Palestinian terror attacks are war crimes and are detrimental to civilians and the peace process, according to a report released by a French humanitarian organization and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH).
Seventy percent of the victims of ‘democide’ bombings were civilians, and the majority within that figure were women, children, elderly and belonging to lower economic classes. The report did not distinguish between attacks within the 1948 and 1967 border areas.
The report, a collaboration between Médecins du Monde (MDM) and FIDH, was written as a “second part” to an account of the effect of Israel’s Operation Defensive Shield on Palestinian civilians in Nablus, published last year.
The consequence of the attacks was to weaken the peace movement and “to reinforce public opinion on the need for more violence [based on] the need for more security,” said Claude Moncorgé, president of MDM, in a phone interview with The Media Line. “This is understandable but not good for the evolution of the conflict.”
The word ‘democide’ is derived from the Greek words ‘demos’ and ‘cide’ which translate to population or people and killing, respectively.
“We think that ‘democide’ emphasizes the consequences of the act, being [on] the civilian populations,” said Moncorgé.
While the word ‘democide’ was prominent in the report, the word ‘terrorism’ was absent, with the perpetrators of the attacks referred to as “armed Palestinian groups.”
Moncorgé said that using the word “terrorism” would implicate MDM in a complicated political debate, which has not been resolved by the international community.
He did, however, concede that his organization is not strictly humanitarian. Their first priority is to provide medical care and the second is to record testimonies, Moncorgé said.
“Giving testimony—when you denounce, when you name the crimes, when you point to the responsible [party], you become political,” he said.
Several Palestinian leaders rejected the report, according to an article in the Palestinian daily Al-Hayyat Al-Jadida on Tuesday. Nabil Abu Rudeina, Yassir Arafat’s personal adviser, said that the report ignores the suffering imposed by the Israeli “occupation” of Palestine. The leaders of terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad stated that the report was biased towards “Zionists.”
The report on Israeli civilians was based on the testimonies of survivors, victims’ families, non-governmental organizations, and emergency workers, as well as the Israeli ministries of health and foreign affairs.
The Nablus report was compiled by a doctor and two international law specialists in the spring of 2002.
The report stated that the targeting of civilians violates the Geneva Convention as well as international humanitarian law. ‘Democide’ attacks also infringe upon U.N. Resolution 244, which prohibits attacks on civilians.
He added that the report was completed in two parts because two civilian populations were being affected.
The Nablus report highlighted Israel’s “massive and arbitrary” arrests of Palestinians and inhumane treatment of prisoners during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. The report characterized the military’s actions as “war crimes” under international law.
MDM is a medical aid and solidarity organization with 68 operations in 51 countries.