Begin maart brengt U als voorzitter van het Nederlandse parlement een officieel bezoek aan Israël en de bezette Palestijnse gebieden. In Israël hebt u de vrijheid te spreken met diverse Knessetleden. Helaas is het niet mogelijk op dezelfde voet gesprekken te voeren met de leden van het Palestijnse parlement. Dat kan onder de huidige omstandigheden niet in één vergadering bijeen komen, en bovendien wordt een aantal parlementariërs door Israël gevangen gehouden.Wij verzoeken U echter met klem om wel een gesprek te voeren met Uw collega, de voorzitter van het Palestijnse parlement Aziz Dweik. Na drie jaar verblijf in een Israëlische gevangenis werd hij in juni vorig jaar op de Westelijke Jordaanoever vrijgelaten. Indertijd protesteerde de huidige voorzitter van de Eerste Kamer, René van der Linden (CDA) fel tegen de Israëlische arrestatie van Dweik omdat deze "als democratisch gekozen parlementslid immuniteit geniet".
De heer Dweik, gepromoveerd aan de prestigieuze universiteit van Pennsylvania, behoort tot de gematigde vleugel van de partij die de laatste parlementsverkiezingen won, Hamas. Hij verklaarde onlangs over de oproep in het Handvest van Hamas om een Palestijnse staat te vestigen in heel oorspronkelijke Palestina: "Niets dan een droom en onrealistisch". Parlementsvoorzitter Dweik is nooit beschuldigd van terroristische activiteiten. In een bijlage I vindt U voor uw oriëntatie op een gesprek uitgebreide documentatie over hem.
Israël beroept zich er op ‘de enige democratie in het Midden-Oosten’ te zijn. Noblesse oblige. Wij vragen U daarom, om in uw contacten met leden van de Knesset er op aan te dringen dat Israël zijn bijdrage levert aan het herstel van de parlementaire democratie in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden. Dit betekent dat:
- 1. u aandacht vraagt voor de vrijlating door Israël van alle nu nog gevangen zittende parlementariërs van Hamas (in 2007 heeft Israël 44 gekozen parlementariërs en drie ministers gearresteerd; velen zijn na jaren gevangenschap geleidelijk aan vrijgelaten, maar niet allen; volgens de laatste ons bekende gegevens worden nog 14 parlementsleden gevangen gehouden)
- 2. u er op aandringt dat in de toekomst niet zoals in het verleden door Israël aan Palestijnse parlementariërs reisbeperkingen en andere belemmeringen worden opgelegd die het samenkomen in één vergadering beletten; voorheen kon het Palestijnse parlement om die reden slechts vergaderen middels een videoconferentie tussen Gaza en Ramallah.
- 3. u uw afkeuring formuleert over de verwoesting door Israël van het parlementsgebouw en van ministeries in Gazastad tijdens de laatste oorlog tegen Gaza, daden die niet te rijmen zijn met het democratisch statuur dat Israël nastreeft.
- 4. u er op wijst dat ook de vrijlating van Marwan Barghouti een belangrijke impuls kan geven aan een opleving van de democratisch-politieke processen
- 5. u wijst op het recht op politieke expressie van verzet tegen de bezetting.
- 6. u er bij de Knesset krachtig op aandringt dat de Palestijnen als individu hun wettige politieke en burgerrechten kunnen uitoefenen, ongehinderd door de vele obstakels van allerlei aard, fysiek zowel als bureaucratisch, die de bezetting van de Palestijnse gebieden door Israël opwerpt.
Genoemde thema’s behelzen het recht van de Palestijnse natie zich politiek te uiten. Tevens is er op langere termijn een groot belang mee gemoeid voor de vrede, veiligheid en het democratisch aanzien van Israël.
Dat brengt ons er toe uw aandacht voor een laatste punt te vragen. Er ligt van staatswege veel druk op kritische stemmen in Israel zelf (bijlage II). Wij zijn daar zeer bezorgd over. Wilt u daarom mede namens ons de boodschap overbrengen. - 7. dat de vitaliteit van het democratisch proces gebaat is bij een sterke positie van groeperingen en bij waardering voor individuen die het handelen van de eigen staat en samenleving ter discussie stellen, en dat hierin de garantie besloten ligt, dat een natie het contact met de omgeving behoudt. Dit is geheel en al in lijn met hetgeen u hebt opgemerkt in uw toespraak op 14 mei 2008 in het World Forum Convention Center te Den Haag tijdens de viering van het 60 jarig bestaan van de staat Israel.
