2023-11-08 08:33:07
After the massacre of more than 10,000 Palestinians (4,000 of them children) in a month of war, United Nations agencies are increasingly raising the tone against Israel for its massive bombings and siege on Gaza. The special rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese (Italy, 1977), alerts, in an interview with this newspaper, of the “clear risk” that a genocide is being perpetrated. Because there is genocidal intent (points to statements by Israeli leaders to erase Gaza from the map) and military capacity to carry it out, and because the facts on the ground show an unprecedented massacre and strategies such as famine as an alleged weapon of war. Albanese, an independent lawyer in charge of reporting to the UN on human rights violations in the occupied territories, attends by videoconference to THE NEWSPAPER OF SPAINfrom the Prensa Ibérica group, from Tunisia, where he resides.
In the face of war, what should Spain and the rest of the international community do?
Maintain a firm position based on international legislation. What we have built from the ashes of World War II is a system to protect us all. We cannot make exceptions. Confidence must be instilled in the multilateral system with strong voices calling for the application of international law. Specifically, we must ask for an immediate ceasefire, to stop the clear risk we face of a genocide developing. The forcible transfer of Palestinians must also be avoided, because there are indications that there is a plan to displace as many Palestinians as possible outside. It would not be the first nor the second time, but the third, an unprecedented catastrophe.
It means that Spain and others should oppose the transfer of Palestinians to Egypt…
They should ask for safe corridors to transport them to the rest of the occupied territories. In reality, they should have the right to move freely. But the first safe harbor should be the rest of the territory that belongs to them, according to the agreements and international consensus: the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza itself, where they should have an independent State.
How do you define a genocide?
Genocide is an attempt to kill and destroy, in whole or in part, ethnic, religious or racial groups. The Palestinians clearly constitute a racial group, a nation. There are three acts that are key: the murder of members of a group, causing severe physical or psychological harm, and creating living conditions that lead to the destruction of those people in whole or in part. That there is a genocidal intention is seen in Israel: “let’s erase Gaza from the map, let’s kill them all”… There are many statements from political leaders, including President Isaac Herzog [que responsabilizó a toda Gaza del ataque del 7 de octubre] or military leaders, doctors, think tanks… Not only do they call for killing them all, but they equate them with Hamas. And then there is the dehumanization of Palestinians: calling them terrorists, human shields, animals. Genocide is not an act, it is a process. And dehumanization has been going on for a long time.
Francesca Albanese UN Palestine / UN rapporteur
With all that said, why do you talk about the risk of genocide and not just plain genocide?
Because to conclude that there is a genocide you need to carry out specific advice. I’m investigating it. Based on what I see, there is a genocidal intent. The genocidal intention per se, if we look at the jurisprudence of other genocides such as Rwanda or Yugoslavia, it is not enough. We must look at reality and focus on specific crimes. For example: bombing the Jabalia refugee camp with 400 people in front to kill one person. This can be considered extermination, because it is the intentional killing of protected people. Second example: the bombing of hospitals. Israel has been bombing hospitals, colleges, schools, mosques. They say they are trying to preserve civilian lives, but it is not true. It is evident: in three weeks they have killed 10,000 people, 4,000 children.
If we believe the data from the Government of Hamas…
These are figures from the United Nations. They would not use data that they believed to be exaggerated. I know how the UN works. And let me add another element on the issue of genocide, which is the issue of provoking hunger: Israel has closed all the crossings, it has prevented the entry of humanitarian aid, instrumentalizing it for military or ideological reasons. This can lead to intentional starvation. We don’t know how many have died on the ground from contaminated water, from problems during pregnancy or from not being able to eat. We have families of ten people who live off a loaf of bread. And without water. Drinking healthy water. For all this I believe that there are genocidal factors. That is why other colleagues and I are warning of the serious risk of genocide. We function as an early warning system: we need to stop this, we cannot cry when the genocide has been proven before an international court.
Declarations and requests for respect for international humanitarian law by governments are not working. Do you think a step further should be taken, for example by calling the ambassadors in Israel for consultations?
I can’t prescribe that specifically. But I think the time has come to take diplomatic, economic and political measures. In particular, suspend all arms sales to the parties.
You have just presented a report on children in Gaza, on the lack of childhood…
They are half of the population of Gaza. The draconian measures imposed by Israel in the occupied territories, which it manages as a military dictatorship, which are applied by soldiers and reviewed by military courts, what impact do they have on a Palestinian child? Creates intergenerational trauma.
You talk not only about this war, but about all these years ago…
In the previous 20 years [al 7 de octubre] More than 1,400 children had already died in Palestine. They are huge figures. For perspective: 25 Israeli children died in the same time period. In addition, there are the Palestinians who have been injured, those who have suffered amputations due to intentional attacks, the orphans, those deprived of going to school or having a home because Israel has destroyed it (60,000 civil infrastructures have been destroyed since 1967). To this we must add the violence of the settlers, of the soldiers, the deprivation of work, travel, and established residence for the Palestinians. Children, half of the employed population, cannot live without fear. Their lives have been crushed. His psychological traumas are enormous.
Do you feel emotionally involved in this matter as a result of what you know and have seen?
I wouldn’t say that. Yes, I feel affected, because the level of deaths is very high. It affects you as a lawyer who sees that the system of international law is collapsing, failing to prevent it from being violated. And it affects you as a mother, for whom a dead child is already too much. 25 children were killed in Israel on October 7, more than 4,000 since then in Gaza.
Is there any hope?
I’m not an optimist, but I can’t afford to lose hope. It lies in people waking up and seeing reality. There is a very narrow window to save both the Palestinians and the Israelis. To the first, because they are going to die in large numbers. To the Israelis, because as many Israeli friends say, society is becoming one in which they chant “death to the Arabs” and begin to no longer see others as human beings; a dehumanized society. It is necessary to intervene to stop the war. There are UN peacekeeping missions that have ensured the demilitarization of groups before.
Are you talking about missions like the one led by Spain on the border between Israel and Lebanon?
I don’t want to tell you what to do. But I think that a United Nations mission should be part of the agenda as part of the end of the occupation and the two-state solution. And, if this solution is not possible, then there should be another solution that allows Palestinians to live as human beings with equal rights and dignity.
But Israel’s relationship with the United Nations at the moment is very bad…
I think it’s more of an act than reality. Israel does not like to be told what to do. The moment you criticize Israel, they say you support terrorism or are anti-Semitic.
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