Rights Group: Israel presses Gaza sick to become informers

[Scurrilous]

Report by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel says Palestinian patients seeking medical treatment abroad have 'become an accessible and important target for the Shin Bet for the purposes of recruiting and gathering information,' in violation of international law

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3577339,00.html

<snip>

"Israeli security agents have been pressuring Gazans seeking medical treatment abroad to work as informers in violation of international law, an Israeli rights group said Monday.

A report by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that Palestinian patients have "become an accessible and important target for the GSS (General Security Services) for the purposes of recruiting and gathering information."

This method of operation was due to the infrequency of direct contact between the Israeli authorities and Palestinian residents and to the vulnerability of the patient population, the report said.

The group suggests such tactics violate international law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention, which explicitly prohibits coercing civilians into providing intelligence information.

The report includes 11 of some 30 sworn testimonies taken in recent months which describe security agents interrogating patients and appearing to make their entry from Gaza into Israel conditional on their recruitment as informers.

The patients describe being led to underground rooms at the Erez pedestrian crossing, where they are questioned for hours about neighbors and relatives.

"You have cancer, and it will soon spread to your brain, as long as you don't help us," security agents told one man, according to testimony provided to Physicians for Human Rights and AFP on condition of anonymity."

[LeftishBrit]

1. Inexcusable.

Any agent who does this needs to be fired and prosecuted!

[ProgressiveMuslim]

2. LB... I hate to break it to you, but...

this is par for the course where the Shin Bet is concerned.

Do you think Shin Bet agents exploiting Palestinian children, Palestinian sick, weak, or isolated in order to create collaborators is an aberration?

[shira]

5. no aberration

Israel rejecting the sick because they do not collaborate is a terrible thing they should be ashamed of. Can't say I'm surprised if the Shin Bet really does this. Of course, I have a hard time believing all Palestinians treated and cured in Israel agree to be collaborators. So it looks like Israel treats and cures the vast majority of Palestinians seeking help.

But now I'm curious. Are you against collaborators when their reports save human life?

[shira]

6. spoke too soon by accepting this story at face value.....silly me

Don't be surprised to find out this story may be false. After all, this "Physicians-for-Human-Rights" group in Israel also went to great lengths just 3 months ago scheduling a press conference for the following, after doing such "exhaustive" and accurate research:

======================
'Dead Gazan' alive and kicking.

Rights group got it wrong: Gaza cancer patient who 'died while waiting for permit' still alive

Meital Yasur-Beit Or Published: 05.13.08, 17:42 / Israel News

Stayin' alive: Muhammad al-Harrani, a father of six from Gaza diagnosed with cancer who reportedly died while waiting for a permit to enter Israel, miraculously "came back to life." This was not the result of a miracle, but rather, just part of the tactics used by al-Harrani's family in a bid to secure a permit for him.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3542849,00.html

======================

Good work there by PFHR, huh?

[Violet_Crumble]

7. Good thing I read the article...

Here's the bit you must have missed....

'However, the next day, the organization discovered that al-Harrani was still alive. Members of group estimated that his brother, who reported the death, “killed” him so he does not report to the questioning session.

“This is a rare case where a family member knowingly provided false information to the organization,” Physicians for Human Rights said. “Usually, the organization receives information from the families and from the hospitals, but in this case the information was received from the family and was not confirmed by the hospital."

Physicians for Human Rights is a great organisation. Here's a link to their website:

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/

[shira]

8. PFHR-Israel is not the same as the USA version of PFHR

Two different orgs. PFHR-I is an independent Israeli organization and not part of the better known PFHR. Most doctors in Israel do not take them seriously, like the Israel Physicians Union.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. It's a branch of the same organisation n/t

[Sezu]

10. Hopefully this has taught them not to be stupid dupes for liars.

You know, keep that foot out of that mouth.

[Violet_Crumble]

11. Did the bit of the article I bolded turn invisible in yr browser?

Coz you seem to have totally missed the bit where it was said it was rare and usually they get confirmation from a hospital. A breakdown in normal procedure in one case does not mean they're stupid dupes, nor does it mean that other ill Palestinians should be approached as though they're liars...

[Sezu]

12. Does the fact I said I hoped it TAUGHT them something

not catch your eye? Mistakes like that can COST LIVES!!!!!!! Do you not care about that???? Forget about their "rep," and worry about getting it right EVERY time from now on so hatred is not aroused and Jews get killed.

Are you REALLY more concerned about their rep???

[breakaleg]

3. Disgusting, but not surprising.

[bemildred]

4. When expediency rules, you quickly find out that there are no rules.

And then that's the world you live in, A Hobbesian dystopia.