August 8, 2001
Agence France-Presse

COPENHAGEN, Aug 8 (AFP) - The lifestyle of Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories resembles that of whites under the former racist apartheid system, the head of the Danish Red Cross said here Wednesday.

Freddy Karup Pedersen told the Danish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee following a visit to the region: "We think the conditions of life of the settlers resemble those of the apartheid period in South Africa."

Pedersen also criticised Israel's collective punishment of the Palestinian population.

In a statement last week Pedersen strongly criticised Israel for preventing the Palestinian population from enjoying freedom of movement. He said the extent of the curbs was not justified by security considerations.

"Children are prevented from going to school, the sick from going to hospital and farmers have great difficulty tending their fields. Homes and agricultural areas are destroyed and water resources unequally distributed," he reported.

Pedersen described the conditions as "a complete lack of respect for international humanitarian rules."

The official's remarks last week prompted a sharp protest from the opposition Centre Democrat Party, Israel's strongest supporter in the Danish parliament.

A party spokesman accused the Danish Red Cross of a one-sided attack on the Israeli government. But Pedersen retorted that the situation in the region warranted criticism of conditions. "The Red Cross would be failing in its duty if it stayed silent," he said.

"The role of the Red Cross is among other things to defend the interests of victims," he stressed: "It is not exceptional for us to criticise conditions in certain regions. We have done so in Chechnya, Iraq and Kosovo."

The International Committee of the Red Cross had on several occasions criticised conditions in the occupied territories since the beginning of the latest wave of unrest last autumn.

In Jerusalem last week, Israel defended its controversial nomination of a former security chief as ambassador to Copenhagen, dismissing Danish warnings that the new envoy could face arrest when he takes up office.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said the nomination of Carmi Gillon had provoked unjustified attacks against a man it said had been tasked with combatting "terrorism" when heading security operations.

The Danish government said Gillon would enjoy diplomatic immunity despite accusations by the US-based Human Rights Watch that he was directly involved in about 100 cases of torture of Palestinians.

The Danish daily Berlingske Tidende had earlier quoted Justice Minister Frank Jensen as saying that Gillon could be arrested the moment he sets foot on Danish soil to take up his post in September, under the terms of the UN anti-torture convention.

But Jensen later said that international conventions guaranteeing diplomatic representatives took precedence over the general rules in the UN's torture convention.