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EU Observers in Hebron are Useless

I write this article about the TIPH [1], the “Temporary International Presence in Hebron”, after a former officer of these observers, who served in Hebron and who read my article [2] from 2008 about the TIPH [3], wrote me some days ago confirming that the presence of these observers in Hebron is a waste of time.

Whether this former officer of the TIPH is right or wrong in his brigadier-general-britt-t-b-brestrup [4]opinion and what he wrote, I found it necessary to publish his letter, and to call upon governments of the European countries (Norway, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey, which still not part of the EU) to stop their support for the criminal Israeli occupation, which has converted the heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron into a concentration camp under their eyes. It is necessary that these European countries respect the Human rights, the International treaties of humanitarian law which they signed, and it is a duty of all the European countries stop supporting the continued violation of human rights and crimes against humanity of the Israeli occupation. Continuing to send TIPH observers but covering up the crimes which these people see every day is equal to complicity in genocide.

Here is the e-mail which I received from the former officer of the TIPH from a European country


Marhaba Kawthar.

By chance I read your article about the TIPH. I served with the TIPH for more than 3 years; I was also one of the officers. As I remember maybe we met in one of the occasions.


Kawthar I am totally convinced that the TIPH mission in Hebron is waste of time and money. Hebron agreement is not a fair one and the Palestinian citizens instead of getting a real protection against the aggression of the settlers in the city, specially I H2 area. I have seen a lot and know enough to tell you that the mission should have been closed since the second intifada started. The millions of dollars that was spent on should be given to the poor civilians in the city. I know as well as you do, that many are rich in Hebron, but the majorities are poor people. Because of the siege and other reasons.
Finally I wish you luck.
Do not hesitate to write me if you need that.


Who is the TIPH, and which are the European countries which participate in the TIPH mission in Hebron?

TIPH is the “Temporary International Presence in Hebron” representing Norway [5], Italy [6], Denmark [7], Sweden [8], Switzerland [9] and Turkey as observers to the violations of the Human Rights and international humanitarian Laws. The group of European observers (actually useless tourists) sent to Hebron in the West Bank as a result of the Oslo agreement (which was buried by the criminal occupation of the state of Israel after it’s signature some years ago, together with former Israeli Prime Minister Ytzhaq Rabin, who was murdered by an Israeli terrorist, Yigal Amir.

The purpose of sending these European tourists as observers to Hebron was to 07_06_02_soldiers_stops_palestinian_leaving_her_home_while_guarding_jewish_visitors_on_a_tour_of_the_old_city_photo_courtesy_of_nayef_hashlamoun [10]assist the criminal Israeli occupation and at the same time hinder the Palestinians in their efforts to restore normalcy to the city, which has it’s heart occupied with some hundreds of armed criminals, jewish terrorists from  Europe and America protected by thousands of Israeli occupation soldiers (about 5000 in 1997 – 2001), who all converted the heart of the city of Hebron into a concentration camp sealed with metal doors, and turned the life of the 40,000 Palestinian inhabitants into hell, into a disaster.

How is the situation in Hebron after 12 years of informing the European governments about the daily violations of human rights and crimes against humanity of Israeli occupation?

Does the presence of the TIPH help to normalize the life in Hebron?

Did the TIPH governments (European governments) through their diplomatics channels ask Israel to justify its continued violations of International laws and the human rights of the Palestinians in Hebron, or did they just sign agreements which actually support the criminality of the Jews in Hebron, often enough citizens of these same countries?

Do the European governments which participate in the Mission of the “Temporary International Presence in Hebron” dare to publish the reports of the TIPH before the public opinion?

Why do the European countries continue misleading their people, hiding and covering up the crimes of Israel, turning their back to the human rights rather than holding the occupation accountable?

Hebron, City of Ghosts [11]

According to Oslo agreement, the TIPH observers should hold meetings 02_11_25_01_1_life_2_short_3_years_4_what [12]between the Israelis and to Palestinians to discuss the crimes of the Israeli occupation, which impede the return to normal life in the city of Hebron, and to report to their countries about these crimes and the violations of human rights and International laws and treaties in Hebron, in order to help their respective governments to follow up with active measures designed to solve the problem through it their official diplomatic channels.

This means that the archives of the observer governments (Norway, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey) are full with reports of the crimes against humanity of the Israeli occupation, and this means that it is the moral duty of these countries to use their power to force Israel to stop it’s crimes and to respect the international laws, but there was never any real intention of these countries to use their diplomatic channels to stop these crimes – rather, as is apparent after 12 years of their useless presence, there is collusion of these governments in the crimes of israel against the Palestinians in Hebron at all levels. This has permitted that the heart of Hebron is converted into a concentration camp, and that the active life in the city has turned into a theater of ghosts, big rats, and cats.

These European countries continue their full support for the criminality of the Israeli occupation, for the genocide against the Palestinian people, in and to the violation of the human rights, the most basic principles of human decency, and their own laws to this day.

As a Palestinian, I understand that the governments of the six countries, border_policeman_locking_mosque_gate [13]Norway, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey, who receive continued reports about the Israeli crimes from the TIPH in Hebron, are accessories to crimes against humanity proscribed internationally by states which are signatories of the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948 [14]″, by omission and complicity, because far from doing everything in their power to compel Israel to comply with their duties under this and other international treaties, they have instead looked away and helped the Israelis commit and cover up their vile crimes.

After 12 years, many of the observers have started building relations with bil-ramil-_british [15]Palestinian families of the city, helping where and how possible by their own initiative, but clearly against the will of their governments and superiors.
TIPH personnel have admitted that the Palestinians are victims of the occupation and the Israeli politics of ethnic cleansing. They exchanged sympathy and friendly comments with each other. But exchanging emotional words and moral support will not free their governments from their duty to stop the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Israelis since their troops and illegal colonists arrived Hebron over 31 years ago.

The majority of these “observers” have no interest in us Palestinians, they come 01_11_14_israeli_soldier_detaining_palestinians_during_id_checks_in_marketsized [16]to spy on us, they send intelligence reports which are passed on to the occupation, and many of them write or speak against us as “extremists”, “terrorists” and in other calumnious terms when they return to their homes. These are the people who most of them are known as assiduous clients of the Russian prostitutes on the beaches around Herzliya, and Tel Aviv, the people who celebrate and go on vacations to the expensive hotels in Tel Aviv, and the West Part of the occupied Jerusalem. The people who start building some relationships with the young girls (students) in the middle of a conservative Muslim society in Hebron. Some of these observers spend the day and the night drunk in Hebron. Many of these “observers” are known to carry double nationality, and this last point lets me wonder who these people really are, for who they really work, and which their true intentions are.

I wrote several reports about the European TIPH. Here is a link to my gallery [17] and reports about the TIPH.

A link to my Hebron Gallery [11].