The Israeli government has embarked on a systematic campaign to deny access of internationally recognized human rights organizations, clergy, medical volunteers and journalists to the carnage wrought in the Occupied Territories.
Through deportations at the airport, detainment in the West Bank, destruction of offices and the firing of live ammunition, the Israeli government is clearly demonstrating its desire to prevent any international observation of its military campaigns.
 These inexcusable and illegal actions against civilians are preventing the world from seeing the reality of Israel’s new self-declared war against Palestinian society.
From the beginning of Israel’s operations against Ramallah and Bethlehem on March 31, 2002, Israeli occupation forces have fired upon clearly marked journalists both on foot and in vehicles.
Major news agencies including CNN, BBC, the New York Times, Reuters and the Associated Press have issued joint complaints to this effect.
Even when US Envoy Anthony Zinni visited Ramallah on April 5, 2002, a group of thirty journalists were assaulted by Israeli soldiers with stun grenades and tear gas.
Furthermore, over the past week, several journalists, including an American reporter for the Boston Globe have been wounded by Israeli gunfire.
While Israel declares its military operations to be in “closed military zones,” there is no excuse of preventing journalists from documenting areas where fighting has subsided in order to assess the damage and toll.
In its most flagrant disregard for humanitarian and international law, the Israeli government has barred the entry of emergency medical vehicles and personnel from accessing the wounded and dead in the West Bank.
For the first four days of operations, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society noted that not one single ambulance was let through.
These actions are a clear violation of the 4th Geneva Convention, which was established above all to permit free access for medical personnel to the wounded and deceased.
Without such access, many more have certainly needlessly died, and the corpses of those already killed serve only to spread disease as well as great despair upon the local civilian population.
Compounding these grave injustices have been Israeli actions such as the seizure of the Arab Care Hospital in Ramallah and the prevention of transporting emergency supplies of blood, medicine, food and water to other West Bank hospitals.
Finally, even volunteer medical personnel who arrived from Greece on April 3, 2002 at Ben Gurion Airport were detained and deported.
In an ominous move that in no way can be excused as an action against “terrorism”, the Israeli army has enacted a deliberate campaign to sabotage the work of independent human rights agencies operating in towns under Israeli reoccupation.
These internationally recognized and affiliated organizations have a long record of activity working for peace and human rights, independent of the Palestinian Authority.
Yet, without just cause, the Israeli army in Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem has raided their offices, confiscated records, arrested employees and destroyed equipment.
 The organizations that have been raided include Al-Haq, Ad-Dameer, Palestinian Independent Commission on Citizen’s Rights (PICCR), the Mandela Institution, Palestinian Medical Relief Union, Palestine Agricultural Relief Committees, Jerusalem Legal Aid, Mattin Group, Democracy and Workers Rights Center, Ibdaa Cultural Center and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights.
We at Al-Mezan condemn this activity and believe that it exposes the Israeli reoccupation of Palestinian cities as a campaign against all of Palestinian society.
Finally, the Israeli government has moved to prevent international observers, including established human rights workers from entering Israel to provide aid for the current crisis.
In addition to arresting and deporting members of the International Solidarity Movement in Ramallah, the Israeli government has barred the entry of anyone suspected of working as peace activists or human rights monitors on an unprecedented scale.
Beginning on March 28, 2002, Israeli authorities barred the entry of hundreds of Italian and Swiss nationals presuming that they were there to campaign for peace.
On April 1, three Italian clergy working for the Roman Catholic Church were deported at Ben Gurion Airport.
This has been followed by the deportation of dozens of other Italian, Greek and Belgium nationals and the four hour detainment of three Italian MPs on April 3.
Finally, on April 6, the President and Secretary General of the International Federation of Leagues for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Honorary President of the French League for Human Rights were detained with the intent to deport, pending an appeal to the Israeli High Court.
Such moves, unusual for Israel, demonstrate the fear of an international presence during Israel’s military onslaught against the Palestinian Territories.
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns this series of moves to prevent civilians, journalists and medical staff from doing their work for peace, human rights and health as permitted by international law.
Independently, each of these actions richly deserves the intervention of the international community, but taken in sum, it clearly demonstrates Israel’s desire to obfuscate its campaign of crimes against the Palestinian people from the world.
 We call upon the international community to demand that Israel open the West Bank to the work of journalists and medical staff, to cease its attacks against human rights organizations and to end its war against all Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
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