Petition to the United Nations Secretary General and Members of the U.N. Security Council to Establish a “No Fly Zone” over Gaza under the Principle and Norm of the “Responsibility to Protect”
To Be Presented to the Honorable U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the Honorable Ambassadors of the U.N. Security Council.
“The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the states in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.”
–Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations
Please Watch This Short Video Before Reading the Petition. Thank You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDaD_8BCFzE
No issue in modern history has endured more words, more speeches, more conferences, more peace initiatives, more promises, and more photo-ops, than Israel’s 44 year illegal occupation of over 3 million Palestinians.
World Governments and International Bodies have failed to bring an end to this occupation and establish a free, independent Palestinian State for refugees in their own land.
Thus it is up to us, you and me, people from around the world to stand up and demand an end to this illegal occupation that has thus far paralyzed and humiliated the world, our humanity, and what we all believe in, justice for all.
Signing is the simplest activism for justice for the Palestinians. Let your name and signature be the weapon for peace and justice for the Palestinians and peace and security for the Israeli people. A free Palestine means a secure Israel.
Thank you.
WHEREAS Israel is threatening another attack on Gaza which is at constant risk of another “Operation Cast Lead” with the most powerful air force in the region causing massive death and destruction.
WE, the undersigned Citizens of the World, demand that a “No Fly Zone” be immediately established over Gaza under the U.N. Principle of “Responsibility to Protect” as affirmed by the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council and as currently applied to Libya.
WHEREAS for 44 years of Israel’s brutal military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, the world has been complicit with this illegal occupation in its silence to the suffering, death, injury, home demolitions, imprisonment and torture of civilians, constant confiscation of Palestinian land to build illegal settlements that now house over 500,00 settlers, the Judaization of Jerusalem, destruction of mosques and excavation of Muslim cemeteries, theft of fourth fifths of the water supply to the Palestinians, settler violence, no freedom of movement, the presence of hundreds of humiliating checkpoints, closure of schools and universities at whim, prohibition of Palestinian Muslims and Christians outside of Jerusalem to pray at their Holy Sites, the construction of a “Separation” Fence that confiscates more Palestinian land and divides villages and families, and the outrageous siege of Gaza’s 1.5 million people for 4 years that has led to a deteriorating economy, high unemployment, mass poverty, malnutrition of children, death of civilians due to lack of adequate health care, food, clean water supplies, widespread mental and psychological illness, especially among traumatized children, and thousands of destroyed homes from “operation cast lead” that Palestinians are unable to be rebuild due to Israel’s prohibition of entry of cement and construction materials.
No other nation on earth could commit these “war crimes” for such a lengthy time without an enraged world acting immediately to end the illegal occupation and suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees in and out of the Occupied territories.
But this is Israel.
Most egregious is the blind kneejerk support of Israel’s illegal policies by the United States that consist of massive financial aid even during times of enormous debt and huge budget deficits, military aid to replenish used weapons, and over 40 Vetoes to protect Israel from any criticism or condemnation, much less action, by the United Nations Security Council.
“Responsibility to Protect”
WHEREAS throughout its history Israel has defied the U.N. Charter, Hundreds of U.N. Resolutions, International Laws and the Fourth Geneva Convention, nor has it ever accepted U.S., E.U. ,and Quartet Peace Initiatives, nor the Arab Peace Plan of 2002 that met all of Israel’s “peace” demands.
WHEREAS Israel has never accepted or cooperated with any International investigation into its atrocities against Palestinian civilians, nor has it ever been held accountable for its history of war crimes against the Palestinians that continue till this day.
WHEREAS on April 2006 the U.N. Security Council affirmed the principle of
“Responsibility to Protect” against four crimes: genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
One of its main principles states:
“If a State is manifestly failing to protect its citizens from mass atrocities and peaceful measures are not working, the international community has the responsibility to intervene at first diplomatically, then more coercively, and as a last resort, with military force.”
WHEREAS under International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel is considered the “occupying power” and thus the sovereign state responsible for protecting Palestinian civilians, the principle and norm of the “Responsibility to Protect” is applicable to Israel.
WHEREAS given Israel’s documented violations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and gross breaches of International and Humanitarian Law (see below), Israel has failed to protect the Palestinians under its sovereign control thereby failing to uphold the U.N. Security Council affirmed principle of “Responsibility to Protect”, the onus of “Responsibility to Protect” the Palestinians is now placed on the United Nations and the Security council to implement this principle by establishing a ‘NO FLY ZONE” over Gaza. to protect the 1.5 million civilians trapped and besieged by Israel from what surely will be another invasion and aerial bombardment. .
