Friday
Aug072009
UN Relief Agency Says Jewish Settlements Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
Friday, August 7, 2009 at 1:50PM
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) issued a strong message this week against expanding Jewish settlements in the district of Sheikh Jarrah, in East Jerusalem. The international community has joined UNRWA in voicing deep concern about the evictions of several Palestinian families from their homes. UNRWA remains vigilant about other refugee families in the area and says the evictions are causing further "unacceptable" suffering.
In 1956, UNRWA made an agreement with the Jordanian government, which controlled East Jerusalem at the time. The agreement stipulated the provision of houses in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah for Palestinians families who have been living ever since.
These recent evictions followed a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court that claimed Jewish families had owned the land before 1948. Skeptics of this decision have said that under international law, the settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Convention states:
"The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies."
The overwhelming view within the international community is that Article 49 is applicable to the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Previous U.S. administrations have labeled these settlements illegal, but Secretary of State Hilary Clinton used more cautious language this week:
"Both sides have responsibilities to refrain from provocative actions that can block the path toward a comprehensive peace agreement. Unilateral actions taken by either party cannot be used to prejudge the outcome of negotiations, and they will not be recognized as changing the status quo,” Clinton added.
Jewish settlers were escorted into the homes of 53 Palestinian people--some whom were left outside watching.
"The families, evicted in the early hours of Sunday from their homes where they have lived for more than a half a century, continue to suffer stress and shock," UNRWA stated.
"Not only were they surrounded by Israeli police and security personnel at dawn, their homes broken into and their families thrown onto the streets, thy have had to endure the indignity and humiliation of their personnel effects being loaded onto trucks and dumped in scrub land at the edge of Jerusalem's Route One," said UNRWA spokesperson Christopher Gunness.
TRNS spoke by telephone to Gunness and he added that these recent actions are affecting all the 4.6 million refugees-- and the fear is that further evictions are imminent. UNRWA has met with Israeli authorities and called on them to give back the homes of the evicted Palestinians.
In 1956, UNRWA made an agreement with the Jordanian government, which controlled East Jerusalem at the time. The agreement stipulated the provision of houses in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah for Palestinians families who have been living ever since.
These recent evictions followed a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court that claimed Jewish families had owned the land before 1948. Skeptics of this decision have said that under international law, the settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Convention states:
"The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies."
The overwhelming view within the international community is that Article 49 is applicable to the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Previous U.S. administrations have labeled these settlements illegal, but Secretary of State Hilary Clinton used more cautious language this week:
"Both sides have responsibilities to refrain from provocative actions that can block the path toward a comprehensive peace agreement. Unilateral actions taken by either party cannot be used to prejudge the outcome of negotiations, and they will not be recognized as changing the status quo,” Clinton added.
Jewish settlers were escorted into the homes of 53 Palestinian people--some whom were left outside watching.
"The families, evicted in the early hours of Sunday from their homes where they have lived for more than a half a century, continue to suffer stress and shock," UNRWA stated.
"Not only were they surrounded by Israeli police and security personnel at dawn, their homes broken into and their families thrown onto the streets, thy have had to endure the indignity and humiliation of their personnel effects being loaded onto trucks and dumped in scrub land at the edge of Jerusalem's Route One," said UNRWA spokesperson Christopher Gunness.
TRNS spoke by telephone to Gunness and he added that these recent actions are affecting all the 4.6 million refugees-- and the fear is that further evictions are imminent. UNRWA has met with Israeli authorities and called on them to give back the homes of the evicted Palestinians.
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