OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: UN human rights chief Navi Pillay sharply criticized Israel Friday for ignoring the harm done to Palestinians by its Jewish settlement policy and the construction of a vast West Bank barrier. She also condemned Palestinian militants in Gaza, describing their rocket attacks on Israel as “war crimes” which were a “major obstacle” to efforts to broker a peace agreement between the two sides. Speaking to reporters at the end of a six-day visit to the region, Pillay said she had been shocked at the apathy among Israeli officials when she raised the issue of the suffering of Palestinians living near settlements or close to the towering barrier which cuts across the West Bank. “I have been struck by the complacency with which the entirely-avoidable predicament of Palestinians affected by the wall and settlements is treated by Israeli authorities with whom I have discussed these issues,” Pillay said. “They tend to be brushed aside as if they are minor matters. They are not. They are clear-cut violations of human rights on a very large scale,” she said, describing how she had met a man whose house is entirely surrounded by a Jewish settlement. – Agence France
