When It Comes to Israel Accountability, UN and EU Are All Talk and No Walk

Rasa - It is welcome news to hear that eight European Union countries are demanding Israel compensate them for the demolition of new school facilities for Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank.

News ID: 433294

Date: 21 October 2017 - 15:25

RNA - A letter from the eight member states is expected to be delivered to Israel's Foreign Ministry in the coming days. Belgium is said to be leading the move, followed by France, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland and Denmark.

In August, Israel demolished structures intended to serve as classrooms in various Bedouin communities and confiscated solar panels on another structure being used as a school. The regime authorities claimed the buildings were constructed illegally, while Palestinian activists and EU diplomats countered that Israel makes it almost impossible to obtain building permission. The letter, initially reported in France's Le Monde, said the eight countries would demand over €30,000 (£27,000) in compensation if Israel does not return the seized equipment.

However, that’s just half the story. What about all the other Palestinian schools, hospitals, homes and suchlike that the usurper regime of Israeli bombed and destroyed during the last Gaza war? Also what about other Israeli demolitions of Palestinian structures since rights groups began keeping records in the West Bank and other occupied territories?

After that devastating war on Gaza, not a single one of the 11,000 destroyed homes has been rebuilt. The city is still reeling after the loss of thousands of Palestinians, hundreds of whom were children. There are still over 7,000 undetonated bombs and shells that pose a threat to anyone unlucky enough to stumble across them. Most of the 100,000 Palestinians displaced by the war continue to live in makeshift shelters, often in the rubble of their former homes, and the landscape is littered with apocalyptic decay where homes, shops, and restaurants once stood. Worse still, the city remains blockaded and the UN and the EU are not doing anything about it.

Strange enough, the task of large-scale reconstruction work has been entrusted to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, a UN-brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which would oversee the distribution of building materials entering Gaza. To date, only 5.5 percent of the building materials needed to repair and rebuild homes and other damaged civilian infrastructure has entered the enclave. Failed promises by donor countries in the EU plus Israel’s siege and continued restrictions on materials entering the territory have all impeded reconstruction efforts.

The UN is directly responsible for the program’s failure, as the terms of the agreement have entrenched Gaza’s underdevelopment by granting Israel control over nearly every aspect of the rebuilding process. The usurper regime has deep power over the program and Palestinians cannot build a house if Israel says so.

It’s utter depravity, as it effectively offers legitimacy to the Israeli blockade and places exclusive reliance on Israel’s willingness to allow the flow of reconstruction materials for success of the mechanism. The policy is criminal because it places the civilian population at the mercy of unfulfilled international promises and Israel - in gross breach of UN resolutions.

The EU-backed, UN-brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority hasn’t not changed anything either. It harms the Palestinians by heightening the blockade - while the residents of Gaza still have no support from the UN, nor the main EU countries. The international community has the power to help end the Israeli blockade on Gaza the same way it did help overcome Apartheid in South Africa.

It is long overdue for the UN and EU to stand firm and move to hold Israel accountable for breaking international law, though they are facing fierce resistance from Tel Aviv and Washington. In the absence of international boycott, pressure, condemnation and secured accountability for ongoing Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, the devastated neighborhoods of Gaza, let alone the Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank, will never be rebuilt.

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