Amnesty International released a report today blaming Israel for the sorry economic situation in the PA areas. The report states that the partition wall that Israel is building in an attempt to keep terrorists from blowing themselves up on Israeli buses "causes difficult economic and social conditions for the more than 200,000 Arabs who live nearby." The report accuses Israel of removing barely any of the checkpoints, and of delivering "collective punishment" to the PA residents: "It is not right to make hundreds of thousands of people pay for the crimes of individuals."
Atty. Meir Rosen, the former legal counsel for the Foreign Ministry, responded to the report:
"Amnesty is usually fair, but this report is simply not objective. First of all, it says that the settlements are illegal - which is totally not true. There is a legal dispute about this matter; what business is it of Amnesty to take a position on this question, and to thereby 'let the blood' of all the Jews who live there. Second of all, it does not mention that the checkpoints are designed to protect against suicide bombers who have murdered scores of Israelis. There's only one sentence in the entire report in defense of Israel's right to protect itself. The report blames the settlements for the intifada; but even the Oslo Agreement does not demand the removal of the settlements...
"To blame Israel for the sorry state of the PA economy?! Europe gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the PA to improve their situation, but this money was used for weapons and ammunition, instead of for the PA population. The report is totally unfair!"
Rosen said that Israel must fight a propaganda war against the report, "just as it did with the false reports of the alleged Jenin 'massacre.'"
Atty. Meir Rosen, the former legal counsel for the Foreign Ministry, responded to the report:
"Amnesty is usually fair, but this report is simply not objective. First of all, it says that the settlements are illegal - which is totally not true. There is a legal dispute about this matter; what business is it of Amnesty to take a position on this question, and to thereby 'let the blood' of all the Jews who live there. Second of all, it does not mention that the checkpoints are designed to protect against suicide bombers who have murdered scores of Israelis. There's only one sentence in the entire report in defense of Israel's right to protect itself. The report blames the settlements for the intifada; but even the Oslo Agreement does not demand the removal of the settlements...
"To blame Israel for the sorry state of the PA economy?! Europe gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the PA to improve their situation, but this money was used for weapons and ammunition, instead of for the PA population. The report is totally unfair!"
Rosen said that Israel must fight a propaganda war against the report, "just as it did with the false reports of the alleged Jenin 'massacre.'"