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THE HANDSTAND |
JUNE 2002 |
 MARWHAN
Marwhan Barghouti is
a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. In an Interview with Jefferson Fletcher he described the organisation behind the present Intifada which is not under the control of Yassir Arafat. "There is a committee which has representatives from all the Palestinian political factions...There are also regional committees" In reference to the origin and provocation of these present conditions Barghouti refers to the provocation "by the Temple Mount Faithful with their plans to build a third temple....I think it is a disaster that the Israelis allowed these Jewish fanatics to disturb the stability in the region....Why did Barak let Sharon visit the Haram-Al-Sharif compound last September if he was really interested in peace?" He continues: "The Oslo Agreement was supposed to lead to an end of the Israeli occupation...The Palestinians were supposed to control more than 80% of the Occupied Territories - and the remaining area was to be negotiated during the final status talks. ...The Israelis never implemented their part of the agreement and now the Palestinians only have 18% of the Occupied Territories under their control. (Control that has been recently, and continues to be, completely erradicated by the Israel Defence Force incursions;Ed.) He discusses the Israeli policy of assassination of Palestinians of which Israel Sharon commented on Television: "These people who attacked us in Jenin, now they are not alive." and continues"If the Israelis tomorrow make a decision for full withdrawal from the territories, we will distribute flowers to the soldiers as they withdraw... We are talking about the 1967 borders. We recognize Israel and we constantly repeat that - the question is not if we recognise Israel, but if they recognise us.(My italics.Ed.)...In principle we oppose any kind of military activity inside Israel, but we do believe any activity inside the Occupied Territories is legal...I am against military activities inside of Israel." "What we are asking for from the International community is an international force for protection....and to observe the full Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Territories because any solution which will not lead to an end of the Israeli occupation will not work on the ground."..."It has been our experience that we cannot trust the Israelis...for almost 10 years we are going to the negotiating table, thousands of meetings, not hundreds believe me but thousands of meetings on a lot of issues, political, economics and security,etc. The Israelis used the time..used the umbrella of negotations to expand the settlements....the Israelis have never implemented anything they agreed to implement.Never, for instance the Sjar,-Al-Sheikh understanding or the Egyptian or Jordanian Iniatives. or the Tenet cease-fire proposal." "Incitement? they accuse us of incitement?...if you have 96 military checkpoints, if you bulldoze thousands of olive trees, or kill more than 500 Palestinians and injure and maim thousands more, you don't need incitement.If you bomb our cities and towns, destroy hundreds of buildings and assassinate more than 60 individuals you don't need incitement. (Pounding his fists on the table at this point.) Do you really think that we need to incite anybody?" "the Arab Nations...They should
insist the Israelis stop their aggressive attacks and
implement the UN Resolutions.They must cut any kind of
relations with Israel ..who must be made to feel
completely isolated in this part of the world...but also
by Europe and everyone else in the world - our biggest
problem is with the Americans. We have more support in
the Israel Knesset than we do in US Congress." Recent surveys carried out by the two most reliable polling organisations found Barghouti to be both the most popular and the most trusted Palestinian after the Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat and the Hamas mentor Sheik Ahmed Yassin.In Birzeit University a spokesman said that "the people go with whoever is showng the most resistance to the Occupation." Shikaki, a political scientist observes:"Marwam is being perceived as a potential leader" He has declared time and time again that Palestinian resistance must continue, and he continues to send out that message at the present time from his cell under interogation in Jerusalem where he has been incarcerated in the "Russian Compound" since April 13th. Israel is a signatory to the
key Human Rights Covenants that address torture and
ill-treatment, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (Article 7) and the Convention Against
Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment. Israel is therefore legally bound by these
prohibitions. Marwhan Barghouti has been visited in the Prison Clinic by Khader Shkirat, General Director of LAW with Hassan Jabareen,General Director of Adalah , where he has been taken suffering from damage to his back and hands caused by position abuse, in particular "Shabeh": his hands and legs are shackled to a small chair, angled to slant forward so that he cannot sit in a stable position.There are nails sticking out in the back of the chair causing laceration of the skin. Shabeh is the most common method of physical abuse applied by the Israeli General Security Service,"Shin Bet". Barghouti is held in solitary confinement and endures severe sleep deprivation. His interrogators have threatened him: that his son is held in detention inAshkelon and that they are going to kill him; they will use a "new strategy" and that they will kill him politically and physically. On May 19 2002 the military court in
the illegal settlement of Beit El, extended Barghoutis
detention with 12 days.LAW has called for the
immediate release of Marwhan Barghouti and request
International intervention to safeguard him from further
physical and psychological abuse.As an elected member of
the Palestinian Legislative Council he has parliamentary
immunity from arrest, that has not been observed. LAW The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment. POBox 20873, Jerusalem. law@lawsociety.org.web & www.lawsociety.org
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Madame Barghouti.