Weet u gesteund door de gedachte dat de vier organisaties die U deze brief sturen, met grote belangstelling en actief Uw verrichtingen in Israël en Palestina zullen volgen.
Met verschuldigde hoogachting,
Jaap Hamburger, voorzitter van Een Ander Joods Geluid (EAJG)
Galit Saporta, voorzitter van Gate48, Platform voor Kritische Israëli's in Nederland
Sietse Bosgra, secretaris van het Nederlands Instituut Palestina-Israël(NIPI)
Jan Slomp, voorzitter van het Steuncomité Israëlische Vredes- en Mensenrechten Organisaties (SIVMO)
BIJLAGE 1
Levensloop
Dr. Aziz Salem Murtada Dweik "Abu Hashem" was born on December 1, 1948. He earned a bachelor's degree in geography in Jordan and a master's in education from Bethlehem University. Studying on a U.S.-backed scholarship, Dweik earned a master's in urban planning at State University of New York in Binghamton. From 1985 to 1988, once again on a U.S. grant, he earned a master's and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in the US. He praised Philadelphia as his favorite U.S. city.
Dweik held several positions, mainly: Head of the Geography Department at al-Najah University in Nablus, Head of the Higher Education Committee of several charitable institutions, member in Scientific Research Committee at al-Najah University. is the founder of Geography Department at al-Najah University. He acted as Public Relations Official at the Patients Friend Society and he had a leading role in supervising several Masters theses and PhD dissertations. Dweik has several publications including the "Palestinian Society" book.
Dweik is married and father of seven children. He was arrested in the Israeli occupation prisons five times in a row.
Verkiezing als lid parlement en daarna als voorzitter parlement
Dweik was elected as a Hamas MP representing Hebron in the southern West Bank during the second-ever Palestinian legislative polls on January 25, 2006. Hamas has 74 MPs in the 132-parliament and Fatah 45, with the rest of the deputies belonging to smaller factions. The EU paid for the Palestinian elections. The U.S., too, pushed for democratic elections knowing the political platform of Hamas.he P Aziz Duweik, a Hamas MP, was named PLC Speaker at the first session of the newly elected parliament with 70 votes. The ballot came after President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a speech before the 132-seat parliament, a majority of them Hamas members. Hamas has been asked by Abbas to form the next cabinet. Dweik was the only nominee for the important portfolio.
Visie van Dweik
In verkiezingscampagne: Dweik was careful to dissociate himself from the military actions carried out by Hamas.
NRC 29/6/06: Ministers als de in Amerika gepromoveerde Omar Tareq en parlementsvoorzitter Dweik worden beschouwd als gematigde Hamasleden, omdat zij voor de oprichting van een Palestijnse staat naast Israël zijn en bereid zijn Israël te erkennen.
Dweik was sworn in as Speaker of the House on 29 March 2006. During the proceedings he said: "A hungry man is an angry man [...] We hope the world will not allow the Palestinian people to suffer, because this will only make people more radical." He also said: "My message to Israel is to put an end to the occupation, and then there will be no fighting."
Al Ahram: Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Aziz Dweik, just released from an Israeli detention centre, has called for "immediate reconciliation" between Fatah and Hamas, saying the rift between the two factions was inflicting incalculable damage on the Palestinian national cause.
Na zijn vrijlating: Dweik has told journalists that he views the Hamas charter's call for the creation of a Palestinian state in all of Palestine, including Israel, to be "nothing but a dream, and unrealistic," and he believes that Hamas is aiming for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. He has never been accused of involvement in terrorism. His primary focus since his release from prison has been reconciling the Hamas and Fatah factions who have been engaged in acivil conflict, the result of which has been a split in the ruling PNA government, with Hamas ruling in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. 30 juni 2009: Dweik, who is thought to be a member of Hamas’ moderate wing, has stressed a message of unity since he gained his freedom. He told reporters on Sunday that he “stands between” Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah movement.
Arrestatie
Aziz Dweik, also a key member of Hamas, which controls the government, was held after 20 Israeli vehicles surrounded his home in Ramallah.
