UN Database for Gaza Aid May Give Israel Targets to Attack — Secret Memo

7/25/2019 UN Database for Gaza Aid May Give Israel Targets to Attack Secret Memo

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UN database for Gaza aid may give Israel

targets to attack secret memo

A Palestinian woman walks between the ruins of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza

Strip,

12 August 2014

Ali Abunimah!1" #anuar$ 201%

Basel &azouriA'ti(eStills

The UN was warned that its database of potential aid recipients in Gaza could provide Israel

with targets for future attacks, a document obtained by The Electronic Intifada reveals
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-database-gaza-aid-may-give-israel-targets-attack-secret-memohttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-database-gaza-aid-may-give-israel-targets-attack-secret-memohttps://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimahhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAs0ADm1gso/VphAOujvUCI/AAAAAAAAJaw/OGj0n9Y-EU4/s1600/6120362805821440.pnghttps://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimahhttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-database-gaza-aid-may-give-israel-targets-attack-secret-memohttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-database-gaza-aid-may-give-israel-targets-attack-secret-memo


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!iplomats and UN officials were also warned that plans for rebuilding Gaza after it was

attacked by Israel in "#$% violated international law

The UN&backed Gaza 'econstruction (echanism )G'(* is illegal and violates the very +right

to life of the -alestinian people, according to a confidential legal opinion by a law professor

who analyzed the mechanism for a ma.or aid agency that works closely with the UN

The Electronic Intifada is publishing the full te/t of the G'( for the first time, along with the

legal opinion 0oth documents are below

'ecall that in "#$%, The Electronic Intifadarevealedthat the G'(, the UN&brokered

agreement that was supposedly going to facilitate reconstruction, would effectively reinforce

Israel1s control over Gaza

0ut the UN, the -alestinian 2uthority and Israel have kept the actual te/t of the G'(

secret, despite demands for transparencyfrom -alestinians whose ability to rebuild their

liveshas remained hostage to its suffocating restrictions

The e/pert who wrote the legal opinion, the University of Nottingham1s -rofessor Nigel 3hite,

warned that the UN was becoming an active participant in Israel1s crimes, including enforcing

the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since "##4

3hite, co&director of the Nottingham International 5aw and 6ecurity 7entre, is considered

one of the world1s leading e/perts on United Nations law

)The UN, by becoming party to the G'(, is itself contributing to the maintenance of the

blockade and, therefore, is committing as well as aiding and assisting violations of

international law, 3hite states

)If the UN persists in aiding and assisting the implementation of the G'( it will be .ointly

)with the GoI 8Government of Israel9* responsible for the in.uries and losses caused to thepeople of Gaza, 3hite adds

3hite warns that the database of personal details of -alestinians in Gaza created under the

terms of the G'( violates the +right to life because of +potential misuse of the database by

the GoI 8Government of Israel9 for the identification of targets
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/under-cover-reconstruction-un-and-pa-become-enforcers-israels-gaza-siegehttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/under-cover-reconstruction-un-and-pa-become-enforcers-israels-gaza-siegehttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-un-rebuilt-just-one-house-gazahttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-un-rebuilt-just-one-house-gazahttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-there-been-almost-no-reconstruction-gazahttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-there-been-almost-no-reconstruction-gazahttp://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/people/nigel.whitehttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/under-cover-reconstruction-un-and-pa-become-enforcers-israels-gaza-siegehttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-un-rebuilt-just-one-house-gazahttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-there-been-almost-no-reconstruction-gazahttp://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/people/nigel.white


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The legal opinion was commissioned by the !iakonia International :umanitarian 5aw

'esource 7enter, which isfundedby the 6wedish and 6wiss governments It is part of

!iakonia, a ma.or 6wedish development organization that receives fundingfrom the 6wedish

government, the EU and the UN

The legal opinion was shared with diplomats and international agencies 0ut unlikeother

e/pert opinionscommissioned by !iakonia, the organization has not published 3hite1s

analysis

!iakonia did not respond to an email re;uesting comment

The stark and shocking nature of the legal advice might e/plain why the G'( has been kept

secret from its supposed beneficiaries :ad the legal opinion been published it would have

seriously undermined UN assurances and claims about the G'(

Dictated by Israel

In the summer of "#$%, Israel1s assault on Gaza killed more than ","## -alestinians

