Information may and even should motivate action

THE WORLD JUST WATCHES
by Neta Golan*

For the international peace observers currently holed up within Yasser
Arafat's presidential compound - myself among them - it is not Israeli
actions but the inaction of the international community that has most
shocked us.

Inside the pock-marked building surrounded by Israeli tanks and
snipers, there is one question on everyone's minds: How many
international laws does Israel need to break before the United Nations
demands a full and immediate Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank?

The list of violations is reaching unprecedented levels, even for a
conflict with a long history of ugly behavior on both sides. Collective
punishment is illegal under international law, but Israel has now
escalated from interrupting food shipments to shutting off water to the
Palestinian city of Ramallah, endangering the lives of 120,000 people.
The shelling of Palestinian civilian structures such as power plants,
schools and sewage facilities is occurring at an alarming rate.
Unarmed civilians are being killed daily.

There are also growing reports of Israeli troops raiding hospitals and
firing on ambulances and journalists. These are grave breaches of
international conventions.

Anthony Shadid, a correspondent for The Boston Globe, was shot on
Sunday as he walked away from an interview in our building. The
area, under full Israeli control, was quiet and there was no crossfire.
Shadid was wearing the required signs on his back and front indicating
that he was with the official press. Soon after he arrived at a hospital,
Israeli troops raided it with machine guns drawn. When he was
subsequently transferred for further medical treatment, his ambulance
came under fire from Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint.

Israel is making a mockery of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the
founding document of international human rights law, and by its tacit
acceptance, the United Nations is severely eroding its credibility in the
region and beyond.

Those of us inside the presidential compound need help desperately -
but not half as much as those on the outside who are facing the full
brunt of the mass round-ups and house-to-house raids. The situation
cannot deteriorate much further. Medical supplies have run out. Food
is scarce.

Pressure from abroad is essential. The presence of international
"human shields" throughout the occupied territories has been very
important in limiting the indiscriminate nature of Israeli military actions.

Nothing short of a UN demand for a full withdrawal to the 1967 UN
recognized borders, however, will succeed in restoring calm and
opening the way for peace negotiations. Simply pulling the troops out
of the recently invaded regions will not suffice. In the compound we
are left wondering, not without fear, whether the international
community will allow the permanent expansion of the already illegal
occupation and the exile if not assassination of the Palestinian leader.

* Neta Golan, an Israeli, is among the 40 international peace
observers occupying Yasser Arafat's besieged office. This comment,
which she wrote with Ian Urbina, an associate editor of the
Washington-based magazine Middle East Report, was contributed to
the International Herald Tribune.

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Received on Sun Apr 7 19:42:28 2002