Gaby Lasky Ta’ayush. Defending Human Rights in Palestine

Sonia Nettnin, Media Monitors Network, 5/08/07. Israeli Human Rights Attorney Gaby Lasky spoke about the challenges Palestinians face under Israeli occupation and Israeli settler violence. Lasky is the former secretary general of Israeli Peace Now and a former lieutenant of the Israeli Defense Forces. Now she represents Israelis, Palestinians and internationals involved in non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation in Israeli courts. She spoke on behalf of an Arab-Jewish grassroots organization called Ta’ayush (in Arabic, means “life in common”), to raise money for their legal fund. Ta’ayush works to eliminate racism and segregation through the creation of an Arab-Jewish partnership.

"How are settlements created? Settlers decide they want to expand the existing settlement, so they set up a tent or a house and a generator …and then it becomes an outpost office settlement. Even though the Israeli Army and the Israeli Government knows it is illegal, the army sends soldiers to care for the settlers. Then the Israeli Government paves roads, connects the settlers to electricity and installs telephone lines to them. Settlers do not install wires, cables, lines, and pylons all by themselves: they have Israel’s continued support for these colonies. “The settlers bring the army with them wherever they go, even if the army and the government understand the settlements are illegal. These outposts are made not only to conquer more land, to create a path for all Jewish-built territories in the Occupied Territories so that even if some government decides to end the occupation it will be very difficult. It will be very difficult to create a viable, Palestinian state because there will be so many settlements that have annexed Palestinian land. Israel has not made the necessary legal activities to make the Geneva Convention part of Israel’s legal system."

When Israel presented its report of how it has enacted the Geneva Conventions into their country’s legal system, Israel’s position to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is “the Convention does not apply to the Occupied Territories; it applies in Israel but not the Occupied Territories.” However, Israel has been told, time and time again, the Geneva Conventions applies to the Occupied Territories.

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