Israel/Palestine: The Black Book

By Reporters Without Borders

In times of war, human rights violations often go unreported. In Israel and the Occupied Territories, where ongoing conflict has killed many thousands, abuses of human rights are commonplace, but... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0745321410
• ISBN13: 9780745321417
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 3.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Grim, unpalatable truths.

In this selection of reports on Israel and the occupied territories, supplied by eight human rights organisations, various issues - such as terrorism, torture and press freedom - are analysed in relation to the overall policy and modus operandi of either side of the conflict. As such it stands as a timely corrective to the media manipulation in both camps which, besides routine censorship, has also entailed violence against journalists attempting to report from troubled areas. The stance of the editors (`Reporters Without Borders') is objective and non-partisan. Incidents and situations are described, and where they show some provision of international law being flouted crtiticisms are made accordingly. The premise is established that, in any discussion of human rights, whether the behaviour of the oppressor or the underdog is being considered, the same standards of justice and morality apply. Of particular interest are the reports by Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations which focus on abuses perpetrated by their own side. For example B'Tselem, the Israeli Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, considers the Israeli Defence Force's programme of house demolition and destruction of agricultural areas, without warning, in the Gaza Strip after the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada. Despite Israel's special pleading along the lines of `pressing military necessity' B'Tselem finds the IDF action to be indiscriminate, amounting to collective punishment, and thus constituting a violation of international humanitarian law. It notes Israel's failure to respect the principle of proportionality which requires hostile parties to discriminate between civilians and combatants, and also condemns the IDF - or certain stray elements thereof - for targetting clearly marked ambulances. On the subject of torture in Israel, Chapter 9 consists of a report by Israel's own Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. It discusses a 1999 ruling by the country's Supreme Court which determined that torture routinely inflicted on Palestinian detainees by the General Security Service was no longer acceptable, despite the contrary view being held by virtually the entire political establishment and a large section of the public. However, difficulties in defining what constitutes the `reasonable interrogation' recommended by the High Court have meant that, two years after the ruling (at the time of the PCATI report's publication - September 2002), methods of ill-treatment were still being used by the GSS. Graphic details of their interrogation techniques are described and the report concludes pessimistically, regretting that, despite any accusations levelled against them by detainees, the GSS are under no legal obligation to give an account of their actions. The section on Palestine takes up a mere 25% of the book's 200-odd pages. This may be seen as simply a reaction against the familiar skewed media treatment of the issue which has unjustly downpl