Thereby, WE, the undersigned thereby urge the U.N. Security Council in the strongest terms possible to meet its humanitarian obligation and responsibility to protect the 1.5 million Palestinian civilians living in besieged Gaza from any further Israeli aerial bombardment by passing an immediate resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter to establish a “NO FLY ZONE” over Gaza under the norm of “Responsibility to protect”.
To the world when it comes to the Palestinian issue it seems the United Nations, the U.S., E.U. and other western democracies talk peace but reward Israel’s violence against an innocent Palestinian population
The U.N. must not have two standards for humanity’s worth; one for the world and one for Israel.
If the U.N. does not meet its legal obligations to hold Israel accountable for the very war crimes the U.N. accuses Israel of committing then eventually the people’s of the world will consider the U.N. irrelevant and proceed unilaterally to determine their own policies and strongly support the freedom and independence of the Palestinians.
A strong boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel is growing rapidly around the world. Israel’s isolation will increase and the United States through its complicity and blind support of Israel’s warring policies may pay a significant international price for that support.
The Arab world has begun its transformation and thus now is the time to force Israel to withdraw from occupied territories and make peace with all the Arabs.
Some Documentation of Israel’s War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity during “Operation Cast Lead”. Dec. 27, 2008 – Jan. 18, 2009
According to Professor Francis R. Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College Of Law (Harvard Law School)
“There are 149 substantive articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention that protect the rights of every one of these Palestinians living in occupied Palestine. The Israeli Government is currently violating, and has since 1967 been violating, almost each and every one of these sacred rights of the Palestinian People recognized by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Indeed, violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention are war crimes.
“As matters of fact and of law, the gross and repeated violations of Palestinian rights by the Israeli army and Israeli settlers living illegally in occupied Palestine constitute war crimes.”
“On 19 October 2000 a Special Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a Resolution set forth in U.N. Document E/CN.4/S-5/L.2/Rev. It stated: “it was gravely concerned” about several different types of atrocities inflicted by Israel upon the Palestinian People, which it denominated “war crimes, flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity.”
In operative paragraph 1 of its 19 October 2000 Resolution, the U.N. Human Rights Commission then: “Strongly condemns the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force in violation of international humanitarian law by the Israeli occupying Power against innocent and unarmed Palestinian civilians…including many children, in the occupied territories, which constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity”
And in paragraph 5 of its 19 October 2000 Resolution, the U.N. Human Rights Commission: “Also affirms that the deliberate and systematic killing of civilians and children by the Israeli occupying authorities constitutes a flagrant and grave violation of the right to life and also constitutes a crime against humanity”.
–Professor Francis R. Boyle, “Israel’s Crimes Against Palestinians, Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide”, MediaMonitors.net, 8/28/2001
In an interview with Professor Richard Falk, Chris Hedged wrote an article in Truthdig.com, “Israel’s ‘Crime Against Humanity’”, December 15, 2008. In it he writes.
“The U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, former Princeton University law professor Richard Falk, calls what Israel is doing to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza “a crime against humanity.”…There is no structure of an occupation that endured for decades and involved this kind of oppressive circumstances…
….The magnitude, the deliberateness, the violations of international humanitarian law, the impact on the health, lives and survival and the overall conditions warrant the characterization of a crime against humanity.
This occupation is the direct intention by the Israeli military and civilian authorities. They are responsible and should be held accountable.”
The Goldstone Report.
In addition to the U.N. General Assembly and Human Rights Council, the majority of nations, the European Parliament, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Global Coalition of Civil Society Organization, and Religious institutions and leaders from around the world endorse the findings of the Goldstone Report.
However, as is customary for the United States in its protection of Israel at the U.N., it blocked the Goldstone Report from being submitted to the U.N. Security Council for action.
Key Findings in the Goldstone Report. A 575 page report
“We came to the conclusion, on the basis of the facts we found, that there was strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law, both humanitarian law and human rights law, were committed by Israel during the military operations in Gaza….The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly, in some respects, crimes against humanity, were committed by the Israel Defense Force (IDF).”
“The mission finds that the conduct of the Israeli armed forces constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of willful killings and willfully causing great suffering to protected persons and as such give rise to individual criminal responsibility,” the report’s executive summary said. “It also finds that the direct targeting and arbitrary killing of Palestinian civilians is a violation of the right to life.”
Haaretz, an Israeli Paper on Dec. 7, 2008/ (Attack on Gaza Pre-Planned)
“Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about”
Barak ordered preparations for Saturday’s operation 6 months ago. (Operation Cast Lead)
Egypt had brokered a six month truce between Israel and Hamas in 2008.
Who Broke the Truce prior to launching “Operation Cast Lead?” —ISRAEL
Guardian: “Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen”
–November 5, 2008
“A four-month ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was in jeopardy today after Israeli troops killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid into the territory.”
