Palestinian/ Israeli update 4/6/2016..Why is the UN telling Palestinians to protect their occupiers?
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Why is the UN telling Palestinians to protect their occupiers?
Ali Abunimah
Last week, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “extremely concerned” about the apparent extrajudicial execution of a Palestinian youth by an Israeli soldier.
But the statement left me wondering why the UN body also expects Palestinians to protect the army that is occupying them and helping Israeli settlers steal their land.
Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif and Ramzi al-Qasrawi, both 21, were shot dead after allegedly stabbing a soldier, who was lightly injured, in the West Bank city of Hebron on the morning of 24 March.
A video filmed by a human rights worker showed an Israeli soldier, later identified as Elor Azarya, aiming his rifle and shooting al-Sharif in the head as he was lying on the ground injured and incapacitated.
With depressing predictability, Israeli leaders and the general public have rallied around Azarya, many hailing him as a hero.
Azarya, who is facing charges of manslaughter – downgraded from murder – has been ordered freed on bail.
Unanswered questions
Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called for a “prompt, thorough, transparent and independent investigation” into the slaying of al-Sharif and other killings in similar circumstances.
“A major concern is that such cases appear not to have been systematically subjected to criminal investigations,” Colville stated.
So far, so good. But here’s the part that had me confused: “We urge the Palestinian authorities to take all feasible measures to prevent attacks on Israelis, which are reprehensible.”
Colville added that the Israeli “security forces are entitled to defend themselves and others from these types of attacks,” but urged them “to ensure all members of their security forces fully comply with their obligation to use force with restraint.”
Recall that the two youths in Hebron had allegedly attacked an armed occupation soldier deployed in their city to protect settlers who are there in violation of international law.
Indeed, most of the attacks or alleged attacks by Palestinians since an increase in confrontations began last October have targeted occupation forces at checkpoints and near settlements in the West Bank.
As even senior Israeli military officers have acknowledged, the predominantly young Palestinians involved aim to “attack symbols of the Israeli occupation,” as the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported.
We can all agree that attacks targeting civilians, regardless of who may be the perpetrator or the victim, are indeed reprehensible.
But the UN statement contains no such qualification; it condemns all armed actions by Palestinians regardless of the circumstances.
The right to resist
So I wrote to Colville to ask for clarification. In particular, I wanted to know:
Does the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights consider attacks on armed occupation forces by persons living under foreign, belligerent military occupation to be reprehensible? If so, what is the legal basis for such a position?
What is the basis for demanding that persons living under military occupation act as a protection force for their occupiers?
Do “Palestinian authorities” also have a responsibility to protect the settlers, or only to ensure the safety and security of the Israeli army?
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights apparently recognizes that armed, belligerent occupation forces are “entitled to defend themselves” against the people they occupy.
read on here…..https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-un-telling-palestinians-protect-their-occupiers
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Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/04/palestinian-israeli-update-462016why-is.html
