BY SOBHI ALBADAWI
& NOREEN NAVIN
SYDNEY Mustapha Barghouthi, president of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, gave a presentation on the situation in Palestine at the Trades and Labor Council on September 20. Barghouthi was in Australia at the invitation of the department of foreign affairs. He met with foreign minister Alexander Downer earlier in the week.
Barghouthi accused the mainstream media of not fairly reporting developments in Palestine. Since September 29, 2000, 1871 Palestinians have been killed (22.5% under the age of 18); of the total killed, 60% were shot with live ammunition by Israel's soldiers.
Barghouthi described the grim reality for the 3.3 million Palestinians living under the Israeli military occupation: 75% of Palestinians live in poverty on less than US$2 a day; 30% of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition.
Around 850 schools have been closed, 185 shelled or fired upon, 11 completely destroyed and eight turned into military barracks for the Israeli army.
The Palestinian economy is on the point of collapse, with a 65% unemployment rate and the major agricultural industry olive tree cultivation destroyed. Water resources are controlled by Israel and on average Palestinians are each permitted 50 cubic metres per year, whereas Israelis are allowed 1450 cubic metres.
More than a million people have been imprisoned in their homes due to Israel's curfews. This collective punishment is in contravention of international law and conventions.
Other tactics used by the Israeli government include the placing of hundreds of checkpoints which function as military blockades in between villages, preventing free movement. At these checkpoints, Palestinians are humiliated and often refused entry to locations where medical facilities are situated. Thirty-six cases of Palestinian women in labour being stopped at checkponts have been recorded 14 women have given birth at a checkpoint. The West Bank and Gaza have been cut into three clusters from which Palestinians cannot enter or leave without passing through the checkpoints or deviating on an alternate route, adding up to five hours to journeys that would normally take just 15 minutes.
Deprived of any form of self-defence, Barghouthi explained that suicide bombings by Palestinians are an indication of the desperation and loss of hope felt by Palestinians. He condemned suicide bombings as not being in the best interests of Palestinians' struggle for independence and freedom.
Barghouthi likened the situation facing Palestinians to that of black people in apartheid South Africa. He called on the world to support the struggle of the Palestinian people, just as they supported the struggle of the black South Africans.
He called on the world to: demand an international presence in the Occupied Territories; reject Israel's refusal to abide by UN resolutions; and communicate the facts about what is really happening in occupied Palestine.
From Green Left Weekly, October 2, 2002.
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