Transcript of former US President Jimmy Carter’s Address to the United Nations Relief Works Agency’s Human Rights Graduation in Gaza, June 16, 2009.
By Jimmy Carter | Information Clearing House, June 16, 2009
Director of UNRWA operations John Ging, thank you for inviting me to Gaza. Distinguished guests, children of Gaza, I am grateful for your warm reception.
I first visited Gaza 36 years ago and returned during the 1980s and later for the very successful Palestinian elections. Although under occupation, this community was relatively peaceful and prosperous. Now, the aftermath of bombs, missiles, tanks, bulldozers and the continuing economic siege have brought death, destruction, pain, and suffering to the people here. Tragically, the international community largely ignores the cries for help, while the citizens of Gaza are being treated more like animals than human beings.
Last week, a group of Israelis and Americans tried to cross into Gaza through Erez, bringing toys and children’s playground equipment – slides, swings, kites, and magic castles for your children. They were stopped at the gate and prevented from coming. I understand even paper and crayons are treated as “security hazards” and not permitted to enter Gaza. I sought an explanation for this policy in Israel, but did not receive a satisfactory answer – because there is none.
The responsibility for this terrible human rights crime lies in Jerusalem, Cairo, Washington, and throughout the international community. This abuse must cease; the crimes must be investigated; the walls must be brought down, and the basic right of freedom must come to you.
Almost one-half of Gaza’s 1.5 million people are children, whose lives are being shaped by poverty, hunger, violence, and despair. More than 50,000 families had their homes destroyed or damaged in January, and parents are in mourning for the 313 innocent children who were killed.
The situation in Gaza is grim, but all hope is not lost. Amidst adversity, you continue to possess both dignity and determination to work towards a brighter tomorrow. That is why educating children is so important.
I have come to Gaza to help the world know what important work you are doing. UNRWA is here to ensure that the 200,000 children in its schools can develop their talent, express their dynamism, and help create the path to a better future.
The human rights curriculum is teaching children about their rights and also about their responsibilities. UNRWA is teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the struggle for these rights all over the world, Gaza’s children are learning that as you seek justice for yourselves, you must be sure that your behavior provides justice for others.
They are learning that it is wrong to fire rockets that may kill Israeli children. They are learning that arbitrary detention and the summary execution of political opponents is not acceptable. They are learning that the rule of law must be honored here in Gaza.
I would like to congratulate both UNRWA and the children who have completed the human rights curriculum with distinction. They are tomorrow’s leaders.
In addition to the tragedy of occupation, the lack of unity among Palestinians is causing a deteriorating atmosphere here in Gaza, in Ramallah, and throughout the West Bank.
Palestinians want more than just to survive. They hope to lead the Arab world, to be a bridge between modern political life and traditions that date back to the Biblical era. The nation you will create must be pluralistic and democratic – the new Palestine that your intellectuals have dreamt about. Palestine must combine the best of the East and the West. The Palestinian state, like the land, must be blessed for all people. Jerusalem must be shared with everyone who loves it – Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
With our new leaders in Washington, my country will move into the forefront of this birth of a new Palestine. We were all reminded of this renewed hope and commitment by President Obama’s recent speech in Cairo.
President Obama’s resolve to resume the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process based on the principle of two states for two peoples must be welcomed. This vision of two sovereign nations living as neighbors is not a mere convenient phrase. It is the basis for a lasting peace for this entire region, including Syria and Lebanon.
We all know that a necessary step is the ending of the siege of Gaza – the starving of 1 ½ million people of the necessities of life. Never before in history has a large community been savaged by bombs and missiles and then deprived of the means to repair itself. The issue of who controls Gaza is not an obstacle. As the World Bank has pointed out, funds can be channeled through a number of independent mechanisms and effective implementing agencies.
Although funds are available, not a sack of cement nor a piece of lumber has been permitted to enter the closed gates from Israel and Egypt. I have seen with my own eyes that progress is negligible.
My country and our friends in Europe must do all that is necessary to persuade Israel and Egypt to allow basic materials into Gaza. At the same time, there must be no more rockets and mortar shells falling on Israeli citizens.
I met this week with the parents of Corporal Gilad Shalit, and have with me a letter that I hope can be delivered to their son. I have also met with many Palestinians who plead for the freedom of their 11,700 loved ones imprisoned by the Israelis, including 400 women and children. Many of them have been imprisoned for many years, held without trial, with no access to their families or to legal counsel. Rational negotiations and a comprehensive peace can end this suffering on both sides.
I know it is difficult now, surrounded by terrible destruction, to see a future of independence and dignity in a Palestinian state, but this goal can and must be achieved. I know too that it is hard for you to accept Israel and live in peace with those who have caused your suffering. However, Palestinian statehood cannot come at the expense of Israel’s security, just as Israel’s security can not come at the expense of Palestinian statehood.
In his speech in Cairo, President Obama said that Hamas has support among Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. To play a full role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, accept existing peace agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist.
I have urged Hamas leaders to accept these conditions, and they have made statements and taken actions that suggest they are ready to join the peace process and move toward the creation of an independent and just Palestinian state.
Khaled Mashaal has assured me that Hamas will accept a final status agreement negotiated by the Palestinian Authority and Israel if the Palestinian people approve it in a referendum. Hamas has offered a reciprocal ceasefire with Israel throughout the West Bank and Gaza. Unfortunately, neither the Israeli leaders nor Hamas accept the terms of the Oslo Agreement of 1993, but the Arab Peace Initiative is being considered now by all sides.
