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91 Palestinians
Killed in 40 Days, As Media Focuses on PA Reform
These days all
eyes of the international community are on Arafat's reform
of the Palestinian Authority. Headlines by the dozens -
rivaled only by those related to the World Cup - reflect the
world's immediate demand to see statements of reform
translated into action. Washington insists Palestinians
transform their institutions as the price for a Palestinian
state. This, while Israel's military continues to destroy
Palestinian homes and infrastructure every day. And
Palestinians continue to die.
In the last 40
days alone, 91 Palestinians have died at the hands of the
Israeli army. Among them:
* 10
children under the age of 18
* 5
Palestinians who died at Israeli military checkpoints having
been
refused access
to medical attention
* 4
civilians killed in "mysterious explosions"
In addition,
illegal assassinations carried out by Israel's Armed Forces
killed 4 Palestinians. Another 14 others were killed in
armed confrontations with the Israeli army.
A few
particularly shocking incidents:
--5/5/02,
the killing of Fatmeh Zakarneh (30) from al-Zababdeh village
near Jenin, and her two children Basel (4) and Abeer (3)
when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a taxi in which they
were traveling
--25/5/02,
the killing of Kamleh Abu-Said (45) and her daughter Anwa'
(12), when an Israeli tank opened fire and killed them both
as they were in a field in Bureij refugee camp in Gaza Strip
--10/6/02,
Yosef Mohammed Abu-Tabeekh (78) from Jenin, died at an
Israeli checkpoint north of Jericho, after being held for
hours on his way back from Jordan where he received medical
treatment for cancer
--11/6/02,
the killing of 8 year old Hussein Abdel-Mu'ti by Israeli
gunfire in al-Mighraqa area in Gaza Strip
It is the
position of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group
that the principles of human rights must be upheld at all
times. When 91 civilians are killed in such a brief period
of time, clearly a grave violation of basic rights is taking
place. While the PA begins its reform, we believe a
tremendous reform of Israel's respect for the human rights
of Palestinians must take place simultaneously.
We vehemently
challenge the United Nations and the international media to
hold the Israeli government accountable for its extensive
and uninterrupted human rights atrocities. It is neither
logical nor ethical to focus on the reform of a government
while ignoring the continuous and escalating abuses and
killings of the civilians it is striving to serve.
A complete list
of all Palestinian and Israeli fatalities since the
beginning of the Intifada is available on our website at
www.phrmg.org.
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