Text of the Statement by
H.E. Dr. M. Javad Zarif
Permanent Representative of the Islamic
Before
The Resumed Tenth Emergency Special Session
of
the General Assembly
In the name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful
Mr.
President,
I wish to begin by thanking you for
resuming the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly. I also should
express my appreciation for the efforts of the Secretary-General over the past
months with a view to assuaging the plight of the Palestinian people.
Mr. President,
Despite its serious
shortcomings, the report of the
Secretary-General on “recent events in Jenin” reveals, to some extent, the
crimes perpetrated by the Israeli military during its invasion of the Jenin
refugee camp and other Palestinian areas in April. It does so in spite of the
fact that the Israeli regime adopted an obstructionist
policy from the beginning and did its utmost to block any effort by the
international community to develop accurate information about what went on in
the refugee camp between April 3rd and
The report echoes the assertion by
independent human rights groups and eyewitnesses of the use of “civilians as
human shield” by Israeli troops. It reports the “effective leveling of the
central Hawashin district” in Jenin and “much of
physical damage to other districts”. “Wider bombardment with tanks and
missiles” after 9 April and the use of “armored vehicles, supported by tanks,
to demolish portions of the camp” by the Israeli troops are also reflected in
the report.
The report is also explicit in
describing the acts amounting to war crimes committed by the Israelis, such as preventing
the dying wounded to have access to medical care and civilians to basic humanitarian
necessities. The report asserts that “ambulances and medical personnel were
prevented by IDF from reaching the wounded within the camp”. It adds that “on 4
April, IDF ordered the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to stop its operations
and sealed off the hospital”. The report goes on saying that “in addition of
the denial of aid, IDF in some instances targeted medical personnel.” The
report highlights the humanitarian crisis in the camp, which was, as it
emphasizes, exacerbated by Israeli troops preventing UNRWA from delivering food
and medical supplies and cutting off electricity.
Mr. President,
The report does in fact list many
acts and instances, which by any definition, constitute war crimes. However, it
falls short of calling them what they actually are within the perimeters of
international law. Undoubtedly, this and some other shortcomings of the report
are attributable, after all, to the Israeli policy of deceit and obstruction on
the diplomatic front, which augmented their bloody campaign against innocent
Palestinian civilians on the military front.
The Israelis, aware of the extent of
the crimes their armed forces committed in Jenin, first tried to buy time
through deceiving the United Nations into believing that they would permit an
international fact-finding team to visit the area. It allowed them to arrange
the scene, eliminate evidence and prepare for the next stage. As the
Secretary-General clearly described in his letter to the President of the
Security Council, dated
Against this backdrop, the refusal
by the Israelis to cooperate with the authors of the present report came as no surprise.
The report at hand details, among other things, the Israeli pattern of
non-cooperation and obstruction in the course of its preparation—the pattern
that culminated in leaving unanswered the communication of the
Under-Secretary-General. As a result, the report is written without a visit to
Jenin or the other Palestinian cities in question.
Mr. President,
The Israeli regime should not be
allowed to commit war crimes, hold the entire UN system in contempt, evade
accountability and finally walk away with impunity. Such an eventuality will,
undoubtedly, nurture the culture of impunity and damage the international
system as a whole. Moreover, while we perfectly understand the malicious reasons
behind the refusal of the Israeli regime to cooperate with the fact-finding
efforts of the United Nations, we do not understand why the writers of the
report found themselves obliged to intersperse it with so many quotations from
official Israeli propaganda.
Nor do we understand the distinction
the authors of the report tried to make between so-called “militant” and “non-militant”
residents of the Jenin camp. As a matter of law and fact, when it comes to
resistance to invasion and occupation, such distinction is totally unwarranted,
as everybody is entitled to the “inherent” right to self-defense. In fact, at a
time when some invoke the right of self-defense to strike at villages half around
the globe, how could any body cast doubt on the right of the residents of Jenin
and other Palestinian towns, when an armed-to-the-teeth occupying army invades and
plunders their homes, towns and villages.
Mr. President,
My delegation is concerned at the
consequences of the process we went through over the past few months and hopes
that the international community, represented by the United Nations, will find
an effective way to rectify the situation.
Palestinian residents of the
occupied territory are “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention,
which provides that they may not be willfully killed, tortured, taken as
hostages or suffer humiliating or degrading treatment. Acts of collective
punishment or reprisal or destroying the property of protected persons by the occupying
power constitute criminal offenses under the term of the Convention. For the
sake of its own credibility, the United Nations should focus all its attention
and efforts on putting an end to such barbaric practices and bringing their
perpetrators to justice.