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Some days I just love the disinfo newsletter:
"Despite what the news broadcasts say, UN did not say that only 52 died and there was no massacre"
Instead, it was more along the lines of "While the exact number of Palestinians killed is still not final, given the circumstances of the situation on the ground, as of
now reports indicate that 375 Palestinians were killed from 29 March to 7 May 2002."
Sorry, but that's not what it says at all. The quote you used is from the submissions of the Palestinian Authority, contained in Annex II to the UN report, not the UN report itself. Furthermore, it was concerned with the occupation of the West Bank, rather than Jenin.
The only thing the UN concluded is that at least 52 Palestinians (and 23 Israelis) died in Jenin, although that is only the confirmed dead. Whilst the media have hit upon this report as important, having read it it's a complete wash-out. The UN was denied access to Jenin, its investigative team was vetoed by Israel, and as a result its report was entirely based upon second hand information. Its conclusions are minimal, extremely limited and hedged with caveats about evidence and the breadth of their possible application.
It does (at least in my opinion) tend to indicate that the initial claims of the PA were inaccurate. It also expressly criticises both sides for their placing of civilians in danger. But it goes no further - it certainly does not say that Israel acted acceptably or, for that matter, unnacceptably. Is this surprising? Of course not - the UN has to be seen to be perfectly impartial and has to be able to talk to both sides for the future...
Interestingly and completely missed by all the media I have seen, it also adds that the European Union report (annex IV to the UN report) concluded:
"Palestinians had claimed that between 400 and 500 people had been killed, fighters and civilians together. They had also claimed a number of summary executions and the transfer of corpses to an unknown place outside the city of Jenin.
The number of Palestinian fatalities, on the basis of bodies recovered to date, in Jenin and the refugee camp in this military operation can be estimated at around 55. Of those, a number were civilians, four were women and two children. There were 23 Israeli fatalities in the fighting operations in Jenin.
The number of Palestinian fatalities could increase when the rubble is removed. Most observers share the certainty that there must be some bodies lying under the debris.
Nevertheless, the most recent estimates by UNRWA and ICRC show that the number of missing people is constantly declining as the IDF releases Palestinians from detention. In any case, a figure is very difficult to estimate."
This looks to me to be the most balanced conclusion in the whole affair.
For the actual report, see:
http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/index.html |
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