イスラエル／パレスチナ和平

パレスチナ人のインティファーダを支持するホームページの解説（或いは弁明）。

http://electronicintifada.net/coveragetrends/jeninunreport.shtml

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat was widely cited in press reports as having said that 500 people were killed in Jenin. Yet, despite an extensive search, I have been unable to find any directly quoted statement from any Palestinian official, including Erekat, using that figure for the death toll in Jenin. None of the reports which cited Erekat said where he allegedly made the claim, and some provided conflicting accounts of when he allegedly said it. For a claim that is so widely cited, it should not be so difficult to find a direct quote.

Nevertheless, Israeli officials, commentators and journalists alike repeated constantly that Erekat or sometimes other Palestinian officials had put the Jenin death toll at over 500. So what did Erekat actually say?

On April 10, 2002, Erekat did tell CNN that he believed that up to 500 people had been killed throughout the West Bank, not just in Jenin, since Israel had begun its "Operation Defensive Shield" at the end of March.

In the context of a discussion about the entire Israeli offensive and the announced visit of US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region, Erekat told CNN Anchor Jim Clancy:

"What we're saying, we see an opportunity in the secretary's visit. We want to help in order to insure the success of the secretary's visit, because insuring the success of implementing [UN resolution] 1402 means stopping the killing fields out there, and you know as the numbers I am receiving today is that the numbers of killed could reach 500 since the Israeli offensive began. Thousands of wounded. You know, the Jenin refuge camp is no longer in existence, and now we've heard of executions there."

Later the same day, CNN News Anchor Bill Hemmer stated on air, apparently in reference to Erekat's earlier appearance:

"Also a heavy war of words today, Saeb Erekat the Chief Palestinian negotiator, live on CNN earlier today said, Palestinians have lost now 500 people between the battles in Jenin and Nablus."

It is clear from a comparison of Hemmer's claim with Erekat's actual statement, that Erekat said nothing of the kind, and yet inaccurate though he is, even Hemmer does not state that Erekat was referring only to Jenin. Amongst others, Xinhua news agency reported accurately that

"Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday [April 10] that at least 500 Palestinians had been killed since Israel launched the military offensive in the West Bank on March 29." ("Military operations bolster Palestinian militant spirit: Israeli source," Xinhua, April 12, 2002)

バイアスがかかっているので、注意するべきであるが、その主張によれば、パレスチナ自治政府の閣僚が、ジェニンにて５００人の虐殺があったと明確に述べた記録は確認できていない。「５００人」というい数字については、報道の混乱により生じた可能性が有る。

何れにせよ。シャロンの起こした軍事作戦で、かなりが民間人を含む５００人近くの犠牲者が確認されたのだから、その最中に「戦争犯罪」を防ぐために、国際社会に訴えるのは、閣僚の当然の義務で、それを否定するののは、狂信的なシャロン支持者としか言いようが無い。