_______ ____ ______ / |/ / /___/ / /_ // M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ http://www.MiddleEast.Org News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] BARAK QUITS AND TWISTS HIS DEFEAT NEWSFLASH - Ariel Sharon forced Ehud Barak to effective resign tonight and call new elections. Recent polls indicate that if elections were held now Barak would be easily defeated by any opposition candidate, including Sharon and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the last minute Arafat publicly called on Arab members of the Knesset to support Barak. Immediately upon receiving the news Arafat's de facto Prime Minister, Nabil Shaath, suggested they could now reach an agreement with Barak before the election and that doing so would help Barak win the election. UN OFFICIAL 'DEVASTATED' BY MIDEAST By Alexander G. Higgins GENEVA (AP - 27 Nov) - U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said Monday she was "shocked and dismayed and even devastated" at the plight of Palestinians confronting Israeli forces in the occupied territories. In a hard-hitting report on her visit earlier this month to the Middle East, Robinson urged establishment of an international monitoring body. And she said countries that are part of the Geneva Convention on war should "assume their responsibility" regarding the conduct of forces in the occupied territories. Yaakov Levy, the Israeli ambassador to U.N. offices in Geneva, said he found "a lack of balance in characterization and terminology and even laying blame" in the report. "When Israel is accused, the terms are clear," Levy told The Associated Press. "When reference is made to Palestinian responsibility, the language is vague - for example, on desecrating Jewish holy sites, the burning down of joint economic ventures." He said Robinson criticized Israel for failing to respect ambulances but failed to cite Palestinian misuse of ambulances and insignia. Robinson, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, stressed "the need for measures to be taken to reduce the terrible violence." She demanded that Israel cease construction of new settlements. Claiming that she tried to keep a balance, Robinson credited Israel for allowing her to visit and for allowing her to confront Israeli forces with Palestinian accusations. She also noted "a great feeling of insecurity and fear in Israel itself," but said the U.N. Human Rights Commission, in an emergency meeting last month, instructed her to focus on the human rights situation of the Palestinians. And that, Robinson said, is "bleak." "You cannot separate the human rights situation from the reality of occupation," she said. "That reality means ... the daily acts of discrimination, inequality, humiliation, powerlessness of occupation," Robinson said. "This has been intensified by the conflict, intensified by the excessive use of force, by the impact on children, on medical personnel, the use of the economic levers, the very serious economic impact." She criticized Israel for using live ammunition against demonstrators and heavier weapons, including rockets and heavy machine guns. Levy rejected the term "excessive" force. He said "it is evident to all that the character of the rioting involves the use of automatic firearms, bombings of civilian buses in Israel and the lynching of Israelis." Robinson urged that all cases of "lethal force" used by either side should be subjected to justice "to avoid impunity." Among her recommendations: - "As well as protecting settlers, Israeli security forces should also protect Palestinians from violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers." - Israel should pull back its forces from positions that act as "flash points." - Compensation should be paid to victims of unlawful force, including loss of property. Robinson noted that Israel has opposed the establishment of an international monitoring body, but she hoped it was still possible to win Israeli acceptance. Robinson said she had seen repeatedly the "deep hurt" in Palestinian parents over the assertion that they had sent their children out to throw stones and risk death at the hands of the Israelis. "I was to a very real extent shocked and dismayed and even devastated by the impact of the present conflict in the occupied territories in particular," Robinson said. "It is very clear that it is having a devastating effect on the civilian population." MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org Phone: 202 362-5266 Fax: 815 366-0800 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscriibe email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject SUBSCRIBE To unsubscribe email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject UNSUBSCRIBE
