Letter from the Palestinian Minister of Culture and Information

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday April 16, 2002 12:31 by Angela, Dublin

Please find below a letter the Mr. Yasser Abed Rabbo, Minister of Culture and Information, has sent to heads of states, parliamentarians, and NGO representatives regarding the atrocious massacre Israeli troops committed in the Jenin refugee camp. Sincerely, Nour Odeh Communications Department Director Palestine Media Center - PMC 00972-59-750-439

12 April 2002

Your Excellency,

I write today to inform you of an egregious crime committed against hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israeli occupation army has buried at least 500 bodies of residents, at least half of whom are women and children, of the camp in mass graves and is now attempting to cover the truth. Simultaneously, the occupation army is forbidding the international press from uncovering the truth and in turn exposing it to the entire world.

In fact, Mr. Ahmed Al-Tibi, the Member of Knesset had formally requested an explanation from the Israeli Minister of “Defense” over the ongoing discussions in the Israeli military regarding the location of these mass graves. He requested an explanation for the army’s reported deliberations on how and where these mass graves should be hidden; whether in the West Bank or inside Israel proper.

It is a disgrace that the White House had called Ariel Sharon “a man of peace” on the same day that he commenced making mass graves to conceal the wicked massacre that he had ordered in Jenin.

Entire families have been annihilated. At least half of the victims were killed as a direct result of the indiscriminate Israeli shelling and missile attacks against the shanty homes in the refugee camp. Moreover, at least fifty victims were summarily executed, some in front of their own families; some were men who had already been arrested, others were civilians rounded up and executed.

We call on you to dispatch an international investigation team to the refugee camp immediately in order to expose Ariel Sharon’s, America’s “man of peace”, newest massacre. There are numerous survivors and witnesses who are ready to testify to the horrors they have witnessed in the camp. We regard silence as tantamount to collaboration.

Furthermore, it is shameful and indicative of immense racism that Israeli military sources have justified these mass graves by alleging that the army had buried the victims’ bodies, including those of women and children, in order not to be used for the benefit of the Palestinians in the media. Worse yet, some of these sources even alleged that these mass graves were made for “health reasons”!

These more than 500 women, children, and men are human beings with names and families. The least these victims deserve is a proper and dignified burial in addition to exposing those responsible for their slaughter. We condemn all those who maintain silence towards this massacre; a massacre that should and must be exposed to the entire world.

Your inaction will mean that additional such heinous massacres will take place in the near future. You are responsible for what has happened and what may happen in the future for silence is only interpreted as agreement.

Let history judge you as having been part of exposing this villainous crime and preventing others from happening, rather than collaborating to cover them up.

Sincerely,

Yasser Abed Rabbo
Minister of Culture and Information
Ramallah, Palestine