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Geneva Conference Discusses Israeli Violence
GENEVA, Dec. 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A one-day international conference highlighting Israel's most recent military attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories opened in Geneva Wednesday.
The special meeting of about 100 of the 189 parties to the Geneva Conventions is being boycotted by Israel and the United States, which fear that the final declaration issued would condemn Israeli aggression.
Israel said Tuesday the conference to examine the application in the Occupied Territories of the Fourth Geneva Convention on protecting civilians should be called off following the deadly bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa over the weekend, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
But Switzerland, which has been organizing the conference for several months in its capacity as depository of the wartime humanitarian code, said the preparatory panel had decided it would go ahead despite the raised political stakes.
Twenty-five countries or groupings on the panel, including the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab League, the U.S. and the European Union (E.U.) have helped to draft a final declaration for the conference, according to Swiss officials.
The conference was convened following a request by the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the Arab League and OIC members, in October 2000.
Yaakov Levy, Israel's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, said Tuesday the meeting would be "meaningless" if it did not take into account the attacks over the weekend in Jerusalem and Haifa, which killed at least 25 people. On Monday and Tuesday, Israeli aircraft raided targets in Gaza and the West Bank.
Swiss officials said they had prepared a draft declaration that was balanced, and was expected not to designate Israel by name.
The conference is being held behind closed doors. Participants will only be allowed to deliver speeches, and will not vote on the final declaration.
"There is no space for last minute controversy," Swiss foreign ministry official Pierre-Yves Fux told journalists last week.
Israel is one of 189 countries that have ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention, a cornerstone of international humanitarian law that provides protection for civilians in wartime, notably those living under military occupation.
Switzerland said the declaration would stress that respect for the Fourth Convention and humanitarian law was essential for a just and lasting peace.
Earlier, the European Commission urged Israel Tuesday not to wipe out the Palestinian Authority as Israel launched some of its most severe attacks in the occupied territories.
Some European foreign ministers went further than the official statement - with France accusing Israel of appearing to be conducting a deliberate policy aimed at destroying the Palestinian Authority, the BBC's online news service reported.
The EU statement said Israel had a right to defend itself, but said the Palestinian Authority was necessary for helping move along a peace process.
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said Israel risked a "fatal error" if the Authority was weakened or eliminated.
"Arafat has been weakened by the harassment of the Israeli army ... and as a result people are using his weakness as an argument to say that since he cannot reestablish order in his own camp, he should in some way be eliminated," Vedrine said.
"Sadly, it looks like a deliberate policy," he added. "I fear that there's a real worst case policy behind that to eliminate the Palestinian Authority," he said.
Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Pique said on a visit to Iran that he condemned Israel's action, as well as the bombings over the weekend.
Some European officials also pointed out that the alternatives to Arafat could be harder for Israel to deal with.
"With whom do the Israelis want to make peace if not with Arafat? With Hamas? With Islamic Jihad?" one EU official said.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who has been influential in easing previous Middle East crises, described the situation as "very, very serious".
He spoke to Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, but sources said afterwards he saw little basis for resolving the crisis.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was also reported to have held emergency talks with several Middle East leaders.
Turkey's Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, said Israel's demand for absolute calm before talks was "unrealistic".
"Sharon is determined to implement very excessive, unjust measures against the Palestinian Authority," he said.
"If this turns into an actual war, it may lead to a situation that could be more dangerous than the one in Afghanistan, particularly for our region," he said.
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