Am Johal | WorldPress.org
Miloon Kothari was appointed in September 2000 by the UN Commission on Human Rights as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing. His mandate involves reporting annually on the status worldwide of the realization of the rights related to adequate housing and identifying practical solutions and good practices towards this end. An architect by training, he has extensive experience in the areas of housing and land rights. Mr. Kothari is also the coordinator of the South Asian Regional Programme of the Habitat International Coalition’s Housing and Land Rights Network and a founding member of the International NGO Committee on Human Rights in Trade and Investment. He is a member since 2005 of the Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
How is the housing situation in Israel?
Yes, I did a mission and went to the Occupied Territories in 2001. I also went to northern Israel and southern Lebanon since the recent conflict and have followed the situation inside the Green line, including the rights of the Bedouin and the Arab citizens inside Israel. In the Occupied Territories there is a worsening situation due to the nature of the occupying power of the military machine, and I would say, the legacy of inaction of the international community. It is a struggle that is longstanding, difficult to understand and hard to explain, including the European Union’s reluctance to be more directly involved. The reticence of the international community to confront the United States is a direct cause of the kind of brazenness with which Israel still conducts its policies towards the Palestinian territories.
At the U.N., and other human rights bodies, the work of the special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, John Dugard, and the other special rapporteurs have been in speaking with one voice. I’ve spoken out against the so-called accords, including what the Quartet has done, and the U.N.’s role. Yet the terms of reference and guiding principles don’t include human rights instruments. We have a process where successive agreements have led to a situation where Israel has been able to consolidate its occupation, demolishing more homes, creating enclaves in the West Bank and Gaza, and leading to a situation where the Palestinian Authority has no real power. In the Quartet, we don’t recognize international charters and it has led to a situation where the Palestinian people have suffered asphyxiation. The infighting between Palestinian factions is a direct result of that, because of the sense of frustration that exists.
In terms of housing policies, the impact of successive decades has created one of the worst situations in the world. Inside the Green line, in many ways, is not much better amongst the Arab citizens. There is heavy repression and segregation of the Bedouin, and the unrecognized villages in Galilee. It has a devastating impact on people. There are thousands and thousands living without electricity or water; it is a reckless policy in the Negev. The Bedouin are concentrated in seven new communities. In stark contrast are the tremendous resources for Jewish agricultural settlements, sometimes just across the street from unrecognized villages. It is a grave situation. Without change, and spine put into the international effort beyond the U.N. human rights work, it is difficult to see any kind of quick resolution or a change in the policy of occupation, of unhindered settlement. It is difficult to imagine a Palestinian state that would be viable beyond this type of banstustan-type situation. The longer we wait, the longer it will be for such a goal to actually take place.
