New Delhi
24 October 2005
"The situation for Palestinian civilians across the
Occupied Palestinian Territory has deteriorated after the disengagement
plan; it has not improved," observed Dr Bashir Burghouthri of Palestine
who presented his paper in absentia recently in a seminar.
The seminar on "Palestine Today: Ralities and Perspectives for Struggle"
was organised by the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace with
support of four other organisations.
Dr Burghouthri, who is director of the Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights, observed that the disengagement plan "has managed to shift the
discourse away from the debate on human rights and international
humanitarian law".
In his paper on "Civil Society Organisations and Solidarity with
Palestine," Mr Achin Vanail observed that the call for a ban on all military
dealings with Israel would put on the spot not just the governments of the
North repeat North but also many of the most important countries of the
South repeat South such as India and China.
Dr Burghouthri said, "No one can come in from the West Bank and
Jerusalem, or Egypt and no one can go out. The Gaza fishermen remain
under the threat of shooting if they enter the sea at Gaza to try and earn a
living. The Gaza international airport remains closed. From land, sea and
air we are trapped in the world's largest prison. The Gaza disengagement
plan has been everything Palestinians expected it to be".
He went on to suggest that if the international community was genuine in
its resolve to see substantial progress towards the ending of this conflict
then it must apply international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth
Geneva Convention.
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