Syrian Foreign Ministry reports on Israeli human rights violations
Syria, Politics, 7/30/1998

The director of the Syrian Foreign Ministry's international organizations department, Kloufis Kouri, on Wednesday submitted the Syrian Foreign Ministry's statement to the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

The UN committee, headed by Sri Lanka's permanent delegate at the UN, is currently visiting Syria after stops in Egypt and Jordan earlier this week. Israel will not allow the team access to the occupied territories.

The Syrian statement highlighted the UN committee's reports, which are submitted to the UN General Assembly, which describe, objectively, the current deterioration of human rights conditions in the territories.

The statement said the committee's tour of the region is an expression of the deep concern shown by the international community over Israel's occupation and its gross violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories. "The committee's reports demonstrated clearly Israel's policy of settlement and perpetrating occupation of the Syrian Golan heights," Khouri said.

The reports focuse on the grave consequences of this very Israeli policy on the Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights. It leads, the report continued, to perpetuated suffering from arbitrary measures being taken by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The reports also talked about Israeli attempts to Judaize the Golan, distort its Syrian identity, plunder its historical archaeology and impose Israeli laws on the way of life in the Golan. The report indicated Israeli policy and practices to intensively expand the Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan. The setting up of tourist areas, hotels and dams to attract more settlers to the region, the provision of land funding, water, services and facilities which supply the settlements with support, all this are at the expense of the Arab land and the Syrian citizens, the report reads.

The statement made by the Syrian FM added that the Israeli conduct in the occupied Golan Heights are racist, oppressive and aggressive. It added that Israel is waging a war against the Arabs, occupying their lands and killing their inhabitants. These practices blatantly violate the UN charter, principles of international law, the Hague agreements of 1899 and 1907, and the UN Security Council resolutions concerned, especially resolution 497 of 1981, which considers the decision approved by the Israeli Knesset to impose Israeli law and administration on the occupied Golan as null, and void.

The statement added that the Israeli practices have accelerated in spite of the peace process which started from Madrid in 1991 on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 425 and the land for peace formula. This clearly shows the Israeli greedy intentions to undermine the peace process refusing the just and comprehensive peace requirements, the report said.

The Syrian ministry statement said the recent Israeli government's policy refuses to withdraw from the occupied Golan and Jerusalem, while setting up more settlements in the Arab territories in order to Judaize a great part of this land, denying the Palestinian people their right of self-determination and an independent state. All these measures contradict the Madrid terms of reference and the land for peace formula.

The statement asserted that Syria is "still committing itself to work for the realization of just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option, according to Madrid peace process principles. These are based on implementing UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 425 and the land for peace principle which guarantee a full and unconditional Israeli withdraw from the Golan, south Lebanon, the western Bekaa and from the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, The United Nations Economic and Social Council voted 44-1, with the United States casting the only opposing vote, to approve a draft resolution calling on Israel to halt measures against the Palestinians, including the closure of territories, isolation of towns including Jerusalem, and home demolitions.

Previous Stories:
  Syrian FM confers with EU Middle East peace envoy   (7/28/1998)
  International delegation heading from Cairo to Jordan   (7/27/1998)
  UN investigates Israeli practices in occupied territories   (7/24/1998)

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