Article Take a Pen

Palestinian "Justice"

Last Friday, June 2, 2004, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades conducted a street execution. As the Palestinian crowd cheered them on, and a Reuters/AP reporter snapped photographs, four gunmen dressed in civilian clothes read out charges of collaboration with Israel and of sexual molestation of his own daughters.

(AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

They then asked the crowd for a sentence - 'immediate death!' they cried. The leader shot Mohammed Rafiq Abdel Razek at point blank range in the head and left him to die in the town square.

(AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

There are several eye openers in this barbaric event. The executioners were part of the Al-Aqsa Brigades - an organization which has publicly sworn its allegiance to Yasser Arafat and which, just last month, was acknowledged by Palestinian Prime Minister to be an integral part of the ruling Fatah party. That means that if Arafat really prefers some form of official justice in stead of street executions, he just has to give the word.

For a second eye-opener see below, how Associated Press office (AP) is presenting the street execution. AP avoids, with the most cunning wordings, to tell the truth that Al-Aqsa Brigades are not militants, and are not a 'violent group' but a terrorist organization, and that their real boss is the PA chairman, Arafat.

This is the text published by AP with above pictures:

A militant of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, prepares his machine-gun before executing Mohammed Rafiq Abdel Razek, 42, center, in downtown Qabatiya, a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, Friday July 2, 2004. A local leader of the group said Abdel Razek had been captured by the group on Friday and that during interrogations, he admitted that he had spied for Israel since 1989 and had repeatedly abused his daughters. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

Unfortunately it seems to have become normal practice that in Palestinian controlled territories AP is invited to such exceptional photo opportunities, in exchange for its collaboration with Palestinian propaganda rhetoric.

But the third and most disturbing question arising is, why does the EU continue the generous funding of Arafat's judicial system, closing an eye, or both eyes, to the real nature of that "judicial" system?

EU involvement in Palestinian "Justice"?

How the EU promotes Palestinian judiciary reform.

Found at the official EU website:

Another expression of the EU’s readiness to continue support for Palestinian reform efforts is its leading role in the International Task Force on Palestinian Reform (TFPR), which was established in July 2002. Its objective is to monitor and support the implementation of Palestinian civil reforms, and to guide the international donor community in its support for the Palestinian reform agenda.
In order to strengthen the rule of law in the West Bank and Gaza, the European Commission supports the modernization of the Palestinian judicial system with a program launched end of 2003. The €7 million judiciary programme seeks to reinforce the judicial institutions created in the Basic Law, provides training to judges and prosecutors, and funds the refurbishment of selected courts.

Both the EU and the AP have deserved well the harshest criticism of the public for their complacence with this long-existing Palestinian injustice system. If their complacence has been a mistake and not a malpractice, the EU support to Arafat 's PA must be immediately suspended and thoroughly revised.

Our letter to EU:

To the President-elect of the European Commission,

Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso

Subject: EU training of Palestinian judges and prosecutors, while street tribunals take place

Dear Sir,

This week I learned of the cold blooded execution of a Palestinian, Mohammed Rafiq Abdel Razek, 42, in Qabatiya, after a street tribunal, set up by Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Palestinian controlled territory.

Remembering the efforts and money the EU is putting in training of Palestinian judges and prosecutors, on a multimillion euro budget, I am sure you are disappointed that the EU did not succeed in avoiding this cruel murder, disguised as a trial.

However what I don't understand is how EU officials keep meeting Yasser Arafat, the ruler of the Fatah party, of which above mentioned Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades form an integral part, as recently acknowledged by the Palestinian Prime Minister.

How can you keep providing money and training for Arafat's prosecutors, while this same Arafat lets his hangmen rule the streets?

Sincerely,

Y.M.

Write your own letter on this item! Use the following addresses:

Postal address	:	European Commission B-1049 Brussels Belgium
Fax	:	+32 2 295 01 38

Our letter to Associated Press:

Subject: Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and connection with Arafat

Dear sir,

In the AP report of April 2, 2004 on the execution of a Palestinian, Mohammed Rafiq Abdel Razek, 42 in Qabatiya, after a street tribunal, set up by Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Palestinian controlled territory, AP describes Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades as "a violent group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement."

In fact the Al-Aqsa Brigades is an organization which has publicly sworn its allegiance to Yasser Arafat and which, just last month, was acknowledged by Palestinian Prime Minister to be an integral part of the ruling Fatah party.

My question is whether your deceiving expression of "loosely affiliated" is meant to help Arafat deny any responsibility for the street tribunals and cold blooded murders?

Sincerely,

Y.M.

Write your own letter on this item! Use the following addresses:

Associated Press
Postal address	:	50 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020
Fax	:	(212) 621 - 7520
E-mail	:	feedback@ap.org