Injustice made in Palestine

by: Kathy Malas

A dazzling and horrifying conflict is occurring today in the Middle East. The confrontation started in the early 19's between 2 nations that came to life from the same father: Abram, although it "seems" that it began only a week ago. The media in North America never took this war seriously or covered it properly. Palestine's land was taken away. However, the news and information are not communicated fairly and are, in many cases, biased. In my opinion, injustice was and is made to the Palestinian land and people. Several controversial issues in the ongoing Palestinian/Zionist conflict are visible. This injustice is manifested through the history of the land, the violation by the Zionist, who stole Palestine in 1948, with the help of the British at that time, of the UN resolution and by the right of the Palestinian Refugees to return to their land, which has still not been permitted.

The land of Palestine has been populated by the Arabs 5000 years ago. This has been long ago in history, from the time of the Canaanite Arabs who migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to Palestine (Canaan). Several nations came in and out of this land, but the Muslims/Arabs stayed. O.S. Edwards, a historian, quotes in his book: "According to the best authorities-on the results of the archaeo-, anthropo-, and ethno-logical research-- considerable proportion of the Palestinians whom we call Arabs have an ancestral domicile in Palestine going back without a break to centuries before the Children of Israel entered the country." Except for a century of Christian dominance during the crusades, Palestine remained under Muslim control; either Arab or Turkish, from the 7th to the 20th century. The Ottoman Empire ruled from 1517-1917/18. In 1906 the Zionist congress decided that the Jewish homeland should be Palestine after changing their first declaration in 1904, where they decided that a national home for Jews would be in Argentina. We all know the rest of history with the Belford declaration in 1917, the mandate for Palestine in 1922 that I will further discuss later on. These are simple facts that clearly points out the right of land for the Palestinian people long before 1917.

So many events since 1917 revealed the brutality, cruelty and unfairness of the Zionist. Unjustly murdered or assassinated Palestinian/Lebanese civilians, by the Zionist army, include thousands of women and children. Wounded patients are mostly in critical situations. Here are some examples of massacres in the last fifty-four years:

- 22/07/1946: King David massacre: 90 murdered
- 05/01/1948: Semiramis massacre: 19 murdered and 16 wounded
- 09/04/1948: Deir Yassin massacre: 250 murdered
- 11/08/1948: Dahmash mosque massacre: 350 assassinated
- 07/02/1952: Sharafat massacre: 10 brutally murdered
- 14-15/10/1953: Qibya massacre: Terrorist attack, 56 demolished, 67 murdered by Ariel Sharon.

- 29/10/1956: Kafr Qasime massacre: 43 murdered
- 03/11/1956: Khan Yunis massacre: 275 murdered.
- 17/07/1981: Beirout massacre: 150 assassinated, 600 wounded.
- 17/09/1982: Sabra and Shatila massacre: 3000-3500 savagely murdered in 62 h hours by the leading army of Ariel Sharon with Unit 101.
- 08/10/1990: Al-Aqsa mosque massacre: 23 murdered and 850 wounded
- 18/04/1996: Qanna massacre: 109 assassinated and 116 wounded.

These are couple of examples (massacre) that occurred several time a year. They are rarely mentioned because the Western media do not consider them as atrocities. In Sabra and Shatila's massacre, the bodies of the Palestinian refugees were found in terrible conditions. Robert Fisk, a well-known British journalist working the Independent Daily newspaper in the Middle-East, experienced the tragic scene of 17/09/1982 and described:

“But there were women lying in houses with their skirts torn up to their waists and their legs wide apart, children with their throats cut, rows of young men shot in the back after being lined up at execution."

A British medical doctor working in Beirut at the time graphically described the carnage:

"Besides being shot dead, people were tortured before being killed. They were beaten brutally, electrical wires were tied round limbs, eyes were dug out, women were raped (often more than once), and children were dynamited alive."

After Sabra and Shatila, Western news were debating if this event was a massacre or not!!! The press concentrated on Israel's self-examination rather than on the victims and their surviving family.

Even presently we including the whole what is known as the civilized world, still witnessing the suffering, the misery and the agony of the Palestinian people under occupation. Where they have to meet death every day, their land being reoccupied and their dignity as humans being tarnished and violated under various justifications.

We are still in the 21st century witnessing massacres and wholesale killing taking place under the nose of United Nations and the world. Jenin Camp in Palestine is a live example of the Palestinian people unfinished tragedy. Men, women and children killed in most ugly ways. Houses destroyed on the head of its residents, summary executions of young men, injured women and children bleed to death and huge destruction. United Nation’s fact –finding commission is not able even to start its work simply because the Israeli government is so scared to be condemned of the results of the findings of such very low profile committee.

Moreover, several UN Resolutions have and are being violated by the Zionist regime. In the Mandate for Palestine established by the Council of the League of Nations states in Article 2: "The Mandatory shall be responsible [...], and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion." This Article is VIOLATED and a clear example would be the incursion of the occupiers in the Aqsa mosque who shot dead Palestinian Muslim in prayer.

Article 7 states: “The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take their permanent residence in Palestine." VIOLATED. Palestinian citizens don't even have position of a passport. Consequently, they are considered as foreigners.

Some Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10th 1948) have also been violated. Article 5 declares: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman degrading treatment or punishment" Certainly violated as I described above regarding massacre.

Article 9 reveals: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile." VIOLATED by the DOP this week while arresting more than 1200 plus thousands other are now imprisoned in Israeli jails and offering to send Yasir Arafat in exile. Another example would be that Millions of Palestinians were exiled. They have been deprived from going back to their homeland

Article 13 says: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country." VIOLATED. The Zionist government refuses any Palestinian refugee to come back to their land.

Article 15 states: "Everyone has the right to a nationality" VIOLATED. Palestine isn't even recognized as a State and Palestinians don’t even have a clear citizenship.

UN Security Council Resolution 242 (November 22, 1967) urges the withdrawal of Zionist armed forces from the territory of 1967, the acknowledgement of the political independence of Palestine, the achievement of a just settlement of the refugee problem and the presence of observers in the country. The Interim Zionist Government also violated all these points. Therefore, another UN Security Council Resolution 338 (October 22, 1973) was emitted which called upon all parties after a ceasefire to implement of Resolution 242. However, this same government didn't follow the resolutions sent by the UN Council. Sad!?!

The Zionist state still refuses to repatriate the Palestinian Refugees of 1948 and 1967, claiming that they left with their own will in 1948 and that it is under no obligation to take them back. The Right to Return to the land is a simple matter of justice. UN Resolution 194, the most explicit and direct International law states: "the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property which, under the principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."

This point is very clearly mentioned yet its goal remains as far from realization as the day the resolution was enacted. We can find a similar message in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article 13 declares: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his own country." In a similar manner, Article 17 states: "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.” These two articles seem that it would provide to the refugee of 1948 a right of owning private property on their land. Unluckily, it doesn't pass through action. The expulsion of the Palestinian homeland comes against the spirit of the declaration and also of the 4th Geneva Convention (Article 49.) The Israelis signed and ratified the Convention. However, they didn't implement it and, therefore went against its recommendation.

Up to today, the Palestinian people are being oppressed, killed, deprived from the basics of the human needs and accused of being the « bad » side.
The matter of the fact that the Palestinians are under occupation and that their land is confiscated since fifty years is by itself injustice, especially since it’s the only remaining occupied land in the World. And all the violation of the human rights that follow these kinds of circumstances is the result of the occupation. Thus, in order to serve peace and justice, the Palestinians should have the right to self-determination, sovereign state, claiming back their land and properties.

What ever mean of oppression and tyranny that might be used from any side on the Palestinians will never ever solve the problem. Ending of the occupation is the magic word to solve the problems of this unfortunate conflict.