May 15, 2007
The New York Times, May 15 2007,
JERUSALEM, May 14 — The International Committee of the Red Cross, in a
confidential report about East Jerusalem and its surrounding areas,
accuses Israel of a “general disregard” for “its obligations under
international humanitarian law — and the law of occupation in particular.”
The committee, which does not accept Israel’s annexation of East
Jerusalem, says Israel is using its rights as an occupying power under
international law “in order to further its own interests or those of its
own population to the detriment of the population of the occupied
territory."
With the construction of the separation barrier, the establishment of an
outer ring of Jewish settlements beyond the expanded municipal boundaries
and the creation of a dense road network linking the different Israeli
neighborhoods and settlements in and outside Jerusalem, the report says,
Israel is “reshaping the development of the Jerusalem metropolitan area”
with “far-reaching humanitarian consequences.” Those include the
increasing isolation of Palestinians living in Jerusalem from the rest of
the West Bank and the increasing difficulty for some Palestinians to
easily reach Jerusalem’s schools and hospitals.
The Red Cross committee, which is recognized as a guardian of humanitarian
law under the Geneva Conventions of 1949, does not publish its reports but
provides them in confidence to the parties involved and to a small number
of countries. This report was provided to The New York Times by someone
outside the organization who wanted the report’s conclusions publicized.
The leak came just days before Israel’s celebration of Jerusalem Day this
Wednesday, observing the 40th anniversary of the unification of the city.
The committee is better known for its role in visiting prisoners all over
the world to try to ensure humanitarian conditions. It has been involved
for decades with the Israeli-Palestinian situation as part of its role in
upholding the Geneva Conventions, which cover the responsibilities of
occupying countries. But its reports rarely surface.
The report considers all land that Israel conquered in the 1967 war to be
occupied territory. It was the result of nine months of work by the
committee and was delivered in late February “to Israel and to a small
number of foreign governments we believe would be in the best position to
help support our efforts for the implementation of humanitarian law,” said
Bernard Barrett, a spokesman for the committee in Jerusalem.
Israeli officials said that they respected the committee and that they had
cooperated with it gladly on issues ranging from the release of captured
Israeli soldiers to asking its officials to give briefings on
international law to Israeli diplomats and commanders serving in the
occupied West Bank.
They confirmed having received the report, but disagreed with its premises
and conclusions.
“We reject the premise of the report, that East Jerusalem is occupied
territory,” said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
“It is not. Israel annexed Jerusalem in 1967 and offered full citizenship
at the time to all of Jerusalem’s residents. These are facts that cannot
be ignored."
Israel, he said, “is committed to a diverse and pluralistic Jerusalem, to
improving the conditions of all the city’s inhabitants and to protecting
their interests as part of our sovereign responsibility.” He added, “If
any population in Jerusalem is thriving and growing, it is the Arab
population."
He also noted that Israel made great efforts to ensure health care for
Palestinians, pointing to 81,000 entry permits in 2006 for Palestinians
needing care inside Israel.
Conditions have worsened for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which has
long had inferior services.
Security restrictions and the barrier that runs around and through parts
of East Jerusalem were Israel’s response to suicide bombings after 2000,
but they made it much more difficult for Palestinians to move into and out
of Jerusalem.
It is virtually impossible for Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza to
move to Jerusalem if they were not born in the city; even visiting
requires a permit that can be hard to get. Natural population growth and
building restrictions in Arab parts of the city means that large families
often share very small apartments.
Palestinians argue that the building restrictions are meant to suppress
the growth of the their community; the Israelis counter that zoning
restrictions are imposed throughout the city.
The Red Cross report notes that the separation barrier “was undertaken
with an undeniable security aim,” but adds, “The route of the West Bank
barrier is also following a demographic logic, enclosing the settlement
blocs around the city while excluding built-up Palestinian areas (thus
creating isolated Palestinian enclaves)."
Mustafa Barghouti, spokesman for the Palestinian unity government,
welcomed the report, calling it consistent with the rulings of the
International Court of Justice, which said in a nonbinding opinion in 2004
that Israel’s security barrier was illegal where it crossed the 1967 lines
into occupied territory. “Israel violates international law with impunity,
and couldn’t continue this blunt violation for 40 years if it did not feel
impunity toward the international community,” Mr. Barghouti said. | 
