American Jewish Committee Denounces Fourth Geneva Convention Meeting

American Jewish Committee
Monday, 3 December 2001

The American Jewish Committee today deplored the convening of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and called upon countries to join with the United States in boycotting the extraordinary session in Geneva on December 5.

David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, issued the following statement:

"The Fourth Geneva Convention, established in 1949 to protect victims of war, has now been turned on its head. The horrors of the Second World War, in particular the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jewish people, served as the backdrop to this humanitarian initiative.

"But in the 52 years since the convention's adoption, the High Contracting Parties have met only once for the purpose of discussing a specific conflict or territorial situation. That occasion was on July 15, 1999, when they met in Geneva to briefly discuss Israel. The December 5 meeting is a reprise of that earlier charade.

"The USSR invaded and occupied Afghanistan and the High Contracting Parties did not gather. Nor did they convene to assess other blatant acts of naked aggression and brutal occupation, such as Iraq in Kuwait and the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

"Israel, which acquired the West Bank, Gaza, and the eastern part of Jerusalem in 1967 in an action prompted by indisputable acts of war on the Arab part, is deemed to merit the dubious honor of drawing the High Contracting Parties together in Geneva, not once, but twice.

"This is the case in spite of the fact that Israel is actually implementing the humanitarian provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention in practice, and has been in the process of negotiating bilaterally the final status of these disputed territories.

"This can only be described as a transparent effort to politicize humanitarian law; its repercussions will affect not only Israel but, over time, other states as well that may also become the victims of automatic majorities in the world body."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org