Civil Society Organizations at United Nations Conference Condemn Israeli Assault on Gaza

 and Urge EU Presidency to Act in Conformity with Obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention

I.P.O. delegation participates in United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace

Vienna, 30 June 2006/P/RE/19780c-is

In a meeting held earlier today in Vienna with the Head of the Near and Middle East Department and Deputy Director of the Political Department of Austria's Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Ralph Scheide, a delegation of the International Coordinating Network on Palestine (ICNP) made an urgent appeal to the outgoing Presidency of the European Union to take a more active stand in conformity with the EU member states' legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The delegates conveyed the Communiqué issued by the ICNP in connection with the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Vienna, 27-28 June 2006) and called upon the EU Presidency to urge the Israeli government to respect its duties as occupying power in Palestine and to stop immediately the destruction of the civilian infrastructure in the Gaza territory. The delegation consisted of Ms. Phyllis Bennis (USA), Co-chair of the ICNP, Ms. Adi Dagan (Israel), Spokesperson for the Coalition of Women for Just Peace, and Mr. Hans Koechler (Austria), President of the International Progress Organization.

The Communiqué of the ICNP states, inter alia, that the recent attacks "represent a massive collective punishment against the 1.3 million people of Gaza, and thus under international law constitute a war crime." In the Final Document, the experts, diplomats and civil society representatives attending the two-day International  Meeting on Israeli-Palestinian Peace at the United Nations Office at Vienna emphasized "that the continuing occupation of the Palestinian territory, now in its fortieth year, remained the root cause of the conflict" and expressed the view "that this long-standing conflict could have no final solution without the achievement of the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights defined by the General Assembly in 1974 as the right to self-determination without external interference." The meeting was held under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly's Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Among the speakers were Mr. Abdullah Abdullah, Head of the Political Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Ms. Colette Avital, Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset. The meeting was attended by international law experts, United Nations diplomats and representatives of international non-governmental organizations with an interest in the question of Palestine. The delegation of the International Progress Organization consisted of Mr. Hans Koechler (Austria), Mr. Nathan Harstad (USA) and Mr. Markus Simbeni (Austria).

In an informal consultation held yesterday at the UN Office at Vienna between representatives of the International Coordinating Network on Palestine (ICNP) and members of the United Nations' Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, including  the UN Ambassadors of Afghanistan, Malaysia, Senegal, and Malta, the President of the International Progress Organization, Mr. Hans Koechler, expressed his organization's support for the work of the Committee and appealed to the Committee's Chairman, Ambassador Paul Badji (Senegal), to do his utmost for the convening of an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly under the provisions of the Uniting for Peace Resolution. The President of the I.P.O. said that the international community has to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Palestinian territories which was caused by the ongoing economic boycott and the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza strip by the Israeli occupation army.

END/Civil Society Organizations at United Nations Conference Condemn Israeli Assault on Gaza/P/RE/19780c-is