"Terrible human rights crime in Gaza"
A human rights crime

Jimmy Carter - The Guardian - Thursday, May 8 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...hepalestinians

The world must stop standing idle while the people of Gaza are treated with such cruelty

The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world. An entire population is being brutally punished.

This gross mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza was escalated dramatically by Israel, with United States backing, after political candidates representing Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Authority parliament in 2006. The election was unanimously judged to be honest and fair by all international observers.

Israel and the US refused to accept the right of Palestinians to form a unity government with Hamas and Fatah and now, after internal strife, Hamas alone controls Gaza. Forty-one of the 43 victorious Hamas candidates who lived in the West Bank have been imprisoned by Israel, plus an additional 10 who assumed positions in the short-lived coalition cabinet.

Regardless of one's choice in the partisan struggle between Fatah and Hamas within occupied Palestine, we must remember that economic sanctions and restrictions on the supply of water, food, electricity and fuel are causing extreme hardship among the innocent people in Gaza, about one million of whom are refugees.

Israeli bombs and missiles periodically strike the area, causing high casualties among both militants and innocent women and children. Prior to the highly publicised killing of a woman and her four children last week, this pattern had been illustrated by a report from B'Tselem, the leading Israeli human rights organisation, which stated that 106 Palestinians were killed between February 27 and March 3. Fifty-four of them were civilians, and 25 were under 18 years of age.

On a recent trip through the Middle East, I attempted to gain a better understanding of the crisis. One of my visits was to Sderot, a community of about 20,000 in southern Israel that is frequently struck by rockets fired from nearby Gaza. I condemned these attacks as abominable acts of terrorism, since most of the 13 victims during the past seven years have been non-combatants.

Subsequently, I met with leaders of Hamas - a delegation from Gaza and the top officials in Damascus. I made the same condemnation to them, and urged that they declare a unilateral ceasefire or orchestrate with Israel a mutual agreement to terminate all military action in and around Gaza for an extended period.

They responded that such action by them in the past had not been reciprocated, and they reminded me that Hamas had previously insisted on a ceasefire throughout Palestine, including Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel had refused. Hamas then made a public proposal of a mutual ceasefire restricted to Gaza, which the Israelis also rejected.

There are fervent arguments heard on both sides concerning blame for a lack of peace in the Holy Land. Israel has occupied and colonised the Palestinian West Bank, which is approximately a quarter the size of the nation of Israel as recognised by the international community. Some Israeli religious factions claim a right to the land on both sides of the Jordan river, others that their 205 settlements of some 500,000 people are necessary for "security".

All Arab nations have agreed to recognise Israel fully if it will comply with key United Nations resolutions. Hamas has agreed to accept any negotiated peace settlement between the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, provided it is approved in a referendum of the Palestinian people.

This holds promise of progress, but despite the brief fanfare and positive statements at the peace conference last November in Annapolis, the process has gone backwards. Nine thousand new Israeli housing units have been announced in Palestine; the number of roadblocks within the West Bank has increased; and the stranglehold on Gaza has been tightened.

It is one thing for other leaders to defer to the US in the crucial peace negotiations, but the world must not stand idle while innocent people are treated cruelly. It is time for strong voices in Europe, the US, Israel and elsewhere to speak out and condemn the human rights tragedy that has befallen the Palestinian people.

· Jimmy Carter, a former president of the United States, is founder of The Carter Centerproject-syndicate.org

I'm ashamed my country helps fund this cruelity, I hope, truely, that the people of Israel can live in peace and security someday, but they won't acheice that my treating the Palistinians like dogs>(

I agree but the palestinians must also be reasonable in their requests.

what is reasonable?

There has to be a 2 state solution

There cannot be a 10 year "Truce" in order to rearm and resume hostilities

There is no right to return.

The entire West Bank is to be returned to the Palestinians

Golan Heights and Jersualem are considered neutral land to be ran by the UN.

60yrs of occupation and holocaust, over 6 million dead and you're asking them to be reasonable? do i smell a zionist terrorism supporter?...

Can Americans re-elect Jimmy Carter to be their next president?

If he has served 2 terms already then no, otherwise yes but like that's gona happen with jewish lobby in control of USA

Theoretically, but only for one term seeing as he's already served one.


US presidents can be elected for a maximum of 8 years, actually I think , theoretically they can serve for 10, like if they are vice president, the president is disposed of, they serve as president for two years(like to finish the term) and then run on their own and are elected and then reelected.

Something like that.

Of course that's all theoretical as he has no realistic prospect of winning.

I think Obama may be better, Hillary and McCain are hawks.

6 million?

What has happened to the Palistinians has been horrid, however how do you get 6 million?

This is never going to end. Not enough people on both sides want it to end. It only takes a minority on either side fuel cycle of violence. Justification for horrible acts is given to both sides which perpetuates the conflict.

But, as I've said before, if there's one thing I've learned from some of the posters here, is that I'm sure it will be solved through extreme violence and killing innocent people.

this issue is a wonderful issue if one wishes to drive the people on this forum into an infinite cycle of "your fault, my fault"... no unanimous agreement has ever been reached on this forum with regard to this issue, just like no agreement has ever been reached between the two states. How does anyone ever think that the issue will be resolved if people posting on an internet forum, who arent even directly involved in the conflict, cant even come to terms? It is a sad thing to say but I think one of these nations will have to cease to exist for this conflict to end...

What is your solution to the conflict?

good point, on a side note I beleive I'll be passing through your city today

no kidding? flying or driving?