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Gaza a prison, says UN envoy<br>
by <br>
Tuesday 26 September 2006 2:26 PM GMT <br><br>
<br>
<b>Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into a prison for Palestinians where
life is intolerable, a human rights envoy has told the United Nations
Human Rights Council.<br><br>
</b>John Dugard, special UN rapporteur on human rights in the occupied
Palestinian territory, said on Tuesday that the US, Europe and Canada had
failed the Palestinian people by withdrawing funds since Hamas's refusal
to accept Israel's right to exist.<br><br>
<br><br>
He also described the Palestinians' lives as appalling and
tragic.<br><br>
<br><br>
He said: "In other countries this process might be described as
ethnic cleansing but political correctness forbids such language where
Israel is concerned.<br><br>
<br><br>
"If the international community cannot take some action, [it] must
not be surprised if the people of the planet disbelieve that they are
seriously committed to the promotion of human rights." <br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
</font>Israel hit back saying there was an "alarming
disconnect" between the rapporteur's report to the UN's human rights
watchdog and the experience of Israelis who continued to face the
"daily threat of Palestinian terrorism".<br><br>
<br><br>
But Dugard, who has been a special UN investigator since 2001, said:
"Israel violates international law as expounded by the Security
Council and the International Court of Justice and goes
unpunished.<br><br>
<br><br>
"But the Palestinian people are punished for having democratically
elected a regime [Hamas] unacceptable to Israel, the US and the
EU."<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>No comment<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
In the past, similar criticism has been rejected by Israel and the US,
who say that the current crisis has been provoked by attacks by
Palestinian.<br><br>
<br><br>
Israel says its security restrictions are designed to stop bombers
entering Israel.<br><br>
<br><br>
It also maintains tight restrictions on the movement of goods and people
in and out of Gaza, a coastal strip that it pulled out of last year after
38 years of occupation.<br><br>
<br><br>
Dugard said that three-quarters of Gaza's 1.4 million people were
dependent on food aid. <br><br>
<br><br>
Bombing raids by Israel since the June 25 capture of an army corporal by
Palestinian militants had destroyed many houses and the territory's only
power plant.<br><br>
<br><br>
The West Bank also faced a humanitarian crisis, due to the barrier, which
Dugard said was a move by Israel to annex more land.<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>'War crime'<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
An Israeli human rights group has condemned Israel's bombing of a Gaza
power plant as a war crime.<br><br>
<br><br>
B'Tselem, an independent group that monitors Israel's occupation of the
West Bank and its policies in Gaza, said Israel could have used
"less harmful alternatives".<br><br>
<br><br>
Israeli war planes largely destroyed the power plant outside Gaza City on
June 28. <br><br>
<br><br>
Israel said at the time that it bombed the plant to cut power supplies
and therefore make it more difficult for Palestinian fighters to operate
following their kidnap of an Israeli soldier on June 25.<br><br>
<br><br>
The bombing cut off electricity to many of Gaza's 1.4 million residents,
affecting hospitals and food supplies, and had a knock-on impact on water
and sewage systems.<br><br>
<br><br>
"The bombing of the power plant was illegal and defined as a war
crime in international humanitarian law as the attack was aimed at a
purely civilian object," the rights group said in a report entitled
"Act of Vengeance".<br><br>
<br><br>
"Even if one adopts the doubtful claim that the attack provided some
definite military advantage, it was disproportionate and Israel had
other, less harmful alternatives."<br><br>
You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E34809EA-4840-4444-A5B2-F9A3C5E6AA01.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E34809EA-4840-4444-A5B2-F9A3C5E6AA01.htm</a>
<br><br>
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