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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (99263)	5/27/2003 2:05:38 PM
From: michael97123	Respond to of 281500

Nadine, Agree about the double standard but it doesnt change the fact that the world looks at the June 1967 and nothing before or after. The pressure is on both parties to accept 1967 with slight changes. It works well with Israelis vis a vis the Return but badly vis a vis the settlements. Both sides need to go "back to the future". And yes the Jews dont get biblical Israel, and the Arabs dont get 1947 Palestine. It is time to stop fighting about this and then maybe they will too. Mike

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (99263)	5/27/2003 11:42:44 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Likud leader condemns army abuses Chris McGreal in Jerusalem Tuesday May 27, 2003 The Guardian A leading Israeli politician has accused soldiers of "gross violations of human rights" in the occupied territories, and the army high command of indifference to the abuses. The unprecedented accusations came from Michael Eitan, a former cabinet minister and leader of Ariel Sharon's Likud party, as he chaired hearings of the Knesset's law committee. Although Israeli and foreign human rights groups have long documented evidence of systematic abuses by soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza - including murder, indiscriminate shooting, aiming at children, torture and use of human shields - such accusations have generally been dismissed by the authorities as driven by anti-Israeli motives. But Mr Eitan's charges drew blood when he astonished the military at the start of the hearing by alleging widespread abuses and wondering if the army leaders knew of it. "I am not certain that the responsible officials are aware of the fact that there are gross violations of human rights in the field despite army regulations," he said. Mr Eitan, a former army officer, demanded to know from the head of operations, Brigadier General Eli Yaffe, whether the military was aware of the scale of abuses. The general replied: "We are aware that there are exceptional cases." Asked how many cases a month, Gen Yaffe said he could not supply figures. "How can you not know?" Mr Eitan asked. "Are there a few instances or thousands?" In March, the army claimed that about 18% of more than 2,000 Palestinians killed in the past two-and-a-half years of intifada were "innocent civilians", but said most were just "caught in crossfire". Human rights groups dispute the claim, saying soldiers make civilians a target almost with impunity. They say that charges against troops who shoot illegally are usually levelled only when such killings draw public attention, as happened when a soldier shot dead a 95-year-old Palestinian woman in December. The soldier was initially sentenced at an administrative hearing to just 35 days' imprisonment for the shooting, but, after widespread criticism, the army ordered a court martial. Mr Eitan went on to accuse the army high command of indifference. "Are you aware that the number of complaints is nothing compared to the number of violations? How can you take stock of the situation when you don't know how many violations occur?" Gen Yaffe said the matter was discussed weekly "all the way up the chain of command to the chief of general staff". Mr Eitan said: "If the army doesn't keep statistics, it cannot be seriously dealing with the problem." He then said the hearings would resume in a fortnight, with the army providing statistics on human rights abuses. Mr Eitan, who has served in the Knesset for 19 years, has sparked controversy before. He drew the ire of Binyamin Netanyahu (when he was prime minister) by campaigning for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Late last year, he led the charge to bar prominent Israeli Arab political leaders from contesting the general election, accusing them of supporting "the armed struggle of terrorist organisations". guardian.co.uk