30 July - 5 August 2012 - orsam

The special committee which was created by the UN General Assembly back in December 1968 also
includes Dato Hussein Haniff, ambassador of Malaysia to the United Nations; and Fod Seck, a
Senegalese diplomat based in Geneva.
Thalif Deen: How best would you describe the harsh treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli
authorities?
Palitha Kohona: The committee took the view that the occupying authorities were not discharging
their international legal obligations towards the people of the occupied territories. For example, the
principal result of Israel‘s blockade of Gaza has been to render 80 percent of Palestinians in Gaza
dependent on international humanitarian aid.
The resilience of Gazans for being able to survive on so little, especially in the face of the inadequate
health care, severe constraints on their normal occupations, frequent power outages, and not
infrequent incidents of violence that mark their daily lives, is admirable. Israel‘s blockade of Gaza is
illegal.
Israel‘s security needs can surely be met adequately without resort to some of these harsh policies.
The blockade, in the view of many, amounts to the collective punishment of 1.6 million Palestinians.
It has had a devastating impact on the lives of people.
Many witnesses asked whether some of these harsh policies were really necessary to maintain
security or were they actually exacerbating feelings of hopelessness.
TD: Since these human rights violations are taking place in occupied territories, do they amount to a
violation of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners in conflict situations?
PK: There have been many eminent persons who have taken this view, and the committee agrees
with this assessment.
TD: Has Israel ever permitted the special committee to visit Israel and record its side of the story? If
not, what is the excuse given by Israel for barring the special committee?
Page 18