel supplies allowed into the Gaza Strip. He further explained the steps taken by his association to confront those decisions, including: Refusing to receive decreased amounts of fuel supplies; exposing this policy to the media; submitting a complaint to the United Nations and discussing the issue with its representatives in the Gaza Strip; appealing to European and Arab states to intervene with Israeli decision maker; and directly communicating with Israeli authorities to explain the repercussions of such policy.
Following the two sessions, the participants discussed the impacts of the siege and mechanisms of pressure to the lift the siege. The conference concluded a number of recommendations, including:
1) Calling upon the international community, especially the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to immediately intervene to pressure for lifting the siege, reopening border crossings, ending the suffering of thousands of Palestinians who have been stuck at border crossing; and ensuring access of Palestinian patients to appropriate medical treatment; and
2) Calling upon the international community to take necessary measures to exert pressure on Israel to stop policies of collective punishment against the population of the Gaza Strip, including the closure of border crossings and the denial of right to freedom of movement of persons and goods.
