While Obama is holding talks with Mubarak the President of Egypt and the American press is preoccupied with everything from health care town hall meetings to beer summits at the Whitehouse , Israel’s  aggressive policy and practice of seizing Palestinian land and property continues uninterrupted.  A senior United Nations envoy has deplored Israel’s “unacceptable” evictions of Palestinian refugee families from their homes in East Jerusalem, stressing that the move only serves to amplify already high tensions and block progress towards the peace process.

These news reports don’t make the headlines but these are inhumane practices that the Israeli government continues to engage in uninterrupted. Israel’s violation of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to occupied territories is an everyday offense, the reports of which are relegated to UN News Service reports and Amnesty International news releases.

Nevertheless, they are no less horrendous and counter productive to any peace process, because they continue that wink and nod acceptance of practices to which the United States gives lip service denouncement. Two recent UN reports reveal how Israel is not living up to its agreement and continues to violate the basic human rights of the Palestinians.

Dozens of people registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were forced out by Israeli security forces over the weekend from the Arab neighborhood  of Sheikh Jarrah, with Israeli settlers moving into their homes.

“These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to the occupied territory,” Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said in a statement issued yesterday in Jerusalem.
The evictions, he said, flout the united calls by the international community, including those by the diplomatic Quartet comprising the UN, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

In a joint communiqué issued after a June meeting, the Quartet called on Israel “to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolition and evictions.”

According to UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness, the evicted families’ belongings were loaded onto trucks and dumped at the edge of a busy Jerusalem road.

Today, the UN agency helped the refugees – who lived in their houses for over half a century – recover their possessions, he said.

“Of the 53 people evicted, 20 are children and are reported to be particularly traumatized,” Mr. Gunness said.
Mr. Serry said in his statement that the UN rejects Israeli claims that the evictions are a matter for municipal and domestic courts, urging Israel to abide by international law and its obligations under the Roadmap plan for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace.

Then there’s the larger story of the blockade of a million and a half people that continues even though there has been no report of shelling or terrorism against Israel since the cease fire. The report below is typical of what has been going on in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Israel commits its daily horrendous offenses of collective punishment in front of the whole world except the whole world ignores the atrocities until there is a strike against Israel. Below is an excerpt from a UN report of Aug 17th 2009.

17 August 2009 – The ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, now in its third year, has triggered a “protracted human dignity crisis” with negative humanitarian consequences, according to a new report released today by the United Nations relief wing.

“At the heart of this crisis is the degradation in the living conditions of the population, caused by the erosion of livelihoods and the gradual decline in the state of infrastructure, and the quality of vital services in the areas of health, water and sanitation, and education,” adds the report, entitled “Locked In: The Humanitarian Impact of Two Years of Blockade on the Gaza Strip.”

The blockade, imposed following the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007, includes the closure of Karni, one of the largest and best equipped commercial crossings; sweeping restrictions on the import of industrial, agricultural and construction materials; the suspension of almost all exports; and a general ban on the movement of Palestinians through Erez, the only passenger crossing to the West Bank.

“The denial of Palestinians' right to leave Gaza , or to move freely to the West Bank , particularly when their lives, physical integrity, or basic freedoms are under threat, is another key component of the current human dignity crisis.

“The blockade has 'locked in' 1.5 million people in what is one of the most densely populated areas on earth,” notes the report, prepared by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It finds that the blockade has resulted in the devastation of livelihoods, rising food insecurity, a protracted energy crisis and a deterioration of water and sanitation infrastructure, among other issues.

The lack of essential imports, including raw materials, coupled with the ban on exports, has “decimated” economic activity in the private sector, where 120,000 jobs have been lost.

Also, except for a short interval during the ceasefire brokered by Egypt in 2008, almost no construction materials have been allowed into Gaza through the official crossings, compared to an average of 7,400 truckloads imported every month between January and May 2007.