The Israeli invasion and bombardment destroyed or severely damaged "%,### homes and

caused lesser damage to another $%


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in Gaza

0uilding supplies are doled out based on Israeli approval, under e/treme security and in such

small ;uantities that they are often more valuable to desperate Gaza families to sell on the

black market than for any use in reconstruction

The G'( continues to give Israel a stranglehold on Gaza1s economy

Wrongful acts

In a "$&page analysis marked +confidential and dated "< ?anuary "#$>, Nigel 3hite e/amines

the legal basis of the Gaza 'econstruction (echanism and concludes that the document

amounts to an agreement or treaty that must be sub.ect to the norms of international law

The G'(, 3hite states, is +an unbalanced e/change of @rights1 and @duties,1 with the -2 andthe UN having a number of duties, while the GoI 8Government of Israel9 has a number of very

wide rights and very few obligations

2ccording to 3hite, UN67= went far beyond its legal mandate and may have breached the

UN 7harter by making the agreement

3hite suggests that the G'( would be +void if it violates international law, or was reached

+as a result of it being procured by the threat or use of force or by other forms of coercion A a

reference to warnings that Israel could resume its military action against Gaza

)2s well as issues of legality under UN and treaty law, 3hite writes, +there is the ;uestion of

whether, by incorporating processes that are in violation of Israel1s obligations under

international humanitarian and human rights law, the UN, by becoming a party to the G'(

and agreeing to oversee these processes is implicated in any wrongful acts

)There is strong evidence of the connection between the G'( and actual and potential

violations of core human rights, 3hite states

0y signing the agreement, the UN and -2 have approved the continuation of Israel1s blockade

on Gaza, which 3hite describes as illegal

0ut despite this, the UN remains committed to the deal
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-un-rebuilt-just-one-house-gazahttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-has-un-rebuilt-just-one-house-gaza


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Rosy gloss

UN67= refused to confirm or deny that it had seen Nigel 3hite1s paper

Instead of answering a direct ;uestion as to whether 6erry, or his successor as special

coordinator Nickolay (ladenov, had seen the legal advice commissioned by !iakonia, UN67=

sent The Electronic Intifada a B>#&word statement defending the G'( and bemoaning the

shortfall of donor funding for Gaza reconstruction

Nonetheless, UN67= put a rosy gloss on the G'(, asserting that it +has enabled some

$##,### families to repair their homes, while some %,>## families are in the process of

reconstructing their fully demolished dwellings

2sked why it had not published the te/t of the G'( itself, UN67= referred The ElectronicIntifada +to the relevant governmental authorities as we are not in a position to disclose the

te/t unilaterally without the consent of both the Government of Israel and the -alestinian

2uthority

)The G'( is a temporary arrangement, UN67= asserted, +It is not and can never be

considered as a substitute for the lifting of the closures on Gaza

0ut in the absence of any meaningful pressure on Israel to lift the siege, or conse;uences for

its refusal to do so, the G'( is likely to become as +temporary as Israel1s occupation of the

3est 0ank and Gaza 6trip that has lasted for almost ># years

(eanwhile, almost $##,### -alestinians whose homes were destroyed or severely

damaged remain in temporary shelter

5ittle did they know that while claiming to be helping, UN officials had made an illegal deal

that has only prolonged their suffering and e/tended Israel1s impunity and control

It may even put their lives in danger in the event of future Israeli attacks

Those involved, including of course the -alestinian 2uthority, have tried to evade

accountability by concealing the G'( behind a wall of secrecy

3ith the publication of these documents, that secrecy has now ended and those complicit in
https://electronicintifada.net/tags/nickolay-mladenovhttp://gaza.ochaopt.org/2015/11/reconstruction-of-over-one-quarter-of-totally-destroyed-homes-ongoing-or-about-to-start/https://electronicintifada.net/tags/nickolay-mladenovhttp://gaza.ochaopt.org/2015/11/reconstruction-of-over-one-quarter-of-totally-destroyed-homes-ongoing-or-about-to-start/


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this deal must answer for what they have done

UN Database for Gaza Aid May Give Israel Targets to Attack — Secret Memo

Documents

Transcript of UN Database for Gaza Aid May Give Israel Targets to Attack — Secret Memo