Dweik was arrested by Israel on 29 June 2006 as part of Israel's Operation Summer Rains. He was later released and then rearrested 6 August 2006. Dweik says he was severely beaten while in custody, and his lawyers say that he was held in unsanitary conditions. Dweik (along with a number of other Palestinian ministers and parliament members) was imprisoned in spite of his parliamentary immunity. Israel currently holds some 9,260 Palestinian prisoners, according to Palestinian figures. (June 2009)
Echtgenote Dweik: “Detaining Aziz Dweik was illegal. The Palestinian people chose him in elections to be the speaker of the Palestinian parliament. In every other country Parliamentarians are VIPs, they have diplomatic immunity. He shouldn’t have been in prison."
"The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly president, René van der Linden, slammed yesterday Israel's arrest of the speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, Aziz Dweik, and called for his immediate release. 'All legitimately elected parliamentarians enjoy parliamentary immunity unless and until they are divested of it by their own parliaments,' Van den Linden said."
In de Globe and Mail verslag van een gesprek met Dweik in de winter 1991-92: "While the Hamas charter specifically calls for a Palestinian state to be created in all the land of Palestine, including Israël, Dr. Dweik said he considered that nothing but a dream, and unrealistic. He also carefully dissociated himself from the military actions that had been carried out in Hamas's name. No one ever accused Dr. Dweik of any involvement in such acts of terror."
He was released last Tuesday and agreed to see me after midday prayers on Friday. Since Mahmoud Abbas's term officially expired in January, Dr. Dweik should now be the acting president, the reasoning goes. Elections are now set for next January 2009 and Dr. Dweik is quite content to let Mr. Abbas remain in office until then. He had nothing but praise for the Fatah leader, a good start on his way to reconciling the warring factions. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/mideast-notebook/fancy-that-a-moderate-in-hamas/article1200923/
Zwakke gezondheid
On account of this poor health Dweik was sentenced to 36 months imprisonement.
Augustus 2006: De voorzitter van het Palestijnse parlement, die in Israël wordt gevangen gehouden, is maandagavond in Jeruzalem gehospitaliseerd nadat hij hartklachten had. Dat meldt het Israëlische leger.
De Interparlementaire Unie eiste in mei 2007 in een resolutie de vrijlating van Dweik In de resolutie wordt er op gewezen dat Dweik "is held in solidary confinement in a small prison cell measuring 1,8 by 4 metres, full of creeping insects".
18-7-08 Dans un communiqué de presse, le CLP a déclaré que M. Dweik avait subi jeudi une intervention chirurgicale dans l’hôpital de la prison d'Al Ramla et que sont état de santé est toujours mauvais. Son état de santé a commencé à se détériorer il y a trois mois. Depuis plus de 2 mois, il est resté dans l'hôpital de la prison qui ne possède pas le matériel nécessaire puisque les autorités israéliennes refusent de l’autoriser à être hospitalisé dans un hôpital spécialisé.
The attorney visited Dr Dweik on Wednesday in Ramla's prison hospital, where he was told by doctors that Dr Dweik has lost 10 kilogrammes in weight since last month and is suffering from anemia due to the diabetes he developed whilst in jail. Ramla's prison doctors have attributed the spread of anemia amongst prisoners to their poor prison diet.
Ma’an News Agency 11/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The imprisoned speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) underwent surgery on Friday despite Israeli delays and "medical negligence," according to the de facto speaker in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Aziz Duweik has been imprisoned for the past 28 months in an Israeli jail even though he has been "long suffering due to medical negligence by the Israeli prison authorities," the de facto PLC office in Gaza said on Friday. According to a statement sent to Ma’an, Duweik underwent surgery inside the Ramla detention facility to remove kidney stones on Friday. Ahmad Bahar, the deputy PLC speaker in Gaza, denounced the continued imprisonment of Duweik and the "harsh treatment by Israeli soldiers there," holding them "fully responsible if something happens to him. Dweik was operated 25 December 2008 to remove kidney stones. As operation was unsuccessful he had to be operated again, high blood pressure, diabetes.
Beschuldiging
Ruling issued by the Israeli Military Court of Aufer on Tuesday, December 16 2008, sentencing Dr. Aziz El-Duweik, Head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, to prison for three years on charges of affiliation with the "Change and Reform" Bloc representing Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
As many as 35 Hamas lawmakers are still in Israeli custody as Israeli military courts gave them jail sentences ranging between three and four years for taking part in "illegal elections" not okayed by the occupying power.
