arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Dear Editor,

I was very shocked about the recently committed liquidation-action
by the Israeli army on the spiritual leader of the Hamas, Sheikh
Yassin, by leaving a mosk, by which he and 7 other innocent
Palestinian civilians were killed.
This liquidation-action must seen in the light of the annoncement
last week by Israeli security and governmental authorities to open
the ''hunt'' on the leaders of the militant Palestinian
organisations.
Even an anonymous Israeli security officer declared against the
Israeli daily newspaper Maariv, that ''the hunt is open''

International Law:

These liquidations, which were initiated by by the Israeli
government in the beginning of the seventy years of the last
century, are as extra-judicial executions in contrary with the
International Law [Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
Convenant of Political and Civilian Rights] and also with the
Israeli constitution, that declares that executions without a trail
are illegal.
Moreover demand those liquidations, which are mostly committed in
the form of rocekt-attacks on cars, markets, houses,
flat-appartments and refugee-camps, the lives of many innocent
civilians.
In that cases they are war-crimes, because the ones who gave the
orders and the executioners of those orders could have foreseen in
advance that innocent civilians would be present too.

Being grave violations of International Law, those liquidations are
numerous times in the past condemned by international humna rights organisations like Amnesty
International [http://www.amnesty.org], Human Rights Watch [http://www.hrw.org],
the Israeli human rights organisation B'tselem [http://www.btselem.org],
the International Red Cross [http://www.ircr.org], the Secretary General of
the UN and in reports of the European Union [EU]

International condemnations:

Also in this case there are international condemnations:
Apart from the above named human rights organisations, this
liquidation on Sheikh Yassin is also condemned by the Belgian
prime-minister Verhofstadt, the European diplomate Janvier Solana,
the British minister of Foreign Affairs Jack Straw, the French
government, the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan and the
official spokesman of the Vatican.

Political support for Israel:

The only political reaction in favour of Israel was stemmed from the
American president Bush, who
declared taht Israel ''had the right to on defension against the
terror''

Not only is this a non-argument because an illegal act is committed
here, which is forbidden according to Intrenational Law, also is
known that the Bush-administration is not only head-responsible for
a great number of war-crimes [the use of internationally forbidden
clusterbombs in Afghanistan en Iraq, which costed the lives of more
than 6000 Afghanian and more than 5000 Iraqi innocent civilians, the
mistreatment of prisoners and the arbitarily shooting on innocent
civilians], but also lacks the most elementary respect for
International Law [according to the inhuman and illegal treatment of
the supposed Talicab and al-Qaeda prisoners in Guantanamo, who are
held there more than 2 years without any form of accusation or
trial]

Moreover, the USA itself have committed liquidations by firing
rockets on supposed Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and
Jemen.


Israeli defences of the liquidation-policy:

Not only have the Israeli government-officials used very respulsive
expressions regarding the liquidation of sheikh Yassin [the Israeli
prime minister Sharon declared that he ''thanked'' the army, because
''justice was done'' and the Israeli Sewcratary of State of Defense,
Bloim said that ''Yassin got what he deserved''], their defence of
the liquidation of Yassin because het is held responsible for many
suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, is totally wrong , at
least according the principles, based on the internationally based
human rights standards.

Not only has every human being right on a fair trial, according to
International Law, it is a common rule in International Law, that
the one illegal deed [the committing of suicide-attacks agaisnt
innocent Israeli civilians] can not be answered by another illegal
act [committing an extra-judicial execution]

International measures against Israel:

Although Europe and most countries of the world have condemned this
political liquidation, which is
just like they condemned former liquidations, it has yet not
resulted in international or European political measures against
Israel, that has shown to have no respect whatsoever for
International Law, either concerning UN-resolutions, or concerning
international humna rights treaties, which Israel itself has
undersigned.

Especially I name in this respoect its refusal to implement the
unanimously accepted UN-Security Resolution 242 dd 22-11 1967, by
which Israel was summoned to withdraw its troops from the in 1967
conquered areas, which consist on this moment [in 1976 the conquered
Sinai-desert was given back to Egypt according to the Camp-David
Accords] of The Palestinian West-Bank, the Gaza-strip,
East-Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan-Height.

This refusal has resulted in a more than 36yearst during
occupations, ti which is inherent many humiliations, human-rights
violations and war-crimes, which leads natyrally to resistance, in
the form of the legitimated resistance against the Israeli
occupation-army and the very condemnable suicide-attacks on Israeliu
civilians, which are stricly forbidden by International Law.

It is my opinion, that it is of the greatest importance that there
are taken international or European measures against Israel to
implement those UN-resolutions, which is the international
obligation of all countries in the world.

Only then can be prevented a further escalation of the Middle-East
conflict which can be, yet apart from all innocent Israeli and
Palestinian civillian-victims, a seriouw treath to the world-peace.


Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands