Vanuit de Nederlandse regering is geen protest te ontdekken tegen de destijdse ontvoering van ruim veertig Palestijnse parlementariers (incl. genoemde vier) en enkele ministers, evenmin tegen de huidige ´stap´ in de etnische zuivering van Oost-Jeruzalem. Verdrijving van zelfs collega´s lijkt niet zo relevant voor de regering en een Kamermeerderheid.

Bron:
PCHR Condemns Israeli Expulsion of Members, 9-6-2010
 
Jerusalem, June 9, (Pal Telegraph)  The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns an Israeli decision to cancel the permanent residence in occupied Jerusalem of four members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), from the Change and Reform Bloc affiliated to Hamas, and to expel thm from the city to the West Bank.  The four PLC Members are: Mohammed Abu Tair; Ahmed 'Atwan; Mohammed Toutah; and Eng. Khaled Abu 'Arafa. All four became PLC Members following the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections.

The four PLC Members were arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) following the capture of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in the Gaza Strip in 2006.  They were released after serving their prison sentences.  The cancellation of their permanent residence was based on a decision by former Israeli Interior Minister, Ron Bar'oun, under allegations of "breaking loyalty to the state" and participating in the Palestinian legislative elections.

On 11 September 2009, the four PLC Members, represented by Attorney Hassan Jabarin, filed a petition at the Israeli High Court against the Israeli Interior Minister's decision.  The Court held several hearing sessions, but did not take any action.  The former Israeli Attorney-General, Mini Mazoz, stated that he would support the decision to cancel the permanent residence of the four Jerusalemites, claiming that "three of them are members of an organization that is defined in Israel as a terrorist one, and they are members of the leadership of a non-Israeli political entity."

The four Jerusalemites are:

1)   Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed 'Atwan, 42, from Sour Baher village south of Jerusalem; a PLC Member who was arrested on 09 June 2006 and was imprisoned for 40 months.  Following his release, he was summoned by the Israeli police and told that his permanent residence was cancelled; he was given a temporary residence permit that will expire on 03 July 2010.

2)   Mohammed Mahmoud Hassan Abu Tair, 54, from Um Touba village south of Jerusalem; a PLC Member who was arrested on 09 June 2006 and was imprisoned for 43 months.  Following his release on 20 May 2010, he was summoned by the Israeli police and told that his permanent residence was cancelled and was given a temporary residence permit that expire on 03 July 2010.

3)  Mohammed 'Omran Saleh Toutah, 41, from Wad al-Jouz neighborhood in Jerusalem, who was arrested on 29 January 2007 and was imprisoned for 42 months.  Following his release on 02 June 2010, he was summoned by the Israeli police and told that his permanent residence was cancelled; he was given a temporary residence permit that expire on 03 July 2010.

4)  Khaled Abu 'Arafa, 49, former Minister of Jerusalem Affairs in the Hamas-led government formed in 2006. He was arrested on 29 June 2006 and was imprisoned for 28 months, until being released on 27 September 2008.  In addition, he was also sentenced to a 15-month suspended imprisonment and a bail of 7,000 NIS.  He was summoned by the Israeli police and told that his permanent residence was cancelled and was given a temporary residence permit that expire on 03 July 2010.

PCHR condemns the Israeli decision to expel the four Palestinian figures, which constitutes a form of forcible transfer of protected persons, an action that is prohibited under article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop illegal actions of transfer and discrimination practices against the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including these new illegal measures.  PCHR further reminds the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions of their obligation to ensure respect for the Conventions in all circumstances.  Immediate action must be taken if the international community seeks to prevent the escalation of criminals policies adopted by Israel in the OPT.

PCHR calls upon the Ministry of Health in Ramallah to promptly intervene so as to ensure the quick supply of medicines and medical supplies needed for the health sector in the Gaza Strip, as hundreds of different types of medicines and medical supplies have been depleted.  PCHR calls upon the Palestinian President and his Prime Minister in Ramallah to start thorough investigations into the reasons for hindering the supply of medicines and medical supplies, as included in the budget of the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, for health facilities in the Gaza Strip. PCHR calls for those responsible to be held accountable.

PCHR closely observes and investigates the developments related to medical conditions in the Gaza Strip, which continue to worsen due to several factors.  PCHR has recently received a number of complaints from patients, including those suffering from chronic diseases, regarding the delay in receiving medicines or their medical treatment in the Gaza Strip hospitals due to the lack of some medical supplies needed for their treatment.  According to investigations conducted by PCHR, such delay has resulted from the lack of availability of those types of medicines due to: failure of the General Directorate of Pharmacy in Ramallah to supply them regularly or the decrease in the volume of their allocation to below minimum levels, which hardly reach 2% of the approved requests of medical needs and supplies for the Gaza Strip in 2010.  Medical consignments delivered to the Gaza Strip were less than 47% of the requests approved by the General Directorate of Pharmacy in Ramallah in 2009 and 50% in 2008.  Medical supplies due to be delivered to the Gaza Strip this year have not yet reached Gaza at the time of this writing; supplies failing to reach Gaza amounted to 18% and 12%  in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

 

On Thursday, 18 May 2010, the General Directorate of Pharmacy in the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that 110 types of medicines and 123 types of medical supplies had been depleted.  The General Directorate added further that another 76 types of medicines and 60 types of medical supplies were expected to run out within three months.  The General Directorate stated that the shortage of medicines and medical supplies has led to a health crisis, which threatens the lives of thousands of patients, particularly, those suffering from chronic diseases.  This situation is part of  the deterioration of health services offered to 1.5 million civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially after the vast destruction of the health facilities during the latest Israeli Offensive on the Gaza Strip and the ongoing siege that prevents the entry of materials needed to reconstruct those facilities, as well as the supply of medical consignments to the Gaza Strip hospitals and health centers.

According to PCHR's observations of the developments related to the health sector in the Gaza Strip, hospitals and health facilities, including children hospitals, suffer from a complete shortage of several types of medicines, the most important of which are:

1. Medicines used for the infant nursery (Alprostadil), various types of medical baby milk and the baby milk used for 300 babies suffering from PKU.

2. Medicines used for hundreds of mentally disordered persons, the majority of whom are children, including epilepsy medicine (Tegretol and Depakin).

3.    Some types of medicine used for cancer, such as Vinblastin and Vincristin.

4.    Factor 9 medicine and medicine used for ten patients suffering from Hemophilia.

5.    Medicine used for 300 patients suffering from Thalassemia in the Gaza Strip (Exjade).

6.    Antidotes (like antidote to snake venom), as cases suffering from the snake venom increase in the summer.

7.    Medicines used for delivery department (like Oxytocin), with the continuous increase of childbirth rates, seventy cases daily at Shifa hospital in the Gaza City, for example.

8.    Tinctorials, used for X-ray and CT departments.

9.    Complete depletion of several types of medical supplies used for the infant nursery department (Feeding Tube).

10. Various types of medical supplies used for surgeries: strings used for deliveries, laparoscopic surgeries, intensive care (CV manometer), orthopedics (Kreshner Wire), open heart surgery, eye surgery, electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiotocography (CTG) paper, all types of Nelaton Catheter, CT films, plaster of various sizes, micropore, different types and sizes of injections and shoes covers.

PCHR is gravely concerned regarding the insufficient supply of medicine and medical supply consignments to public health facilities in the Gaza strip.  PCHR is worried about the risks surrounding the denying population's right to enjoy adequate levels of physical and mental care, including receiving appropriate medical care in public health facilities and delivering the necessary medicines for patients, especially those who suffer from chronic diseases and need medicines regularly.  PCHR believes that stopping and/or hindering the regular supply of medicines and medical supplies to the warehouses of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip constitutes a violation of the Palestinians' right to access to medical services; thus, it is a clear violation of the legal obligations of the Ministry of Health in Ramallah  towards respecting, protecting and promoting the right to health.  PCHR is aware that the international community contributes to covering the annual budget of the Palestinian Authority, including all the needs of medicines and medical supplies approved in the budget of the Ministry of Health.

PCHR calls for:

§   Prompt intervention by the Palestinian President to ensure that the Ministry of Health in Ramallah supply all consignments of medicines and medical supplies needed by health facilitates in the Gaza Strip.

§  The Ministry of Health in Ramallah to promptly supply all types of medicines and medical supplies mentioned above to avoid unavoidable health risks which threaten the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

§   A thorough, transparent and independent investigation to reveal the reasons behind the lack of supply of the approved types of medicines and medical supplies, in accordance with the budget of the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, to the health facilities in the Gaza Strip and to hold accountable all who are found responsible for hindering the flow of supply.

PCHR

Press Release