The main “crime” committed by these elected Palestinian officials, people like Professor Aziz Duweik, the Speaker of the Palestinian parliament, is that they took part in an “illegal election”! Well, this is really a big lie since the 2006-Palestinian elections were okayed by both Israel, under the premiership of Ariel Sharon, and the Bush Administration. Israël accepted the participation of Hamas in the elections.
Vrijlating
Dweik was released in early July 2009 to a huge public show of support, including from Fatah.
Dweik, 60, arrived at a military checkpoint outside the city of Tulkarem in the north of the occupied West Bank after his release from Hadarim prison near Tel Aviv, greeted by a horde of reporters. His release comes after a military tribunal at the Ofer military base near Ramallah rejected an application by prosecutors to keep Dweik behind bars after his three-year sentence ran out.
At the At-Tayba military checkpoint Dweik was received by a large delegation of political supporters from both Fatah and Hamas including Palestinian lawmaker and Minister of Prisoners Affairs in the caretaker government Issa Qaraqi’a and the governor of Tulkarem Talal Dweikat. Notably president Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Dweik as he arrived at the checkpoint to congratulate him on his release. The call was followed by a second congratulatory call from Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Dweik is a celebrated political figure in all party ranks, and is seen as a unifying force within Palestinian politics.
Hours after his arrival in the West Bank, Dweik addressed the public on the steps of the PLC, and promised to work for unity. “I hold a message from all Palestinian detainees to all the free Palestinians,” Dweik said during the first moments of the interview, “which is to unite and work as one hand to avoid all internal clashes.”
http://aziz-dweik-news.newslib.com/story/9145-4/
PLC Speaker Abdel-Aziz Dweik announced that he would resume his duties as speaker on 26 July. Mr. Dweik had sent invitations to Palestinian, Arab, and European political figures as well as PLC members of all political parties to participate in the ceremony of reopening the PLC chambers in Ramallah, which had been mainly closed for three years. “We want to reactivate the PLC because we intend to unite the Palestinian people and heal the rift between rivals," Mr. Dweik said. The announcement came a day after former PLC Secretary-General Ibrahim Khreisha said that the term of the PLC speaker was one year and Mr. Dweik’s term had expired while he was imprisoned in Israel. (Ma’an News Agency)
But the Palestinian parliament speaker and senior Hamas member, Aziz Dweik, rejected the expiration of the PLC mandate. Dr. Dweik told a news conference held in Ramallah that article 47 of the Palestinian basic law stipulates that the mandate of the PLC ends when new elected members swear in. “The constitution is clear …it says the present PLC membership continues until there will be new elections,”
Internationale actie
Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly: The detention by Israel of Mr Aziz Dweik, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), arrested on 6 August 2006, as well as of approximately 40 Palestinian parliamentarians and ministers is equally a matter of serious concern. The Assembly stresses that these people have been legitimately elected. Text adopted by the Assembly on 5 October 2006 (29th Sitting) Januari 2007: Lawyer of the Mandela Institute, Bothaina Douqmaq, visited the Dr. Aziz Dweik, the jailed head of the Palestinian Legislative Council . Dr. Dweik said that Israel’s imprisonment of the elected legislators and officials is a direct violation to the international law, and an attack against the Palestinian democracy.
17 March 2007: Recommendation adopted by the Euro-Meditaranean Parliamentarian Assembly: Condemns and expresses its utmost condemnation at the arrest of the president of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Mr. Aziz Dweik, of the members of the Palestinian government and of members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and demands their immediate release.
31 October to 3 November 2008: An 8-strong delegation of Members of the European Parliament from 5 different groups travelled to Palestine. The main purpose of this visit was to follow-up on the EP resolution of 4 September 2008 which welcomed the decision by the Israeli Government to free a number of Palestinian prisoners. MEP's wanted to meet with PLC members detained in Israeli jails in particular the Speaker of the PCL, Dr. Aziz Dweik. Israeli authorities denied permission despite the formal request made in due time by the President of the EP.
The EP delegation decided to go to Heradim prison and renewed its request to meet the prisoners, a request denied by the prison authorities. The delegation held formal interpaliamentary meetings with PLC members in Ramallah and Gaza, from all political parties.