I have personally witnessed free and fair elections in Palestine when Yasir Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas were elected president and when legislative members were chosen for your parliament. I hope to return next January for a similar event that will unite all Palestinians as you seek a proud and peaceful future.
Ladies and gentlemen, children of Gaza, thank you for inviting me and for sharing this happy occasion with me. Congratulations for your achievements.
The initial strike on the compound only killed one person, according to residents. The bulk of the toll came when locals rushed to the scene to help rescue the wounded trapped under the rubble, and the drone fired more missiles on them. It is unclear how many of the slain were civilians, but given the nature of the secondary strike it seems likely to be significant.
Peace and Justice Post 
Longer wars leave millions in limbo
June 20, 2009As we mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stands at more than 42 million – including 16 million refugees outside their countries and 26 million others displaced internally.This overall total reflects global displacement figures compiled at the end of 2008 by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), but the number has already grown substantially since the beginning of this year with more large displacements in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia totalling well over 2.3 million people.
And there are more worrisome signs on the horizon.
While some displacement situations are short-lived, others can take years and even decades to resolve. At present, for example, UNHCR counts 29 different groups of 25,000 or more refugees in 22 nations who have been in exile for five years or longer.
This means that nearly 6 million refugees are living in limbo, with no solutions in sight. Millions more internally displaced people (IDPs) are also unable to go home in places like Colombia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia.
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In addition to prolonged conflict and the increasingly protracted nature of displacement, we are also seeing a decline in the number of refugees and internally displaced people going home.In 2008, about 2 million people were repatriated, but that was a sharp drop from the year before.
Refugee repatriation, at 604,000, was down 17 per cent in 2008, while IDP returns dropped by 34 per cent. It was the second-lowest repatriation total in 15 years and the decline, in part, reflects deteriorating security conditions, namely in Afghanistan and Sudan.
Last year, we also saw a 28 per cent increase in the number of asylum seekers making individual claims, with 839,000 people seeking asylum. South Africa was the largest single recipient of individual asylum claims with 207,000 applications, followed by the US with 49,600, France with 35,400 and Sudan with 35,100.
The global economic crisis, gaping disparities between North and South, growing xenophobia, climate change, the relentless outbreak of new conflicts and the intractability of old ones all threaten to exacerbate this already massive displacement problem.
We and our humanitarian partners are struggling to ensure that these uprooted people and the countries hosting them get the help they need and deserve.
Disproportionate burden
Some 80 per cent of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people are in developing nations, underscoring the disproportionate burden carried by those least able to afford it as well as the need for more international support.
It also puts into proper perspective alarmist claims by populist politicians and media that some industrialised nations are being “flooded” by asylum seekers.
Most people forced to flee their homes because of conflict or persecution remain within their own countries and regions in the developing world.
Major refugee-hosting nations in 2008 included Pakistan, home to 1.8 million refugees before the Swat offensive in early 2009, Syria with 1.1 million, Iran with 980,000, Germany with 582,700, Jordan with 500,400, Chad with 330,500, Tanzania with 321,900 and Kenya with 320,600. Major countries of origin for refugees included Afghanistan (2.8 million) and Iraq (1.9 million), which together account for 45 per cent of all UNHCR refugees.
Others were Somalia (561,000); Sudan (419,000); Colombia (374,000), and the DRC (368,000). Nearly all of these countries are in the developing world.
Unfortunately, however, we cannot say that generosity and wealth are proportional to each other.
As conflicts drag on with no political solutions, the pressure on many of these poor countries is near breaking point. They need more international help now.
Without it, UNHCR and other aid agencies will be forced to continue making heartbreaking decisions on which necessities must be denied to uprooted families.
Of the global total of uprooted people in 2008, UNHCR cares for 25 million, including a record 14.4 million internally displaced people, up from 13.7 million in 2007, and 10.5 million refugees.
The other 4.7 million refugees are Palestinians under the mandate of the UN Relief and Works Agency.
Less protection for IDPs
Although international law distinguishes between refugees, who are protected under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and the internally displaced, who are not, such distinctions are absurd to those who have been forced from their homes and who have lost everything.
Uprooted people are equally deserving of help whether they have crossed an international border or not.
Source: UNHCR 2008
That is why UNHCR is working with other UN agencies to jointly provide the internally displaced with the help they need, just as we do for refugees.My agency’s caseload of internally displaced has more than doubled since 2005.
Displaced populations include Colombia with some 3 million; Iraq with 2.6 million; Sudan’s Darfur region with more than 2 million; Eastern DRC with 1.5 million and Somalia with 1.3 million.
Other increases in displacement in 2008 were in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Georgia and Yemen.
Just as the international community felt an obligation to spend hundreds of billions rescuing the international financial system, it should feel the same urgency to rescue some of the most vulnerable people on earth – refugees and the internally displaced.
And the amount needed is only a fraction of that spent on financial bailouts.
Finding solutions for more than 40 million people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution is difficult, but not impossible.
With the necessary political will and humanitarian support from the international community, we can ease the suffering of the world’s uprooted people and finally bring their exile to an end.
António Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister, has been UN High Commissioner for Refugees since 2005.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera editorial policy.
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