Issue No.590
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13 - 19 June 2002 Issue No.590 Region |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Document:'Appalled and horrified'
A group of prominent Middle East scholars at American, British and Israeli universities issued the following statement after attending an academic conference recently held at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey:We the undersigned, scholars of the Middle East, strongly condemn the continued Israeli presence in the areas of the Palestinian Authority and the brutal oppression of the civilian population there. We are appalled by the systematic and comprehensive abuses of human and civil rights and horrified by the destruction of the civil infrastructure of the West Bank by the Israeli army during its latest April 2002 operation.
We call upon the international community to fulfil its obligations to compel Israel to abide by the United Nations Charter, the Fourth Geneva Accord, and other relevant international law and to dismantle its illegal settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The right of the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations to pursue their normal lives, free of threat, is sacrosanct and must be upheld by all parties to the conflict. Moreover, we fear that continued Israeli settlement activity and denial of Palestinian statehood may ultimately lead to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.
The government of the United States has declared as its policy the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. UN General Assembly Resolution 194 and UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 1397 were adopted with the utmost regard for the rights of the Palestinians wherever they are and the security and welfare of the people of Israel. An independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, alongside the state of Israel, and a fair solution to the refugee problem are the only means for bringing about a comprehensive peace.
To implement this vision, we call upon the United States to employ all means at its disposal, including suspension of aid, to ensure that Israel ceases its destructive military operations, extra-judicial killings and abuses of human rights.
Walter Ambrust, University of Oxford;
Joel Beinin, Stanford University;
Halil Berktay, Sabançi University;
Marilyn Booth ,University of Illinois;
Juan R I Cole, University of Michigan;
Hakan Erdem, Bogaziçi University;
Israel Gershoni, Tel Aviv University;
Fatma Müge Göçek, University of Michigan;
Ellis Goldberg, University of Washington;
Joel Gordon, University of Arkansas;
Aydan Gülerce, Bogaziçi University;
Zachary Lockman, New York University;
Afsaneh Najmabadi, Harvard University;
Sevket Pamuk , Bogaziçi University;
Ilan Pappe, University of Haifa;
Leslie Peirce, University of California, Berkeley;
Eve M Troutt Powell, University of Georgia;
Haggai Ram Ben-Gurion, University of the Negev;
André Raymond, University of Provence;
Yezid Sayigh, Cambridge University;
Tal Shuval Ben-Gurion, University of the Negev;
Charles D Smith, University of Arizona;
Sami Zubaida, University of London.
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