Complaints about the posting of an email testimony reporting the rape of Palestinian women by Israeli soldiers:

our defence attaché in Tel Aviv made a trip to Jenin today with two colleagues and has returned safely. His report states:

"all the available evidence is that the"—

Israeli defence force—

"used disproportionate and excessive force. What we cannot say is how many people in the camp were killed, who they were and how they died. This may take some time to be established."

I hope that I speak for the House in calling this evening on the Israeli Government to allow full and unrestricted access to international charities to the Jenin camp.

I have also signed Commons motions condemning anti-semitic attacks such as desecrations of cemeteries (for example see EDM 1223) and I make it clear on my website, that I condemn the attacks on Israeli citizens perpetrated by suicide bombers.  I can fully understand the fear that these dreadful attacks provoke in innocent people trying to live a normal life. However, Israeli action so far is more likely to encourage rather than prevent further atrocities.

Given that the infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority has been largely destroyed, I strongly believe that the power to undermine fanatical attitudes amongst Palestinians mostly lies with the Israeli Government, which should comply with international law. Nearly all the responses I  received failed to acknowledge any injustice perpetrated by the Israeli authorities (another example of which is described in the following account by a US Jewish social justice campaigner: http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/boykissedsoldier.html).

Many of the complaints that I have received have stated that allegations about a massacre at Jenin prove the email testimony cannot be true. I have never stated that there was a massacre at Jenin, rather that I am deeply concerned that serious human rights abuses occurred there. The UN Secretary-General was forced to disband the fact-finding mission to investigate events in Jenin, due to Israeli objections over perceived bias on the part of members of the team. Since then various groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have carried out their own investigations, concluding that between 50-60 Palestinians were killed, of whom half were fighters. Although most observers now believe there was not a deliberate massacre in Jenin, concerns have been expressed over other alleged war crimes, including the use of civilians as human shields, the prevention of medical assistance to the wounded, and the destruction of homes. A report by HRW that was published in May concluded that:

Human Rights Watch found no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF in Jenin refugee camp. However, many of the civilian deaths documented by Human Rights Watch amounted to unlawful or willful killings by the IDF. Many others could have been avoided if the IDF had taken proper precautions to protect civilian life during its military operation, as required by international humanitarian law. click here for source

"What we are looking at is facts and the facts are: civilians, including children, were killed; humanitarian assistance was blocked and the wounded were denied medical assistance. Extensive demolition of houses rendered three thousand people, the majority children, homeless."

She also clarified that there is no legal definition in international law of the word ‘massacre’ and that its use in the current circumstances is not helpful.

"Whatever terms one uses, the situation in Jenin begs for a full, impartial and independent investigation."

"The full facts must be made known to the victims and their families in their quest for justice." click here for source

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