wfn.org | Pax Christi Testifies on Israeli Injustice

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JERUSALEM, April 2, 2001--(Catholic News agency) - Injustice in 
Israeli courts and serious cases of violence against 
helpless Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied 
territories were among charges leveled by Pax Christi 
International in a report presented yesterday to the UN 
Human Rights Commission, meeting in Geneva. 

Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace movement, 
is demanding an international inquiry into the matter. 

Julia Stuckey, Pax Christi permanent delegate to the UN 
Human Rights Commission said that since December 28, 
"Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have 
organized themselves better and intensified acts of 
violence against Palestinian civilians, fanning the spiral 
of violence. Also, Palestinians have committed acts of 
violence against the settlers." 

But, Pax Christi reports, Israeli justice is not just: "On 
January 21 an Israeli settler found guilty of killing a 
12-year-old Palestinian boy was given six months hard labor 
and told to pay $17,500 compensation. The same day a 
Palestinian youth who tried to stab an Israeli settler was 
given a six and a half year prison sentence." 

Given the situation, Pax Christi called on the 
international community to "pressure Israel to stop 
discriminatory measures in the occupied territories and to 
respect international law concerning equality before the 
law." 

The report continued, "Israel must guarantee security 
for Palestinian civilians and their property in areas under 
its control.  The international community must apply 
resolution 1322 taken by the UN Security Council, regarding 
the setting up of an independent international inquiry 
commission, and also establish an international monitoring 
force to protect the Palestinian people from blind use of 
force." 

In the last few months, the report presented to the United 
Nations Human Rights Commission says, "Israeli settlers 
have killed at least seven Palestinians, shot and injured 
at least 39, and beaten at least 11, while there are 48 
reports of stone-throwing, relating to at least 98 people 
attacked and injured more or less seriously, as well as 48 
attacks on property, including the uprooting of olive 
trees; moreover the bodies of four Palestinians were found 
on farm property in mysterious circumstances." 

The Pax Christi report acknowledges that the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and relative conventions have 
all been ratified, as well as conventions on civil and 
political rights, by the state of Israel. 

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