The speaker of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, assured his support to the International Campaign for releasing the abducted MPs who are in the Israeli jails for three years. He considered the abduction serious violation to the principles of democracy. Buzek had attached the content of the resolution of the European Parliament at 4th of December, 2008 which called for “ the immediate release of the member of the Palestine Legislative Council”
29 augustus 2009: A delegation of "The Elders", a group formed by Nelson Mandela, led by former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso inclding Mrs Ela Bhatt, Dr. Gro Brundtlandt, President Jimmy Carter. Mrs. Mary Robinson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mrs. Mabel van Oranje had a meeting with the President of the PLC Dr. Abdul Aziz Dweik.
7-9 December 2009: 9th Interparliamentary meeting European Paliament and The Palestinian Legislative Council. Monday 7 December meeting with the Speaker of the PLC, Mr. Aziz Dweik, Hebron. Dr. Aziz Dweik urged the delegation of European lawmakers to organize an international campaign aimed to end the blockade on the Palestinian people, their leaders and lawmakers. The speaker highlighted to the delegation the major problems faced by Palestinian lawmakers in the West Bank such as political arrests and harassment in addition to other issues in the Palestinian arena. The delegation called for strengthening the Euro-Palestinian relations in order to end the European state of ignorance about the suffering of the Palestinian people.
Verstandhouding met Abbas 2008: According to PA sources, Abbas asked Olmert to release more Palestinian prisoners including , surprisingly, Aziz Duweik, the Hamas-affiliated speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The moment he is released he will not hesitate to open serious talks for rapprochement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also trusts Duweik.
6/28/2009 - Ramallah – Ma'an – The recently released speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Aziz Dweik said on Sunday that he is close to both of the rival factions Hamas and Fatah, and hopes that they reach reconciliation.... With regard to an expected meeting between him and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Dweik said, "It is natural that I will meet with the beloved Abu Mazen since the relationship between the PLC and the Palestinian president should be complementary rather than competitive, and those who think it is a competitive relationship are mistaken."
1-7-09 President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Legislative Council speaker Aziz Dweik in Ramallah at noon on Tuesday (yesterday), making him the highest-ranking Hamas official he publicly met with since the 2007 coup in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Authority official news agency WAFA, Abbas congratulated Dweik on his release, inquired about his health, and stressed that the 11,000 Palestinians remaining in Israel’s jails are a top priority. Abbas’ office released no other details about the talks, which took place in the presidential compound.
Dweik als opvolger van Abbas
As speaker, Dweik would be in line to take over from Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas in the event of Abbas's incapacitation. Since 2006, Dweik served as chairman of the Palestinian parliament, a position which made him in effect Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's stand-in. When Abbas's term was extended several months ago without holding elections, some Hamas seniors threatened to unilaterally declare Dweik president.
Dweik was supposed to step into Abbas's shoes on January 9, 2009, when the latter's term in office was scheduled to expire. The Palestinian Basic Law stipulates that the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council would replace the PA president when his term expired, or if he stepped down for any other reason. PA officials had been worried that the early release of Dweik from prison would lead to a further escalation in tensions between Hamas and Fatah.
Why at this time in particular Israel intends to free Duweik?! Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas term of office ends in January 9. According to the Palestinian constitution, a new president should be chosen or Abbas term is renewed, a step strongly opposed by Hamas leaders. According to some Palestinian experts releasing Duweik by Israeli authorities and presenting him as a new president means a declaration of the death of the Palestinian National Authority.
The Christian Science Monitor , November 27, 2009:
If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of the mainstream Fatah party makes good on his threat to resign, the man constitutionally assured his post is from the rival Hamas faction. His name is Aziz Dweik, a leading member of Hamas who was released from Israeli prison this summer after being held for three years....Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator under Abbas, has said repeatedly in recent weeks that if his boss goes, Dweik is next in line. Some Palestinians go even further, pointing out that Abbas's term actually expired in January 2009, and that legally, Dweik should replace him...Dweik says he's not agitating for the top seat, however. He is focused instead on trying to bring about a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas... Mohammed Asad Awaiwi, a political science professor at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem, says that Dweik is known to be balanced, well-liked, and even a critic of some of Hamas's irresponsible moves – and would stand a good chance of winning a government post in future elections.
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