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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Bulldozing Arab rights
Four months ago, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning Israel's settlement policy and decided to convene a conference in Geneva for the first time ever on 15 July to enforce the rules of the 1949 Geneva Convention in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. The convention provides for the protection of civilians living under occupation and prohibits any demographic or geographic changes in occupied areas.Only Israel, the US and Micronesia voted against the resolution; 139 countries voted in favour. A few weeks ago, US Vice-President Al Gore, warming up for next year's presidential campaign, announced that Washington will use its influence to prevent the meeting in Geneva from taking place. In other words, the main sponsor of the peace process, is openly telling the world community that it will blindly support Israel.
The US is once again in line with the Israeli view, which refuses to consider the Arab land under its control since 1967 as occupied territory. If the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and south Lebanon are not occupied, what can they possibly be? What about the UN Security Council resolutions that call upon Israel to withdraw from all the territories it occupied during the 1967 War? The Arab peoples living under occupation, subject to a codified policy of racism, are second-class citizens on their own land.
The confiscation of Arab land, the demolition of houses and the collective punishment of Arabs under Israeli occupation are all flagrant violations of the fourth Geneva Convention. If the world believes in the Palestinians' right to an independent state, why should the US disagree? Basic principles of democracy make its position untenable.
The countries that voted in favour of the General Assembly resolution should not bow to US pressure. They must insist on holding the conference on time. Such a stand will show that the US cannot oppose the world on its own, but will also convey a message to Ehud Barak, who cannot build settlements and expect peace at the same time.
