NEW YORK, June 10, 2010 (WAFA)- Israel needed to change its aggressive stance towards the Palestinians or face the possibility of a catastrophic outcome in the future, Edward Peck, a former United States ambassador to Mauritania and Iraq, told the Palestinian Rights Committee Wednesday.
At the invitation of the United Nations body formally known as the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Mr. Peck, President of the civil society organization Foreign Services International, gave a first-hand account of the recent raid by Israeli commandos on the Free Gaza flotilla, saying eight heavily armed men wearing balaclavas had boarded his vessel at around 4 a.m. carrying submachine guns, stun grenades and tasers.
Recalling that two of the raiders had fastened paintball guns to the tops of their submachine guns, he said they had been used to strike a man, whom he described as a survivor of the 1967 Israeli sinking of the USS Liberty, in which 200 United States sailors had been killed or wounded. The attackers had set off a stun grenade to break through a human chain formed by shipmates seeking to protect the wheelhouse, he added.
After overtaking the ship, the raiders had forced it to dock at the port of Ashdod, where the captured crew had been told to sign a Hebrew-language document under threat of jail, he said. Members of the flotilla had then been deported after being told they had entered Israel illegally, despite having been brought in from the high seas against their will. 'If the assault had taken place off the coast of Somalia, it would have been called piracy,' he said.
Pressed by several delegates to comment on the proper role of the United States, Mr. Peck said that even if that country's Government were to end its support for Israel 'tomorrow' that would not prevent it from continuing to act in its perceived best interest, an indication that the international community needed to act persuasively.
Many delegates echoed Mr. Peck's opinion and expressed support for an independent, international investigation into the May 31 attack, as proposed by the Security Council.
Briefing the Committee on recent developments, Paul Badji (Senegal), its Chairperson, recalled that Turkey's Minister for Foreign Affairs had characterized Israel's actions as a grave breach of international law, when he had presided over the emergency Security Council meeting called on 31 May to discuss the naval raid, in which nine Turkish nationals had been killed.
Mr. Badji further recalled that the Council had gone on to issue a presidential statement condemning Israel's attack, and had also called for an impartial investigation. In Geneva, the Human Rights Council had adopted a resolution the following day, deciding to dispatch an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law resulting from the attack.
As several speakers took the floor, Turkey's representative commented that the impartial, credible and transparent investigation called for by the Security Council must be international, warning that if it was led by one nation, it should not be Israel, but Turkey, since the attack had been carried out against a Turkish ship on the high seas, and Turkish nationals had been killed or wounded. A post mortem examination had shown that 30 bullets had been fired, some at close range. One of the dead had five bullets in the head, he added.
Continuing with his address to the Committee, Mr. Peck — a self-described patriot who had served in the Second World War and the Korean War — said he had made numerous trips to help facilitate a solution to the Middle East conflict, but had come to believe that, as long as Israel was certain of unhesitating security and financial support from the United States, it would not see the need to change tack.
Offering the Palestinian view, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, said his side would continue to maximize efforts for the success of the proximity talks. The Palestinians and other Arabs had agreed to proceed with the talks mainly because of 'positive signals' from the current United States Administration, which would broker them. A major goal for the Palestinian side was to reach an understanding on borders, in four months, that would reflect the June 1967 borders. Such an understanding would pave the way for the continuation of negotiations on other permanent status issues, such as Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, water and security, he added.
Mr. Mansour went on to say that discussions involving important stakeholders — including today's meeting in Washington, D.C., between the Palestinian Authority and the United States Government — would focus on ways to encourage the lifting of the blockade on Gaza once and for all. Existing Security Council resolutions and presidential statements contained the language and other elements necessary for the lifting of the siege, he said, expressing hope that the United States would demonstrate leadership in articulating that vision.
Arab nations would stand behind the United Nations Secretary-General in carrying out the will of an independent investigation, he stressed, pointing out that the members of the League of Arab States and the Non-Aligned Movement were meeting with all members of the Security Council as well as the Secretary-General to convey that support. So far, 'many important parties' were intensifying efforts to reach agreement on steps towards lifting the blockade, including by guaranteeing that assistance reached the people of Gaza, he said.
