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Jerusalem, November 29, 1999
Three more arrested
PLC-members denies the first
petition by blaming Israel, not the PA, for the development
Three
more people are arrested because of the petition: Ahmad
Shaker Doodeen (from Hebron), Adnan Odeh (from Nablus).
Also, the female lecturer Ismat Shakhshir was detained again
for interrogation this morning and is not released yet.
The situation now is that 9
are arrested and another 2 held under house arrest. Only the
PLC members who signed Friday’s petition are not arrested
yet.
A reconciliation document
calling for the release of the arrested academics is now in
draft by members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
They denounce the petition that was signed by the 20
lawmakers and academics on Friday 27 November 1999.
They call for all
Palestinians who want to criticize the government to impose
self-censorship on themselves, and to use “the language of
dialogue”.
They further call for the
PA to cancel the measures it has taken, i.e. to release the
academics that was arrested during the weekend.
The draft document warns
people from taking any steps to divide the Palestinian
people, this because it is more important to fight Israeli
violations against Palestine.
We hereby call upon the
members of the PLC who signs this petition to define exactly
what language is the correct one if a person or organisation
wishes to criticize the government.
The Palestinian Human
Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) denies any attempt to shift
the focus of this case of human rights violations from the
Palestinian Authority to the Israeli side. We fully
recognize the impact of the violations carried out by the
Israelis, making our national aspirations impossible to
achieve. But we do, however, not find this an excuse for the
PA to make arbitrary arrests and forcing people to renounce
their political opinion under duress.
The Palestinian Human
Rights Council, which include 15 Palestinian Human Rights
Organisations, among them the PHRMG, published today a press
release condemning the arrest of the academics and demanding
the immediate release of the 9 detainees.
Below find the petition of
Friday and todays draft from the PLC members.
For
more information, contact the PHRMG office: Tel: 972 2
6262463, Fax: 972 2 6262378, E-mail:
admin@phrmg.org
http://www.phrmg.org
Translation of the text of
the leaflet that angered Yaser Arafat
Occupied Jerusalem: the
following is an unofficial translation of the leaflet that
was supposed to be signed by tens of thousands of
Palestinians were not for the arrest of its original
signatories.
"The homeland is calling
us"
We are pained by what is
happening on the sacred land of Palestine, of
displaying utter disregard
for the people and selling out their rights.
We, as ordinary citizens,
motivated by our loyalty to the homeland,
feelcompelled to speak out
to you in order to work together to correct the
lamentable state of affair
that we have reached.
Following Oslo (the signing
of the Oslo Agreement in 1993) The
Palestinian leadership
claimed the accords would enable us to establish a state
whose capital is Jerusalem,
repatriate the refugees, dismantle the
settlements,free the
prisoners and pave the way for an economic transformation
that
would make of us the
Singapore of the region. Indeed, some of us were so
deceived that we took to
the streets to celebrate the false victories.
However, six years after
Oslo, more of our land has been usurped,
settlements expanded, and
plots against the cause of the refugees are
accelerating rapidly behind
the scenes, and the gates of prisons are
locked on our sons; neither
Jerusalem was recovered, nor Singapore's advent
came about, and the people
was divided into two groups: a small one that is
oppressing , extorting; and
a large one grieving and looking for a
deliverer.
It is a horrible scenario
of deception and mendacity, the outcome of
Which will undoubtedly be
felt deeply and painfully in the final status talks.
Apart from that , the
Palestinian Authority has adopted a modus operandi
Of graft, corruption,
humiliation and exploitation of the Palestinian
people.Indeed, the Oslo
Agreement now looks as a mere selling- out of the
homeland in return for some
corrupt and corrupting elements within the
PA getting rich.
The PA president has opened
the doors widely for the opportunists to
spreadcorruption in the
larger Palestinian street. The economic conditions
haveworsened, social bonds
became weaker, the moral values of our people
becamelax; and destruction
has befallen many of our health, educational and
judicial institutions.
Hence, the bells of danger
must be sounded in every village, town and
refugee camp; in every
corner and lobby, even in every shop, home, and
office. The homeland is
being sold out and the citizen is betrayed and
decimated.
So, let us stand together
in the face of this tyranny and corruption.
Theoppression will not be
stopped save at the hands of the oppressed, and
theoppressor will only be
stopped save by the strength and determination of
the faithful.
Dr. Abdulsattar
Qassem (Arrested)
Abduljawad
Saleh, PLC
Bassam Shaka'a
(Home Arrest)
Fakhri Turkuman,
PLC
Mo'awiya Al-masri
, PLC
Hussam Khader,
PLC
Hasan Khreesha
, PLC
Dr. Ali Abu-reesh,
PLC
Rawya Al-shawwa
, PLC
Ra'fat Alnajjar,
PLC
Adnan Odeh
(Arrested)
Ismat Shakhshir
(Arrested)
Waheed
Alhamdalla (Home Arrest)
Dr. Yaser
Abusafiyya (Arrested)
Dr. Abdulrahim
Kittana (Arrested)
Ahmad Katamesh
(Arrested)
Dr. Adel Samara
(Arrested)
Zahran Abu-qbeita
, PLC
Ahmad Shaker
Doodeen (Arrested)
Dr. Afif
Sulaiman Judah (Arrested)
Copy of the
draft reconciliation document from the PLC
A Draft Reconciliation Document
We
the undersigned, as we realize the depth of the crisis we
live in, and the dangerous challenges that face our national
goals and the future of our homeland, Palestine, and as we
recognize that the negotiations process since Oslo, we still
do not believe that our national aspirations have been
achieved, (ie liberating the land, halting and removing
settlements, our right in our capital Jerusalem, and the
return of refugees). Instead, these agreements have provided
the cover for the continuous Israeli violations, and
prevented the outside international interference to put an
end to the Israeli revelry, therefore, we warn from any
attempt to divide us and build barriers in the path of our
national unity.
Yet this doesn’t mean that
we stand still unable to say our mind regarding what is
happening and condemn what contradicts with the interest of
the people and harms our national unity. It is within this
framework that we understand the criticism to the
Palestinian Authority that was mentioned in a communique
issued by some members of the Palestinian Legislative
Council and a number of national figures. We confirm that
the language of dialogue must always dominate, so that our
hopes and ambitions may be reached in a framework of public
freedoms, political pluralism, the freedom of opinion and
opposite opinion, and discarding all kinds of corruption and
bad management.
Thus we call for
deliberation and self-restraint, and providing the healthy
positive atmosphere in order to fulfill reformation and the
long-desired unity. Therefore, we call upon the Authority to
cancel the measures it has taken, and release those national
detainees.
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