Amnesty International: April 1, 2009, “
“Israeli troops reveal Gaza abuses.”
One soldier’s testimony on his time in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
“That’s what is supposedly cool in Gaza… You see some guy on a road, walking along a path. They don’t have to be carrying weapons, you don’t have to identify that they have anything, you can just shoot them,” said one soldier.”
An Israeli Company Commander said in a Security briefing to soldiers:
“I want aggressiveness – if there’s someone suspicious on the upper floor of a house, we’ll shell it. If we have suspicions about a house, we’ll take it down… There will be no hesitation…Nobody will deliberate – let the mistakes be over their lives, not ours.” This is what Israel calls the “most moral army in the world.”
According to the UN
“The crisis claimed over 1,300 lives, 412 of them children, with more than 115 women and ~85 men over age 50, wounded more than 5,450 people, 1,855 of them children, as well as causing widespread destruction and suffering Large areas of Gaza had been razed to the ground, leaving many thousands homeless and the already dire economy in ruins.
From the International Coalition for the “Responsibility to Protect” Website:
“Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime”
From a Letter signed by many notable Professors and International Law Experts that appeared in The Sunday Times of London: January 11, 2009
“Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defence, not least because its assault on Gaza was unnecessary. Israel could have agreed to renew the truce with Hamas. Instead it killed 225 Palestinians on the first day of its attack. As things stand, its invasion and bombardment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s 1.5m inhabitants contrary to international humanitarian and human rights law. In addition, the blockade of humanitarian relief, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and preventing access to basic necessities such as food “and fuel, are prima facie war crimes.
BBC, “UN official slams Israel ‘crimes’, December 10, 20009
“The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk said Israel’s policies there amount to a crime against humanity. His statement came as UN human rights delegates urged Israel to take nearly 100 measures including ending its blockade of the Gaza Strip. He said the UN must act to protect the Palestinian population suffering what he called “collective punishment”.
In his statement, Mr. Falk called on the United Nations to make an “urgent effort” to “implement the agreed norm of a responsibility to protect a civilian population being collectively punished by policies that amount to a Crime Against Humanity”.
BBC, “Gaza strikes ahead of truce vote”, January 7, 2009
“John Ging, the UNRWA Chief in Gaza, told the BBC that there was “nowhere safe in Gaza.” Mr. Ging’s spokesman earlier said an investigation ought to be held to ascertain whether any war crimes had been committed in the incident. This is not the first time the UN has talked about war crimes in Gaza. Earlier this month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said some Israeli actions reported in Gaza might warrant prosecutions for war crimes.”
Guardian, “Occupied Gaza like Apartheid S. Africa”, say UN Report”, 2/23/2007 “Professor John Dugard, UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories issued a report in which he likened Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories to apartheid South Africa and says there should be “serious consideration” over bringing the occupation to the international court of justice. He also said that Israel’s response (attack) on Gaza has been grossly “disproportionate and indiscriminate and resulted in the commission of multiple war crimes.”
A.P, .July 24, 2006
“UN humanitarian Chief Jan Egeland called Israel’s offensive “disproportionate” and “a violation of international humanitarian law.”
Jewish Fast for Gaza, “Open Letter to Judge Goldstone”, April 24, 2010 –
’We affirm your findings…that presents strong evidence that during the war in Gaza Israel engaged in war crimes “
Independent UK Newspaper, January 15, 2009,
“Civilian casualties: Human rights groups (9 Israeli Human Rights Groups) accuse Israeli of war crimes”
Human Rights Watch, March 25, 2009;
“Israel: White Phosphorus Evidence of War Crimes.”
Amnesty International, “Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza civilian areas.” January 19, 2009
“Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime,”
Physicians for Human Rights USA Report: Medical and Forensic Investigation, November 3, 2000
“The IDF is violating international humanitarian and human rights standards.”
Important Sources to Review:
http://www.shovrimshtika.org/archive_e.asp
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli Organization that collects Testimonies of IDF Soldiers who’ve served in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. READ the Horrific testimonies and watch the Videos. They document the widespread WAR CRIMES by Israel.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/gaza-war-crimes-investigation?intcmp=239
“Gaza War Crimes Investigation” MUST WATCH VIDEO INVESTIAGATION on Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza conducted by the Guardian
http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/171-middle-east/2080-israels-bombardment-of-gaza-is-not-selfdefenseits-a-war-crime
Letter Signed by Notable Professors and International Law Experts on Israel’s “War Crimes”; Sunday Times, January 11, 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/29/israelandthepalestinians1
Guardian, “Israeli minister warns of Palestinian ‘holocaust’” (in Gaza)
Feb. 29, 2008
http://www.jrbooksonline.com/HTML-docs/bunche-report.htm
U.N. Report on Zionist Terrorism 1944-1948
