Open Letter to McCully Re Palestinian Human Rights
Dear Mr McCully,
Thank you for your reply to my emails of 25 June, 26 July and 25 August 2010. In your reply you express concern over
continuing reports of violence against Palestinians at checkpoints and the forced removal of people from their homes.
With regard to the imprisonment of Abdallah Abu Rahmah for organising weekly demonstrations against Israel's annexation
Wall in the West Bank, you comment that “Israel's reaction appears to have been disproportionate” but preface that by
saying “there are reports of violence on both sides in the protests in Bil'in . . .” Your letter acknowledges that
Israel practices violence against Palestinians at checkpoints and forcibly removes people from their homes and so the
question must be asked: what does “violence on both sides” mean in the context of belligerent foreign military
occupation? Is it that in Bil'in some individuals, among an otherwise defenceless population, may resort to throwing
stones at the armoured vehicles and troops of the occupying power? People who read the “violence on both sides” comment
will judge for themselves how appropriate it is and may wonder also about the thinking that lies behind it. Your letter
refers to Israel's “disproportionate” violence in Bil'in as a “reaction”. Would it not be more accurate to describe
Palestinian protest as a reaction to foreign occupation?
Abu Rahmah was scheduled to be released on November 25, but an Israeli military court has extended his sentence. Former
US President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, members of a group of world leaders called The Elders, have
released a statement this week condemning Abu Rahmah's continued imprisonment. They say: "Israeli military prosecutors
want to extend Abdallah Abu Rahmah's sentence as a deterrent to others who may follow his example.” Jimmy Carter said in
a statement: “The Elders believe that his example of non-violent resistance against the occupation is a model that
others should follow.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former South African archbishop, said Abu
Rahmah should never have been convicted and called for his “immediate and unconditional release.” Does the New Zealand
Government agree with these statements?
Your letter refers to the reaching of “a just and sustainable agreement with the Palestinians” and admits that “Israel's
settlement building is unhelpful” for what is described as “the peace process.” But while you say that the New Zealand
Government does not agree with Israel's “natural growth” argument and calls for a freeze on all settlement building in
the occupied territories, it fails either to demand the removal of all illegal settlements or to acknowledge that all
the settlements are illegal. The transfer of a nation's population to a foreign territory that it militarily occupies is
a war crime and our failure to require Israel to abide by international law is a betrayal of the victims.
Yours sincerely,
Leslie Bravery
For Palestine Human Rights Campaign - Aotearoa/New Zealand
9 December 2010
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Mr McCully's letter in full:
Office of Hon Murray McCully
Minister of Foreign Affairs
12 DEC 2010
Leslie Bravery
Palestine Human Rights Campaign Aotearoa New Zealand
Dear Ms Bravery
Thank you for your emails of 25 June and 25 August regarding the trial by an Israeli Court of Mr Abdullah Abu Rahmah, a
Palestinian West Bank resident for organising weekly demonstrations against the Israeli barrier in the West Bank. I also
refer to your email of 26 July regarding a violent incident at a checkpoint in Bethlehem.
While there are reports of violence on both sides in the protests in Bil'in Israel's reaction appears to have been
disproportionate. In this context Mr Abu Rahmah's arrest and conviction are concerning, as are continuing reports of
violence against Palestinians at checkpoints and forced removal of people from their homes. New Zealand has always
maintained that Israel's settlement building is unhelpful for the peace process, and that this makes reaching a just and
sustainable agreement with the Palestinians more difficult as more land in the occupied Palestinian territories is taken
for settlement blocks. We have been clear in our discussions with Israel that we do not agree with its “natural growth”
argument used to support settlement building, and have called on Israel to freeze all settlement building in the
occupied territories.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Murray McCully
Minister of Foreign Affairs
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ENDS